The Reverend Father George Benjamin Rumley, O.S.B., a member of the Saint Anselm monastic community, was ordained to the priesthood by The Most Reverend Robert P. Deeley, Bishop of Portland, on Saturday, April 13, 2024, in the Saint Anselm Abbey Church. The culmination of years of monastic formation and seminary studies, Father George now takes his place in the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Father George was presented for ordination by The Right Reverend Mark A. Cooper, O.S.B. ’71, Abbot of Saint Anselm Abbey.
During the Rite of Ordination, Bishop Deeley offered words of instruction and encouragement: “My son, you are now to be advanced to the order of the presbyterate. You must apply your energies to the duty of teaching in the name of Christ, the chief Teacher. Share with all mankind the word of God you have received with joy. Meditate on the law of God, believe what you read, teach what you believe, and put into practice what you teach.”
Following the Litany of the Saints, the Laying on of Hands, and the Prayer of Ordination, Abbot Mark invested Father George with the priestly stole and chasuble.
Father George completed his seminary studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology.
Reflecting on his Ordination and First Mass, Father George noted, “I sensed an overwhelming peace. I wish I had the vocabulary to describe it, but I suppose the wonder of the moment is just as inexpressible as the experience of a honeymoon. It was as if God were saying, with a grin, ‘Yes, you were born for this…so go do it and love it.”
On Sunday, April 14, 2023, Father George celebrated his first Mass of Thanksgiving in the Saint Anselm Abbey Church. Father Mathias Durette, O.S.B., served as homilist.
Father George is a native of Ramseur, North Carolina. Father George professed vows as a Benedictine monk in 2014 at Mary Help of Christians Abbey in Belmont, North Carolina. His transfer of stability to Saint Anselm Abbey was accepted in August 2023. He is preparing to begin graduate studies at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., this fall.