Ordination
A Gift from the LORD
Surrounded by support and love, transitional deacons embrace new ministry during Ordination BY MARY STADNYK Associate Editor
I In top photo, deacon candidates Nicholas Alescio, left, and Benedict Quiambao, are shown at the start of the Ordination Mass. In inset photo, Bishop O’Connell greets the two deacon candidates upon entering the sanctuary. Mike Ehrmann photos
t was nonstop smiles and even a few tears of joy from the moment Nicholas Robert Alescio and Benedict Bien Quiambao arrived at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, for their Mass of Ordination to the Order of Deacon. Before the start of the May 16 Mass, the two men and their families each spent individual time with Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., exchanging conversation and taking photos. That sense of joy only intensified throughout the Mass and the heartfelt moments that followed when the two new deacons gratefully accepted congratulations from loved ones and well-wishers who had gathered from far and wide. “The Ordination is an affirmation that the Lord is really calling me to work in his vineyard,” said Deacon Quiambao. Following almost nine years of seminary formation he said, “I have realized that it truly is not something I can ask for myself, but a gift from the Lord.” Continued on 25
June 2026
THE MONITOR MAGAZINE 23