The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-08-26
THE ORDINATION
OF FATHER .k Il J.
Elaborate and Impressive cere-
monies at the Cathedral.
THE BIsHo P PREsIDE E;
And Number of the Clergy ofthe City
Participa,e-The New Priest Will
Say His FRS, Mass Here To>
Day-WiIl Go on to Texas.

In the presence Of a large congregation,
including many of his friends and reia-
tlves, the Rev. Kendall James keegan,
of this city, was yesterday morning at
ST. Peters Cathedral elevated to the Ro-
man Catholic priesthood.
The ordination was at first scheduled
to occur some time later. Mr.. Keegan.
who is son of Mr.. John keegan, OF
Richmond and who in his youth was
an altar boy at the church where he to-
day received holy orders, has been for
the past ten years a student at ST.
Charles College, Ellicott City. Md. He
still had one year to stay. but the pre-
carious condition of his health rendered
it imperative that he be ordained at once.
The ceremony was fixed to occur about a
week from this time at the cathedral,
but it was found necessary to avoid even
this slight delay. The young man was,
therefore. telegraphed for to proceed to
Richmond at once. He did so and the
service was held to-day.
THE BISHOP PRESIDES.
Bishop Van dc vyver presided over the
exercises, which began at o'clock. Sew
eral visiting priests were present and the
church was filled with people The Very
Rev. Father Bowler acted as archpriest
and the Rev. Thomas SicGuigon, OF Bal
t:more. and the Rev. Thomas E. Waters,
Of Manchester, assisted the young Levite,
as the candidate is called before ordina-
ton Among the others present were
the Rev. Fathers William and John. Of
St Mary's; T. B. O'Reilly, of Sacred
Heart; Perrig, of St Peters; and Reilly.
of st. Joseplls The assistant-maste rs
of ceremonies were several young SEM
inarians, one OF whom was from Eng
land and the other from Baltimore. There
were Richmonders as follows: Mr..
Thomas Rankin, Mr.. Augustus HOLD
leib and Mr.. Joseph Gill. The acolytes
were Edgar Donohue, Louis Donohue and
J. Tucker the book-bearer was Cornelius
Poh, and the crozier-bearer, Norman
Cavanau8h.
IMPRESSIVE CEREMONIES.
The impressive exercises incident to the
ordination occurred during mass, cele-
brated by the Bishop. Just after the
epistle the archdeacon called the name
OF the young Levfte, who answered
which he held in his hand. Shortly af-
ter this the Bishop intoned the Litany of
the Saints, during which the young
priest remained PROSTATE at full length
in front of the altar. The imposition of
hands by the Bishop-one of the most
solemn parts of tho ceremony-followed
and all the priests present prayed for a
while with Cutstretched hands. Tho
Pishop then clothed the candidate in the
stole and chasubic and offered prayers
The hands Of the young priest were
anointed and he was given the power to
ccnsecrate and to bless. The hands were
then closed by the Bishop and tied with
a linen cloth. after which the chalice
with wine, water and host was present.
ed to be touched by the first and second
fingers of each hand, the Bishop at the
time saying In effect: Receive the pow
er Of offering masses for both the living
and the dead"
The essential part Of the ceremony
was now over. The young man was
now a priest and he assisted In the re-
mainder of the mass. The conservation
of oaths and the kiss Of peace followed,
and then the new priest received COM
munion and drank for the first time the
unconsecrated wine and water from the
chalice. AT this point the Bishop recited
these beautiful words: II shall not
now call you my servants. but my
friends because you have known all the
things which have been accomplished in
your midst, Allelulla-''
The young priest then stood in front
OF the Bishop and recited the Apostles
Greed, after which he received from the
Bishop the power of renting sins
Clasping the Bishops hands the priest
promised obedience to him and his sue
cessors. The service closed with an ex-
hortation by the Bihop to the new
priest on the dignity of the priesthood.
GAVD HIS BLESSING.
the Service cJocad 4,,,a.
of the young priest passed to the Altar
rail. where. individually, they received
the kiss of peace and the blessing from
Father Keegan. The sight was a most
touching one. The tears of some of the
members Of the family OF the young
man could not be restrained. After this
Father Keegan, from the Altar, gave
his general blessing to the entire con-
gregation. On his way from the sac
restv to the Episcopal residence he was
met by several youn ladies who knelt
on the ground while he blessed them
In the residence itself he held a sort of
reception of his friends, who crowded in
to congratulate.
GOES SOUTH FOR HTS HEALTH
While he will work in this diocese
hereafter. Father Keegan goes now to
Texas for the benefit OF his health, whtc:,
is extremely poor.
He will become chaplain Of religious
institution in Austin, Texas, and then
when he has recovered will come back
here to his old home At the seminary
he was brilliant young student and his
addition to the diocese Of Virginia will
be source of pleasure to all.
This morning at the Monte Maria
convent Father keegan will celebrate