 Br. Loren Michael Pelick, OP
I first felt the call to religious life when I was around 12 years old, but there was one
problem though...I wasn't Catholic, so I figured that took care of that. Well, little did
I know that God had other plans for me. In 1988, after an interesting faith journey, I was
received into the Catholic faith at Christ the King Catholic Church in Jacksonville,
Florida. From that moment on, my dream of becoming a priest slowly began to materialize.
At the advice of Sr. Becky, OSF, (My R.C.I.A. leader) I contacted the Diocese of St.
Augustine, Fl., to begin the application process. As I went through the process I began to
get cold feet, after all, I was in my early twenties and I had a great career opportunity
opening up to me, so I put my vocation on hold and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to pursue
a career as a funeral director. By all accounts, all was going well, I had a nice
apartment, truck, money....everything a young man could want, but I still couldn't get the
idea of a religious vocation out of my mind.It was in Atlanta that I first meet the
Dominicans which was rather ironic in that Sr. Becky had told me before I left Florida,
that although she thought I'd make a good Franciscan, Fr. John (the parish vicar) thought
I'd make a better Dominican. During the years that followed, 8 to be exact, my
relationship with the Dominican community at Holy Cross Catholic Church and of the
Southern Province of St. Martin de Porres, grew as the friars invited me to join them in
their various community activities. I found myself attracted to the Dominicans through the
friars' expressions of great joy and enthusiasm for preaching the Gospel and living
community life that was rooted in prayer and centered around fraternal love for one
another. After, the Dominicans left Atlanta, there was a great void in my life...so after
some deeper discernment, I finally said yes to the invitation that God had extended to me
many years earlier. Although these past four years have been challenging they have been
equally affirming as well. From my novitiate year to the three years of simple vows in my
province's studium in St. Louis, to the joy of making solemn profession last May, and now
having the opportunity of living and studying with my brothers here in the Western
Province, I feel truly blessed to be a part of this wonderful order and I thank God for
his persistence.
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