BRIDGEPORT— On, Saturday, May 22, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano will ordain Colin Lomnitzer as a transitional deacon for the Diocese of Bridgeport. The Ordination Mass will be celebrated at 11 am at St. Augustine Cathedral.
Ordination as a transitional deacon is the last step before ordination to the priesthood, which typically occurs a year later after additional pastoral, liturgical and educational preparation.
Colin Lomnitzer is a long-time parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull and current resident of Derby. He is son to Charles Lomnitzer and Sharon Watson and attended elementary and middle school in Trumbull and high school at Fairfield College Preparatory School. He attended Catholic University of America and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Sacred Heart University in 2018.
Colin is a member of the Knights of Columbus and enjoys playing soccer and golf. Colin served as pro-life committee chair and a resident assistant while attending Catholic University of America and organized and helped to lead the Convivio youth conference for many years. He has been on two mission trips to Lima, Peru, and even spent the summer of 2019 in Lima studying Spanish.
Colin’s brother Tyler will read the first and second reading, and Father Eric W. Silva will vest him as a deacon. Dignitary priests in attendance will be: Most Reverend James Massa, rector of St. Joseph Seminary; Father William Cleary, vice rector of St. Joseph Seminary; Father Michael Bruno, dean of seminarians, St. Joseph Seminary and Father Matthew Ernest, academic dean/director of liturgy, St. Joseph Seminary. Also in attendance will be Father Matthew Breslin (ADNY), deacon of the word.
Colin will celebrate his first Mass as a deacon on May 23, 11 am, at St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull. Father Joseph Marcello, pastor of St. Catherine’s will be the principal celebrant.
“Ever since my family became Catholic at the Easter Vigil in 2005, St. Catherine of Siena became my ‘home away from home,’” says Colin. “It was there that I realized that priests were people too.” Colin says he grew in devotion to the sacraments, especially confession and the Eucharist. “In addition to learning how to pray, immersing myself in a Catholic environment became very important to me.” At Catholic University of America, Colin grew in Catholic friendships, fraternity, intellectuality and spirituality. “Along with the help of the saintly influences of St. Josemaría Escrívá and St. John Henry Newman, Christ’s call for me to be His priest became abundantly clear.”
