Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson presided at the installation Mass for the institution of lectors and acolytes Sunday afternoon at Notre Dame Seminary. Twenty-one seminarians were instituted to the ministry of acolyte, who are charged to assist priests and deacons at the altar, and another twenty-three to the ministry of lector, who are entrusted with reading from the Scriptures during liturgies. In all, these men represented 13 dioceses and 2 religious communities.
In the rite, each candidate is handed a symbol of the ministry to which he is being instituted, a bible or a ciborium with bread for the respective ministries, as the presider exhorts the men to fulfill the ministry faithfully.
Institution to these ministries are steps on the journey toward priesthood. Seminarians are typically instituted as lectors in their first year of theological studies and as acolytes the next year. Ordination to diaconate and priesthood usually follows completion of the third and fourth year of theology, respectively.
To view all of the photographs from the Institution Mass, click here.