Ordination Mass- Long and Picture Heavy

Day 3 was THE day, December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, the whole reason we had all traveled to Rome. My husband and I were there, my husband's sister-in-law, my husband's parents, his brother, wife and 3 kids, 5 of his other brothers, one of his sisters with her husband and one of their children, and one of my husband's other sisters. (My husband is one of 14 children.)

The setting was the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. We didn't get a 'tour' of this church, so I can't tell you anything special about the building itself. But it was beautiful! Thankfully there was a professional photographer. All of the pictures to begin with, during the ordination, were provided on a CD afterwards. Here are a few pictures of the altar.

All the men sitting on each side in white are the ones about to be ordained.

Here is Jon's brother, as Deacon Nathan, before the ceremony.

Here they are entering the Basilica.

Here is a picture of the other seminarians behind the altar. The chair behind them is the Pope's chair, a chair that he sits in after being made Pope, and makes him "officially" the Pope.

The mass was amazing.

The Cardinal laying his hands on Nathan.

Father Alvaro putting the vestments on Father Nathan.

Father Nathan accepting the patent and chalice from the Cardinal.

The Cardinal telling Father Nathan congratulations.

Preparing for the Liturgy of the Word.

An amazing sight. All the men in black and white cassocks are the other seminarians.

Body of Christ.Blood of Christ.

The new priests participating in the first consecration.

All of the new priests!!! Congratulations to all of them!!

I cannot begin to express how amazing this whole thing was! It was mostly done in Italian and Latin, but thankfully they provided books that had the Italian, Latin, Spanish and English. One of the readings was in English and one or two songs, including "Here I am, Lord" which is Father Nathan's "theme" if you will. Meaning, they had a video before the mass started and that was what his said. "Here I am Lord."

Up until this point, I had never met Jon's brother, Nathan. Everyone else had not seen him since 2005, and Jon hadn't seen him since 2002. Here are a few pictures of the first time everyone saw each other.

We were the first ones to see him. Here is Mary, her daughter, Jon and Emma with Fr. Nathan (all siblings)

Brian and Nathan embracing.

Looking at each other. Such a tender moment.

Greg and Father Nathan hugging.

Father Nathan can't believe how much Greg's grown haha!

Father Nathan holding one of his nieces.

Mom and Father Nathan. Tears were flowing from all because of the sweetness.

Father Nathan and his dad.

Dad kissing Father Nathan's consecrated hands.

Father Nathan giving his parents a blessing.

And the last picture, not really related, but taken after the mass, is us, in front of St. Thomas.

I apologize that this was so picture heavy, but I felt pictures were much better in showing you what all happened. There are many more pictures, which my husband is in the process of posting on a new family website, www.16millers.com. Feel free to check it out if you want to see more pictures. I'll tell you more about the rest of Day 3 tomorrow, along with Father Nathan's first mass. I think the ordination and the first mass were equally as beautiful, in two totally different ways. But you'll have to read tomorrow about that. ;-)