‘Tis the season for ordinations. I get a lot of e-mails this time of year, from readers wondering what sort of gift they should get for that newly ordained priest or deacon.

When I was ordained, I got a lot of gift certificates for religious stores. (This place is a good online resource, by the way.) And stoles.  Quite a few stoles.  My wife gave me the lovely Marian-themed dalmatic that I wore for my Mass of Thanksgiving.  (Her parents, meantime, gave me a complete set of dalmatics, one for each season.).  One useful gift: a “chapel” edition of the sacramentary, for home reference. The priest who vested me gave me a nice fleece jacket with the deacon cross embroidered on front.  And there was this especially thoughtful gesture from our parish DRE: a beautiful flower arrangement for my wife, delivered on the morning of my ordination.

Of course, you can never go wrong with the kind of gift that folds and fits in a wallet, either.

Finally, if your budget is limited, one gift that everyone can afford — and that always fits — is prayer.

Any thoughts?