15 men, the largest postulancy class in 32 years, arrived at Providence, R.I., July 6, 2007 to spend 3 weeks at Providence College preparing to begin their novitiate in Cincinnati, OH, on August 8, the Solemnity of St. Dominic. Their stories are below….

MARIO CALABRESE, 28

I was born and raised in Geneva, NY, in the Diocese of Rochester, the first of two sons in a Catholic family. After graduating from public high school, I attended St. Bonaventure University in New York state, which is run by the Franciscan (OFM) Holy Name Province, and majored in Journalism/Mass Communication. My intentions and ambitions both when I entered and left college remained the same - a desire to come to Washington, DC, upon graduation and to contribute to the pro-family/pro-life public policy arena. While at St. Bonaventure I participated in the Franciscan vocation discernment program, however my prayer life and my attention to the faith were greatly lacking.

Upon leaving college I knew very little about the Dominican Order, however I had a desire to enter a Third Order community of some type as I started a career. After a short time in DC, through providence, a friend invited me to the Dominican Third Order meetings, and instantly I was taken in with reading about the history of the order and its charism. Discernment to apply to the First Order took much more time and lots of prayer, and slowly I became more enamored with the Dominican idea of preaching sound doctrine for the salvation of souls, as well as its rich history and place within the Church.

I have learned not to be too exact in planning out my life, thinking I will be doing “X” in a certain number of years - God always has different plans. However, God willing, as a future friar I’m looking forward to celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, hearing confessions, participating in hospital ministry, possibly teaching moral theology or the social encyclicals of the Church, and working with the pro-life movement in all its aspects. (Mario is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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RONALD “ALEX” CHECKAI, 24

If you had asked me when I was in high school what I expected to be doing after college, I probably would have told you that I expected to be a scientist of some sort. I probably would not have brought up that it had occurred to me to wonder if God wanted me to serve Him as a priest. I hadn’t yet made any serious effort at discernment because I didn’t see how this would fit into my life. As I matured in faith, I came to understand how happiness is not to be found in making God “fit in” to your life, but in discerning and cooperating with the plan God has for you. For me, this has led to the Dominicans.

The eldest of two (I have one younger sister), I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, but have spent most of my life in Maryland. I have been blessed with a mother and a father who raised me according to the faith of the Church and taught me by word and example the value of loving service to others. I attended public schools for grades K-12 and earned a B.S. in Physics with a Citation in British Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park, where I became very active in the Catholic community. I first encountered Dominican friars at the university, but I had already had some exposure to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas. I was introduced to his writing after choosing him as my confirmation patron because of his reputation as a particularly excellent exponent of the relationship between faith and reason. As I saw how the friars I met lived out the Gospel and what I admired in St. Thomas, I became very attracted to their charism and way of life.

In my spare time I like to read and learn, and I very much enjoy sports and music. My main instrument is the trumpet, and classical and jazz are two of my favorite types of music.

I am grateful for the unstinting support I have received through prayer on my behalf and ask for your prayers as well. (Alex is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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PATRICK DUGGAN, 26

I grew up in Trenton, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the youngest of four children. I went to Catholic schools for 12 years, and when I finished high school, I was planning for a career in medicine. I attended Brown University and majored in biomedical ethics, and though I was “pre-med” throughout college, by my second year, I could sense that this wasn’t truly what was in my heart.

Brown has a reputation as a bastion of secularism, but as many people can attest, it is also a great place to nurture (if also challenge) the Christian life. Most of my friends from college are fellow Catholics, and all of them, as well as the chaplain and campus minister, have been incredibly supportive of me throughout my discernment. I was very involved in the Catholic Community there, especially its music ministry, and I also served as a catechist at nearby parish. When I began thinking seriously about my vocation, I felt drawn to the contemplative life and considered joining the Benedictines, but I also had the unsettling feeling that this way of life, beautiful though it is, wasn’t quite what God was calling me to. Not until I read about some of the early Dominicans after college did I fully appreciate the importance of extending the contemplative life into active ministry. Last year, when I visited the House of Studies for the first time, this attraction to Dominican life that I had felt on a purely intellectual level was immediately joined by a deeply personal, spiritual attraction.

