Candlemas 2022: Taking the Cassock at Flavigny Seminary
On February 2, 2022, on the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, 11 seminarians received the cassock from the hands of Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais in the presence of their families and many priests.
The Feast of Purification is a traditional date for conferring the cassock on young Levites, because this feast also commemorates the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
Receiving the livery of Jesus Christ on this date is therefore a powerful image: the day when the Child Jesus is presented in the Temple which was built for God, in order to fulfill the prescriptions of the ancient Law, and to give them a new plenitude, the young seminarians present themselves before God to put on the clerical habit, the habit of Christ.
This vestment is the first official step on the way to the altar. Admittedly, it is far from definitive, but it is nonetheless very important. By changing his habit, the seminarian wants to show that he voluntarily separates himself from the world, and he already becomes, at least in appearance, a priest.
This year, eleven seminarians received the cassock from the hands of Bishop Tissier de Mallerais: 1 Swiss, 1 Luxembourger, 1 Kenyan, 2 Italians, and 6 French.
It remains to pray to the Lord to give us “many holy priests” and to ask Him for perseverance for all those who have put on His livery on this day.
(Sources : MG/Séminaire Saint-Curé-d’Ars – FSSPX.Actualités)
Crédit photo : © L.-M. Grossler
