Please join us for the Ordination to Holy Priesthood of Reverend Mr. Lawrence J. Barile -
Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 10:30 a.m.
Cathedral of St. Patrick, Norwich
Below is what he wrote in April 2020 about his journey as he prepared to be called to ordination as a Transitional Deacon:
"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 ... 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."