At the reception following the ordination Mass, Joanne DeGrood sat at a table with Judy Cozzens, the mother of Bishop Andrew Cozzens. Both women are now members of the “MOB” — mothers of bishops, Judy said with a laugh. But the women’s connection, Judy explained, goes back to their sons’ first year of seminary and their close friendship.

Joanne, 89, was visibly tired, and as she tried to articulate the range of emotions she had felt that day, Judy — whose son was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2013 — helped her find words.

“It was a great experience, for one thing,” Joanne said, noting that she was still processing the day.

One of the most striking parts of the Mass was at the beginning, when Bishop Donald DeGrood processed down the aisle and stopped to hug her.

“That was hard,” she said. “It’s your son.”

She felt like she had given him away once when he became a priest, and she was doing that a second time.

“It’s just the great love that we have for each other,” she said. She understands deeply what he’s leaving behind to do God’s will — “all of a sudden you have to leave your family and all of your friends you’ve made over the years and start over. That’s a tough situation.”

But, she said, “I know he’ll do well. There’s no doubt about it.”

On her jacket she wore a small pin with the Virgin of Guadalupe on it — a gift she and Judy both received when they became mothers of priests. And now it has new significance, with the announcement of Bishop DeGrood’s appointment made on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12.

Bishop DeGrood’s father, Robert, died in 2003. All four of his brothers — three older and one younger — attended the ordination Mass. Along with Joanne, two of them — the oldest, Dave, and Pete, No. 3 — had spent time in Arizona with Bishop DeGrood two weeks before the ordination. All of the brothers live in rural Faribault and attend Divine Mercy in Faribault.

Pete, 56, said he felt like the ordination was almost surreal.

“It’s almost at times like it’s not even real, it’s just so special,” he said. “Yet, it is, because I know he’s fully capable of it by far. But it’s just so hard to believe it’s happening.

“But I think it’s going to be a really great fit for him, because just the community,” he continued. “I see the way people interact with him and the way he interacts with them. It just seems like it’s something that’s already happened, it’s so perfect. And he’s very much at peace with doing this.”

During the ordination rite, two of the brothers, Joe and Pat, carried into the sanctuary Bishop DeGrood’s crosier. It was carved from an oak tree from their parents’ farm near Faribault.

“When he sat down at the bishop’s chair, it became reality,” said Pat, who at 47 is the youngest brother.

They also liked how Archbishop Bernard Hebda directed his homily to Bishop DeGrood, who was seated in the sanctuary.

“It was like he was teaching his student,” Pete said.