Richard Charlwood, a Perth teacher and one of Australia’s leading icon painters, was ordained a Deacon for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Perth on March 9 before a full church of confreres and friends.
Bishop Peter Stasiuk CSsR, the head of the Ukrainian Church in Australia, joined the community at St John the Baptist Church in Maylands as the ordaining prelate.
The solemn liturgy was sung in both Ukrainian and English. No musical instruments were used but the parish choir led the people in responses to the Bishop’s and parish priest Fr Wolodymyr Kalinecki’s petitions using beautiful four part harmonies.
Speaking with The Record, earlier this week, Deacon Richard said it was difficult to pinpoint the precise moment at which a man became a deacon during the rite of ordination.
At the start he was a sub deacon. By the time the Greek “Axios” (He is worthy!) was proclaimed he was a deacon.
Whereas Roman Catholic tradition has tended to treat the sacraments as tightly defined and specific acts, Eastern Catholic tradition prefers to speak of the sacraments as mysteries and the ineffable conference of God’s grace.
Serving as a sub deacon for most of the liturgy, having been elevated to the office on June 23 last year, Richard entered through the royal doors of the Icon screen demarking the sanctuary, the holy of holies, after the consecration.
In one of the most moving parts of the ceremony, he was then led around the altar three times, kissing its corners as he went, before kneeling on one knee before the Eucharist on the altar.
The bishop then recited a number of prayers as he laid his Omophorion (episcopal stole) and hand on Richard’s head.
Formerly a Roman Catholic and a religious, Deacon Richard began attending the parish for a time circa 1993-94, returning in 2007 before formally becoming a Ukrainian Catholic in 2008.
“A priest some time ago said to me, “well, you can’t help who you fall in love with,” Deacon Richard said of his joining the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
“My vocation goes way back. Once I had left the religious life, the call didn’t really go. The call remained and it was really a matter of finding where to pitch my tent.”
The Deacon said he had been “flat out” since his ordination, serving the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified, a Lenten service incorporating Vespers and Holy Communion, every Wednesday and Friday at the parish. He also delivered his first homily during last Sunday’s Liturgy.
He has been learning the parts of the liturgy he has to sing in Ukrainian but said he was “not there yet”.
The role of the deacon in the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s liturgy was perhaps more pronounced in than it was in the Roman Church, he said.
“The deacon receives a unique charism of service in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. He moves between the Nave and the Altar area, exhorting both the people and the priest to continue praying, but does not directly address prayers to God himself. This is the priest’s role.”
In his homily, Bishop Stasiuk pointed to the importance and dignity of the office of deacon in the early Church and in the contemporary Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Although the ministry of a deacon in the Eastern Churches includes teaching and preaching, his most visible and obvious role was reciting litanies during the Holy Liturgy.
This role is to call people to prayer; to elevate their thoughts and hearts to God, just as he elevates the Book of the Holy Gospels and the Holy Gifts.
Bishop Stasiuk said the community might be surprised at how much of the liturgy the newly ordained deacon would facilitate, with the priest speaking around only 10-15 per cent of the prayers, often initiated by the deacon.
“You have a deacon, and thank God that you do,” Bishop Stasiuk said.
“Now you have a priest. You have a deacon. You have a Sister, and you have all of the baptized people, fellow Christians, Ukrainian Catholics who have many obligations towards rebuilding the Church of God, and fostering the faith.”