Homegrown Priest, Hometown Pride: New Priest Ordained in Littleton
The first American-born priestly vocation for the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Father Riley Blanchard was ordained by Archbishop Emeritus Samuel J. Aquila on Saturday.
Seventeen priests processed in for the 9:30 a.m. Mass at St. Mary Parish in Littleton on a bright September Sunday morning, and at the Mass’ conclusion, eighteen priests processed out.
Father Riley Blanchard, DCJM, who became the first American-born priestly vocation to the Spanish religious order, the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary (DCJM), was ordained to the priesthood on September 20 by Archbishop Emeritus Samuel J. Aquila, whose return from retirement lent a poignancy to the joyful occasion.
The church was filled to capacity, with many hundreds in attendance for the seminal event, a first in the life of the parish that cheered along as one of their native sons journeyed from altar server to deacon and now, to the very first Disciple from the New World.
Father Blanchard’s siblings, aunts and uncles, and his many nieces and nephews filled the first several rows of pews, with his parents seated front and center, directly behind him. His brother and sister served as lector, and another sister served as cantor. Yet another brother would raise his glass for the first toast of the afternoon, praising God for the gift of his brother’s priesthood.
Father Blanchard, who at his diaconate ordination in 2025 credited his time spent in St. Mary’s altar server program as being crucial to the discernment and discovery of his priestly vocation, appeared solemn throughout the Mass, becoming visibly moved when he knelt to profess his perpetual obedience to “your local ordinary [or bishop], and to your legitimate religious superior.”
In his homily, Archbishop Emeritus Aquila praised Father Blanchard for his faithfulness to the call he had received, but he tempered his encouragement with a warning: “My dearest son, be ready to be persecuted.”“Today you are embraced and celebrated by your family and your community, but the world will ridicule you,” he continued. “They will spit upon you, and they will ridicule you, and they will ask you why you are wasting your life. But the world is a mess because the world is filled with people who desire to be God.”
Father Blanchard’s mission, the archbishop emeritus explained, is to lead them to Jesus as a good shepherd.
“Your work is to be a good shepherd to them. As head and as shepherd, your relationship with the Church has changed. Not to lord it over people, but to serve them by becoming deeply rooted in the virtues,” Archbishop Emeritus explained.
Acknowledging the sacrifices made by Father Blanchard’s family in the work of bringing up a priest, Archbishop Emeritus Aquila encouraged him to pray continually for himself, for “a deeper faith and a fuller conversion to Jesus Christ.”
“My son, when you discover your own weaknesses and sins, bring them with confidence to the Father,” he encouraged. “And when you celebrate the Sacraments — especially the Eucharist — always do so with great reverence. Never forget that the power in the Sacraments comes not from you, but through you.”
The liturgy concluded with a grand procession of altar servers — sixty-eight in total, a new parish record — and the feasting commenced in the style to which the St. Mary’s community is well accustomed after nearly two decades with the DCJM: with champagne and sparkling cider toasts, glistening donut walls, passed appetizers and a couple hundred children weaving joyfully through the happy, sticky chaos.
The only line longer than the one for refreshments? The one stretching the entire length of the parish hall, where families waited to receive a first blessing from the newly ordained. The very first recipient of his priestly blessing, however, was the archbishop emeritus, who inclined his head at the conclusion of the Mass and became the first to avail himself of the miraculous graces now flowing from Father Blanchard’s hands.
In his concluding remarks, Archbishop Emeritus Aquila, who was visibly moved after having received Father Blanchard’s first blessing, encouraged his new brother priest with these final words: “Take the advice of St. Paul, and let his words penetrate your heart: ‘Conduct [yourself] in a manner which is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.’”
