Lefevre ordained to Maronite Monks of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Abounas Raphael Jude Thaddeus Lefevre (formerly Justin Lefevre of Rapid City) and Daniel Thomas Harris were ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ for the Maronite Monks of Jesus, Mary and Joseph at the new Sacred Heart Monastery near Castle Rock, Wash., October 2. Eparch Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, MLM, of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles conferred the priesthood by laying on of hands. Priests and abbots of several different Catholic ritual traditions — Romanian, Melkite, Ukrainian, Roman and Maronite — concelebrated both the consecration of the monastery on Saturday, October 1, and the ordinations.

Abouna Raphael is the son of Don Lefevre and Susan Skeie of Rapid City. He was a member of Blessed Sacrament parish until his graduation from St. Thomas More High School, after which he attended Thomas Aquinas College, and completed a Certificate of Pre-Theology from the Pontifical College Josephinum, Ohio. After returning to Rapid City, he was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help before joining the Sacred Heart Monastery in 2016. He completed his monastic priestly formation as a professed member of the Maronite Monks of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Abouna Daniel Harris and Abouna Raphael Lefevre will serve the church as contemplative monastic priests in cloister through their dedicated life of prayer and sacrifice for the church and for the world.

The Maronite Rite is one of 23 Eastern Rite Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. Each of the Eastern Rites has its own divine liturgy, spirituality, theology, and canon law. The Maronite Rite traces its origins to the Holy Land near the end of the fourth century. The Maronites fled from persecution in Syria to the mountains in Lebanon, and for four hundred years held to Catholic doctrine and discipline, remaining faithful to the pope and to Rome.