For the past four years, I’ve been working at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, coordinating research projects in bioethics, focusing primarily on healthcare disparities between people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and the distribution of scarce public health resources globally.

Trusting in God’s grace and providence, I look forward to entering the Dominicans, taking up a life of prayer and study, and bringing the fruits of contemplation into the world for the salvation of souls–in whatever way(s) I’m asked to this in obedience. In my free time, I enjoy reading, singing, cooking, and tinkering with computers. (Patrick is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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MICHAEL FOGARTY, 23

I was born and raised in Schenectady, New York into a family of mixed religious background. My mother was raised Jewish, and my father Catholic. I am the oldest of three children. At the age of fifteen I was received into the Catholic Church. I attended public schools until college. I studied Classics at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia and graduated there a year ago. I live as a volunteer at a drug and alcohol recovery program for the homeless in Boston, Massachusetts. I enjoy reading, being outdoors, and following baseball in my spare time.

I began discerning a vocation to the priesthood shortly after I entered the Church and religious life a few years later. It was not, however, until after I left school that I considered the possibility of a Dominican vocation. I find the balance and harmony of contemplation and apostolic ministry in the Dominican life to be a primary attraction for me. Additionally, making present to others through preaching the truths of the Faith and Truth itself is an attraction. I look forward to working for the salvation of souls as a priest and as a preacher. (Michael is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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JASON HERTZOG, 30

Originally from the prairies of Minnesota I’ve spent the last twelve years traveling from one country to the next. Most recently I lived in Bolivia, South America where, through the Peace Corps, I worked in micro-enterprise development, youth-at-risk vocational training and a variety of social projects. By way of work and study I’ve also lived a number of years in Germany, Italy and Spain. I’ve had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Europe and the Americas. I have a degree in international business from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. I have a broad range of interests from the humanities and social and applied sciences and welcome the opportunity to learn literally anything.

The Dominican way of life speaks to me most strongly in its solid and systematic formation, in its contemplative ideal and in its extraordinary 800 year tradition. I’m looking forward to taking up my cross in the habit of St. Dominic and with the help of our Lady and St. Joseph I hope to win many souls to our Lord. (Jason is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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KEVIN KENNEDY, 31

Many people have asked me to explain my calling to them. The only thing that I can think to tell them or put into words is that I have been set on fire by the power of the “Holy Spirit.” The only way I can think of harnessing this flame is through the Dominican lifestyle.

I spent the majority of my life growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio where I graduated from a local high school. After graduation, I attended Northern Kentucky University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications. I have a twin brother Sean and two younger siblings, Odile and Ryan. My parents, Mike and Diane celebrated thirty-four years of marriage on June 10, 2006, the same day my sister Odile and her then fiancé, Stephen Scroggins were married.

My family and I have always enjoyed close relationships. One of my most cherished childhood memories is how important attending Sunday Mass was to the family. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, not far from Saint Gertrude’s Church. My family occasionally attended mass at Saint Gertrude’s where I saw a number of novices over the years. I did not think about religious life until March of 2006 when I volunteered to be a small group leader at Cincinnati 2000. This event is a weekend retreat in which high school youth from all over the tri-state come together to worship God. This weekend changed my life forever. During this weekend I received a call to be more then just a weekend volunteer.

I feel that God has been preparing me for a religious vocation my whole life. I am so excited and filled with anticipation I cannot wait to begin my life as a Dominican Cooperator Brother! (Kevin is a candidate for the cooperator brotherhood. —admin.)

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MARCEL LANAHAN, 25

I grew up in Big Flats, of Western New York, the fourth of five children. After graduating from Corning East High, I followed two older brothers to study engineering at the University of Notre Dame du Lac. My college experience taught me the importance of educating the heart as well as the mind. The exemplary life of hope lived by many priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross inspired me to seek a deeper life of faith and service after graduation. For a year, I lived in community and served the frail elderly in Portland, OR. This led to more volunteer experiences which included time serving the homeless on Chicago’s west side, and time teaching high school math on Chicago’s south side. Recently, I have been blessed to work in Northern Virginia with those who directly support our troops fielding life-saving defense equipment. This has allowed me to discover the Dominican province of St. Joseph, and to seriously consider living a consecrated life. I have witnessed many different types of poverty in our society, and the desire has steadily grown within me to make my response a radical one. After much exploration, thought, and prayer, I aspire to make this response much like St. Dominic’s - an intense life of prayer and study for the sake of preaching Christ and his Gospel. My hobbies include working with wood and playing guitar. I am leaving a possible career as a rock and roll artist playing in the up and coming band “Van Lanahan” (my three older brothers), making its debut two days after I leave for the Novitiate. However, I look forward to pursuing my passion for music in a different setting for a different purpose, giving thanks and praise to God. (Marcel is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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CALLERY (”CAL”) LITTLE, 22

