This month, Larry Barile presents us with a brief look at his journey as he prepares to be called to ordination as a
Transitional Deacon. Please keep Larry in your prayers, Larry was ordained a transitional deacon, April 15, 2020
at Pope John XXIII National Seminary where he is presently in his final month of formation for priesthood ordination.

Father Gregory Galvin, Director of Priestly Vocations

My name is Larry Barile, and I am a seminarian in Third Theology studying at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. This seminary is for men who are called to the priesthood as a second or delayed vocation. How “delayed” am I? John F. Kennedy was president when I was a toddler.

Before entering seminary, I worked as a respiratory therapist for 28 years at the State of Connecticut Department of Veterans’ Affairs. I credit my family of six with strong Christian values for my desire to help others in need. This desire manifested itself in high school when I became an EMT/ volunteer firefighter in my hometown of Coventry. This desire to serve continued after high school when I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for four years as a medic.

Clearly, my family has had a profound influence in nurturing my Catholic beliefs. Whether it was my paternal “saint of a grandmother” taking my sister and I to Church on Saturday while my grandmother went to confession, or witnessing my maternal grandfather “kissing the crucifix” when leaving or entering his house, I was evangelized in the faith by true disciples of Christ. Included in this mix of true witnesses is my sister, Karen. She too is a delayed vocation and has been a professed sister with the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for 10 years.

The call to the priesthood first began as a teenager. My desire to become a father overshadowed these feelings. God fulfilled my heart’s desire to be a biological father and blessed me with a son. Michael is now 30 years old and lives in Florida. When his mother went home to the Lord in May of 2015, the desire to pursue a vocation to the priesthood flooded my heart. I now pray God will fulfill my heart’s desire to be a spiritual father.

Since entering seminary in 2016, I have taken candidacy and received the ministries of acolyte and lector. It has been an exciting journey with many expected highs and lows. God willing, I joyfully anticipate being ordained to the transitional diaconate this May and ordination to the priesthood in June of 2021. I am thankful to Bishop Cote for granting me this great privilege of discerning a vocation to the priesthood. With God’s grace, I eagerly look forward to serving the spiritual needs of Catholics in the Norwich Diocese.