Deacon Lex Ferrauiola is a husband, father and grandfather. Lex and Wanda met in high school and will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in January. They have four children and two grandchildren and have lived in Tenafly for 39 years. Ordained as a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Newark in 1992, Deacon Lex has been serving Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish for 25 years. He also ministers as a hospital chaplain serving those who suffer with emotional and psychiatric pain. He retired from his position as a Vice President at Hackensack University Medical Center in 2011.

Deacon Lex has published three books on Catholic spirituality: Just to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life, Synchronicity as the Work of the Holy Spirit, and The Gospel of You, The Gospel of Me. He also publishes a blog of spiritual reflections and homilies at www.deaconlex.blogspot.com and at twitter.com/deaconlex.

He holds a master's degree in pastoral ministry from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and is a graduate of and on the faculty of the Haden Institute for Spiritual Direction.

Lex and Wanda are black belt master instructors with the World TaeKwonDo Federation in Korea and the U.S. TaeKwonDo Association. They began teaching in 1977 and have trained students in Tenafly, Cresskill, Newark and Hackensack.

Fr. Emmett’s attraction to religious life began at a young age and never went away. He was taught by the De La Salle Christian Brothers whose key principles are faith, proclamation of the gospel, respect for all persons, quality education, concern for the poor and social justice. Fr. Emmett was established in his profession as an attorney with the Federal Government in Washington, D.C. when he made a retreat for men over thirty at the Carmelite Retreat House in Mahwah. Two years later he joined the Carmelites. Fr. Emmett Gavin, O.Carm. was ordained on May 16, 1987.

Fr. Emmett has held a variety of administrative positions in parishes and dioceses. He was Vice Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago and has mainly served as a canon lawyer and judge, working as the Adjutant Judicial Vicar on the Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Newark. Fr. Emmett served here at Mount Carmel on weekends for several years before being assigned here.

Deacon Dave’s journey to the Diaconate began September 17, 1975…

David, a semi-practicing Jew, went on a couples’ retreat with his wife, Carol. “I was tricked into going!” he says with a laugh. It was during the retreat that he had a transformative experience with Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. A priest asked him, “Do you believe that the Eucharist is Jesus?” to which he replied, “I know it.” “We believe in signs, the Jewish people,” David says. “And signs kept showing us the path.” His curiosity of Christianity led him to be baptized and confirmed a Catholic. He committed to lectoring and serving as a Eucharistic Minister. David would visit hospitals, senior care centers and the homebound sharing the love of Christ. David was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Newark on May 16, 1992. “It is a ministry of charity, the Diaconate,” he says. He serves two churches: Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the other, with barbed wire and electric fencing all around it. Deacon Dave has worked continuously in prisons so he was a perfect choice when a former archbishop asked him to become the Director of Prison Ministry from 1997-1998. Deacon Dave continues to say ‘Yes’ to service.