What is the Diaconate?

This month, the Diaconate is rather on my mind. It is a question of Jubilees! It involves the precious metal called gold!! And that essential of civilised life, Wood!!!

On May 21, 1967, I was ordained, so the accompanying documents assured me, to the Diaconate in the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford. True, the rites of Ordination used had, sadly, been mangled during the events which followed Henry Tudor's split from Rome, but, well, there you go. Can't win them all!

On May 26, 2012, I was ordained, so the accompanying documents assured me, to the Diaconate in the the Cathedral Church of the Most Precious Blood in Westminster. True, the rites of Ordination used had, sadly, been mangled during the events which followed the Second Vatican Council, but, well, there you go. Can't win them all! But that was the day upon which I had the happiness to be incardinated into the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham.

Fifty Golden Diaconal Years ... or is it just Five Wooden Years!! What's a decimal point among friends?

Gaudete mecum!!!

To assist your Joy, I am going to reprint the result of my studies about what the Diaconate actually, really, is, in the august and ancient Roman liturgical tradition. Deo volente, they will occur on alternate days (so as not to over-irritate those who are rather bored by this sort of thing), with their original threads.

Please do not allow yourselves to get so cross that you submit dismissive two-line Comments containing typographical errors. This phenomenon rarely convinces me that the writer has something useful to say. Because later portions of this series may well answer points that occur to you, the less impetuous among you may prefer to wait until the end of the series (May 12), when I shall moderate any accumulated comments.