Father Cole McDowell ordained to the priesthood

On the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, May 31, Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre ordained Father Patrick Cole McDowell to the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville.

During the morning Mass, Archbishop Fabre acknowledged and thanked Father McDowell’s family, as well as individuals who had “made pilgrimage” to attend the ordination from Bardstown, Ky., which he called “the seedbed of Deacon Cole’s faith and his vocation.”

“The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God; she is the Mother of the Church, and she is also the Mother of Priests.”

— Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre

Father McDowell, 31, was raised at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto Cathedral and is a graduate of St. Joseph School and Bethlehem High School in Bardstown. He will serve as associate pastor of St. James Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., effective July 1. 

The Mass of Ordination drew dozens of priests, along with deacons, seminarians and family and friends of Father McDowell. In his homily, Archbishop Fabre spoke of the “essential bond between priests and the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

“The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God; she is the Mother of the Church, and she is also the Mother of Priests,” he said.

Quoting “Presbyterorum Ordinis” — a “Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests” produced during the Second Vatican Council — Archbishop Fabre said, “Let priests love and venerate with filial devotion and veneration this mother of the Eternal Highpriest, Queen of Apostles and Protector of their ministry.”

He encouraged Father McDowell to ask Mary for graces as a “beloved child of God” and “child of Mary.”

The ordination of Father McDowell is “an opportunity for all of us, but especially for priests, to open our hearts to the love of our blessed Mother,” he told those gathered.