Our Brother....One Step Closer to the Altar

On Friday, we had the honor in attending our brother's minor orders ceremony.  Josh is one step closer to the altar, and we are so incredibly happy for him.   We found a few photos on the seminary website to show what took place on Friday. 

Here is a little description of the responsibilities associated with the  minor orders he received:


Porter: 
                     "The first of the minor orders is that of porter.  It confers the charge of opening and closing the church, of keeping from it any unworthy persons, and of guarding the sacred vessels, vestments, and so on.  The special virtue which he requires is zeal for the house of God and of souls."

He calls the faithful to the house of God. 


Lector:
                   "The second minor order is that of lector.  The role of the lector is to read the Holy Books, particularly at the office of matins, and to teach the catechism.  He may also bless bread and new fruits.  His special virtues are the love and the study of Holy Scripture, as well as zeal for the sanctification of the faithful.  A profound faith is necessary to fulfill his role in a holy manner."

Whoa.  This is totally deep. 

Josh is the seminarian to the left. 

Josh is in the back on the left side. 

Where's Josh? 



Our children did well for up to two hours of the ceremony, but for fear of nuclear meltdown, we decided to take a break, hit up Cabin Coffee, and find a park to play.  One amusing incident happened during the ceremony.  The seminarians who were receiving the minor orders of porter, walked into the church, and rang the bell right near our pew.  Tobias found it quite amusing when it was Uncle Josh's turn to ring the bell.  And his laugh let everyone in the church know as well.  A soon to be sub-deacon in front of Josh had a hard time keeping his composure after hearing Tobias chuckle.  We love our little man and his quirky ways. 

Now onto our adventure after the ceremony.  We had a great time trying to feed ducks cheese puffs.  They stayed away from our cheese puffs, but the sea gull didn't turn it down. 

They were excited crossing the bridge and looking at more ducks.  We were afraid a child was going to go overboard so we were a bit tense. 

We named the ducks Drake and Daisy and watched the dig for "crabs". 

Well, there is this awesome park in Winona!  We will definitely visit it again when we attend other ceremonies or ordinations in June. 

"So can you like bless my new bread and new fruit?" 

"Congratulations, Uncle Josh.  Can I ring that bell?" 

"Congratulations on your present from the bishop, Uncle Josh." 

Group shot

Mama Bear, Twin Bears, and Grand Bears

 Grandma Bear and others

Magdalene wouldn't leave the shot, but this picture came out cute. 

 Guess who took this picture....
Silly grandma. 

Until next year!

 She wanted to take a nap by the tree. 

"I sure would like a bit of chef's bread!" 

"Sissy, I will protect you." 

We are two tired kids. 

"I am really upset I couldn't take a bite of chef's bread."


And the ride home was absolutely quiet and peaceful...and we enjoyed more Cabin Coffee again.