January 31, 2014
New Dominicans energize campus with teaching and preaching
By Vicki-Ann Downing
They’re the new guys on the block — three young Dominican priests assigned to teach and to assist in Campus Ministry at Providence College.
Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P., who is 29, and Rev. Augustine Reisenauer, O.P., who is 32, arrived at PC in September 2012 and were joined this academic year by Rev. Michael O’Connor, O.P., 32.
The three, who were seminary classmates, are helping to continue a tradition at PC — the only college in the United States founded and staffed by priests from the Dominican Order of Preachers.
For almost 100 years, the Dominican friars have brought their tradition of academic scholarship and Gospel preaching to PC’s classrooms and community.
About 40 Dominican priests reside in the Priory of St. Thomas Aquinas on campus, with most working in College administration or teaching in disciplines that include theology, philosophy, history, economics, psychology, biology, and theatre arts.
With assistance from the Dominican Foundation, the development arm of the Order’s Eastern Province, the Dominicans are in a state of renewal. While vocations to the priesthood are in decline in many areas of the country, the Dominicans are seeing a resurgence. About 70 young men, the most in decades, are in formation at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and at the Priory of St. Gertrude in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Their seminary education is funded through donations and fundraising by the Dominican Foundation, which estimates that it costs $336,000 over seven years to prepare each candidate for the priesthood.
After ordination, Dominican priests can be assigned anywhere — to assist at parishes, as hospital chaplains, or to help in campus ministry at colleges and universities. The addition of Father Brophy, Father O’Connor, and Father Reisenauer has brought increased energy to the PC campus.
Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P.: At home in Campus Ministry and in the kitchen
Rev. Justin Brophy, O.P., from Totowa, N.J., planned to go to law school and enter politics — until he read Plato’s Republic as a freshman at the University of Notre Dame.
“It changed my entire view,” said Father Brophy. “Freedom does not consist in the ability to do what one wants, but rather in wanting to act virtuously. The human person is fulfilled in doing what is good, not in having the ability to do what is good or bad.”
“Books are dangerous things,” added Father Brophy with a smile. “If you take them seriously, they can change your life.”
If Plato pointed Father Brophy to religious life, Dante’s Paradiso introduced him to the Dominicans. He joined the order just weeks after his graduation from Notre Dame in 2006, was ordained in 2012, and was assigned to be assistant chaplain at PC.
In addition to those duties, Father Brophy hosts a weekly radio shown on WDOM-FM, coaches the Debate Society team, and tweets as @Fr_Bro. He played touch football in the Turkey Bowl and cooked sliders and sweet potato fries for students in Raymond Dining Hall in a competition with Rev. R. Gabriel Pivarnik, O.P., assistant professor of theology and vice president for mission and ministry. He also is teaching a theology class this semester.
“I had expectations for what this assignment would be like. I was looking forward to it,” said Father Brophy. “PC not only met but exceeded those expectations. The opportunities PC provides for evangelization, even outside the chapel, really continue to amaze me and please me. For a Dominican, it’s like Disneyland.”
Rev. Michael O’Connor, O.P.: A lover of music and theology
Rev. Michael O’Connor, O.P. knew from boyhood that he wanted to be a priest, but it took him awhile to decide to be a Dominican.
Benedictines staffed the church across from Father O’Connor’s home in Peru, Ill., and his high school, so he thought that order would be a natural fit. But after he graduated from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and studied abroad in Italy, he began to question whether he could adapt to the vow of stability that requires Benedictines to remain in one place for life.
So Father O’Connor, a vocal performance major in college, took some time to think about it. He worked three years as a church musician, organist, and choir director, and taught music to children. He also edited a hymnal, The St. Michael Hymnal, which is notable for its adherence to the original language of hymns, without politically correct modifications.
After a visit to the Dominicans, “I started to think this could be it,” said Father O’Connor. “At the heart of the Dominican life is bringing together contemplation and the active life of going out and teaching and preaching.”
He joined the Order in 2006, was ordained last May, and assigned to teach theology at PC. He said he’s been impressed by “the openness of students to learning about things of faith, and the incredible respect of students for the friars. I’m happy in class to see a real openness to think about what a life of faith means and the implications. Things do resonate with them.”
Rev. Augustine Reisenauer, O.P.: Choosing the priesthood over medicine
Rev. Augustine Reisenauer, O.P. almost became a physician. A pre-med student at the University of Notre Dame, he was accepted to medical school at Creighton and Georgetown universities, but his heart was elsewhere.
Instead, he returned home to Wenatchee, Wash., and worked in a mental health clinic for a year before entering a master’s program in theology at Notre Dame. Dominicans he met there convinced him that their Order was right for him, especially because there was a possibility he could teach at the college level one day.
He entered the Order in 2006, was ordained in 2012, and was assigned to PC, where he teaches theology and in the Development of Western Civilization Program. He especially enjoys supporting students at athletic events and theatre and music productions, and last fall, ran the Friar 5K to support the National Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.
On weekends, Father Reisenauer celebrates Mass at area churches and at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Norfolk.
“It’s part of who I am as a Dominican, to go out and preach. It’s very important,” said Father Reisenauer. “At the heart of the Dominican life is contemplative preaching — the synthesis of prayer and study and the salvation of souls.”
As a teacher, he is “always surprised by students when they come to an insight in the text I haven’t come to fully appreciate. That is an amazing experience, and humbling as well. That freshmen as young as 18 or 19 are able to engage with these texts and come up with insights and interpretations that are ingenious — it fosters wonder.”
The Dominican Foundation supports vocations, the intellectual and spiritual life of institutions like Providence College, and other essential provincial causes through the generosity of benefactors. To learn more: www.dominicanfriars.org/PC.
