We are the Priests of the Sacred Heart – Dehonians!
We live in community, are inspired by daily Eucharistic Adoration, and in a fragmented world we believe unity to be possible. Our ministries are diverse, as are our members. Yet our goal is the same: to work with a common heart in service to God’s people, reflecting the love of Christ as experienced by our founder, Fr. Leo John Dehon. Are you called to a life of prayer and service based in the love of the Sacred Heart? Are you called to religious life as a priest or brother?
Have a question, ready to learn more?
Do you have a question for our vocation director? Are you discerning a vocation to the priesthood and/or religious life? Let's be in contact!
You can also mail our vocation director at: vocations@dehoniansusa.org or call us at 800-609-5559. We look forward to meeting you!
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Recent news:
Welcome!
Michael Iwuchukwu was accepted by the US Province Admissions Board as a candidate for the formation program at Sacred Heart Monastery. He is 31, originally from Nigeria, and is currently studying for a master’s degree at Drew University in New Jersey. Welcome!
Hello from Ecuador!
“Instead of getting down from our pedestals, we have to go up to encounter the people of God,” said Frater Paul Phong Hoang, SCJ, reflecting on bringing communion to people in the mountains of Ecuador. Fra. Paul, a seminarian at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, is with our Dehonian community in Ecuador this summer studying Spanish and assisting with ministry. He recently wrote with an update and shared a few photos.
“I am currently living in the formation community in Miraflore, Quito, Ecuador, and have daily Spanish class with four other Dehonian students (two from Vietnam and two from Cameroon),” he wrote. “On July 10 [today], I will begin my class at the nearby university: PUCE (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador). It is a 30-minute walk from the community house, and the class will be three hours a day…
“On Saturday, if I am not in La Argelia, I accompany Fra. Ho Si Thanh, SCJ, aka José Thanh (from Vietnam), and Fra. Jean Somena, SCJ (from Cameroon) to bring communion to the elderly on the mountain. Because it is very high and sometimes steep, people up there rarely come down to attend Mass. So instead of getting down from our pedestals, we have to go up to encounter the people of God. They live very simply up there, mostly by farming and raising domestic animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens. It is good exercise for me. You can feel the lower oxygen level in the air.”
CLICK HERE to read more.
A new Dehonian priest!
On Saturday, December 17th, Fr. Henry Bùi Nguyen, SCJ, was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Thomas Thái Thành Nguyen, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange. The ordination took place at St. Columban Catholic Church in Garden Grove, CA, just a few miles away from Fr. Henry’s home parish of St. Polycarp, where he celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving the next day.
Fr. Henry credits his father, Douglas Nguyen, for nurturing his faith and his vocation. “My father, since as far back as I can remember, has reminded me of the importance of prayer,” said Henry. “Even when I went to the seminary, was ordained to the diaconate, my dad has continued to remind me to pray. PRAY EVERY DAY!”
His first priestly assignment will be to help other young men with their vocational discernment; in fact, if you are reading this on our vocation webpage, you may have already met Fr. Henry. As of January 1, 2023, Fr. Henry is the vocation director for the US Province.
“I am excited for this new position,” said Fr. Henry. When asked what advice he would give someone considering a vocation to religious life and/or the priesthood, Fr. Henry echoed his father:
“Pray! My advice is to stay rooted in prayer and respond with your heart.”
Meet our students!
“I find community life to be life-giving, filled with joy,” wrote Frater Jonathan Nguyen Vuong, SCJ. “We bond and learn more about each other in community. I do find academic studies to be challenging in formation. But even though it is challenging for me and other SCJ students, I know that the knowledge we learn from our classes will help us in ministry.”
At 21, Frater Jonathan is the youngest member of the US Province; he professed his first vows in August. He and the rest of the students in the province formation community introduce themselves this week in the annual Formation Community Profile on the province website.
“I used to be a Minister of Care at the University of Chicago Hospital,” wrote Frater Hung Pham, SCJ, who worked as a Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) analyst before pursuing his religious vocation. “I completed the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in the summer. These experiences have helped me to provide spiritual care for the sick… I look forward to requesting the Ministry of Acolyte with the Priests of the Sacred Heart in the Spring of 2023. And I am applying for a Pastoral Year in the summer of 2023 to experience parish life.”
The US Province formation program is based at Sacred Heart Monastery. Six students are seminarians at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology (Fra. Paul Hoang, Fra. Thuan Nguyen, Fra. Hung Pham, Alfonso Pizano, Fra. Truc Tran and Fra. Michael Wodarczyk) and two are completing their undergraduate studies (Fra. Jonathan Nguyen Vuong at Cardinal Stritch and Fra. Jacob Smith at Marquette).
Click here to read all of their profiles.
Click here to access the online album with this year’s group photo, individual photos, and a few pictures of our SHSST seminarians on campus.
Come and See!
Fr. Quang is pictured here with Alejandro, one of the participants in a recent “Come and See,” an opportunity for young men discerning a vocation to religious life to literally “come and see” the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians). Are you discerning a call to religious life, to the priesthood? Contact our vocation director at vocations@dehoniansusa.org or call 800-609-5559 to learn how you can Come and See!
A few of our videos
Learn about our students, our formation program, and our religious community through the short videos and news items below, many of which were produced by the students themselves. View more on our DehoniansUSA YouTube channel. Have a question, ready to learn more? Email our vocation director at: vocations@dehoniansusa.org, or call us at 800-609-5559.
