The Lord Called Deacon Michael Faix to the Priesthood through Daily Prayer

It was fitting that Deacon Michael Faix spent one of the weeks leading up to his priestly ordination conversing with God on a silent retreat. His journey to the priesthood began through dedication to daily prayer.
 
Deacon Faix will be ordained to the priesthood on June 27, 2020. The thought of becoming a priest did not cross his mind until his early 20s. Growing up, he was a parishioner at Saint Martin de Porres Parish (now Mary, Mother of God Parish) and attended McKeesport Area High School. During his later years at Allegheny College in Meadville, where he studied physics and music performance, he committed himself to daily prayer.
 
After college, he weighed a lot of options for his next step, including grad school and teaching. But through all the time that Deacon Faix had spent in prayer, the Lord made it clear that he was calling him to mission work. 
 
He joined NET Ministries, a mission organization that encourages young Catholics to dedicate their lives to Christ and live by the Church’s teaching. Through NET, he worked for a year on a mission team at All Saints Parish in Lakeville, Minnesota, where he helped with parish outreach, development and youth programs. He then worked for two years as a NET supervisor at its headquarters in St. Paul.
 
During his work with NET, Deacon Faix’s prayer life grew deeper.
 
"The call to the priesthood came about in the course of daily prayer, living in community and living out the mission of evangelization,” he said.
 
He was hesitant to begin telling people that he felt this call, but the Lord provided for him.
 
“With every concrete step I took in faith, I was filled with peace,” he said.
 
He entered St. Paul Seminary in the fall of 2013.
 
During his time in seminary, St. Teresa of Avila’s writing on prayer profoundly influenced his own prayer life. He also grew closer to St. Joseph, his Confirmation saint, and seeks to emulate him through his priestly ministry.
 
“St. Joseph is the model for foster fatherhood, for spiritual fatherhood. That is what a priest is to his parishioners,” Deacon Faix said.
 
As part of his priestly formation, Deacon Faix studied at Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe. His favorite experience there was praying in the presence of the Eucharist each morning in his dorm’s adoration chapel. He looks forward to encouraging the faithful to encounter Jesus in adoration through his priestly ministry.

“Priests put people in touch with God through their witness and their preaching. The Christian life is about encountering and meeting the Lord face to face, and being in right relationship with God,” he said.
 
After his ordination, Deacon Faix is most looking forward to celebrating Mass and hearing Confessions.
 
“To me, that’s who a priest is and what he does. He stands In persona Christi, or in the Person of Christ, to bring people into the healing love of God,” he said.
 
He encourages any man discerning the priesthood to pray about it deeply. Then, talk about it with others and seek conversations with priests who can serve as mentors through the discernment process.
 
“If and when you know the time is right, answer the call with courage and with the Lord by your side,” he said.
 
Click here to live stream Deacon Michael Faix’s ordination to the priesthood at 10:00 am on June 27.

Click here to meet the other men to be ordained.