Deacon James M. Harbour, YA, didn’t have to travel far to hear God’s call to the priesthood. It found him at his home parish in the Arlington diocese.
A parishioner of All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas, Deacon Harbour, 30, grew up the middle child of five siblings. His parents, Ileana and Mark Harbour, came from very different backgrounds. Ileana had moved from Costa Rica to the U.S. when she was 18, while Mark grew up in Appalachian West Virginia and Kentucky. Each brought a child into the marriage, growing their family from the very beginning, and Mark converted to the Catholic faith.
Growing up, Deacon Harbour said his mom strove to endow the kids with a love of the faith. “She gave me this profound understanding of the tradition of the church, of finding beauty in the Mass and honoring and loving the priests in our parishes,” he said.
And family prayer was a must. “My mom would say we were going to pray a rosary together. And so me and my siblings, we’d stuff onto a little couch, and we’d all be praying the rosary together,” he remembered. “That’s just how we grew up.”
His parents valued Catholic education, Deacon Harbour said. He attended All Saints School before being homeschooled in second grade. Starting in seventh grade, he attended Seton School in Manassas. At Seton, he took a religion class with Anne Carroll, founder and executive director of the school, and “really fell in love with the reasonability of our faith.”
But the call to the priesthood didn’t make itself known until later. Deacon Harbour said that as a child, he told people he wanted to be a priest, “but then I grew out of that.” He didn’t consider the priesthood a serious possibility until he heard the call at age 18.
“I was in line for confession at All Saints Church,” he recalled. “I was a freshman in college at Virginia Tech, and I was back home for one of the breaks.” He had just gone through a breakup with his girlfriend, and began wondering, “What am I going to do with my life? What am I? What am I working toward?”
At that moment in the confession line, he heard a quiet voice in his head: “You need to discern the priesthood.”
Deacon Harbour said he felt overwhelmed at the call. “I’m in school studying chemistry,” he said. “I saw myself in a white lab coat. I didn’t see myself in a black cassock.”
He privately discerned for a few months and several months later, he told his parents. His mom was very supportive. His dad was hesitant at the prospect, but “over time,” he came to see that his son was happy. “I think that’s what all parents worry about: ‘Is my kid going to be happy?’ ”
He joined the Youth Apostles, an organization of priests and laymen devoted to discipling young people. He transferred to Marymount University in Arlington in 2015 and graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s in psychology. That same year, he made his initial promises in the community. “And then in 2021, I made my final promises and became a permanent celibate in the church,” he said.
Finishing seminary at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., was bittersweet, he said. “The liturgies are beautiful. The prayer is beautiful,” he said. “But the brothers you make in seminary, I mean, that to me is the biggest deal.”
As he reflects on celebrating Mass, Deacon Harbour becomes emotional. “There’s nothing more precious than the Blessed Sacrament,” he said, wiping his eyes. “I feel emotional just talking about it because it’s so special. So, I’m very privileged to be able to be a priest, and to hold Our Lord and give him to the people.”
