Family Ties as Our Matt Becomes a Deacon
2 July 2009
Matt Anscombe of St Mary’s parish in Swindon was ordained a deacon on Saturday (27 June). The ceremony took place at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, where Matt is training for the priesthood. Bishop Declan Lang celebrated the special Mass.
You can enjoy the celebration with our image gallery on the right. It shows Matt with his father, Deacon Hugh Anscombe, also of St Mary’s. Deacon Paul Owen from the Portsmouth Diocese is also pictured. He’s Matt’s Godfather and Hugh’s cousin. Both assisted in the ceremony.
To have three members of one family ordained as deacon must be very unusual, if not unique, and Matt and Hugh were delighted that Paul could be with them at Wonersh for this special occasion.
Matt has been training for the priesthood at Wonersh for the past two years, following initial studies in Glasgow during several years with the Redemptorists and, all being well, hopes to be ordained a priest for the Clifton Diocese. Matt has many interests; he enjoys walking, cycling and running, having completed the London Marathon twice and also the Paris Marathon. He raised over £6,000 in his first London Marathon in 2003 and this was donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a charity close to Matt’s heart. More recently, he completed the Great South Run on behalf of CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development).
Matt said: “It was a really joyful occasion. It is the fruit of several years of journeying, and I am thankful for all the support I have been given by my family and the Church during that time. I look forward now to priestly ordination in 2010, and to parish ministry in the south-west for many years to come.”
Matt’s father, Hugh, who will be celebrating his 10th anniversary as a permanent deacon on 31 July, reflected on Matt’s ordination. He said: “I can’t find the words to describe just how it felt to be so involved with the ordination liturgy for Matt, and to vest him with his stole and dalmatic. It was such a wonderful happening, and was the culmination of following Matt’s progress over the past nine years since he felt the call to priesthood. I am convinced that his time with the Redemptorists was an essential element of his journey. The Reds have a special devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and it was more than fortuitous that Matt’s ordination was on the day of that Memorial.”
Matt’s mother, Margaret, said: “It was a proud day for me, and it was clear to me that Matt radiated a sense of great joy as, after ordination, he proceeded to assist the bishop on the sanctuary for the first time as a deacon. This sense of joy and peace was evident also the following day when, back in his parish in Swindon, Matt and Hugh assisted Father Liam Slattery at the three Sunday Masses, and Matt preached his first homilies. This was on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the patron saints of our diocese.”
Clifton Diocese Vocations Director Father Robert King said: “Matt’s ordination to the diaconate was at once moving and inspirational.
“It takes courage to respond to God’s call and I pray that God will being the good work begun in Matt to completion as he embraces a ministry that will touch the hearts of many.”
Matt Anscombe of St Mary’s parish in Swindon was ordained a deacon on Saturday (27 June). The ceremony took place at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, where Matt is training for the priesthood. Bishop Declan Lang celebrated the special Mass.
You can enjoy the celebration with our image gallery on the right. It shows Matt with his father, Deacon Hugh Anscombe, also of St Mary’s. Deacon Paul Owen from the Portsmouth Diocese is also pictured. He’s Matt’s Godfather and Hugh’s cousin. Both assisted in the ceremony.
To have three members of one family ordained as deacon must be very unusual, if not unique, and Matt and Hugh were delighted that Paul could be with them at Wonersh for this special occasion.
Matt has been training for the priesthood at Wonersh for the past two years, following initial studies in Glasgow during several years with the Redemptorists and, all being well, hopes to be ordained a priest for the Clifton Diocese. Matt has many interests; he enjoys walking, cycling and running, having completed the London Marathon twice and also the Paris Marathon. He raised over £6,000 in his first London Marathon in 2003 and this was donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a charity close to Matt’s heart. More recently, he completed the Great South Run on behalf of CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development).
Matt said: “It was a really joyful occasion. It is the fruit of several years of journeying, and I am thankful for all the support I have been given by my family and the Church during that time. I look forward now to priestly ordination in 2010, and to parish ministry in the south-west for many years to come.”
Matt’s father, Hugh, who will be celebrating his 10th anniversary as a permanent deacon on 31 July, reflected on Matt’s ordination. He said: “I can’t find the words to describe just how it felt to be so involved with the ordination liturgy for Matt, and to vest him with his stole and dalmatic. It was such a wonderful happening, and was the culmination of following Matt’s progress over the past nine years since he felt the call to priesthood. I am convinced that his time with the Redemptorists was an essential element of his journey. The Reds have a special devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and it was more than fortuitous that Matt’s ordination was on the day of that Memorial.”
Matt’s mother, Margaret, said: “It was a proud day for me, and it was clear to me that Matt radiated a sense of great joy as, after ordination, he proceeded to assist the bishop on the sanctuary for the first time as a deacon. This sense of joy and peace was evident also the following day when, back in his parish in Swindon, Matt and Hugh assisted Father Liam Slattery at the three Sunday Masses, and Matt preached his first homilies. This was on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the patron saints of our diocese.”
Clifton Diocese Vocations Director Father Robert King said: “Matt’s ordination to the diaconate was at once moving and inspirational.
“It takes courage to respond to God’s call and I pray that God will being the good work begun in Matt to completion as he embraces a ministry that will touch the hearts of many.”
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