Holy Orders: Holy Orders is a sacrament of mission and service in which certain members of the Church are called to serve God through service as a member of the clergy. Form: The form in which the sacrament is bestowed upon the receiver is through the bishop's consecratory prayer. This prayer ask God to give the gifts of the Holy Spirit and those needed for the ministry of the receiver. Matter: The matter of the sacrament are the bishop's laying his hands onto the receiver followed by the consecratory prayer. Minister: The minister of the sacrament is the diocesan bishop, who is allowed to ordain priests and deacons as he sees fit to serve in his diocese. A bishop may ordain other bishops but only if the pope gives them permission. Receiver: An baptized man can receive the sacrament if they feel God is calling them to it. To become a priest or bishop a man must not be married but celibate. Deacons however may be married if they are not planning on later becoming priests. The candidate also must not have any impediments to the sacrament. Frequency: A man may receive Holy Orders once for each stage with the stages following the order of deacon, priest and bishop. Effect: The effects of receiving Holy Orders are a special relationship with Christ to be a minister, sacramentally to the Church. Receiving Holy Orders is an indelible spiritual mark. Clergy from my Parish: In my Parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, the priests are Frank Parisi, Daniel O'Brien, Richard Donovan and Gustavo Perez and the two deacons are Francis Cove and Richard Portuese. Our parish does not have a bishop present. Parish Priests and Religious Priests: Although you might think both are the same, parish priests and religious priests are different. They are very much alike in the fact that both went through the years of preparation. The key difference is in their vows. Unlike a parish priest who makes their vows infront of the Church and the bishop, a religious priest makes his vows before he is ordained. The vows are different too with the religious priests vowing to poverty and loyalty to their superior unlike the parish priest. Both however make a vow to chastity meaning they cannot and will not marry. One last key difference is where they serve masses. While a parish priest serves only at their parish, a religious priest can be sent to serve mass anywhere he is needed. These are the differences between parish priests and religious priests.