Local Parishioner to be Ordained in Rome

John J. O’Brien will be ordained a transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Louis on Thursday, Oct. 5, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of the U.S. Military Diocese will be the ordaining prelate.


JOHN J. O'BRIEN
New transitional deacon

O’Brien, 25, is a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. A member of St. Joseph Parish in Josephville, he is the oldest of six children of John and Renee O’Brien of Lake St. Louis.

O’Brien was a member of the inaugural class of Gateway Academy in Chesterfield when it was founded in 1992. He graduated from Lumen Christi High School in Hardy, Ark., in 1999.

After attending a seminary in the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., and St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn., O’Brien transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at St. Louis University through Cardinal Glennon College of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in 2003. O’Brien is expected to be ordained to the priesthood in St. Louis in May 2007 and to return to Rome for the fall 2007 academic year.

About 40 friends and relatives will be in Rome for the ordination, including Father Timothy Elliott, former pastor of St. Joseph in Josephville and founding pastor of the new St. Gianna Parish in St. Charles County; Father Raymond D. Hager, associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Cottleville; Father Michael Butler, director of the archdiocesan Vocation Office; and Deacon Fielding Harrison and his wife, Sue, of St. Joseph Parish in Josephville.

This is a very special event as the parishioners of St Joseph's and St. Gianna's keep John O'Brien in their prayers.

Source.