By Robert Hiini
A former Wanneroo man has been ordained to the diaconate in Rome after seven years of study and formation in the US and Italy.
Fra (Brother) Giles Joseph Mary, formerly Kevin Atherton, was ordained on 24 October in a mediaeval Franciscan church in the town of Tarquinia, less than an hour north of Rome.
The newly appointed Cardinal Valasio de Polis CS presided as Fra Giles continued his journey towards becoming a priest for the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.
Speaking with The Record, Fra Giles said it took him 20 years to accept his vocation and that 17 of those years were spent “living a life much too normal.”
“I lived without really thinking much about my proper end and the meaning of why I had been given the gift of life.
“However, the Hound of Heaven was often at my heels, reminding me every so often, with ‘coincidences’ that God had called me to serve Him exclusively.”
As Kevin Atherton, Fra Giles lived an ordinary life: he bought a house, travelled and thought about eventually marrying, settling down and starting a family.
It was the Great Jubilee year in 2000 and praying to Our Lady of Perpetual Help at the North Perth Monastery that brought him the grace to consider God’s will for his life.
Three years of Masses and Rosaries later, he decided to enter the friary in May 2003.
“I finished my last day of work, and to my great consolation the Gospel of Mass that morning was that of the rich young man who was asked to sell all his goods in order to follow Christ more perfectly,” Fra Giles said.
He was sent to one of the friaries in the US for a year before entering the novitiate in the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate novice house in Connecticut.
“Before one makes his initial vows, he, along with his superior and spiritual director, has discerned whether he is called to be a Religious Brother or study for the priesthood; in my case it was decided to allow me to try the studies for the priesthood,” Fra Giles said.
Fra Giles made his perpetual vows in the Order in September of last year.
“After a load of miracles in order to pass all the exams [studying philosophy in Massachusetts], I was sent to our seminary in Italy to commence my studies in theology.
“Since all the classes in Italy were of course in Italian, I was given a year to pick up the language before beginning lessons. Three years, and about one thousand exams later, by God’s inexplicable Mercy, I was approved for ordination to the diaconate,” Fra Giles.
Fra Giles is currently completing his final exams before, God willing, being ordained to the priesthood in March next year, after which, according to the missionary nature of the Order, he will await his posting.
“I could be sent to any corner of the world, even Australia, in order to win the entire world, in union with our Lady, for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.”