An altar for our bishop

As Bishop Mario Dorsonville arrived at his new home in the diocese, Father Mitch Semar, and three of the diocese’s seminarians, Chad Cheramie, Ethan Henry and Wayne Romero Jr., helped in the moving process. They got to know their new shepherd in a particular way during those first few days. In the midst of the move, Bishop Dorsonville mentioned to Father Mitch, diocesan director of the Office of Vocations, that he was in search of an altar for his home chapel. The seminarians said that Father Mitch turned to them, gave them an eager look, and offered to build the altar and tabernacle without hesitation.

The seminarians in the St. Joseph the Worker Seminarian House of Formation have a bit of carpentry experience, as they assisted with the building of furniture for their own formation room. Even with their previous experience, Wayne said he was surprised that Bishop Dorsonville accepted their offer to build the altar, seeing as this is the altar that bishops of our diocese would use to say Mass in their home for years to come. “He trusts us a lot,” Wayne says, “and we trust him.”
In the months following, the seminarians worked alongside Wiley Matherne, a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Thibodaux and a skilled carpenter by trade, learning how to use the tools necessary to complete such a task. “I think when we put the first pocket screw in one of the legs, it hit me. I could celebrate Mass on this altar,” says Chad. He continued to say that working on the altar and the tabernacle for the chapel increased in each of them a desire for the liturgy and a desire for the Mass that wasn’t missing, but was definitely rekindled throughout the process.

The building process involved lots of personal growth, laughter and prayer. “Carpentry is such virtuous work,” Chad says as he reflects on the process. The seminarians grew in patience, humility, perseverance, and working together as a team. “You learn not to lash out at each other, but how to allow others to express what they’re feeling. You can’t repress everything. You have to talk,” Ethan shares, “we know a lot more than we did, but we know we have a lot more to learn.”

For as many learning moments the seminarians shared, there were just as many laughs and memories made. At one point Wayne accidentally drilled a hole in an unwanted place with a stripped rotary tool. A saw blade was bent when a rogue block of wood got hung up as Chad was using it, sending pieces of wood flying all over the room. Ethan’s curiosity ended with him too close to the wrong end of a planer resulting in a face full of sawdust. But in all the mishaps and mistakes made, Wiley taught the seminarians that the beauty of carpentry is there’s always a solution and the importance of laughing at themselves.

“The small imperfections become the greatest memory,” says Wayne.

This project was not simply part of the “curriculum” of their formation, but also has impacted their journey of discernment. “It was such a gift that we got so many opportunities to spend time with our bishop … he’s so looking forward to consecrating our hands … like a dad affirming something you want to do. My bishop believes in me. My bishop can see priesthood in me,” says Chad.

It meant even more to know that this is the bishop who will eventually ordain these men if, God willing, they are called to the priesthood.

When the altar and tabernacle were completed, Bishop Dorsonville invited the seminarians, Father Mitch, Wiley and his wife, and Mark Bourgeois (who stained the altar) and his wife to the Mass where the altar was consecrated in his home chapel. Bishop Dorsonville says that the seminarians did not even consider saying no to learning how to build the altar and tabernacle. “We are educating these men to be priests, but also how to be builders of our church. Our bishops will continue to pray on this altar especially for good and holy men who might answer the call from the Lord Jesus Christ to the priesthood,” he says.

Each seminarian signed the inside of the altar, leaving behind a legacy of this time discerning God’s will for their lives. This beautiful altar and tabernacle now resides in the bishop’s residence and will continue to be a source of prayer for years to come.