The ordination ceremony for Charbel Daw will be held Friday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Saint Fabien Church. The ordination ceremony for Réjean Thibodeau will be held Tuesday, June 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix Church.

The Grand Séminaire de Montréal is pleased to announce the diaconal ordination of two of its seminarians, Réjean Thibodeau and Charbel Daw.

The two seminarians were called to this step on their journey towards the priesthood by Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal. Vicar General Alain Faubert of Montreal will preside at both ceremonies.

• The ordination ceremony for Charbel Daw will be held Friday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Saint Fabien Church, 6455 Ave. de Renty, Montreal QC  H1M 1M3

• The ordination ceremony for Réjean Thibodeau will be held Tuesday, June 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix Church, 10215 Ave. Georges-Baril, Montreal QC  H2C 2M9

Réjean Thibodeau

Réjean Thibodeau was born in 1959 in Ste-Mélanie. He is the eldest of five siblings. From a very young age, he loved going to church and serving as an altar boy. He kept this habit all his life, going to church daily to attend Mass. He always had the deep sense that he was destined for the priesthood.

Nevertheless, he elected to pursue studies in administration at the Cégep in Joliette, following which he worked for 32 years as night dispatcher for a company specializing in shipping poultry.

When he was in his 20s, he had the opportunity to enrol at the Grand Séminaire; however, health concerns prevented him from following through on these plans. Then, at 55, he began his journey, leaving everything behind in order to devote himself to his priestly formation. “Life as a seminarian for me is like working full-time for God. The Lord helps me, and is continually preparing my path forward. I feel that I’m already in his service,” says Réjean, for whom the upcoming step of diaconal ordination means “a mixture of joy and emotion. I’m finding inspiration as I prepare for this celebration in a prayer by Father Ludger Brien, S.J. It was given to me by a parishioner who belongs to the Société du Christ Seigneur: “Lord Jesus, teach me to do all things with calm, with care, with joy, from love, in communion with Mary, your Mother and mine.”

He concludes, “I want to be a deacon in the service of love and joy.”

Charbel Daw

Charbel Daw was born in Lebanon, and while still very young moved with his family to Senegal. Here he grew up and pursued his studies, taking his PharmD at the University of Dakar. After this, he went to study at the Université Paris V in France, obtaining a DESS in drug toxicology. Arriving in Montreal in 2011, he obtained an MA in practical theology at the Université de Montréal.

Charbel’s upcoming ordination inspired the following reflection:
“It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me,” he says, quoting Galatians 2:20. He goes on to explain: “this ordination will configure me after the example of Christ the servant, who calls me to take off myself and to put on Christ, so that I may give myself wholly to the service of his Church, as He did.”

What is diaconal ordination?

Diaconal ordination allows a candidate to be consecrated as a “deacon” in the service of God’s people. The deacon, whether he is married or celibate, can administer Baptism, dispense the Eucharist, perform and bless a marriage, administer last rites, proclaim the Holy Scripture to the faithful, administer sacramentals (blessing objects or persons, a procession, prayer, etc.), preside at funerals and burials.

For Réjean Thibodeau and Charbel Daw, this step will later lead to their priestly ordination, which will take place in about a year following their ordination as deacons. At that time, they will receive the second degree of the sacrament, called the “Sacrament of Holy Orders,” and will become priests.

About the Grand Séminaire de l’Archidiocèse de Montréal (gsam-montreal.org)

Since 1840, the chief mission of the Grand Séminaire de l’Archidiocèse de Montréal has been the formation of priests with a deep devotion to Jesus Christ.

In the fall of 2021, the new Grand Séminaire became a centre for basic general formation in philosophy, theology and pastoral care, training future priests and permanent deacons, as well as welcoming religious and lay persons from Montreal and the environs, through a partnership with the Université de Laval’s faculty of theology and religious sciences. The Grand Séminaire de l’Archidiocèse de Montréal is also offering a new program for the formation of the permanent diaconate.

The Grand Séminaire has been established in its new quarters since 2020, where it embraces the human dimension of life in the parish of Saint-Arsène, situated in the midst of the popular neighbourhood of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.

Follow us on Facebook: Grand Séminaire de l’Archidiocèse de Montréal | Facebook
Visit our YouTube channel: Grand Séminaire de l’Archidiocèse de Montréal – YouTube