One day after being ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Robert P. Deeley in Portland, Father Steven Cartwright chose a fitting location to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday afternoon, June 14.

In front of a faith-filled gathering of family, friends, and parishioners, Cartwright celebrated his first Mass as a priest at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Boothbay Harbor, the very church where he was baptized and made his first communion.

“The most important thing I want to thank you for are the years of friendship, and the years of prayer and support, but most of all, the years of love that you’ve shown me. This is my home,” Cartwright told the assembly on Sunday.

Several priests joined Cartwright for the Mass, among them Father Philip Tighe from Wake Forest, North Carolina, a longtime friend who delivered the homily. Priests from the Diocese of Portland included Father Frank Murray, pastor of All Saints Parish, of which Our Lady Queen of Peace is a part; Father Fred Morse, a parochial vicar at All Saints; Father Louis Phillips and Father Timothy Nadeau, who vested Cartwright at his ordination Mass; Father Innocent Okozi; and Father Joseph Daniels. Daniels grew up in the Boothbay Harbor area, and when Cartwright was 10 years old, he was an altar server at Daniels’ priestly ordination, the first one Cartwright said he ever witnessed.

“I remember it like it was yesterday. Never forgot it. And apparently never did the Lord, either,” said Cartwright.

Another influence during Cartwright's early years was Father Marcel Chouinard, who was pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace when Cartwright was a boy. For the Mass, Cartwright used a chalice that formerly belonged to Father Chouinard. Cartwright said Chouinard, now deceased, set a wonderful example because he was always so joyful, and when he would visit the Cartwrights’ home, he would act as bishop and “inspect” the church that Steve had created on the second floor.

During Sunday’s Mass, Cartwright also recognized some of the special people in his life who fostered and furthered his vocation, including his father, Robert, who died in 2008.

“I was ordained to the diaconate on Father’s Day. I was ordained to the priesthood on his birthday. Tell me he doesn’t have something to do with this,” said Cartwright, who added that his father was a great man and role model.

He also gave special thanks to his mother, Lynn, who sat in the front row during both his ordination on Saturday and Sunday’s Mass. Cartwright said that his mother supported his vocation during his childhood by making vestments for him and providing him with NECCO Wafers when he was “playing Mass” at home. Years later, during a time when he had pushed his faith aside, she continued to pray that he would come back to the Lord.

“You never stopped praying, and you never stopped reminding me of His presence in my life,” Cartwright told his mother as he fought back tears.

Embracing a former custom, Cartwright presented his mother with the manutergium, a cloth traditionally used to wipe the priest's hands after the bishop anoints them during the ordination Mass. The cloth, which will be buried with her, is to let all know, now and forever, that she is the mother of a priest. It is also an old tradition for a new priest to present to his father the stole worn while hearing his first confession. Although his father is deceased, Cartwright said it will be placed with his cremated remains.

At the conclusion of the Mass, all the priests gathered for prayers before a statue of the Blessed Mother, which Cartwright's father helped to place outside the church.

For expanded coverage of Cartwright’s ordination, visit www.portlanddiocese.org.