The Saint Anselm Abbey celebrated its fifth priestly ordination mass within the past two years, on April 13, with the ordination of Father George Benjamin Rumley, O.S.B.
Bishop Robert Deeley of Portland, Maine led Father George’s ordination mass, with Father George leading his first mass the following day.
Priestly ordination is one of the most ancient rituals of the Catholic Church.
When asked what it means to be ordained, Father George said that “The key to understanding ordination is in the word itself: it “orders” a man to the priestly identity of Jesus Christ. This “ordering” is a new orientation to Christ and others, most noticeable in the authority to share in particular aspects of our Lord’s ministry, such as presiding at the Eucharist and hearing confessions.”
Father George had the opportunity to lead his first Mass the following Sunday. When asked what that was like, Father George responded, “I sensed an overwhelming peace. I wish I had the vocabulary to describe it, but I suppose the wonder of the moment is just as inexpressible as the experience of a honeymoon. It was as if God were saying, with a grin, ‘Yes, you were born for this…so go do it, and love it.’”
He added his only regret – “I didn’t douse people more thoroughly with holy water at the beginning.”
Father Francis McCarty ’10 O.S.B, who was one of the singers at Father George’s ordination, described this Catholic tradition as an event where an individual is “ontologically changed to become an instrument of Christ.”
Father Francis said that Father George’s ordination marks the fifth priestly ordination celebrated by the Abbey since July of 2022, with an sixth ordination happening this August.
At Saint Anselm Abbey, when a newly ordained priest performs his first mass, it is typical for another priest to perform the Homily. At Father George’s first mass, Father Mathias preached.
“When Father George asked me a few weeks ago to preach at his first Mass, I asked him if he wanted me to mention anything in particular. His reply? ‘Oh, you could say a few jokes about bald guys,’” Father Mathias included in his Homily.
Father Mathias concluded his Homily with a powerful message from Father George,
“I asked him to share with me the reason (or reasons) why Benjamin Rumley chose to become Father George. And so, with his permission, I will let him tell you. This is how he answered my question. . . . ‘Why do I want to be a priest? Because the priesthood, paired with the monastic life, is the adventure to which (God) invited me. And through it, I hope finally to enter into his rest, along with my confreres and all the family of God.”
Father George, originally from North Carolina, first arrived on the Hilltop in 2021 after beginning his monastic vows in 2013 at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. Thus far at Saint Anselm, Father George shared that he’s “worn a variety of hats in the monastery and college.”
“I was regularly in Campus Ministry for about two years doing retreat work, spiritual direction, RCIA, and I continue to coordinate alumni weddings for the Abbey church. I’ve taught Conversatio for two years. In the monastery, I’ve been a cantor and am the sacristan.”
In addition to these various roles on the Hilltop, Father George is currently preparing to study in Washington DC next fall, joining the Licentiate/Doctorate Program in Sacred Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.
Father George hopes to send a message to students, encouraging them to “give God a serious chance during your undergrad years. . . .The world wants you distracted, depressed, bored, fearful, and constantly focused on the faults of others so that you can avoid dealing with the deep issues in your own soul.”
“ But that’s where the true adventure is. Christ frees us with the mysteries of love, peace, real self-understanding, good humor, good company, and sometimes just old-fashioned common sense. The Mass has all that—but you have to look for it, and you have to be ready to receive it when those Eureka moments strike.”