Left to Right: Fr. Jacob Carazo (a friar of St. Joseph Cupertino Province who serves as Assistant Formation Director), Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. (Minister Provincial), Friar Rich Rome, OFM Conv., and Fr. Michael Zielke, OFM Conv. (Guardian and Director of our St. Bonaventure Friary – Post Novitiate.

November 1, 2022: During the Evening Liturgy in the chapel of our St. Bonaventure Friary [Post Novitiate], in Silver Spring, MD, Friar Richard Rome, OFM Conv. was received into the minor orders of Lector and Acolyte, as a gift in his Franciscan and priestly vocation. A lector is the reader and bearer of God’s Word who is given responsibility in the service of our Faith, which is rooted in the Word of God, proclaiming God’s Word during the Liturgy, helping others come to believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all while accepting the Word in obedience, meditating on the Word in order to grow in a deeper love of God’s Scriptures, so as to reveal Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, to our world. The chief offices of an acolyte are to light the candles on the altar and carry them in procession, to prepare wine and water for the sacrifice of the Mass, and to assist the sacred ministers at the Mass and other public services of the Church. (Can.  1035 §1. Before anyone is promoted to the permanent or transitional diaconate, he is required to have received the ministries of lector and acolyte and to have exercised them for a suitable period of time.) Friar Rich is a solemnly professed student friar of our province who is in continued studies at The Catholic University of America.

For more information on adding the life as a Franciscan Friar Conventual of our province to your discernment journey, email our Province Vocation Directors, Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv. and Fr. Manny Vasconcelos, OFM Conv. at vocations@olaprovince.org. For general information, visit FranciscanVoice.org. For information on the life of our Order’s friars around the world, visit our Curia’s website (ofmconv.net).