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Voices of the Western
Dominican Province
AN INTERVIEW WITH
REV. BRYAN KROMHOLTZ, O.P.
On his ordination to the Diaconate
On May 1, 1999, at 10 AM, Brother Bryan Louis Kromholtz, OP, was ordained a
deacon at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington,
DC. Bishop Leonard Olivier, SVD, auxiliary bishop of Washington, was the homilist and
ordaining bishop. Brother Bryan had spent his third year of theology studies in
Washington, DC, at the Dominican House of Studies of the Dominicans' Province of St.
Joseph (Eastern Province), and so was ordained in DC. He has since returned to his own
Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Western Province), where he will study one more
year before he is ordained to the priesthood.
Brother Bryan's student master, Fr. Michael Dodds, OP, was present, as were his parents
and other family and friends. Ordained with Bryan was Brother Brendan Murphy, OP, of the
Eastern Province.
The diaconate is the final step on the road to the priesthood, but it is important in
its own right. "The deacon is conformed to Christ the servant," Bryan explained.
"A man who is ordained to the transitional diaconate, as I have been, should exercise
the gifts that come along with that ordination. He should serve as a minister of the word,
at the altar, and among the members of the Church as a minister of the charity of Christ.
These gifts should then be incorporated into his ministry as a priest."
According to the rite of ordination, after Brother Bryan promised celibacy and
obedience, the bishop laid hands on him and said the prayer of consecration. Then, Brother
Bryan, now a deacon, was vested in the stole of the deacon (worn over the left shoulder,
falling diagonally across the chest and back and fastened together at the right hip), and
the dalmatic (the tunic- shaped, solemnly decorated outer vestment of the deacon). He then
was presented with a book of the Gospels, signifying his ordained grace and duty to
proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the name of the Church. The words of this part
of the rite, spoken by the bishop to the newly ordained, were especially fitting for a
Dominican deacon: "Receive the Gospel of Christ: Believe what you read, teach what
you believe, and practice what you teach."
Bryan described his thoughts on his ordination: "Even though this ordination is
the culmination of a lot of hard work, both on my part and by all those who have supported
me, the essential work is done by the Holy Spirit. The grace of the ministry is there,
with or without my help, although I am called to do my part as much as possible. The
assurance of the Spirit's action through my ministry is a great comfort, but at the same
time demands a deeper trust and commitment, both of which are impossible without grace.
More than ever, I will be counting on that grace, as well as the support of the prayers of
the Order and all my friends and family, to live according to the calling of the
diaconate." Our prayers are indeed with Brother Bryan as he continues on the path of
the ministry of preaching Christ according to the example of St. Dominic. |
