A Word from Stephen Cieslak

Hi, my name is Stephen Cieslak, seminarian for Archdiocese of Portland. It is a blessing and a privilege to serve you in this your parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I am excited to get to know and journey with you on our lifelong journeys to Christ through his Church. For your pleasure, here is a bit of my background. I was born in St. Louis, Missouri. My family moved around a lot when I was a toddler, but we ended up in Portland and I’ve been living there since I was four. My home parish is St. Rose of Lima in Northeast Portland, of which I have been attending since I was six. From K-8, I attended Archbishop Howard Grade School (now St. Rose of Lima School) which is attached to St. Rose, and moving into high school, attended De La Salle North Catholic in North Portland all four years. There I got involved in the La Salle Youth Ministry and played basketball and soccer for the school. After graduating, I accepted an Army ROTC scholarship to Boise State University. My second semester there, I got involved with the St. Paul’s Newman Center on campus, and the following year, was elected an officer. I began discerning a vocation to the priesthood all through my sophomore year of studies and after completing my second year, decided to apply to the Archdiocese of Portland and Mt. Angel Seminary in 2012. I was accepted, and after five years, have finished my second year of theology at the North American College in Rome. My calling came about while at Boise State from a love of service, and having found myself fulfilled in the service for the other. These last five years have been a struggle to stay focused on the truth and reality of the priesthood as not being in a parish can easily distract from this goal. However, I have come to a deeper love of Christ and his priesthood. I can imagine nothing more beautiful or more powerful on earth than being able to facilitate Christ’s descending to be among us during the Epiclesis, and to consume us. I want to bring Christ to the world and to bring others to Christ.

Stephen Cieslak