ROME — David Nerbun of the Diocese of Charleston was one of 44 seminarians of the Pontifical North American College in Rome who were instituted as acolytes during a celebration of the Eucharist March 15. Cardinal Edmund Szoka, archbishop emeritus of the Diocese of Detroit, was the principal celebrant of the liturgy, according to a press release from the college.
Nerbun is in his second year of theological studies. The seminarians have received the ministry of lector and acolyte in anticipation of their diaconal, and then priestly, ordination. Cardinal Szoka reminded the candidates, “being installed as an acolyte constitutes an official act of the church by which you will in virtue of the office itself be designated to assist the priest in the celebration of the holy Mass and in giving holy Communion to God’s people and also to the sick.”
The ritual for the installation of acolytes includes the prayer: “Take this vessel of bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your lives worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his church.”