Following the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council, in 1967 Pope Paul VI restored the ancient practice of ordaining to the diaconate men who were not candidates for priestly ordination. Ten years later, in May-August 1977, Bishop Thomas J. Drury ordained the first permanent deacons in the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
On May 22, 1977, Bishop Drury ordained eight men at the Cathedral, including Armando Bolaños, Noel Breland, José Cantú, E. Robert Cantwell, Linard R. Harper, William F. Oliver, Fernando G. Rodríguez and Pedro Ybarra. The following Saturday, May 28, 1977, the bishop ordained Bruce Aycock, Jorge Garza and Larry Sandlin at Blessed Sacrament Church in Laredo. The final ordination for Antonio Castillo took place at Sacred Heart Parish in Corpus Christi on Aug. 27, 1977.
Of the 12 ordained in 1977, three remain with the diocese; Deacon Bolaños is in active ministry at Our Lady of the Pillar parish; Deacon Breland is retired from the diaconate but is still active in ministries at St. Pius X Mission in Sandia; and Deacon Oliver is retired.
Upon receiving papal permission to inaugurate a permanent diaconate program, Bishop Drury announced that the diocese would “embark on a training course which will prepare eligible and mature men to take this solemn obligation upon themselves.”
“In the early church deacons were provided to look after the temporal needs of the faithful. Eventually, the practice was discontinued,” Bishop Drury said.
“The program had been in progress throughout the nation for nearly 10 years, but local diocesan officials wanted to see how it worked out before beginning it,” Msgr. Michael A. Howell, who served on the seminary faculty teaching the liturgy to the candidates, said.
Deacon Michael Mantz, who has served as Director of the Permanent Diaconate program of the diocese for the past 12 years said the original program was a mini seminary–style program that took place over several weekends per month for several years, where candidates and their wives came together to study the various courses being offered.
“I have the utmost respect for the original group that was ordained, not only here but nationwide. They were true trailblazers and missionaries. They paved the way for what has grown on a national level. They were men of courage who possessed a real zeal and charisma for Christ and for offering themselves as servants. I am truly humbled by their sacrifice and by their service,” Deacon Mantz said.
After hearing early morning Mass and leading fellow worshipers in a Rosary in October, Deacon Breland sat down to reminisce about his 35 years as a permanent deacon. Soft-spoken and with an easy smile he has many stories to tell. Perhaps the most stunning of which is the fact that once he was an atheist; this story demonstrates God’s grace working in human hearts that are open to His will.
“I said to God, ‘Okay, if you are there, show me’. Later I decided to watch TV and what came on was the movie about Our Lady of Fatima,” Deacon Breland said. The movie reenacts probably the most dramatic miracle of God in modern times. Proof enough for him.
“I couldn’t doubt Him anymore, I knew He was there,” Deacon Breland said.
Some time later he met Estefana Cristan and wished to marry her. “Not unless you are Catholic” was her reply. So, he attended RCIA and was baptized believing, yet not filled with zeal. Happily married to Estefana, and at her urging, he enrolled in the Cursillo program and met Dr. Michael Meaney who instructed him in the principals of the Cursillo, which are “piety, study and action.” The working of God’s grace in his life continued and led to his eventual decision to pursue ordination to the permanent diaconate program.
Years later, he recounted, being invited to a dinner for all the deacons and aspiring candidates at the bishop’s home. “While waiting for my car in the parking lot, a group of young men called out, ‘Are you Deacon Breland?’ I was puzzled and didn’t recognize them but I answered, ‘Yes.’ When they approached, I saw they were the new deaconate candidates who greeted me and said, ‘You taught us Catechism in 8th grade.’ It was perfect, knowing that they were now on the way to fulfilling their vocations.”
Deacon Breland, while somewhat restricted due to health problems, illustrates the required lifelong commitment to serve the people of God. He began his ministry at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Corpus Christi.
“When we were first ordained, they didn’t know what to do with us,” he said with a laugh. “Gradually it all worked out, we began by giving instructions for those seeking Baptism.” Later the deacons taught CCD classes up through the eight-grade level.
After leaving OLPH he moved to St. Thomas the Apostle parish and worked with the late Father Louis Joseph, then he moved to St. John of the Cross in Orange Grove and finally to St. Pius X in Sandia.
“After I began to teach, I wanted to learn more,” Deacon Breland, who expresses a great love of teaching and learning, said. He continued his studies at the old Pastoral Center, where he took every course he could. He also completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Corpus Christi State University.
During vacations from his regular job as a letter carrier, he completed his Master’s degree in Religious Studies at Incarnate Word University in San Antonio.
Today, Deacon Breland remains active and teaches at St. Pius X Mission, where presently he facilitates the course “Catholicism” by Father Robert Barron. The course consists of 10 hour-long periods of study and group discussion. “We need more people to come, but we do what we can,” Deacon Breland said.
This retired deacon remains an example of service as spelled out in the Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI setting out the Church’s general norms for the restoration of the order, to which he was ordained.
“Let the deacons, as those who serve the mysteries of Christ and of the Church, abstain from all vice and endeavor to be always pleasing to God, ready for every good work for the salvation of men. By reason, therefore, of the order received they must surpass by far all the others in the practice of liturgical life, in the love for prayer, in the divine service, in obedience, in charity, in chastity,” Pope Paul VI said.