Sacrament of Holy Orders

Holy Orders

The word “Vocation” comes from the Latin word vocare – which means 'to be called'. We understand that God is the one who speaks, calls each of us into relationship with our Triune God, and invites us to respond to God’s grace by living a life of loving God and loving others. This is done through the call to married life, single life or to a religious life (Holy Orders & Consecrated Life). Each of these is a vocation, and is a response to our Baptism into the saving death and resurrection of Christ.  It is a response to the universal call to holiness.  Each of us is called to seek truth, beauty and the fullness of life with which God gifts us.  How we discern to live that out to the best of our ability is called a 'Vocation'.

For more information about becoming a priest in the Archdiocese of Toronto, please visit the Vocations Toronto website.

https://www.vocationstoronto.ca/

For more information on discerning becoming a Permanent Deacon, click below.

https://archtoronto.org/fr/our-community/vocations/permanent-diaconate/

“A vocation is not the exclusive privilege of monks, priests, religious sisters, or a few heroic lay persons. God calls everyone who is listening, there is no individual or group for whom God’s call is reserved. But to be effective, a call must be heard; and to hear it we must continually discern our vocation amidst the escalating demands of our career.”

-Henri Nouwen

(We would like to thank Catherine Ecker (catherineecker56@gmail.com), who is the principal author.)