In a recent Shepherd Circle Priest Podcast, Father Michael Duffy and Dominican Father Joseph-Anthony Kress shared a profound common thread: a life-changing devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. 

As the Church enters the Marian month of May, both priests recounted the specific moments at the French apparition site where their vocations were not just heard, but solidified.

A Voice at the Grotto 

For Father Kress, the call came during a college mission trip to Lourdes while he was studying abroad in Austria. Volunteering in the baths and sanctuaries for a week, he found himself praying at the exact spot where St. Bernadette once knelt.

“As I was praying my Rosary and looking up at the statue, there was an interior voice in my heart that said: ‘You are mine now and I’m never letting go,’” the Godsplaining host recalled. 

The clarity of the message was startling. “I was like, ‘Come again? You want to try that again?’ and it repeated: ‘You are mine now and I’m never letting go.’ I thought, ‘Okay, that’s it. We’re doing it. We’re going to make the jump.’”

That moment of surrender defined his future. He immediately purchased a habit rosary at a gift shop outside the Saint-Michel gate — the very same rosary he wears on his Dominican habit today.

The ‘Catholic Disneyland’ of Faith

Father Duffy’s journey to the priesthood was similarly anchored at the Marian shrine. Having visited “five or six times,” he describes the sanctuary as “Catholic Disneyland,” noting that while the atmosphere is vibrant, the spiritual core is incomparable.

“I was there as a seminarian and then went back as a young priest and said to the Blessed Mother: ‘Mary, you have to protect my vocation. One, get me to the altar, and, two, now that I’m here as a young priest, you have to protect my vocation,’” Father Duffy shared.

His prayer was answered with a poetic assignment. Five years to the day after that prayer, he was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on Long Island, where he served for three years.

The Miracle of the Cross

Both priests spent time serving the malades — the sick who travel from across the world to dip into the miraculous waters. While Lourdes is famous for physical healings, Father Duffy suggested that the spiritual transformations are often more significant.

“Fulton Sheen said that Fatima is a place of penance and Lourdes is the place of faith,” Father Duffy remarked. “When you work in the baths ... you see their deep faith.”

“The miracles and physical healings are powerful and beautiful. But when somebody comes to Lourdes ... and they are able to accept their cross or their ‘death sentence’ of whatever illness they have — I think sometimes that’s even more powerful,” Father Duffy said. “To see a person fighting stage-four pancreatic cancer now accept it as a way of embracing the Lord and his cross ... that’s really powerful to me.”

Father Kress agreed, noting that witnessing this “faith lived out” provided the peace he needed to stop struggling with his discernment and simply “be with” the Lord.

Beyond the Task: A Rosary That Captivates

Now serving as the promoter of the Rosary for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, Father Kress concluded the interview with a challenge for the faithful this May. He warned against treating the Rosary as a mere “to-do list.”

“For men, we’re very much drawn to task-based activities,” Father Kress explained, adding of a common occurrence with this line of thinking, “As long as I start at zero and I get to 50, then I’ve done my Rosary.” Instead, he suggests the prayers should serve as a framework that allows the mysteries of Christ to “wrap themselves around us” and “captivate” us.

“The priesthood is not a natural vocation; it is supernatural,” Father Kress said. “The way that we can facilitate our ability to be called is to be enveloped in the mysteries of His life.”

As the Church celebrates the Month of Mary, the witness of Fathers Duffy and Kress serves as a reminder that Our Lady doesn’t just point to herself — she is the surest path to the Heart of her Son.