Andrew Allen
Propaedeutic StageBlessed Stanley Rother House of Formation at Mount St. Mary's
Brooke Point High School
I was born in Bellevue, Washington, but my family moved to Virginia when I was a few months old. I grew up in Stafford County in a Protestant household with a younger brother until my senior year of high school. As a senior, I considered deepening what had been a nominal sort of faith and took to a tentative study of Christian history. To my admitted surprise, God showed me in my investigation that the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ. I was baptized on the Easter Vigil of 2019 at the parish of Saint Jude in Christiansburg, VA. I went to the nearby Radford University for college and made many close Catholic friends through the campus ministry, which I became involved in for several years. My brother, by the grace of God, also converted to the Faith during this time.
During the initial coronavirus lockdowns, I decided that it would be better to take a break from college and finish when I was more equipped to do so. I took up a nascent career as an electrician’s helper and began to take evening classes in preparation for a journeyman’s license. I worked for two and a half years doing electrical work in factories, warehouses, and in the beautiful hill country of Southwest Virginia. The work was hard, but very rewarding; it helped me to see the gifts God gives to each person and the goods that come from diligent action. It was about halfway through this period that God began to pull me through His Sacraments toward the ministerial priesthood. I have been greatly consoled and supported by my parish community, former coworkers, and the parishioners of the Holy Trinity parish in Norfolk where I spent my diocesan internship year.
Please pray for my discernment, all the people who have helped me get to this point, and especially for the growth of the Church in the Diocese of Richmond.
Home Parish: Saint Jude, Christiansburg
Favorite Saint: Ferdinand III of Castile
Favorite Book: Lord of the World
Hobbies: History, hunting, hiking, creative writing
