First John J. McDermott was ordained to the transitional diaconate in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood for the Diocese of Burlington. When ordained to the priesthood, he was called “Father,” and after serving as a parish priest and chaplain, Father McDermott was given the title of monsignor and assumed various diocesan roles including that of diocesan administrator.

On July 15 he will assume a new title: Bishop John J. McDermott, 11th bishop of Burlington.

The new title will be his after a centuries-old set of rites during a special Mass at The Cathedral of St. Joseph in Burlington.

The Church’s ancient practice calls for several bishops to participate in the consecration of a new bishop. Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap, archbishop of Boston and metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Boston, will be the principal consecrator; co-consecrators will be Hartford Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne and Rochester, New York, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, both immediate past bishops of Burlington.

At the beginning of the Mass, Father Patrick Forman — pastor of St. Monica Parish in Barre and St. Augustine Church in Montpelier who was ordained to the priesthood with Bishop-elect McDermott 35 years ago — will represent the Catholic Church in Vermont and request that his classmate be ordained a bishop.

Cardinal O’Malley will ask that the apostolic letter from Pope Francis, appointing Bishop McDermott as the diocese’s next bishop and authorizing his ordination to the episcopacy, be read aloud by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. The bishop-elect will then show the letter to those gathered.

During the Rite of Ordination, Cardinal O’Malley will question Bishop-Elect McDermott on his resolve to uphold the faith and discharge his duties as bishop.

During the Litany of Supplication (Litany of the Saints), the Church will invoke the intercession of the saints and martyrs in heaven to intercede for Bishop-elect McDermott and the entire pilgrim Church on earth, asking God to pour forth His grace and mercy. As a sign of humility in prayer, Bishop-elect McDermott will prostrate himself while all kneel and chant the litany.

The bishop-elect, during the Laying on of Hands — the principal gesture of the Sacrament of Holy Orders — will kneel before Cardinal O’Malley who will lay his hands upon his head. Archbishop Coyne and Bishop Matano will do the same. Then, one after another, all the bishops present will lay hands on his head.

Then Cardinal O’Malley, joined by all the bishops present, will pray the Prayer of Ordination over Bishop-Elect McDermott. This prayer of the Church calls down the power of the Holy Spirit on the newly ordained, and it is through this prayer that he will become Bishop McDermott. “During the prayer, two deacons will hold an open Book of the Gospels over the head of the one to be ordained, a ritual seen only in the ordination of a bishop, reminding him that he is to minister always under the guidance of the Holy Word of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit,” explained Josh Perry, director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Burlington.

Cardinal O’Malley then will anoint Bishop McDermott’s head with the Sacred Chrism, which will be followed by the Handing on of the Book of the Gospels that signifies that one of his chief responsibilities is to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the people.

Bishop McDermott will be presented with a ring and then be vested in the miter and given the crozier, symbols of his office as bishop.

Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop Coyne, and Bishop Matano will bring Bishop McDermott to the cathedra — the bishop’s chair at the cathedral — and seat him. It is at this moment in the liturgy that Bishop McDermott will be installed officially as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Burlington.

Finally, Bishop McDermott will receive the fraternal embrace from Cardinal O’Malley and the other bishops present, signifying his acceptance into the College of Bishops.

“Bishop McDermott then begins his first official act as our new bishop — celebrating the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the people entrusted to him,” Perry said.

After communion, he will be escorted around the cathedral by Archbishop Coyne and Bishop Matano, imparting his first blessings as bishop. Before giving the final blessing, he will address those present for the first time as the 11th bishop of Burlington.