By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
LAKE CHARLES — Bishop Glen John Provost was ordained a priest by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on June 29 during the Jubilee Year of 1975. Fifty years later, he celebrates his golden jubilee to the priesthood during the Jubilee Year of 2025. His ordination took place at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Holy Priesthood on June 29, 1975, in St. Peter’s Basilica
in Rome. He was among 359 priests ordained during the
Jubilee Year of 1975 on the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul.
On the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (June 29), the Diocese of Lake Charles recognized this significant milestone during the 11:15 a.m. Mass in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
The congregation included relatives, friends, Religious Sisters, Papal Knights and Dames, laity from around the diocese and the State of Louisiana. Among family members present was the bishop’s 94-year-old brother Cyrus Provost Jr., of Morgan City; and niece Annette Guillory who also attended his ordination and First Mass in Rome.
Concelebrating with Bishop Provost were Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs from the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Very Rev. Ruben J. Buller, V.G., Pastor of the Cathedral; Rev. Michael Beverung, Parochial Vicar of the Cathedral; Rev. Michael Caraway, Vocations Director; and Rev. Bryce Sibley, Notre Dame Seminary Professor, and Rev. Cyprian O. Eze, both from the Diocese of Lafayette. Also assisting were Deacon Brian Soileau, Deacon Hunter LaRocca, and seminarians from the Diocese of Lake Charles, with Very Rev. Joseph Caraway serving as Master of Ceremonies.
As he expressed gratitude to family and friends who traveled from various cities to celebrate with him, as well as those locally, Bishop Provost said, “It has been a great 50 years. I give thanks to God every day for the gift of the priesthood. I pray we all continue to benefit from the gift of God’s grace.”
His Excellency extended a special thank you to the musicians from BonaVox who provided music for the Mass. “Music has always been a special part of my life,” he said. “The music this morning was superb. Thank you very much!”
After being ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lafayette, Bishop Provost’s assignments over the past 50 years have included:
- Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish for the Summer of 1975
- St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Abbeville, Parochial Vicar, September 1975 to March 1983
- St. Leo IV Parish in Roberts Cove, Pastor, March 1983 to January 1985
- Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Lafayette, Pastor, January 1985 to February 1998
- Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lafayette, Pastor, February 1998 to March 2007
- Third Bishop of Lake Charles, March 2007 to present
Ordination in Rome
In 1975 it was considered exceptional for the Holy Father to ordain bishops or priests. Because 1975 was a Holy Year, Pope Paul VI invited all eligible seminarians throughout the world to be ordained by him on June 29, the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. At the age of 25, then-Deacon Glen John Provost was among 359 ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Pope Paul VI.
at the conclusion of his Golden Jubilee Mass on Sunday, June 29,
in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. At the age of 14,
his niece was also in attendance when her uncle was ordained
to the priesthood in 1975 in Rome.
Reflecting on his ordination, Bishop Provost shares a special memory that has remained with him all these years.
“My father, Cyrus Provost, along with my sister and her two children, were present for my ordination; my mother having passed away a few years earlier,” he recalled. “Each ordinand had been given one ‘pass’ which permitted only one member from his family to receive Holy Communion from the Pope. My father was the obvious choice to receive.”
Bishop Provost went on to explain that the night before the ordination, a classmate and friend, who was also being ordained, knocked on his door explaining that because his parents were non-Catholics, no one in his family would be receiving the Eucharist.
“My friend, who was a convert to Roman Catholicism, offered me his ‘pass,’ allowing both my father and my sister to receive Holy Communion from Pope Paul VI. This, they considered a great privilege, and I was very grateful to my friend.”
Joys of Priesthood
“When our Lord asked the disciples ‘But who do you say that I am?’ (Matthew 16:15), He was asking them who they believed Him to be,” Bishop Provost remarked in his golden jubilee homily. “Simon Peter answered with faith, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’”
His Excellency said, “The life of a priest is one ‘You are Messiah’ after another. One act of faith, followed by yet another.”
In living out his own priesthood, Bishop Provost said that one of the greatest joys has been to be present at the death of a person while bringing the Sacraments to the dying.
“I have been called out late at night and at other unpredictable moments to anoint and offer Viaticum to the dying,” he said. “Sometimes the person is dying alone. At other times they are reaching the last moments of life on earth surrounded by family and friends. Regardless, the Sacraments to the dying are a great consolation.”
as he processes in at the beginning of his Golden Jubilee
Mass in the Cathedral. Deacon Hunter LaRocca, who
will be ordained a priest on September 6, 2025, follows
immediately behind.
Words of Advice
There is no way Bishop Provost could have anticipated how his priesthood would have unfolded over the past 50 years. But now with a half-decade of experience, he offers these words of wisdom for young priests in the early years of their vocation.
“The young priest must stay near to Jesus Christ. He must celebrate Mass every day, spend an hour in prayer every day before the Blessed Sacrament, and be faithful to praying the Divine Office, or what is now called the Liturgy of the Hours. These are non-negotiable.”
Bishop Provost has no doubt that Pope St. Paul VI believed himself to be the successor of Peter and the Vicar of Christ, an office Christ himself had given to Peter.
“There we were young men, at Peter’s tomb, on the slope of the Vatican hill, stunned by the magnificence of it all, perhaps struck by our unworthiness, beginning a powerful journey of faith. How would we have answered the question, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ With a fledgling faith, as Peter did, an early faith that would grow in time and with God’s grace.”
Apostolic Blessing
At the conclusion of the Mass, Father Buller read a letter, written in Latin, from Pope Leo XIV congratulating Bishop Provost on the 50th anniversary of his presbyteral ordination. The papal letter expressed the bishop’s “long-standing zeal, exercised with a devoted heart, for the growth in faith of the Christian faithful of the community of Lake Charles, which he leads with a concern for the eternal salvation of their souls.”
Celebration with Clergy
Priests for the Diocese of Lake Charles along with visiting clergy, concelebrated Mass with Bishop Provost at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church on Monday, June 30. On the same date in 1975, the bishop celebrated his First Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Mary Major Basilica before the revered icon, Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People).
Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church on Monday, June 30,
for a special Clergy Mass honoring Bishop Glen John Provost on
the occasion of his 50th Ordination Anniversary to the Priesthood.
He was ordained on June 29, 1975, in Rome, and celebrated his
first Mass of Thanksgiving on June 30, 1975.
Among the guests at OLQH was Bishop Emeritus Michael Jarrell from the Diocese of Lafayette, Bishop Provost’s diocese of origin. Bishop Jarrell’s presence was significant since he served as then-Monsignor Provost’s bishop when he was appointed as the Third Bishop of Lake Charles in 2007. It was a privilege to have Bishop Jarrell and many priest friends of Bishop Provost present for such a joyous occasion.
“You honor me by taking the time to join this celebration of my golden jubilee,” Bishop Provost said in expressing his gratitude. “I am so grateful for the privilege that God has extended to me in serving Him as priest and as a bishop. I am overwhelmed when I consider the marvelous people I have known, both clerical and laity.”
The exceptional music for the Mass was under the direction of Colette Bulber Tanner, to whom Bishop Provost acknowledged her “wonderful expertise” in directing the choir and their special effort.