I was born in Hebron, Connecticut, and I have lived there all my life. I have a younger sister and brother. My parents instilled in me the importance of faith as well as its harmony with reason. In High School, this desire to reconcile faith and reason deepened my Catholic faith because I found that the Church is in constant communication with scientific thought. It was also during this time of spiritual growth in High School that I developed a great devotion to Our Lady, which manifested itself primarily for me in the recitation of the rosary. It was my dedication to studying truth and my intimate relationship with Mary that eventually led me to attend the Catholic University of America.

Before I came to Catholic, I had already been introduced to the Dominican Order through my great uncle, Fr. Damian Callery Fandal, O.P. After meeting several of the friars at the Dominican House of Studies, across the street from Catholic, I became a frequent guest at weekday Mass. Before I came to college I had thought about being a priest, but it was not until I got to know the Dominicans that I started thinking about it seriously. Through getting to know the friars and my studies of the great Dominicans, I began to experience the spirituality and mission of the Dominican Order and found myself attracted to its mixture of contemplative and active life.

In my junior year, I was able to study abroad in Rome and while living there I went to confession with a Dominican from Australia. I found his guidance to be not only spiritual but extremely practical as well. It then hit me that the reason I went to Dominicans for confession was because their spirituality fit with mine. It was then that I knew I was called to the Dominican Order.

I look forward to my entrance into the Dominicans with great joy and look forward to deepening my knowledge of philosophy and theology. In my free time I enjoy reading, card games, sports, and good conversations. I am most excited about the opportunity to preach the Word of God to His people, and to deepen my own spiritual life within the Dominican Order. (Cal is a candidate for the priesthood. –admin)

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BRENDAN LYNCH, 26

I grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire as the older of two children. I attended St. Lawrence University, majoring in philosophy. As a secular college, St. Lawrence provided a number of challenges to authentically living the Catholic Faith, but I found that these challenges left me with a deep desire to both know and express the Truth. This desire remained with me and grew as I began to discern a priestly vocation, and I am now convinced that God has directed this growth within me to find its fulfillment in the contemplative preaching of Dominican life.

While in college, however, there were still many uncertainties. I felt a growing call to the priesthood, but the way of life in which that would be expressed was not yet clear to me. From the beginning, I thought of Religious Life, but in addition to this I had come to know several diocesan priests, and I began to consider the possibility of a diocesan vocation as well. During this period, the writings of both St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross influenced me a great deal.

After much thought and prayer, I eventually felt God calling me back to my home diocese of Manchester, NH. After graduating from college, I entered the seminary the following term (Fall, 2003). I was a diocesan seminarian for about three years, and while this time was filled with many graces, I could not shake the idea of Religious Life. As I continued down the path towards the diocesan priesthood, I kept running up against a certain restlessness. While the priesthood had remained a constant, it had become clear to me that I needed a life of consecration, study, common prayer and contemplation to support the priesthood, and I found this in the Order of Preachers.

I look forward to a varied life as a Dominican, all focused entirely on the Preaching of Jesus Christ. I am especially interested in continuing my studies in philosophy and theology, and possibly teaching these subjects at some point. Some of my hobbies and interests include reading, writing, hiking, skiing and music. (Brendan is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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MICHAEL LYNCH, 26

I grew up in Connecticut, the baby of my family by ten years. By the time I started third grade, my three siblings had all gone to distant colleges. I attended a Catholic high school and went on to the University of Virginia, where I studied history. Through my first year at UVA I was weak in my practice of the faith. In my second year I began to attend many of the spiritual and social functions of the Catholic Student Association, which was under the care of the Dominican Friars at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. I began to read more about the Church, and saw some of the truth and beauty of its teachings. I grew in faith and observance, and eventually returned to confession.

