A glorious day full of grace
“Glorious.”
Reflecting on his ordination and installation, from the luncheon before the Mass to the reception that followed, Bishop James Ruggieri says that word sums up the beauty of the day.
“The extraordinary grace of the day is hard to describe. It’s indescribable. The apostolic connection, that, wow, you’re sharing in the ministry of the apostles and the fullness of orders. I think all that contributes to that adjective that it was glorious,” he says.
Bishop Ruggieri was ordained and installed as the 13th bishop of Portland on May 7 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland. It was the first time in 30 years that a bishop was ordained for the diocese, the last being Father Michael Cote as auxiliary bishop. But it has been 94 years since the Holy Father chose a priest, rather than a current bishop, to lead the diocese.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., was the principal consecrator of the ordination Mass, with Bishop Robert Deeley, the 12th bishop of Portland, and Bishop Richard Henning, bishop of Providence, serving as co-consecrators. All 22 bishops present, however, participated in the ordination rite, a recognition of the important role that bishops have in shepherding the Church not only in their local dioceses but around the world.
“In the way that Christ’s loving plan is continued throughout history, our bishops are ordained by bishops who had been ordained by bishops who have been ordained by those who in history were ordained by Jesus at the Last Supper to fulfill Christ’s mission that He has given us — to teach, to sanctify, and to lead,” Cardinal O’Malley said in his homily. “Today, in the presence of this community of faith, Father James Ruggieri will receive the same ordination and share in the apostles’ ministry. Jesus is calling this man to follow Him and to be a shepherd after His own heart, by the sacrament and the power and the love of the Good Shepherd by which the gifts of the Spirit are made available to believers of every age. Without bishops and the lineage of the apostles, there would be no priests, no magisterium, no power to forgive sins, no possibility of Eucharist, and that is why the Church’s ordination of bishops is a key to our identity as Catholics.”
Before the ordination rite could begin, the Diocese of Portland had to formally request that it take place. Msgr. Andrew Dubois, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Bangor, who attended the seminary with Father Ruggieri, stood before Cardinal O’Malley and asked him to "ordain this priest, James Thomas Ruggieri, to the responsibility of the episcopate."
Cardinal O’Malley then requested that Pope Francis’ apostolic mandate naming then-Father Ruggieri as bishop be read, which was done by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.
In it, the Holy Father wrote that then-Father Ruggieri’s “Christian and priestly qualities” convinced him to confidently place the Church of Maine in his care.
In his remarks, Cardinal Pierre elaborated on some of the qualities to which Pope Francis was referring.
“Your closeness to the poor is one of the reasons that the Holy Father has desired to make you the shepherd of an even greater number of people,” Cardinal Pierre said. “You will remember, of course, in your ministry as bishop, the many faces of poverty in our culture: the material poverty, to be sure, but also the poverty that exists where Christ is not known or where His love and mercy are not fully appreciated by those who are struggling to recognize their dignity. For that reason, your work of evangelization, teaching, and your personal presence among the people of this vast diocese will be a great enrichment for the people of Maine.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Cardinal O’Malley, who noted that Bishop Ruggieri just recently professed as a Third Order Franciscan.
“His ministry as a priest, his love for the poor, the homeless, certainly reflect this Franciscan ideal, and I am certain that the themes of the life of St. Francis and his spirituality will be reflected in the ministry of our new bishop,” Cardinal O’Malley said.
Once the apostolic mandate was read, Cardinal Pierre handed it to Bishop-elect Ruggieri, who showed it first to those in the sanctuary and then to the faithful in the pews. He walked down the center aisle, raising it above his head so that many of the nearly 1,000 people present could see it.
“Cardinal Pierre was very fatherly in a lot of ways, and he really emphasized to me that he wanted me to show the apostolic decree, to be among the people. My sense is that his vision of a bishop is to be among the people. Pope Francis has really put emphasis that shepherds must be among the sheep,” Bishop Ruggieri says.
A willingness to seek out those sheep that stray were among the promises that Bishop-elect Ruggieri made once the rite of ordination began. Responding to questions from Cardinal O’Malley, he also resolved, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to carry out until death the office entrusted to bishops by the apostles; to proclaim the Gospel of Christ faithfully and unfailingly; to build up the body of Christ, His Church, and to remain in unity with the Order of Bishops; to render obedience to the Holy Father; to encourage and guide the holy people of God; to reach out in kindness to the poor; and to pray without ceasing to God for His holy people.
The bishop-elect then lied prostrate before the altar while the Litany of Saints, one of the most intense prayers of the Catholic Church, was sung. The litany and act of lying prostrate is common to the ordination rites of all three ranks of holy orders: bishop, priest, and deacon.
“It really emphasizes submission. You’re submitting yourself; you’re giving yourself over to the Church,” Bishop Ruggieri says. “I was praying, hearing the saints called out and being invoked. Certain saints stood out to me. I heard my namesake twice. I was recalling, too, my ordination to the diaconate. It was 30 years ago on April 23. So, I was recalling that experience because that was a very profound experience for me, as was my priestly ordination. So those three orders kind of came together at that moment on the floor.”
