St. Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Church : Diaconate Ordination of Brother Melvin Paul
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Prayerful Greetings!
I along with Mr. Paul Mangalath and family cordially invites your presence and prayers for the Diaconate Ordination of Brother Melvin Paul on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. by His Excellency Mar Jacob Angadiath, Bishop of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago and with His Excellency Dennis J. Madden, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
This is a proud moment for our church and our parish, as we celebrate the ordination of one of our own to become a deacon, the last step to become a priest. We are expecting a lot of priests, guests and visitors to our parish this Saturday.
I want to give you the logistical information for the day. Please follow the directions of the volunteers.
DRESS CODE
I encourage men to wear blue shirts/ties and women to wear blue sarees/churidars. Blue is the color of Royalty and is used to welcome the coming of a King. For this event, we want to show our appreciation for Brother Melvin Paul who will be ordained as Deacon, the last step to become a priest and partaker of the Royal Priesthood of Jesus.
PARKING
All of you are requested to arrive by 1:45 p.m. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. Volunteers will direct you where to park.
As we have limited parking at our church, please limit the number of vehicles from each family. Please share your car with others so there will be limited congestion. There will be no parking in our church parking lot except for Bishops, Priests, identified Committee Members, and those with disability parking. No one will be permitted to park in the parking spaces between rectory and church.
15 parking spaces are available behind the 711 stores on Francis Avenue. Additional parking is available on the streets outside of Halethorpe MARC station (Southwestern Blvd). You cannot park inside the MARC station parking lots. If the Southwestern Blvd, street parking is full, you may park at Oregon Avenue as well. There will be shuttle services available to and from the Southwestern Blvd to the church.
Please don’t stop your car on Oakland Avenue (the front street of our church). For those who park on Oakland Avenue, please park only on the church side of the street. This is due to congestion issues, residential neighborhood and a busy street.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms in the church basement are reserved for women. Restrooms in the rectory basement and the potties outside are reserved for men and boys.
PROCESSION
Priests will vest and will be ready for the procession at 2:45 p.m.
SEATING
Bishops and Priests stand outside the front doors of the church until everyone seated. The front three rows of pews will be reserved for priests. Seating inside the church is reserved for priests, relatives, disabled individuals, and immediate guests. As the seating inside the church is limited, all parishioners are requested to be seated at the basement of the church or at the tent. Events will be live telecast through the wide screen projector that was set up in the basement and TV screens at the tent. Please follow the directions provided by the ushers.
CONSECRATION CEREMONY & HOLY QURBANA
Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath will be officiating the Ceremony. Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Madden along with numerous priests will concelebrate. A lunch reception to follow and food will be served at the tent behind the rectory.
Today and always the newly ordained lives out the words of the scriptures, and priesthood is forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. This simple ceremony carries with it profound meaning for the life of the church. Through this rite, the deacon began his final step towards priesthood. I request your prayers for a successful Ordination Ceremony. If you have any questions, please let me know.