Two new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Newark spoke at their Aug. 4 episcopal ordination of the influence of their parents and teachers, and even of a car accident, in shaping their approaches to priesthood.

Auxiliary Bishops Thomas A. Donato and John W. Flesey were ordained on the feast of St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, in a ceremony attended by 1,500 people at the Cathedral Basil-ica of the Sacred Heart.

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers was the principal celebrant of the Mass and principal ordaining bishop. The main co-consecrators were two former auxiliaries of the archdiocese, Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del., and Bishop Arthur Serratelli, who was installed a month earlier as bishop of Paterson, N.J.

Concelebrants included Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, former Newark archbishop, and 20 others bishops; 400 priests and deacons were also in attendance.

Bishop Donato, 63, spoke of the many people who influenced his decision to serve the church.

“Little did I know the road that I would take as I made a response to my second-grade teacher, Sister Jeannette (De Sena), that I was going to be a priest when I grew up,” he said.

“That journey began from seeds of faith planted within me by my mom and dad and my sisters and brothers, united with the neighborhood that was Holy Rosary Parish” in Jersey City, he added.

Applause echoed through the cathedral at the mention of the parish and of Sister De Sena, a member of the Religious Teachers Filippini, who did the first Scripture reading.

Bishop Donato, a native of Jersey City, graduated from New Jersey Catholic schools, Seton Hall University and Immaculate Conception Seminary before his ordination for the Newark Archdiocese in 1965.

Bishop Flesey, who turned 62 two days after his ordination as a bishop, spoke of learning that he needed to listen for the call of the Lord because of a near-fatal car accident he was involved in shortly after he was ordained a priest.

“As I stared at the tree facing the windshield I realized how lucky I was,” he said. “Later, as I opened the Liturgy of the Hours and started to pray, a voice inside of me said, ‘Unless you slow down and pray more, you will crash and ruin the priesthood that you value infinitely more than that car.’ I think from that moment forward I really became a priest of prayer.”

Bishop Flesey is also a Jersey City native. He graduated from St. Peter's College and studied for the priesthood at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

After his 1969 ordination for the Newark Archdiocese, he received a master's degree in counseling from Iona College and a licentiate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He also holds a doctorate in spiritual theology from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

In his homily, Archbishop Myers said the messages proclaimed by priests in a line back to the apostles “and the mysteries we celebrate, are not of our own creation — they are not of man, but of God. They call us, assist us, and prepare us for eternity.”

“This is why we must attend to them and welcome them, for therein is our salvation,” he said. “And that is why we welcome the bishops and their cooperators, the priests and deacons, who are charged with handing on the divine tradition from generation to generation.”

Archbishop Myers said his two new auxiliary bishops “are wonderful priests, rich in experience, each with the heart of a pastor. They care tenderly for people, knowing that mercy and gentleness are properly placed in service of the truth of the Gospel. They know well, as did the Blessed Virgin Mary, that the story is not about them or any one of us, but about God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

During the most solemn moment of the ceremony, the laying on of hands, each bishop in attendance laid his hands on the head of the two new bishops. Then they invoked the Holy Spirit in the prayer of ordination.

Archbishop Myers anointed each new bishop with chrism, signifying his consecration into the fullness of the priesthood of Christ. He then presented them with the Book of the Gospels, which was held by deacons above their heads during the ordination prayer, reminding them that one of their responsibilities is to preach the Good News.

He also gave each man a ring, symbolic of the seal of fidelity; a miter, saying, “May the splendor of holiness shine forth in you …”; and a pastoral staff, “the sign of your pastoral office” to keep “watch over the whole flock.”

In his remarks, Bishop Donato recited a quote from Pope John XXIII that he said has helped him through the years: “At my window a light will be burning. All may come in; the arms of a friend will always be waiting.”

He said that in his most recent assignment as spiritual director at Immaculate Conception Seminary, helping men with their priestly formation, he was reminded that “I am called not to be successful, but rather faithful to the call, no matter what the cost of discipleship.”

Bishop Flesey noted that “some people say this is a time of darkness for the Church and especially for bishops and priests. But as Archbishop Fulton Sheen once observed, if you want to get out of the darkness, walk into the light. When we pray, that is just what we do.”

Bishops Donato and Flesey filled vacancies created in May by the retirement of Auxiliary Bishops David Arias, 74, and Charles J. McDonnell, 75.

In addition to their duties as regional bishops, the new auxiliaries will continue to be pastors: Bishop Donato at St. Henry Parish in Bayonne, and Bishop Flesey at Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Franklin Lakes.