Today, November 21, is the 32nd anniversary of my ordination to the transitional diaconate that every man achieves before ordination to the priesthood. It is also the feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple.  My priestly ordination is on May 8.  On this day, back in 1992, I was ordained in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Mt. St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, MD on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. You might say Our Lady had her hand in it and how indebted I am to her.

     The ordaining bishop was the Bishop of Springfield, former Burlington Bishop, John A. Marshall.  He was the bishop in Vermont when I entered the seminary in 1987.  It was truly a grace to be ordained a deacon by him.  It was the last time I saw him alive.  He died about two years later from bone cancer.  Today has been a day of many memories and awe for what would unfold over the course of the next thirty-two years. St. Johnsbury was only a place on the map to me. I had never been there. Good Shepherd Catholic School didn't exist.  But, somehow in God's divine providence, we would all meet here three decades later.  Today is indeed a day filled with memories and blessings.

Written By: Father Lance W. Harlow

Date Published: November 21, 2024