The communio

 St. Peter consecrates St. Lawrence as Deacon

(Fra Angelico, 1449)

The requirements of study for the diaconate vary from diocese to diocese in the United States and in the rest of the world. Some dioceses require that you come to the course of study having already received a baccalaureate degree of some kind or other, others do not. Some dioceses require that you have theological training before you can begin formation for the deaconate, while many others do not have that requirement.

A very close friend of mine in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati was some time ago discerning whether or not he might have a call to the deaconate. He told me after much prayer, he had determined that he was not being called to Holy Orders, although I cannot help but wonder if the special rigor of the pre-formation which he shared with me-one in which potential Aspirants (not actual Aspirants) must complete a certificate in lay ministry or like requirement before being admitted to formation-might have had something to do with his decision. Not only is he in a busy professional position, but in one where he sometimes struggles financially. I'd hate to think that someone might turn away from the Lord's call solely because of a reason like that. However, I also know that the educational requirements that a diocese places upon its potential deacons often reflects the needs of that diocese-and as a matter of firsthand knowledge I know that there is a shortage of priests in Cincinnati that is so severe that deacons are being relied on to do much of the day-to-day work of a parish pastor, especially in cases where parishes are being clustered together with other parishes to share a pastor or parochial vicar. Two former parishes at which I was once a member in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati-one in Dayton and one in Cincinnati-have (since I lived there) now been clustered with two other neighboring parishes, solely for the purposes of sharing a priest. In a situation like that, deacons are indispensable, but they may need a bit more formal education.

In the Diocese of Knoxville, Aspirants don't have to have any previous theological or ecclesiastical education before they begin formation (at least not yet), but the way we do our formation is certainly accelerated and it is very intense. Aspirants/Candidates meet once a month for highly focused study, prayer, and spiritual formation. Each month we cover a different necessary topic on the long road to ordination, and the topic doesn't end with our classroom discussion. We have assignments of reading to complete, often on this month's material as well as the next, papers to write (sometimes more than one), and most of us have already begun praying the Divine Office each day-a few have been doing that for years in the first place. If all we had to do in our lives were those things, it would probably be pretty easy to manage but-oh yes-we all have secular lives to lead and daily work to finish on top of those things. If it still sounds simple to you, the class schedule is rigorous because we have to do what is asked of us before the next meeting, and we don't always have a full month. If I could give one piece of advice to any potential Aspirant it would be this: Ora et labora-Prayer and Work! The Benedictine model would serve you well. I am a Benedictine Oblate, and have been for years, but I don't think I have ever fully appreciated how the Rule of St. Benedict might apply more fully to daily life than I now do, as an Aspirant in formation.

I can honestly say that, whatever the rigors of the formation process might be both now and in future, thus far I would not trade it for anything in the world, or as Nicole might say, for all the tea in China (we are big coffee and tea drinkers at our house). The men who I have so far been privileged to be in formation with are proving to be some of the finest people I have ever come in contact with, and they are becoming a blessing for me along this journey. It is easy to see why they are all here, and the format that is used in our formation is also proving to be a blessing, because it is allowing me to come to know these men as brothers in faith, brothers in Christ, and potentially as Brother Deacons with whom I might collaborate for years to come. I thank God for them and pray for them.