Widower, 60, ordained a deacon in Albany diocese on way to priesthood
ALBANY>> Frederick Richard Lesser, a widowed father of three grown children, was ordained a transitional deacon Saturday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Madison Avenue and Eagle Street, a step toward priesthood.
“From the time I was small I have always wondered if I had this vocation,” said Lesser, 60.
Lesser is a retired equine veterinarian from South Bethlehem, and is expected to be ordained as a priest in June.
“It’s been a slow unfolding for many years. The doors kept opening in this direction,” Lesser said.
When asked about his past as a husband and a father, he said, “I still have that life with me. I’ve got three kids, my wife passed away nine years ago, but I was blessed by God to have two wonderful vocations.”
Lesser was joined at the ceremony by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard, and about a dozen other priests.
As an active parishioner at St. Patrick’s in Ravena, Lesser began to see a new path after his wife’s death.
He said his call to the priesthood was fostered by a number of good priests and religious women.
Previously, Lesser, a Bradford, Pa., native, studied at Penn State University and Cornell University, where he earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1981. At Cornell, he met Marilyn Schmidt, whom he later married.
The two opened the Equine Clinic at OakenCoft in South Bethelehem, where they served horses and horse owners in New York and Massachusetts for nearly three decades.
Since following his call to the priesthood, Lesser has received his master’s in divinity from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Albany and attended the Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Boston, a school that focuses on men who are called later into life to pursue the priesthood.
While some are ordained “permanent deacons,” others, like Lesser, are “transitional deacons,” on their way to priesthood.
Bishop Scharfenberger recalled his own ordination in September 1972.
“I knew that when I was becoming a deacon, I knew I was taking a significant step,” said Scharfenberger. “Even though it was not the priesthood, I knew that I was now making that step to really follow the Lord in this way for the rest of my life.” In his homily, Scharfenberger said the step of becoming a deacon was not a step up, but down, “to serve on his knees looking up, not serve on his throne looking down.”
Lesser said the ceremony was like “an out of body experience.”
“I sort of forget the rest of you are back here and it’s pretty much a moment between me and God,” he said.
“From the time I was small I have always wondered if I had this vocation,” said Lesser, 60.
Lesser is a retired equine veterinarian from South Bethlehem, and is expected to be ordained as a priest in June.
When asked about his past as a husband and a father, he said, “I still have that life with me. I’ve got three kids, my wife passed away nine years ago, but I was blessed by God to have two wonderful vocations.”
Lesser was joined at the ceremony by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard, and about a dozen other priests.
As an active parishioner at St. Patrick’s in Ravena, Lesser began to see a new path after his wife’s death.
He said his call to the priesthood was fostered by a number of good priests and religious women.
Previously, Lesser, a Bradford, Pa., native, studied at Penn State University and Cornell University, where he earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1981. At Cornell, he met Marilyn Schmidt, whom he later married.
The two opened the Equine Clinic at OakenCoft in South Bethelehem, where they served horses and horse owners in New York and Massachusetts for nearly three decades.
Since following his call to the priesthood, Lesser has received his master’s in divinity from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Albany and attended the Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Boston, a school that focuses on men who are called later into life to pursue the priesthood.
While some are ordained “permanent deacons,” others, like Lesser, are “transitional deacons,” on their way to priesthood.
Bishop Scharfenberger recalled his own ordination in September 1972.
“I knew that when I was becoming a deacon, I knew I was taking a significant step,” said Scharfenberger. “Even though it was not the priesthood, I knew that I was now making that step to really follow the Lord in this way for the rest of my life.” In his homily, Scharfenberger said the step of becoming a deacon was not a step up, but down, “to serve on his knees looking up, not serve on his throne looking down.”
Lesser said the ceremony was like “an out of body experience.”
“I sort of forget the rest of you are back here and it’s pretty much a moment between me and God,” he said.
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