The Diocese of Belleville has 11 seminarians in formation, a larger number than in recent years. The seminarians have returned to school and welcome all prayers from the faithful as they continue on their respective journeys to the priesthood. From left: Terry Marmion, Clinton Rauch, Jacob Walker, Augustine King, Mateo Leonelli, Casmir Cozzi, Grant Fender, Kyle Kellerman, Gregory Kassen, Tyler Horstmann and Christopher Berry.

By David Wilhelm
Messenger Editor

Last year, there were just five seminarians in formation for the priesthood in the Diocese of Belleville. That number has grown to 11 this fall as the journey for each continues on its various stages.

“Vocations are a call from God,” said Bishop Godfrey Mullen, OSB. “They prosper in places of prayer and faith. I believe our diocese is that, for sure. I look forward to how God will be glorified in the lives of the seminarians, while they study and after they are ordained. Like the (higher) number of Catechumens and Candidates last year, each seminarian has his own reasons for beginning now. For all, we can be grateful.”

In the previous issue of The Messenger, Carlyle native Abby Brandt, a graduate of Mater Dei Catholic High School in Breese, wrote a reflection on the process of her discernment to enter religious life with the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George in Alton.
In this issue, seven of the seminarians shared information about their discernment experiences. We hope their words provide insight into this important component of the Church.

Augustine King
Conception College
St. Clare, O’Fallon

“The past few years of my vocational discernment have been quite silent, and the more I asked for guidance from above, the louder the silence would grow. This would have been very discouraging if not for the community around me supporting me and the stories of the saints. Many of the saints speak of spiritual dryness as just a stage. I prayed with this and kept moving forward with different options, but there was always this feeling I could not place. Eventually, I decided I might be called to apply to seminary, and I started to discern this option more and received graces that made the idea easier. My hope is to receive proper direction and formation at Conception Seminary as a seminarian for the Belleville Diocese. From there, I will hopefully be able to discern if this is how I am called to serve. Please keep me and my fellow seminarians in your prayers as we discern God’s will.”

Mateo Leonelli
Conception College
St. Clare, O’Fallon

“For a long time, I had thought about the possibility of becoming a priest, but I did not put much weight on it.In the spring of my junior year, I went to a weekend-long retreat called “Come and See” at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, and one of the main goals of the weekend is to show young men what seminary is like. Many of the seminarians there said that if you even feel a small inclination towards the priesthood, you should consider applying.While there have been times since I started the application process when I have felt discouraged and I am still not certain if priesthood is where I am called, I know the seminary is where I need to be to discern my vocation further.”

Jacob Walker
Conception College
St. Clare, O’Fallon

“God’s call came to me one night through my best friend. After an event that made me rethink becoming a music teacher, my friend and I sat in my car talking about the event and how I felt about its relationship with becoming a music teacher. Eventually we started talking about different jobs, and of course I had to joke about becoming a priest. Before that moment, I had always joked about being a priest. If an idea of a job or a girlfriend didn’t work out for me, I’d say: ‘Maybe I’ll just be a priest!’ but I never really meant it. But my friend took it seriously, and we talked about it more. I realized I was being called to be a priest. In that moment in the car, the idea felt true, like it was a fact I’ve known all my life. I almost would have blown this thought off if I hadn’t recognized God’s voice in it.”

Grant Fender
Kenrick-Glennon
St. Clare, O’Fallon

“While some guys may speak of an ‘aha’ moment in which they realized what God was calling to them to do, that was never the case for me. Instead, it was a slow and gradual snowball effect. As the thought came to mind that I should enter seminary, I tried to push it away, yet it always lingered in the back of my mind. Quite honestly, the ensuing period was somewhat agonizing as I went back and forth on whether or not I should enter and whether or not it was even a possibility. Yet, through all of this, a new realization had dawned on me: We are not called to simply live this life by going through the motions without a purpose, but instead are called to rise above it. I knew I would remain ultimately unhappy if I never went through with entering the seminary. The Lord’s abundance is not to be outdone, and I was accepted into Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in July of 2025. As for now, I hope to continue to grow in relationship and serve Him through my upcoming seminary time. I pray that both myself and all of you may know and accept His will in our own lives so that we may all rise above the emptiness and live the authentic joy of Christ’s resurrection!”

Tyler Horstmann
Kenrick-Glennon
St. Mary, Trenton

“Growing up, priesthood seemed like something that I would never do. When I was in fourth or fifth grade, there was a priest who planted the first seed in my mind about being a priest. I laughed to myself and did not take it seriously. I did not see myself ever being a priest, but when I got into high school, the thought of priesthood became reoccurring in my mind. The thought did not come very often, but it was there. I chose to ignore it and go about my high school life. When I went on a Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat, I realized I needed to be more open about it. But once more, I chose to ignore the possibility. When I got to my first two years of community college, the thought of becoming a priest started occurring every day. One day I was talking to a priest at a TEC event sharing my story. His response was telling me to talk to the vocations director, which I did. After a few conversations with him, I decided to take my discernment to the next step and apply for seminary. Keeping an open mind to God’s calling has been the most difficult part in my discernment journey, but knowing it is all a part of the process has given me so much reassurance.”

Clinton Rauch
St. Meinrad
Holy Cross, Wendelin

“I have thought about the priesthood off and on over the years, but when I graduated high school, I thought I would follow societal norms and be married by the time I was 25, and then have a kid or two by the time I was 30. When I turned 30 and none of that had happened, I felt kind of lost and ‘behind’ in life. I then started feeling the call to the priesthood more strongly than I ever had before, but I pushed it out of my head. Then, about a year later, I felt the call again, and this time it was very persistent. Finally, I decided to reach out to the vocation director and find a way to explore this possibility. Once I started opening myself up to the will of God, rather than my self-imposed timeline and objectives, I felt more at peace. I started realizing that maybe the priesthood was a real possibility for me.”

Christopher Berry
St. Meinrad
Holy Childhood, Mascoutah

“One night while praying, the idea of becoming a priest popped in my head. I was living my childhood dream as a NASA engineer, so I initially pushed back against it. Over the course of the next year, the idea of being a priest kept coming back to me, almost like an intrusive thought. When I finally started to picture myself as a priest, a sense of peace came over me. That is when I knew I had to pursue it.”

King, Leonelli, Walker, Horstmann, Rauch and Berry are in the Propaedeutic 1 stage of formation; Fender is in the Propaedeutic 2 stage. The stages of the other seminarians are: Casmir Cozzi, Mundelein, Holy Childhood (Configuration 4 — Vocational Synthesis; Terry Marmion, Mundelein, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Newman Center (Configuration 3); Gregory Kassen, Mundelein, St. Bernard (Discipleship 2); and Kyle Kellerman, Kenrick-Glennon, St. Mary Magdalen in Todd’s Mill (Discipleship 2).

Cozzi will be ordained a transitional deacon Nov. 7 at the Cathedral of St. Peter. Bishop Godfrey will be the celebrant. Cozzi will be ordained into the priesthood in June, also at the Cathedral. It will be the first priest ordination since Fr. Levi James on June 7, 2025. Fr. Levi was ordained by Most Rev. Mark Rivituso, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.