Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

BRIDGEPORT—“Surrender all you have to Christ. He will confirm you so you will be an instrument of his presence,” Bishop Frank J. Caggiano said before ordaining Fr. Colin Lomnitzer to the priesthood this morning at St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport.

Hundreds of family, friends and clergy filled the Cathedral for the joyful ordination of Father Lomnitzer, who was raised in Trumbull and, along with his family, is a long time member of St. Catherine of Siena Parish.

The Most Rev. Gerardo J. Colacicco Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of New York and the Most Rev. James Massa, Ph.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese of Brooklyn and Rector, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, N.Y., attended the ordination along with many diocesan priests and seminarians.

“Everything in your life has brought you to this moment,” said Bishop Caggiano, who noted the ordination was taking place “on the threshold of the Solemnity of Pentecost,” the birth of the Church and moment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

“What will happen to you in a few moment you will invite Holy Spirit to come upon you so you might become a vessel of light and fragrance of Christ in the world, and whoever sees you will see Christ first,” he said, seated in front of the altar. .

The bishop said he thought of Fr. Lomnitzer as a “traveler,” because his life has been a journey toward Christ and toward the priesthood, which began when his family was received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2005.

“You are a man of faith, you are a man of God, and you are among the ranks of his priests,” he said, as Fr. Lomnitzer stood before him.

Fr. Lomnitzer’s brother, Tyler, delivered the First and Second Readings, including this verse from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “17 So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Fr. Lomnitzer has been in formation since 2016. He attended Catholic University of America and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Sacred Heart University in 2018. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology, a master’s degree in theology and a master’s of divinity from St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.

The Bishop said Fr .Lomnitzer’s journey toward a vocation was formed in part by his devotion to Saint John Henry Newman, whose prayer, “Dear Jesus” describes the mystery of the priesthood: “Dear Jesus, Help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul.

The bishop told him that while no one is worthy of the gift of priesthood, a priest can find strength and joy by striving for a life of integrity, prayer, and holiness, and filling himself with the radiance of Christ.

“Never preach what you do not believe, and always preach the fulness of Christ,” said the bishop, who noted that the newly ordained must also be prepared to deal with what St. Paul described as “the wolves among us.”

“And those wolves have names,” he said. “They are ignorance, apathy, indifference, and mediocrity.”

The bishop said that by conforming his life to Christ and giving witness, Fr. Lomnitzer can “keep the wolves at bey and bring the light of Christ to a waiting world…Only the light of Christ will dispel the darkness.”

He said that at the moment of ordination a priest “becomes a vessel of the healing of Christ that comes through the sacraments” that can liberates the world with true freedom found in the power of Christ.

The Bishop’s homily was followed by Promise of the Elect, the Litany of Supplication in which the priest lies prostrate before the altar, the Laying on of Hands, the Anointing of Hands and the Handing on of Bread and Wine that form the rite of Ordination.

Photos by Amy Mortensen

During the ordination ceremony, priests throughout the diocese process to the altar twice; first for the Laying on of hands, an ancient gesture that dates back to the Apostles, and then for the fraternal kiss that welcomes Fr. Lomnitzer as a brother priest.

During the ceremony, Fr. Lomnitzer was vested as a priest by Rev. Joseph A. Marcello, Pastor, St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Trumbull, and Director of Seminarian Formation, Diocese of Bridgeport.

Rev. Mr. Férry Galbert Rev. Mr. Andrew LaFleur served as Deacons of the Mass; Master of Ceremonies Rev. Mr. Patrick Toole, Mr. Carlos Mesquita were Master of Ceremonies. Seminarians of the Diocese of Bridgeport were servers. The beautiful liturgical music was provided by Dr. William H. Atwood, Organist and Diocesan Director of Music Ministry who led the Schola.

At the end of Mass Bishop Caggiano thanked Fr. Lomnitzer’s parents and family members for encouraging his vocation, and announced that Fr. Lomnitzer’s first assignment will be at St. Mary Parish in Ridgefield under the direction of Msgr. Kevin Royal Pastor.

Deacon Lomnitzer will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, June 5 at 2:30 pm at St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull. Father Joseph A. Marcello, pastor, will serve as the homilist. The concelebrants will be Monsignor Thomas W. Powers, rector, Pontifical North American College; Father Joseph A. Marcello, pastor, St. Catherine of Siena; Father Frank S. Donio, S.A.C., executive director, Conference of Major Superiors of Men; and Father Eric W. Silva, chaplain, St. Joseph’s High School.