Cordonnier ordained a priest in Russia (Updated with photos)

The Catholic Telegraph / December 27, 2014 / 5.3k

Cordonnier a — Andrew Cordonnier, now a priest, lays prostrate before the altar at St. Remy church in Russia, Ohio during his ordination to the priesthood. (CT Photo/John Stegeman)

Staff Report

Cordonnier b — Father Andrew Cordonnier, left, poses with Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis M. Schnurr Dec. 27 at St. Remy in Russia, Ohio. (CT Photo/John Stegeman)

Photo Gallery added Dec. 29. See Below.

A native son of the parish laid prostrate before the St. Remy altar Dec. 27. Before the same altar where he received his First Holy Communion and was later confirmed, Andrew Cordonnier was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati by Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr.

Archbishop Schnurr announced Saturday that Father Cordonnier’s first assignment would be parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes in Cincinnati. Father Cordonnier had been serving as a deacon at Our Lady of Lourdes since April.

Calling the priesthood a “gift”, and a “burden that can only be carried out in love,” Archbishop Schnurr told the faithful that a newly ordained priest is a new man.

“The priest is a man with flaws. Flaws that will never be purified until he meets God face to face. Yet he has taken from among them, and made them representatives before God,” he said during his homily. “After ordination, he is a new person. A person who is now a man for others, as Christ was. A man who’s life is now completely dedicated to the service of the flock, as the life of Jesus was. With ordination, he is no longer the man he was. His life is completely given over to service, to serve and not to be served, after the model of Jesus whom he makes present.”

Father Cordonnier’s first Mass of Thanksgiving took place Sunday, Dec. 28, at St. Remy at 3 p.m.

For more information on the Dec. 27 ordination, see the February print edition of The Catholic Telegraph. Subscribe HERE at no personal cost.