In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, once a man is admitted to the diaconate formation program, it is a long and spiritually rich five-year journey to ordination.
During each of the five years there are two retreats, the Winter Retreat and the weeklong Summer Immersion Retreat. These retreats are an immersion in prayer, silence, study, learning, reflection, integration and fellowship. They are occasions to grow closer to God, deepen and interiorize one’s faith, better understand the vocation of a deacon, and further discern one’s own call.
The first two years are called the period of aspirancy. Once admitted to the deacon formation program, the man is called an aspirant, one who is aspiring to be nominated as a candidate for ordination to the diaconate.
The first year is comprised of a series of Saturday and evening seminars on prayer, the theology of holy orders, and spiritual and human growth. The first-year internship is “Living the Corporal Works of Mercy,” an experience of service that is the foundation of the Order of Deacon. If the aspirant is married, his wife is required to participate in every aspect of the program during the first year. The seminars and the internship provide context for further reflection by the aspirant, his wife and his formation directors to determine if he is moving in the right direction.
At the end of the first year, and at the end of the next four years, an annual scrutiny is conducted. It is a conversation with the man, and if married, his wife, and is conducted by a committee comprised of two or three deacons, one or more of their wives, and a priest. This review and evaluation process is designed to make a recommendation whether the man should continue with the diaconate formation program.
The curriculum for the second year of aspirancy is philosophy, sacred Scripture, the new evangelization, spirituality, and the human skills of listening and accompaniment. If the aspirant is married, his wife is invited but not required to participate in these sessions. There is a separate program for wives that continues from the second year throughout the remainder of formation. The second-year internship is “Pastoral Care of the Sick and Suffering” in which the aspirant serves in a long-term care facility or a hospital.
At the end of the second year, in addition to the annual scrutiny, if the aspirant still believes that he is being called by God to serve as a deacon, he petitions to become a candidate for holy orders, a canonical state in which the man is formally accepted by the archbishop to continue on the road to ordination. Admission is celebrated liturgically with the Rite of Admission to Candidacy. At this point the man is no longer called an aspirant, but instead, a candidate.
The third-year program delves more deeply into various theological and ministerial topics. The internship is “Corrections Ministry” in which the candidate offers pastoral care for inmates in a workhouse or county jail.
During the fourth and fifth years, the candidate designs and implements an Apostolic Project. The candidate chooses a project to address a concrete ministerial need that he has observed and undertakes it over a number of months. At the conclusion, the candidate prepares a report on the nature of the project, what took place, its spiritual and theological significance, and then makes a presentation on his project to his classmates, their wives and his formators.
The fifth year’s curriculum focuses on preaching and the rites to be celebrated once ordained: the Mass, baptisms, marriages and funerals. The candidate writes a letter to the archbishop to request ordination. If married, his wife writes a letter of consent. Finally, canon law requires the candidate to participate in a retreat prior to ordination. And then, after such a long journey building a firm foundation, the candidate is ordained a deacon.
Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This column is part of a series on the sacrament of holy orders.
