Mass begins as usually but after the Gospel the men to be ordained are called up to the altar. There the priest in charge of the seminary presents them to the bishop and testifies that they are ready to be ordained to the priesthood.

The bishop then delivers his homily and instructs the men in the duties of the priesthood. He does this from his chair, or cathedra to show both is authority as bishop and his father like care for those to be ordained.

The candidate then make promises to live a holy life, to not get married and of obedience. To make the promise of obedience the candidate kneels before the bishop  and places his hands into the bishops hands.

After the promises the Church invokes the prayers of the saints over the men while they lie prostrate in supplication. This act of laying down expresses the man humility before God. Everyone in the church, led by the bishop kneels, in prayer for the men while they sing the litany of the saints. The litany calls upon many saints to help the men become good priests.

 The the bishop and then all the priests present lay hands on each man to call down the Holy Spirit. This is an ancient gensture used to confer the Holy Spirit by the Apostles themselves. This is shown in Acts 4:17 "Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." It was also used to by St. Paul to ordain Timothy a bishop, Tim 4:14

The Bishop prays a prayer of consecration and the men are now priests. The new priests put on priestly vestments with the help of another priest. 

After they have been vested the bishop in an ancient sign of the priesthood anoints their hands with oil in preparation for the holy work they have ahead of them as priests.  This blessed oil, chrism was blessed by the bishop on holy Thursday and is used for the sacrament of Confirmation. It is a richly perfumed oil and has a strong smell which is hard to get out. This oil is wiped off on a cloth which is traditionally given to the man's mother.

The bishop also places into their hands a bread and wine for the day's Mass entrusting them with their priestly duty to celebrate Mass for God's people.
Finally the bishop and all the priests greet the new priests with the sign of peace and Mass continues with the new priests concelebrating with the bishop.

The Ordination Mass will probably be a little over two hours long.

49 days 19 hours 24 minutes 31 seconds until Nick's ordination!

http://cathedralstl.org/

Where to Park?

Where should I sit?

While there should be plenty of room in the Cathedral for anyone who wants to be there, there are certain pews reserved for immediate family.  This is so my or one of my classmate's mother is not stuck in the back. So please be respectful of the reserved pews, but if the spot is not reserved your welcome to sit there.