For several years, membership in the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic of the Province of St. Albert the Great in the USA was limited to the Chapter of St. Vincent Ferrer in River Forest, Illinois. Recently, however, province-wide membership has nearly doubled, and many members have expressed the sentiment that smaller chapters based on geographical proximity would better serve their needs.
Hence, the Province established the Chapter of Lumen Ecclesiae as the first to emerge from the parent chapter, comprising the Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit, which is the equivalent of the State of Michigan. The new chapter came into being on October 7, 2020. Within hours, Father Alan (Adrian) Guanella, Prior of the Chicago Province’s Proto-chapter of St. Vincent Ferrer, led the members of the new chapter into their election process. Because there are five professed members of the new chapter at this time, the Prior Provincial granted a dispensation so that there could be five councilors, enabling every member to be intimately involved in setting the direction for the new chapter. A sixth member, Father John Gallas of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, who is still a novice, will serve as the Council’s non-conciliar Secretary-Treasurer, thereby involving all members as closely as possible into the deliberations of the chapter’s earliest days.
The five professed members of the new chapter include the following: Frs. Ed Fride, Anthony Strouse and David Fons of the Diocese of Lansing; Fr. Matthew Hysell, a native of Muskegon, Michigan, who is a priest of the Archdiocese of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and Fr. Maximiliian Nightingale of the Diocese of Kalamazoo.
Fathers Fons and Nightingale entered the Order through the fraternity chapter based at the Convent of Sts. Dominic and Sixtus in Rome, Italy. Upon completion of their studies in Rome, and subsequent return to their home dioceses, they sought to continue their membership by transferring to a local chapter close to their diocese. At that time, discussions have already begun concerning the viability of erecting a new chapter in Michigan. Once they threw their lot in with the new chapter, its foundation was secured.
Though the erection was not marked with liturgy nor gathering of any kind because of the COVID-19 restrictions, the event was celebrated prayerfully throughout the province, with cards, greetings and promises of prayer arriving from most of the priories and convents of the friars throughout St. Albert the Great Province, as well as from various branches of the Order throughout the State.
On October 13, the chapter elected its first Prior, Fr. Anthony Strouse, whose religious name in the Order is Brother Dominic Thomas. The following information about Fr. Anthony is taken from the website of the Diocese of Lansing.
Fr. Anthony Strouse is the oldest child and only son of Robert and Susan Strouse. He has two younger sisters, Amanda and Allison. He was raised in Williamston, and attended Catholic Schools all his life. He graduated in 2002 from Lansing Catholic High School, and then attended St. John Vianney College Seminary on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he earned his Bachelor of Liberal Arts, majoring in Philosophy and Catholic Studies. He attended Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, and there earned a Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in the City (Angelicum), and a Master of Divinity. His first assignment was as parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas parish/St. John Church & Student Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Also, during the summers, he attended the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, graduating with a Master of Arts in Liturgy in 2016. In 2014 he became Administrator of St. Joseph parish in Adrian, Michigan, and then became pastor of the same parish in 2015. In 2016 he was named the 7th pastor of St. Pius X parish, Flint, Michigan.
Congratulations to the Lumen Ecclesiae Chapter and its new Prior!
fr. Michael Monshau, O.P.
