Formation Candidates Installed in Ministry of Lector

The Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati, installed 12 Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology (MTSM) Seminarians in the Ministry of Lector in the Chapel of St. Gregory the Great. The Mass was held on September 3, the Feast Day of St. Gregory the Great.

The Ministry of Lector is one of three formal steps required by the Church prior to one’s being ordained to the diaconate and priesthood. The first is the Rite of Candidacy through which a man formally states his intention to be formed for ordination. The Ministry of Lector follows and is a formal recognition, on his part, of the relationship he is called to have with Sacred Scripture and his willingness to apply himself to its study and proclamation for the good of the Church. The Ministry of Acolyte, the final ministry received prior to ordination, is a formal recognition of his willingness to serve the community, primarily in Her liturgical rites.

“Each of these is a significant step for our seminarians,” said the Very Reverend Anthony Brausch, Ph.D., President & Rector at MTSM. “It is the Church’s way of calling the seminarian to a particular focus at that point in his formation and to affirm the work he has done up to then on the path to ordination to the priesthood.”

The ministry is typically conferred in the Spring at the end of the first year in theology. This past Spring’s celebration was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those who were instituted into the Ministry of Lector are:

Brice Jacob Berger, St. Nicholas, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Adam Christopher Berning, Sacred Heart, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Stephen Augustine Codekas, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
John Paul Grusenmeyer, Sacred Heart, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Antonio James Losekamp, St. Margaret-St. John, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Benjamin Steven Mersch, Our Lady of Good Hope, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Matthew Elliott Montag, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Anthony Joseph Sanitato, St. Rose of Lima, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Christopher Russell Turner, St. John XXIII, Diocese of Toledo

MTSM is the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s graduate-level Catholic Seminary and School of Theology with nearly 200 full and part-time students. Founded in 1829, our 75-acre campus provides preparation for ordination to the priesthood and permanent diaconate as part of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. In addition, our School of Theology offers classes for graduate, non-degree and certification programs for laity, clergy and religious.

For additional information about MTSM, please contact advancement@athenaeum.edu or 513-231-2223.