A visit and First Mass with Fr. Josemaria Guzman-Dominguez

Fr. Josemaria gives each sister his First Blessing

We are always excited to meet the newly ordained priests of our province and of our diocese, and Fr. Josemaria was no exception! He came still fresh with all the graces of ordination only five days prior. We were able to visit with Father in the parlor and enjoyed learning about his background and how he came to find his Dominican vocation - largely through a study-abroad year in Bologna, a city with many connections to the Dominican Order. St. Dominic’s body rests there in a basilica dedicated to his name.

Fr. Josemaria is originally from Venezuela and is therefore fluent in both Spanish and English. But that is not all - he studied French in high school and majored in Italian literature in his undergrad. He will almost certainly find his talent for languages useful in the Dominican Order, which has three official languages - Spanish, English, and French - and has its curia based in Rome where they speak Italian. What a blessing to be able to communicate across so many languages and cultures!

Fr. Josemaria will return to Washington D.C. to St. Dominic’s priory to finish out his STL, which is on the virtue of Hope in the writings of Dante (putting to good use his Italian literature studies!).

We were so happy to be able to meet Fr. Josemaria, and will be sure to keep him and his future priestly ministry and preaching in our prayers. God bless our priests!