Africa-Press – Seychelles. Seychellois Christian Toulon was ordained deacon this Sunday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Victoria in the presence of his family and loved ones.
The mass, which began at 10 a.m., lasted at least three hours and was presided over by Monsignor Alain Harel who was surrounded by other priests of the diocese.
Christian Toulon took his sacraments in a crowded church and joy and contemplation were strong for this ordination mass. He thanked his family, friends and loved ones who encouraged him during his journey which will lead him to the priesthood, six months after his ordination.
During his oath, Bishop Harel thanked Toulon for choosing the path of God, and encouraged him to stay focused on his path.
As with every ordination, there was the litany of the saints, the laying on of hands and the ordination prayer. The new deacon was then invested with the stole and dalmatic, before receiving the Gospel. He was then officially welcomed into the order of deacons, then took his place around the altar for the Eucharistic liturgy.
Diacre Toulon was born in 1987 at Victoria Hospital and is the eldest of a family of three boys. His parents are from the island of Praslin, but his family lived in Ma Constance in the Anse Etoile district.
He studied at Anse Etoile primary school, Rivière Anglaise secondary school, and SALS (Advanced Studies) high school before receiving a three-year training scholarship in Malaysia to study. train in electricity.
Although he explained that he received the call to become a deacon on the day of his First Communion at the age of 8, he did not yet understand the meaning at that time.
It was while he was studying in Malaysia (from 2009 until 2012) that he had his first moment of conversion. He returned to the country where he worked at IOT (Indian Ocean Tuna) and during this time he became involved in the parish of Anse Etoile and also deepened the spiritual call.
In his native parish in Anse Etoile, the priest entrusted him with accompanying the altar servers and teaching catechesis. He was also part of the spiritual research group called “Cherche ton Etoile”.
After two years of discernment, it was there that he concluded that the Lord wanted him to pursue the path to the priesthood. In July 2015 he left the Seychelles for France where he settled at the Nantes Seminary to begin his training. He studied philosophy for two years, followed in 2018 by a pastoral internship at the parish of Baie Lazare (Mahé). Then he lived for a year with the Community of Chemin Neuf in Grenoble (France), followed by the Fréjus-Toulon Seminary in the south of France in order to complete his studies in theology.
“I lived four magnificent years in Toulon and I thank the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary for all the training,” said Christian Toulon.
The young Seychellois returned to the country at the end of July 2023 for the holidays and to begin his diaconal year. After a few months with his family, he began his diaconal internship and at the beginning of September 2023, he continued his mission with the parishioners while awaiting his diaconal ordination.
In terms of leisure and relaxation activities, Deacon Toulon enjoys reading, listening to music, playing basketball, and running. He also likes meeting his friends.
Note that the ordination was scheduled for Friday, December 8, but was postponed following the disasters that struck the country the day before (Thursday, December 7).
It should be noted that another Seychellois, namely Emmanuel Boniface, was ordained deacon yesterday in the Saint Dominique de Saint Jean de la Ruelle church in Orléans, France.
We offer you some photos of the diaconal ordination of Christian Toulon taken by our photographer Louis Toussaint.
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