Rome, December 1, 2011. A new book with a Spanish title, Dios lo da todo (God Gives Everything) gathers the vocation stories of the 49 Legionaries of Christ who will be ordained to the priesthood in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran this upcoming December 12. Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, C.S., will preside over the ordination ceremony.

Although the book has a Spanish title, the testimonies are written in the soon-to-be-priests’ native languages, with stories in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Hungarian.

The English-speaking deacons who will be ordained priests this year are Steven Costello, Thomas Flynn, Gregory Heslip, Michael Maciborski, Lawrence McClure, Nathan Miller, Jason Mitchell, Michael Mitchell, Thomas Montanaro, Reuben Nuxoll, Michael Picard, Devin Roza, Aaron Vinduska, and Timothy Wysocki.

A tiny excerpt of Thomas Montanaro’s story reads:

One snowy night, I was out having a cappuccino with the girl I was dating, also a member of Regnum Christi, and we decided that before taking another step in our relationship, each one of us had to discern what God had made us for. That generosity I heard God calling me to during my freshman year was confirmed: I would offer a year to God and see what he wanted. After graduating from Steubenville with a degree in humanities and Catholic culture, I felt that I was leaving everything behind: so many friends, our now three mature Regnum Christi young men’s teams, professional possibilities...

And Nathan Miller’s story begins with:

My parents are from Cleveland, Ohio. That is where I was born in 1979, in Marymount Hospital, on a feast dedicated to Mary and a mountain: July 16. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. As if the date and the hospital’s name were not signs enough, God sent another. As my mother looked at my raisin face for the first time—both of us were wearing matching blue patient wrist bands—she wondered why God had sent her a third son, when he knew so well that she would have liked a girl. Suddenly she heard an answer within. It was a man’s voice: “Your child will become something only a man can be!” She paused and listened more attentively to the rhythmic beeping of the machines monitoring our vital signs.
“The president, maybe?”
“No, the president could be a woman,” replied the voice.
She thought, “A priest?”
The voice said, “Yes.”
And yet, she knew we were not even Catholic; so she did the only thing she could do: she treasured all these things in her heart...

The rest of these stories can be read here on the Regnum Christi web site in the special section for the newly ordained priests.