With great joy and thanksgiving, Bishop Joe Vásquez will ordain Deacons Samuel Bass, Jakob Hurlimann and Fernando Ricaud to the priesthood June 11 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin.
The Mass will be ASL interpreted and live-streamed.
Deacon Samuel Bass, age 33, is the only child of Stephen Bass and Kristin Turner. He joined the Catholic Church as an adult and considers St. Louis King of France in Austin to be his home parish. That is where he discerned his call to enter the seminary.
Growing up in Austin, Deacon Bass had many interests, including reading, singing, baseball and model trains. After he graduated from McCallum High School, a scholarship led him to Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he studied English and earned a liberal arts degree in 2011.
Deacon Jakob Hurlimann, 27, is the son of Dan and Emily Hurlimann. He has one younger brother. He grew up in a strong Catholic family, and they were members of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin since its founding.
Starting in kindergarten, Deacon Hurlimann attended Holy Family Catholic School, progressing to St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School, where he ran cross country and track and played the bass clarinet. Also active in Boy Scouts, he developed a great love for hiking and backpacking and earned the rank of Eagle.
Deacon Fernando Ricaud, age 30, is the son of Fernando and Catalina Ricaud. The oldest of three children, he has a younger brother and sister. Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, he grew up in a loving Catholic family, where he was taught the habit of prayer at a young age. For 12 years, he took piano lessons, and today he enjoys playing the piano, reading and watching movies produced by independent filmmakers.
When he was 19, Deacon Ricaud moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas and majored in computer science. He considers the University Catholic Center to be his home parish, as it was both his first parish after moving to the U.S. and where he experienced a spiritual awakening.