Nine seminarians, three from Trinidad and Tobago, took another step in their journey to ordination last Monday when the ministries of Lector (Reader) and Acolyte were conferred on them.

The Mass of the Installation of Ministries took place at the Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Ugandan Martyrs, Mount St Benedict. Archbishop Patrick Pinder, Archbishop of Nassau, Bahamas presided.

“It is wonderful to be here,” he remarked at the start – a feeling shared by those gathered for the ceremony, which coincided with the 64th anniversary of the Seminary. It also came at the start of a meeting in Port of Spain of the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, hence the availability of Archbishop Pinder and other bishops.

Concelebrating the Mass were Bishop Vincent Darius of the Diocese of St George’s, Grenada, and Bishop Gabriel Malzaire of the Diocese of Roseau, Dominica. Also present were Seminary Rector Msgr Michael de Verteuil, Vice-Rector Fr Robert Llanos, Spiritual Director Fr Hugh Joyeau, lecturer Fr Arnold Francis and Vocations Director of the Diocese of St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Fr Neil Scantlebury.

The installation ceremony was also joyfully witnessed by other members of the Seminary community, as well as by relatives and well-wishers of the seminarians. Five of the seminarians were installed as lectors and the other four as acolytes.

The five new lectors are Raymond Francis and Leslie Tang Kai from the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, Will Howard from the Archdiocese of Castries, Saint Lucia, Nigel Karam from the Diocese of Roseau, Dominica, and Anthony Abraham from the Diocese of St Thomas.

The four acolytes are Robert Christo from the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, Roger Graham from the Archdiocese of Kingston, Jamaica, and Hugh Logan and Carl Haynes, both from the Diocese of St George’s, Grenada.

These official ministries are stepping stones towards their future ordination as deacons and then priests. During his homily, Archbishop Pinder highlighted the theme of “covenant” contained in the readings of the day.

He then explained, by quoting from Pope Paul VI, how the newly installed should become an integral part of this New Covenant. Lectors, because they must proclaim the Word to God’s people, must become intimate with Scripture, he said.

The acolytes, who now had the official task of assisting the priests and deacons at Mass, must fully embrace the Liturgy, especially the Eucharistic Liturgy, he added.

The actual ceremony of installation was very simple yet symbolic. The five seminarians who were installed as Lectors were each given a book of Scripture as a sign of their receiving God’s Word to share in the Liturgy, while the four who received the ministry of Acolyte were each given the chalice as a sign of their commission to serve Christ through the liturgy.