My plans for the future were hazy, but I hoped to be some sort of professional do-gooder with a large family. Late in my time at Virginia, while reading about Church history, I suddenly felt drawn towards the priesthood. This made me quite nervous, and I recall an overwhelming relief the moment I approached one of the priests to discuss it. After an encouraging conversation, I was satisfied that I had given it enough consideration and left it aside, expecting never to return to it. It was two years before I began to give the religious life its proper consideration. I am strongly drawn to the Dominican emphases on contemplation and study. I believe that such a life, lived in community, is the surest foundation on which I may work for my own salvation and the salvation of others.

For the time being I live in New Haven and work at the headquarters of the Knights of Columbus. I have the good fortune to live just a few blocks away from St. Mary’s, a wonderful Dominican parish. In my free time I enjoy reading, exploring southern New England, and attempting to be an outdoorsman. Occasionally, I churn some butter. (Michael is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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JEFFREY REESE, 21

The oldest of three, I have two younger sisters and have lived in Annapolis, Maryland since I was three years old. I am blessed to have been raised in a good Catholic family, and the faith has always been a part of my life. However, I never really made the faith “mine” until my first year at Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA), where the campus Newman Club helped me take my faith more seriously. This renewed desire to better understand my Catholic faith led me to take classes in philosophy and religious studies, which I immediately fell in love with. It was at this point that I began to feel a call to articulate and defend the faith through academia and teaching.

I first began to seriously discern a vocation to the priesthood during my experience at the 2005 World Youth Day. Hearing the Holy Father directly ask the young men present to open their hearts to the possibility of serving the Church in a radical way, and seeing that service in action in all of the priests from all over the world who were present there, the priesthood became a living option for me. As I continued to pray about it and talk with my spiritual director, I grew more and more attracted to the religious life and, in particular, to the Order of Preachers.

Initially, it was the emphasis on study, in conjunction with my feeling called to teach, that drew me to the Dominicans. However, my appreciation for the Dominican charism has broadened and deepened ever since my initial visit to the House of Studies for a vocations weekend and the subsequent visits that I have been able to make. Seeing the brothers and priests living out the call to simple holiness, I have come to understand that for the Dominican, the life of study and the communal life are intertwined just like the contemplative and apostolic life.

I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to grow in faith and charity within the Dominican tradition and alongside my brothers at the novitiate and beyond. I still feel called to teach at the college level, but my deepest desire is simply to serve the Church and the Order as best I can. My hobbies are philosophy, theology, reading, listening to music, and the occasional game of Omaha or Texas hold ‘em. (Jeff is a candidate for the priesthood. –admin)

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CHARLES SHONK, 26

The youngest of four boys, I was raised in Lancaster, Ohio, a small, semi-agricultural town in central Ohio. After going to an all-boys Catholic high school, I attended Denison University, also in central Ohio, and got my undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Latin. Then I came to New York City and started full-time volunteer work, first as a second grade teacher for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Brooklyn, then as a high school teacher for the Marist Brothers in Manhattan. During these two years I lived in religious community and, to my surprise, began to discern a vocation to the religious life. Now twenty-six, I live in the Bronx and teach at St. Agnes Boys School on the Upper West Side: Old Testament to freshmen, Algebra II and Trigonometry to juniors.

Initially, I was drawn to the Dominican order by the inspiring sermons I heard at St. Patrick Church in Columbus, where my family attended mass when I was a teenager. Later on, in college, I encountered the philosophy and natural theology of St. Thomas. But, ultimately, it was the prayerful experience of living in religious community, combined with attendance at vocation weekends and discussions with Fr. Carleton Jones, O.P., that effectively drew me to the beauty of a specifically Dominican vocation. Some of the things that come to mind in this connection - things that I hope to appreciate more fully in the years ahead - are the mutually reinforcing interplay of contemplation and action, study as a means of sanctification, communal recitation of the Office and the Rosary, a theological formation within the living tradition of Thomism, the primacy of obedience as an evangelical counsel, the retention of monastic observances (such as silence at certain times of day), and, above all, the preaching of saving truth in loving service of God and neighbor.

