DETROIT — Despite the gray autumn skies and sprinkling of rain the morning of Oct. 5, the inside of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament was brightly lit as excited friends and families waited for the 2013 permanent diaconate ordination to begin.

As the Archdiocesan Chorus of Detroit burst into the entrance hymn, “Only Begotten, Word of God Eternal,” the faithful stood and watched the long line of priests and deacons process up the aisle.

Near the end of the procession walked the three men to be ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Detroit: Leon “Skip” Anthony Rodgers, Matthew Donald Wisniewski and Marc George Rybinski.

Rodgers, 64, of Westland, was a parishioner of St. Raphael Parish in Garden City; Wisniewski, 43, of Allen Park, was a parishioner of Christ the Good Shepherd Parish in Lincoln Park; and Rybinski, 50, of Chesterfield, was a parishioner of St. Mary Queen of Creation Parish in New Baltimore.

Their parish assignments as permanent deacons would be given at the end of the ordination Mass.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, who served as ordaining bishop for the Mass, expressed in his homily before the Prayer of Ordination that it is for the service to God’s world that these men were to be consecrated through a death to self, and through life in Jesus Christ.

“You’re part of the New Evangelization,” the archbishop said. “You have been recruited, you have signed up.”

Addressing the three, Archbishop Vigneron stressed in his homily that, “the Word becomes part of you by your ordination.”

“And,” he added, “should you fail to preach the Word after your ordination, should you fail to present it, exemplify it, you would be denying your very identity. Because by your very ordination Jesus puts the Word in your life … lodges it in your mind, your heart, and your soul.”

Following the homily, the Litany of Supplication was sung by the chorus, as the priests, deacons and faithful asked for the intercession of the Blessed Mother and all the saints.

The archbishop laid his hands on each of the men individually, and then stretched out his hands over the three and offered the Prayer of Ordination.

As Psalm 84 — “Happy Are They Who Dwell in Your House” — was sung in celebration, the new deacons were vested with the deacon’s stole, the symbol of their new pastoral office, and the dalmatic, which is the liturgical garment of the deacon.

Deacon Rybinski gave the thanksgiving address near the end of Mass.



“I can only use one word to describe what has happened to my newly ordained deacon brothers and I,” said Deacon Rybinski. “That one word is ‘awesome!’”

Deacon Rybinski expressed the key position of the deacon, which is not to draw attention to themselves, but to work on the sidelines, he said.

“Jesus must be the focus and the foundation,” he said. “We as deacons are called to serve, not by being front and center, but by making sure that Christ is.”

Deacon Rodgers was assigned to St. Raphael Parish in Garden City, Deacon Wisniewski to St. Paul of Tarsus Parish in Clinton Township and Deacon Rybinski to Christ the Good Shepherd Parish in Lincoln Park.

Following the liturgy, the deacons and their families were excited to celebrate this new step in their lives.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to St. Raphael’s,” Deacon Rodgers said. “In joining the community of deacons, it’s an honor to be with this great group of people.”

Deacon Rodgers already knew he would be assisting at the 9 a.m. Mass that Sunday, as well as planning to teach RCIA at the parish.

Deacon Wisniewski said it was “a blessing to get to know a lot of these [deacons] who helped me along the way.”

In regards to initial plans, he will help teach RCIA at St. Paul of Tarsus Parish as well as assist at Mass.

“Awe-inspiring and a sense of peace” was Deacon Rybinski’s thought on his ordination. He said he would be preaching a homily at all four Masses this weekend.

His wife, Suzanne, added that it was “wonderful.”

“I am so proud of him,” she said. “I know he’s going to help do great things.”