17 Alex DeLucenay ’03 was ordained a permanent deacon by Bishop Salvatore R. Matano on May 21, 2022, making him the youngest permanent deacon in the Diocese of Rochester. As a board-certified ambulatory-care pharmacist and associate professor of pharmacy practice at the Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher University, Alex said this is where his desire to pursue diaconal formation began. In 2016, Deacon Tom Jewell, a Campus Minister at St. John Fisher, invited Alex to attend an information session. Knowing only that a deacon is somebody who serves at the altar and preaches every once in a while, Alex was drawn to learn more. With encouragement from friends, family and his wife, Mary, Alex knew he needed to pursue diaconal formation. “I felt God drawing me closer to this particular ministry in His church, telling me that this is something He wanted me to do, to serve His people,” said Alex. While the five-year formation process to become a permanent deacon was academically rigorous, Alex emphasized that it was a very joyous time. Being able to meet so many different people who serve in various ways in the church was incredibly special. “I grew tremendously in my faith, and built upon the teachings of both theology, morality, and scripture that I gained from Aquinas,” said Alex, who credits his time as an Aquinas Peer Minister to helping him develop his faith further. Along with his family, Alex notes that Aquinas as a whole planted the seed for this journey. “Through the Basilian values of goodness, discipline, and knowledge that were instilled in me at Aquinas, I learned that my purpose here on earth isn’t just for me, but to bring the joy of Jesus to all those in our community, particularly those most hurting and most in need of the healing love of God.” Deacon DeLucenay ministers at St. John the Evangelist Church in Spencerport. DELUCENAY ’03 BECOMES YOUNGEST PERMANENT DEACON IN THE DIOCESE Deacon DeLucenay ’03 with wife, Mary, and daughter, Sarah. Alumni News In our last edition of The Landmark, we featured an article on AQ alumnus Ray Colaruotolo ’72, who was selected from among the top stone carvers in the world to help rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Since that article, Ray has been back and forth from the States to Paris creating and restoring beautiful stone carvings! In an update from Ray he writes: A carving I just finished. The original was damaged from the fire and this is a copy of it. Tradition has it on the back of the stone, the part that goes into the wall, that the stone carver would sign and date the year it was done. The original carver was Sebastian Dubois, and the year was 1235…almost 800 years ago! I was about to sign my name and year, but thought out of respect to Sebastian, I would put his name first, followed by my name and year. This will be installed next week. I hope that Sebastian is looking down when it’s installed saying, ‘You did a good job, my Brother!’ REBUILDING NOTRE DAME: UPDATE
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTcyNDA=