<p>Son was invited to the ordination of his Latin and Greek teacher from high school, who was a scholastic at the time. The invitation is gorgeous, and reminiscent of a wedding invite. </p>
<p>Son will attend the ordination, as well as the Mass he will celebrate at his high school the following day.</p>
<p>He would like to send/give a gift, and is looking for input on this.</p>
<p>Should he send a monetary gift, and if so, where to send it to, or should he bring a gift to the reception following the ordination or Mass? </p>
<p>Not sure what assets priests are allowed to have, so don’t know if monetary gifts would be insulting, but I’m sure he has countless rosaries, religious medals, religious books, so son is at a loss as to what to give.</p>
<p>How about an Amazon card? And a good note. There’s also the various Greek dictionaries which are expensive, but he may already have at least one of them.
The more popular are :
The “Little Liddell” (Aka Liddell & Scott, abridged) $30.
The “Great Scott” (aka Liddell & Scott, unabridged) $150.
He probably has the first, but may well not have the second.</p>
<p>My ds is in the seminary and when I recently asked him about gifts for some of the men being ordained in the coming months, he suggested a card with money, or perhaps a gift card to the local religious goods store. He is a bit further away from his ordination, but already has many, many religious gifts. While they are much appreciated, there is only so much room to hold them. Because of their schedules and the training they are undergoing, they are not able to hold outside jobs and money is tight. The vestments, chalices, stoles, etc are quite costly so that is where the religious goods store gift card might come in handy. After the ordination, at least in our diocese, there is a lovely reception where the priest greets people and there is a spot for gifts and cards. There is also a reception after the first mass that following day, so I think he can bring the gift then, too.</p>
<p>Hm, interesting. I googled “priest ordination gift” and found several companies, one very historic. </p>
<p>Of the products I saw, I think I’d lean towards either a garment travel bag or perhaps one of the books, if relevant to where he may serve, on Spanish/English bilingual pastoral care.</p>
<p>Other products are intriguing, such as the bedside collar holder. Things that preserve what he uses in everyday life.</p>
<p>My daughter is about to be ordained and she set up a registry at an online vestments store. That is a huge help for everyone and as was noted above, some of that stuff is pricey!</p>
<p>I remember that when my Mom’s cousin was ordained that his family spent quite a lot of money helping him buy vestments and clerical clothing, so I’d second MOWC’s suggestion of checking to see if he is registered at a vestments store if he’s being ordained in a denomination where clerics wear vestments and clerical clothing – and since you said “Mass” I am assuming he is probably being ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.</p>
<p>Just a teachers get an infinite quantity of cute mugs and the like, I suspect that newly ordained priests get/have a surfeit of religious items – but they may not have enough money to buy several pairs of good, comfortable dress shoes, a warm and conservative wool coat if he’ll be working in an area where winters are cold, a professional-looking (lined) raincoat, and suits that are inevitably required for various functions. I think that giving him either a check or a gift card to a suitable store would be a real kindness if his vestment needs are already being taken care of by other family members. </p>
<p>Priests dress more informally these days, but they still have to dress appropriately for wakes, funerals, weddings, sick visits, and with many interactions with elderly parishioners who might be offended with less casual clothing. Given their pay, that can be a challenge, especially right at the beginning.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy the ordination. It is quite majestic, and these days, unfortunately all too rare.</p>
<p>^^^Thank you for all the suggestions. He is being ordained as a Jesuit, and I know there are many historic Jesuit books, but I was worried he probably already had them. </p>
<p>I did not know if he would be offended by a monetary gift, so I’m glad to hear those would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Congratulations, MOWC, on your daughter’s ordination. You are very blessed to have such a selfless daughter who is willing to give her life to God’s work.</p>
<p>I am looking forward to the ordination. We recently lost our Pastor, and his funeral was amazing. Such a touching event. It gave me comfort to know that our friend, soon to be a priest, will be entering such a wonderful brotherhood.</p>
<p>Since he’s being ordained a Jesuit priest, then he’ll be taking a vow of poverty, but I believe that they can still accept things of low value…books, things needed for his priestly life, luggage, small money gifts, etc. </p>
<p>You might find out if there is a “group gift” option of putting money towards a large purchase …like a chasuble or chalice or ???</p>