The ordination was set for the 100th Anniversary of the death of St. Eugene de Mazenod, the founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the order to which Raphael and our other priests belong. We arrived just before the Mass was supposed to start and though we originally planned to separate the children wound up sitting on the far side of the altar across the carpet laid out for Raphael to prostrate himself during the Invocation of the Saints.
The atmosphere was so special that we could keep the children distracted looking at new things for the first hour of the Archbishop's homily. (Father Andrew translated from English into Russian.) Eventually, I had to escape with Neil. I changed his diaper while the Archbishop finished his talk. Then we stood in the annex to the chapel and listened to the Ordination.
We heard Raphael accept the priesthood three times in many languages. While the mass was mainly in English and Russian, there were efforts to include Turkmen (which the Archbishop kept relating to Turkish), Latin (which led to some Italian asides) and Polish (which is Raphael's native language).
Since Ruth Anne saw everything I asked her when she saw Raphael become a priest and she said when he put on his new white vestments.
When it sounded like the actual ordination had finished, I withdrew again with Neil. I'd been standing and trying to rock him to sleep but he wanted to nurse and another lady had suggested in Russian that I take him to a side room. So we went. It was a La Leche League meeting in there. Three other moms were nursing three other little boys all of different ages and talking about solids and water and so on.
We came out near the end of the consecration in time for the passing of the peace. When I went up to take communion, I saw Father Raphael for the first time.
After the Ordination there was plov.
The next day, Sunday, was Raphael's First Mass as a priest. His parents blessed him as he entered the chapel. The priest from his hometown gave the homily, telling stories of when Rapha was an altar server. The first mass concluded with a special blessing (the equivalent of a papal blessing) and the distribution of Memorial cards.
The Church in Turkmenistan draws people in need. One mother brought a little child who was about Neil's age and wearing a cast. Waiting for the blessing, the child lay in her stroller, smiling at us. It seems the cast fascinated Ruth Anne. She wrapped this herself:
Sunday afternoon, Father Raphael, his parents and the other priests, joined us for pancakes (tomato quiche, spinach ravioli and peanut butter cookies. Everyone had fun with the tent. Here's Father Diego playing cars with Neil:
Before they left, I showed the priests the Uncle Pat's ordination card which Grandma Patti passed to us at Christmas. They were even more excited than I thought they would be. "De Mazenod Scholasticate, maybe he was an Oblate!" "He is. Look - OMI!" "Ah, you are family," "He must be one of the first, 1928." We pray that Father Raphael and his fellow priests in Turkmenistan meet Uncle Pat one day.
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