Austin Alanis
Propaedeutic StageBlessed Stanley Rother House of Formation at Mount St. Mary's
College of William & Mary
Hello! I am the son of 2 awesome parents and the oldest of 3 children. Our family was a military family, so we made our home wherever the Marine Corps sent us. I was born in Virginia, and we lived here several times, but we also lived in North Carolina, California, and even Germany.
When I was in high school, I fell away from the faith. I think that I still believed that God existed, but I knew that belief demanded conversion, so it was easier for me to say that I didn’t believe than to change my ways. Thankfully, our Lord had a plan to bring me back to himself. During my first weekend of college at William & Mary (Go Tribe!), I received an email from the Catholic chaplain inviting students to mass. For some reason, I accepted that invitation, and it was from that first mass that I went to my first confession in 3 years. From there, the Lord drew me closer and closer to himself through the Catholic Campus Ministry.
I started discerning a call to the priesthood at the beginning of my junior year of college. My strategy was to knock on the door of the priesthood, and see how far the Lord would open it to let me in. A scripture passage that has resonated throughout my discernment is the Washing of the Feet in John 13, and our Lord’s commandment in John 15:12, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” I am grateful that the Lord has permitted me to enter seminary, unworthy as I am, and I ask you to pray to him, our Lady, and St. Joseph for me!
Home Parish: National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
Favorite Saints: St. John Bosco and St Maria Goretti
Favorite Book: “The Seven Story Mountain” by Thomas Merton
Hobbies: Running, playing guitar, reading, cooking
