February 26, 2024
Reel Presence: Meet College Chaplain Rev. Simon Teller, O.P., Instagram sensation
By Bridget Anthony ’22, ’23G and Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
College Chaplain Rev. Simon Teller, O.P. has more than 40,000 followers on Instagram, which he joined in November 2023. An Instagram reel in which he prepared incense for Eucharistic Adoration received more than 21 million views and 557,000 likes.
Father Simon doesn’t have professional training in videography or social media, but that has not been an obstacle to success. Some of his popular reels offer a Catholic spin on familiar video formats and others are wholly original concepts. Several are “ASMR” reels consisting of audio and visual stimuli meant to relax viewers. (ASMR is a popular social media video trend.)
Father Simon, who was ordained a priest on May 22, 2021, was assigned to the college in 2022. He served as associate chaplain before being named chaplain in 2024. He is a member of the Hillbilly Thomists bluegrass band and appeared on stage at Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence with Zac Brown Band during Late Night Madness, part of Homecoming Weekend in October 2024.
Learn more about Father Simon in this 2023 interview:
How do you get ideas for your videos? What’s the goal in creating them?
I got the idea to make the “Catholic ASMR” reels from watching the outdoor cooking ASMR reels by @thenikosknife. As I was setting up for Mass one day, it occurred to me that I could make similar reels about what goes “backstage” at church (in the sacristy, that is). So I made a reel about how priests set up the chalice for Mass and it got a million views and 100,000 likes. Then I made a similar one about preparing incense for Eucharistic Adoration and it went mega-viral.
My goal is to bring people closer to the Catholic sacraments. Catholic spirituality is all about engaging the senses, so the “smells and bells” — the sights and sounds — that we find at Church are really important. God enters our lives through these symbols of our faith. He speaks to us, he changes us, through them. I want people to become more aware of that and more disposed to encountering God in that way.
I also help make the reels for the @pccampmin Instagram (PC’s Campus Ministry account), along with Father Justin Bolger and Father Damian Day ’15, the other chaplains. We have made some really popular parodies of Taylor Swift songs adapted to promote PC events. One of the students here, John Paul Brissette ’25, is a verified influencer with his brother (@franchismo10), and he works with us to come up with ideas, film, and edit the videos.
You grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and went to college in Dallas, Texas, two places with strong feelings about their respective chili variations. Where does the country’s best bowl of chili come from?
My mom’s homemade Cincinnati chili is the best chili there is. Don’t judge Cincy chili based on the fast food restaurants (like Skyline). We might be the Nasty ’Nati, but our homemade chili is fire.
“Friar” comes from the Latin word for “brother,” and Dominican friars regard each other as brothers. But there was one friar you called brother before either of you became Dominicans, right?
Yes! My older brother is also a Dominican friar and priest: Father Jonah Teller, O.P. Actually, my first reel to go viral was of me going to meet him in New York City, where he works as a parish priest at St. Joseph Church in Greenwich Village.
You were an undergraduate English major and have also studied theology, philosophy, and music. If you could design a course based on your studies and interests, what would the title be? Would there be any surprising inclusions in the syllabus?
The title of my course would be this: Philosophy (Taylor’s Version). I am not a Swiftie, but Taylor writes about a lot of the same themes that come up in the great books we read in Civ: fate, happiness, jealousy, revenge, justice, peace, unrequited love, etc. What does Taylor have to say about these themes? Does she agree with the ancient poets like Homer and Virgil about the nature of justice? Are she and Dante on the same page about love? These are the questions PC Swifties need to be asking.
When and how did you begin to feel called to Dominican life, and what advice would you offer students and young alumni who are discerning their vocations as laypeople?
I grew up going to a church run by Dominican friars in Ohio. The idea of being a priest first crossed my mind when I was seven, but I didn’t think about it seriously until I was a senior at the University of Dallas. Action is the best way to discern a vocation. If you are thinking about becoming a religious sister or brother or a priest, go and visit a convent or a priory or a seminary. Try things out, pray about them, and see what happens.
With tens of thousands of followers on Instagram and a recent reel with more than half a million likes, some might call you a bona fide social media influencer. What exciting content can your audience look forward to in the future?
More Catholic ASMR for sure! Rosary-making, Easter fires, Palm Sunday crosses. All coming soon. And also more reels with the chaplains and friars here on campus. Priory Cookout content is always in the pipeline. The Hillbilly Thomists’s new album is scheduled to be released in May, so more of that content is also coming soon!
