Two weeks have passed since I attended an extraordinary ordination. Yes, three remarkable women felt the call to the priesthood one as early as six years old. This elevation to the Roman Catholic Priesthood took place at the Church of the Covenant in Boston, MA. The ritual included the calling, the presentation, the examination and the election of the candidates for ordination to the priesthood.
Family and friends provided witness to the calling while the candidates were presented in turn one by her husband, another by her daughter and the third by a friend. The election included the laying on and anointing of hands as well as the investiture with stole and chasuble. There were two presiding bishops – one from America and the other from Germany.
I truly never thought I would witness such a powerful ceremony. These three women finally had the support and affirmation to answer their faith and love filled calling. All of the women will serve in the United States outside of Massachusetts.
In the early days of the Church many women bore witness to the Christianity Jesus Christ called them to spread and participated in priesthood as well. In fact the first person Jesus appeared to after His Resurrection was Mary Magdalene. It is no coincidence that the ordination took place on the Sunday closest to her feast day of July 22nd. I felt privileged to be there on the historic moment when three amazing women answered the call to ministry. The celebration was wonderfully heart-felt. May every grace, good wish and God’s blessings be theirs, Amen.
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2 comments:
Dotty-
Two wonderful musings. I wish I could have been at the ordination. What a wonderful celebration and witnessing to behold. And your blog on the Kevenys was beautiful. A tribute of which both priests and teachers would be proud. The two pieces are companion pieces: a celebration of teachers, priests and women--- and a testament that the latter is called in service to both!
Love,
Curl
Young Dorothy,
Are you saying that the Roman Catholic executive team in Roma has approved the ordination of ladies as priests? I have to get out more because there has been no coverage of this in the news sources I read. There must be a mistake.
Or is this some (forgive the word) heretical, breakaway group with their own views on how things should be run? That is a big difference. People get excommunicated for these things. I am not making any judgements because I agree with your views on the early role of women in the christian movement. I left the metaphysical part of RC behind long ago but the historical facts have always fascinated me.
Readers of your blog may be surprised to realize Mary Magdalen
was not only Jesus' wife but also a high priestess in one of the Jewish sects affiliated with Jesus's orthodox Essene group. Magdalen means "watchtower" and her role was to look after the faithful. Her black robes were the symbol of her position, inherited from her father. The heir to the Jewish Davidic kingship, i.e. baby Jesus, could not marry just anybody. They had three children. After MM emigrated to France, they intermarried with local tribes. Their DNA descendants are among us today. The house of Stuart in Scotland, especially.
The famous black Madonna, so revered in French catholicism, is Mary Magdalen. The black face actually refers to her priestly robes. By all accounts she was quite bright and theirs was a happy marriage. It seems Jesus was quite fond of her and this made the rustic Apostles, especially Peter, jealous. Peter was a simple fisherman and more a bodyguard - he was not educated like MM.
The highjacking of the Christian movement(real goal was to get Jesus back on the Jewish throne and the Romans out of Palestine)by Peter and Paul from the family of Jesus unleashed the full fury of their misogny on the orthodox movement.
It is about time something should be done but alas it will not happen any time soon in orthodox RC, if ever. Oscar Wood
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