Some day, I would like to serve in a parish. Teaching and mission work also appeal to me. My pastimes and hobbies include reading, writing, walking/thinking, listening to classical music, playing the piano, and practicing the organ. (Charles is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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THOMAS STIEF, 42

As a physical therapist, I first discerned a religious vocation with an order whose ministry focuses on health care, but I left to seek more orthodox formation. In the Dominican order, I hope to continue to serve in health care and also to minister with the written and spoken - and sung - word.

The youngest of five children, I was born in New Jersey and grew up near Chicago, but I have lived most of my adult life in the Washington, DC area (where I attended Georgetown University). After working in sociological research and later in vocational services to adults with mental disabilities, I returned to school and obtained a graduate degree in physical therapy, which I now practice at a nursing home.

Having “reverted” to the Catholic faith of my youth after some time away, I have benefited from excellent preaching and Spirit-filled worship at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Washington, DC and the Mother of God Community in Gaithersburg, MD. I now look forward to deeper maturation of my relationship with the Lord. (Tom is a candidate for the cooperator brotherhood. —admin.)

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TERENCE SWEENEY, 24

I was born in Whiteplains NY and lived in New York City, until I was seven when I moved to rural New Hampshire, where I have lived most of my life. I have an older brother and a younger sister. I studied at Providence College where I majored in history but also focused heavily on philosophy, theology, and literature. I was raised Catholic but in high school I fell away from my faith. At Providence College, through the guidance of some professors and Dominicans, I began to explore my understanding of reality in a deeper way. Through the Grace of God, I found the strength to return to my faith through the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist. Ever since then I have felt an ever-growing call to the Dominican priesthood. While attending, Masses and Eucharistic adoration, I became convinced that God had made me to be a Dominican and that my life was meant to be dedicated to preaching Truth. Nearing the end of my senior year of college I decided to forego my planned graduate studies. I had been accepted at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Birmingham (in the UK), and the University of Toronto to study for my PhD in British history. But I realized that I had to dedicate myself to discernment and so took the year off. I have spent this year living at home, working as a house painter. Through prayer and frequent conversations with my Dominican spiritual director, I became fully convinced that I was meant to be a Dominican priest. I found the Domincan ideal of contemplation and sharing the fruits of contemplation to be the most appealing element of the Order. I was also greatly drawn to the Dominican community life.

I hope to be able to continue my studies in philosophy, theology or history after my time at the Dominican House of Studies so that I will be able to teach in a collegiate setting. My hobbies are reading, writing, running, and conversation. (Terence is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)

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PATRICK YUNGWIRTH, 22

Number eight of nine, I grew up in Hagerstown, MD in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. After spending thirteen years in Catholic schools, I went on to the University of Maryland where I began studying engineering. Much to Divine Providence, I took a class on early Church history and read St. Augustine’s Confessions. I had recently started going to daily Mass (most likely due to the prayers of my biological mother who had passed away when I was seven), and the Confessions began my intellectual conversion, in which I began to desire to learn more and more about the Catholic faith and how it is, simply, beautiful. And so my real conversion began.

I met the Dominican friars at school when I began attending daily Mass, and the summer after my sophomore year of college, while doing missionary work, I stayed at St. Mary’s in New Haven and was taken up by one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve ever attended. From then on out, I knew the Dominicans were amazing. And my relationship with the friars continued to grow as I got back to school and began talking with the student brothers at the nearby Dominican House of Studies.

When I finally opened up to the Lord’s choice for my vocation, the Dominicans were a natural first place to look. I knew that I wanted to be a religious rather than diocesan, thanks to the previous two summers of missionary work where I lived and prayed in community. And once I learned about Sts. Dominic and Catherine of Siena, Bl. Jordan of Saxony, I was completed inspired. But, most importantly for me, when I learned that the Dominicans have a mix of a contemplative prayer life and an active ministry life, I knew I had found what the Lord wanted of me.

I would love to preach itinerantly or work in a collegiate setting. Even more though, I look forward to celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, preaching all the time, and doing whatever is asked of me by the Lord and my future superiors. (Patrick is a candidate for the priesthood. —admin.)