She lifted a hand absently to brush at the ticklish feeling, but he caught the hand and held it for a few seconds, ’til the bee flew away. She glanced at him, surprised, but smiled and looked back at what was going on in front of them.

The elder ministers spoke, one at a time, and they laid their hands on Roger Mac, touching his head, his shoulders, his hands. Just so, the bishop had laid his hands on the young priests, and he felt the same sense of awe, recognizing what was happening. This was the keeping of a Word that had been kept for centuries; the passing on of a solemn trust, that the man to whom it was given would keep it, too—forever.

He felt tears come to his eyes, and bit his lip to hold them back.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In His great mercy by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

He gave us new birth into a living hope.

Lord our God, we praise You for Christ the Lord.

We praise You for the fellowship of the Church;

we praise You for the faith handed down

as one generation to another tells of Your mighty acts;

we praise You for the worship offered throughout the world,

we praise You for the witness and service of the saints through the ages.

Lord our God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we praise You.

Amen.

In Paris, the young men—there had been twenty, he’d counted them—prostrated themselves in their clean white garments, lying facedown on the stone floor, hands raised above their heads, submitting themselves. Surrendering.

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

You call us in Your mercy;

You sustain us by Your power.

Through every generation, Your wisdom supplies our need.

You sent Your only Son, Jesus Christ,

to be the apostle and high priest of our faith

and the shepherd of our souls.

By His death and resurrection He has overcome death

and, having ascended into heaven,

has poured out His Spirit,

making some apostles,

some prophets, some evangelists,

some pastors and teachers,

to equip all for the work of ministry

and to build up His body, the Church.

We pray You now to

POUR OUT YOUR HOLY SPIRIT UPON THIS YOUR SERVANT, Roger Jeremiah, WHOM WE NOW, IN YOUR NAME AND IN OBEDIENCE TO YOUR WILL, BY THE LAYING ON OF HANDS, ORDAIN AND APPOINT TO THE OFFICE OF THE HOLY MINISTRY WITHIN THE ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH, COMMITTING TO HIM AUTHORITY TO MINISTER YOUR WORD AND SACRAMENTS.

These were Presbyterians and not given to spectacle. Roger Mac drew a deep breath and closed his eyes, and Jamie trembled as he felt the witness of surrender cleave his heart.

Warm drops struck his hands, folded in his lap, but he didn’t care. A murmur of awe and joy rose up from the church, and Roger Mac stood up, his own face wet with tears and shining like the sun.