Bishop Ruggieri says also particularly poignant for him was the laying of hands and the consecratory prayer through which the ordination takes place. The prayer dates to the Constitution of Hippolytus in the year 215. As Bishop-elect Ruggieri knelt before the altar, Cardinal O’Malley, followed by each of the bishops, placed his hands on Bishop-elect Ruggieri’s head. The cardinal then pressed the Book of the Gospels briefly upon his head, signifying that Jesus, too, was imposing His hands. With two deacons then holding the Book of the Gospels above the bishop-elect’s head, Cardinal O’Malley began the prayer of ordination. At one point, all the bishops joined in, invoking the power of the Holy Spirit.
“My eyes were closed the whole time, just sort of soaking it in,” Bishop Ruggieri says. “Then, at the end of that, it was knowing that, wow, now I am a bishop.”
When priests are ordained, their hands are anointed with sacred chrism, but for bishops, it is their heads that are anointed, a tradition that recalls the priestly consecration of Aaron in the Old Testament (Lv 8:12).
“Sometimes anointings are frugal with the chrism, but this was not frugal. The cardinal poured the oil, and then he rubbed it in my head. It dripped down into my eyes, but it was OK. It was almost like I didn’t want to wipe my eyes,” says Bishop Ruggieri. “The whole experience gave me a sense that, wow, this is really very beautiful.”
Bishop Ruggieri saved the cloth, known as a “manutergium,” that was used to wipe the chrism from his head and says he will have it buried with his mother should she predecease him. It is a tradition embraced by many priests but one Bishop Ruggieri says wasn’t the custom when he was ordained in 1995.
“The idea is that when she goes before God, that the Lord will know by her hands being wrapped in that that her son is a priest, that she gave the Church a priest,” he says.
Now ordained, Bishop Ruggieri was presented with symbols of his office by Cardinal O’Malley. First, he was given the Book of the Gospels, a recognition of his call to evangelize, followed by the episcopal ring, miter, and staff, which had been blessed the evening before during solemn vespers.
Wearing the miter and ring and holding the staff, Bishop Ruggieri proceeded to the cathedra, and upon sitting in it, he was installed as the 13th Bishop of Portland.
“I thought, ‘This is a big chair,’ not only literally but figuratively. This is a lot of responsibility. Looking out and seeing the people was very emotional. It was a very moving moment for me, recognizing the extent of the pastoral responsibility that I know that I now have,” he says. “I appreciated the applause, but I also felt the weight of the office at that point specifically. One point of my life ended at that moment, and another chapter began.”
After being installed, all the bishops welcomed Bishop Ruggieri with the fraternal kiss of peace.
“I really felt the collegial fraternity of my brother bishops that day,” says Bishop Ruggieri. “When each bishop one by one came up and offered that sign of peace to me, that was a very beautiful moment in the ordination rite, making that connection that now I am a member of that fraternity of bishops.”
Among those there to see the ordination were many family members and friends, including Bishop Ruggieri’s mother and three brothers.
“[I am] glad I could witness the joyful celebration of my son’s well-deserved ordination as bishop of Portland,” says Irene Ruggieri.
“We were overwhelmed with the majesty and solemnity of the ordination and installation. We felt wrapped in grace, love, and joy, realizing this moment is all part of God’s plan for James,” say John and Peggy Ruggieri, the bishop’s eldest brother and sister-in-law.
Parishioners who attended the Mass say they, too, felt a sense of grace.
“The ordination and installation Mass was so joyful and celebratory but also deeply spiritual. The anointing with chrism, the laying on of hands — it was all powerful. And Bishop Ruggieri’s reaction to it all, it was hard not to get caught up in the moment. Such a humble and gracious man, we are truly blessed,” says Janet Beckwith of the Parish of the Precious Blood in Caribou. “Seeing Bishop Deeley passing over the helm to Bishop Ruggieri was emotional. Bishop Deeley has served our diocese and our parish so faithfully.”
“I was in awe of the tradition that really goes back 2,000 years, all the way to the apostles and the laying of hands on the head of a new bishop to invoke the Holy Spirit. It was very moving and inspiring,” says Stephen Letourneau, CEO of Catholic Charities Maine. “I am very hope-filled for our diocese and the Catholic Church here in Maine and for all people of Maine, including those we are called to serve at Catholic Charities.”
“It was a joy and a blessing to have had the opportunity to attend Bishop Ruggieri's ordination and installation,” says Veronica Seda, from St. Patrick Parish in Providence. “To be present as the priest who I was privileged to serve with at St. Patrick Church and St. Patrick Academy, who has walked with me and my son throughout these years, who has personified the love of Christ, and who is someone we love very much, was being elevated to the episcopate was a gift from God.”
“What an overwhelming sight to see all the bishops, priests. and deacons, Cardinal O’Malley, and the bishop of Providence. It was an honor to be in the presence of all these dedicated men and also the religious sisters who were in attendance,” says Sandy Willard of Christ the Divine Mercy Parish in East Millinocket. “We left this ordination with a spiritual high and eagerness to spread our Catholic faith.”
That is something Bishop Ruggieri says he is looking forward to helping the people of Maine do,
“The Holy Spirit has to kind of lead that process forward, but I really want to listen to people and get their perspective on things, particularly our priests,” he says.
In his concluding remarks at the ordination Mass, Bishop Ruggieri entrusted his episcopal ministry and life to the Blessed Mother and vowed, following words of advice once given by St. Mother Teresa, to try to not get in God’s way.
