When Deacon Ed Hanzlik was in sixth grade, he first learned about Catholic liturgy from the Daughters of Charity during Vacation Bible School at St. Joseph, Petersburg.
That was in the early 1950s. In high school, he discerned whether the priesthood was right for him – ultimately, God led him to become a family man, and today, he has been married for 59 years to his wife, Evelyn, and together, they have four children and nine grandchildren.
But his love for liturgy never faded, and when the Second Vatican Council reforms encouraged laypeople to participate more fully in the Mass, Deacon Hanzlik began walking a path that would lead him to the permanent diaconate.
In the fall of 1976, he entered a three-year program established by Bishop Walter F. Sullivan called the Ministry Formation Program, where he was trained as a lay minister, and later commissioned as such in 1979. For the next 15 years, Deacon Hanzlik served the Church in the prison ministry and as a leader in the Cursillo program. On Aug. 9, 1994, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Sullivan.
“I like to say that I had 15 years of on-the-job training,” said Deacon Hanzlik, with a laugh.
He was one of the first permanent deacons in our diocese to be ordained by Bishop Sullivan. His ordination took place on his wedding anniversary at Sacred Heart, Prince George, part of the Parish Cluster of Sacred Heart; St. James, Hopewell; and St. John Nepomucene, Dinwiddie.
“I’ve been at Sacred Heart for 85 years,” Deacon Hanzlik explained. “I was born right here, and I haven’t moved.”
When there were still very few permanent deacons in the diocese, Deacon Hanzlik contacted Deacon Pete Menting, who had just moved to our diocese from Rockville Centre in New York.
“We met at a pizza place in Blackstone just to compare notes, and to see if we could make contact with the other deacons,” said Deacon Hanzlik.
“We supported the other deacons until the official diaconate program started in the late 1990s,” Deacon Hanzlik recounted. “That’s when the current programs that we have now began.”
Though he is officially retired, Deacon Hanzlik still assists at two weekday Masses and two or three weekend Masses at Sacred Heart. He baptized all but one of his grandchildren, and once a month, he preaches. Some seven decades later, the elements of the Mass that caught his attention as an 11-year-old still inspire his work.
“I enjoy celebrating the liturgy,” said Deacon Hanzlik. “I’m able to, health-wise, and I’m thankful for that.”