CHARLOTTE — A prayer vigil and Holy Hour were held June 12 for the six men who are preparing to become priests to serve the People of God in western North Carolina. Family, friends, fellow seminarians and clergy of the Diocese of Charlotte gathered at St. Patrick Cathedral to lift them up in prayer just days before their ordination to the priesthood.
The ordinands are:
- Deacon Christopher William Angermeyer, 28, of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Charlotte
- Deacon Anthony del Cid Lucero, 30, of St. Joseph Parish in Newton
- Deacon Nicholas James Kramer, 25, of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Swannanoa
- Deacon Kolbe Raymond Murrey, 25, of St. John the Baptist Parish in Tryon
- Deacon Andrew Jeffery Templeton, 26, of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Gastonia
- Deacon Joseph Gerard Yellico, 30, of St. Mark Parish in Huntersville
Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., led the prayer service and afterward blessed the personal chalices that the future priests will use at their first Mass.
At the foot of the altar were six special kneelers handmade for the ordinands by Mary’s Sons Apostolate, which has brought them to churches all over the diocese over the past year as a lead-up to the ordination Mass.
The “Kneeler Pilgrimage” gives people across the diocese an opportunity to pray for the future priests in a personal way and share congratulatory messages for each future priest in little prayer books. The kneelers and prayer books will be given to each priest following ordination on Saturday at St. Mark Church in Huntersville.
Everyone is invited to the 9 a.m. ordination Mass or watch the livestream online here.
— Catholic News Herald
Related:
- First class of homegrown diocesan priests to be ordained
- Get to know the Diocese of Charlotte’s six new priests
