An Oath Before Diaconate...

George Fitzsimmons, Karlo Hocurscak and Jiwon Yoon will be ordained as Deacons for the Archdiocese of Boston by Cardinal O'Malley on Saturday. This morning they took the Oath of Fidelity to the Church during Morning Prayer with the Saint John's Community. As they prepared to place their hand on the Bible first brought to Boston by our first shepherd, Bishop Cheverus, each of them made the following profession:

...In assuming the office of Deacon, I promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church. 

With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties incumbent on me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service. 

In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it. 

I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law. 

With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish. 

I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.

So help me God, and God's Holy Gospels on which I place my hand.