Religious community, faithful witness ‘great mystery’ of formation

with the Oratory and continue his studies as a seminarian before being ordained to the priesthood at a date and time to be

Deacon Bolton, a 29-year-old native of Hillsborough, is a 2015 graduate of the Rutgers Business School-New Brunswick where he studied supply chain management and marketing. As an undergraduate, he found a spiritual home at Rutgers’ Catholic Student Association; after graduation, he worked at a Princeton firm while becoming an aspirant of the Oratory, then located in New Brunswick.

“The Lord gave me the grace to go back,” Bolton said of his departure from the world of business and start of studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange.

“The support structure of the oratory is helpful and life-giving. God confirmed this is it,” he said in a pre-ordination interview. “The love of Christ is embodied in the priesthood. I am an instrument of his grace in others.”

The new deacon donned the stole and dalmatic of his new role in the Church, then knelt before the bishop as his hands were anointed with Holy Chrism; Bishop Aviles then presented him with the Book of the Gospels with the words, “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”

The Oratory of St. Philip Neri was canonically erected in the Diocese of Metuchen by then-Pope, now St. John Paul II on Sept. 8, 1998. Oratorian priests live in an Oratorian community of their choosing and are permanently stable, that is, not subject to transfer to other communities as are diocesan priests. The Congregation lives in St. Ann Rectory, Raritan, and serves Catholic apostolates in Bridgewater (Holy Trinity Parish) and Raritan (St. Ann Parish and St. Ann Classical Academy, the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, St. Joseph Parish.)

Left, Bishop Mario Alberto Aviles of the of Brownsville, Texas, lays hands on the head of Oratorian Brother Steven J. Bolton in the Rite of Ordination to the diaconate at St. Joseph Church, Raritan. Next, Deacon Bolton receives his stole and dalmatic from Franciscan Father Mariusz Koch, his spiritual adviser, then assists Bishop Aviles in receiving the communion gifts from his parents, Margie and John Bolton. Top, members of the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope applaud the new deacon. Left, Bishop Aviles, also an Oratorian, poses with Deacon Bolton and his grandmother, Margaret Adams; and (below) with the deacon and (from left), Father Edmund A. Luciano III, Oratorian Father Jeffrey M. Calia, Oratorian Father Thomas A. Odorizzi and Oratorian Father Kevin P. Kelly. Gerald Wutkowski Jr. photos