A good and holy deacon — and deacons are always good and holy, by the way — reprimanded me for not being more solicitous in my inclusion of good and holy deacons in everything that Holy Souls Hermitage is on about. So, I repent! I added a note to the bottom of the about page, and updated the welcome widget on the side bar.
Perhaps this lacuna had to wait to be fixed until I started to come to grips a bit more with my own rather extraordinary experience as a deacon, which had some spectacular moments, some good, some rather trying (which is always for the good). In putting up the first chapter of my autobiography the other day, I said that in the incident recounted that I was a youngster, which was true. But what I failed to mention is that I was only some months away from being ordained to the diaconate.
I do have a devotion to Saint Stephen, whose martyrdom is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. Another favorite deacon is Lawrence. The latter became a significant part of a trilogy I’ve been writing…
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
A man who is like a second father to me is (God willing) going to be ordained to the permanent diaconate next June. I often find myself praying for priests and forgetting about the deacons! Hopefully having my “dad” around will rectify that.
It is good to remember Deacons particularly at this point in history. At least, my own experience of it. When I was received a Catholic in 1997 and up until recently the Deacons I witnessed … Well left me to wonder if they weren’t just a distraction in the Mass. Lately though, it seems the Good Lord brings Deacons that inspire awe. Deacons that make my sons want to be Deacons, like a good Priest makes them want to be Priests. I believe it is a positive “sign of the times”. Much like we are witnessing a revolution of reformation in the Priesthood, I think soon we will all be talking about what the Deaconates are turning out! (exceptions on both sides)
Talk of a Deacon here in Uganda, we will only understand that this person will be ordained a priest in at most 1 year. I have read about permanent deacons on the internet, but there is none in Uganda.
We keep them in our prayers.
Thanks the good deacon for this reminder. Although I pray for our Church, Holy Father and priests often, I too, am guilty of forgetting about deacons, seminarians and new vocations in general. I know that not all deacons become priests, but at point are seminarians ordained deacons?
Dismas, I know in our diocese, at any rate, men are ordained as “transitional deacons” a year before they are ordained to the priesthood. Then there are “permanent deacons” who can be married. Hope that helps.
JMD, very helpful indeed. Praying for our Church, Holy Father, priests and all religious would include seminarians as deacons. Praying for new vocations, however, may be a seperate issue that I need to pay more attention to.