Dort Bigg, 31, has played the violin since he was 3 years
old. He played so well that after the Washington, D.C.,
native graduated from DeMatha High School in Hyattsville,
Md., in 2001, he entered The Julliard School in New York to
study the violin.
He graduated from Julliard in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree,
but decided to forgo a career in music for the priesthood.
“The Lord had other plans for me,” said Bigg. “(God said)
you’ve got to stop fiddling around.”
Bigg said that his change of career plans came during his
time at Julliard when he suffered a serious illness. It was
the first time he began to pray, and he realized that God is
“really in the Eucharist.”
His illness interrupted his studies, but he was able to go
back to Julliard and graduate. Music, however, was no longer
an option. He wanted to be a priest.
He was accepted at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg,
Md., and will be ordained a deacon May 31 at the Cathedral of
St. Thomas More in Arlington.
Currently, he helps out at the cathedral with the Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults and hopes to continue serving
there as a deacon.
He looks forward to preaching and baptizing, and celebrating
Mass and hearing confession once he is ordained to the
priesthood.
