Deacon Philip Briggs first felt the call to the priesthood in high school. The teen grew up in Front Royal, a parishioner of St. John the Baptist Church, where he had easy access to daily Mass at Human Life International and Christendom College, where his father worked.
One of nine siblings, he was homeschooled through high school and found friends among other Catholic homeschooling families.
“Our Catholic faith was a pretty big part of our upbringing,” he said. “We had a very vibrant upbringing.”
Around age 17, he attended a youth conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. During the retreat, he was in adoration where, “I had these questions on my mind about my future and such, and I remember Jesus in adoration in the Blessed Sacrament asking me, ‘Philip, will you be my priest?’ ”
After he graduated high school, his discernment to the priesthood moved to the backburner. He attended Christendom, where he studied political science and economics. He also considered the vocation to marriage, dating a few classmates. One relationship became long distance when the woman transferred to another college, but the two continued to date after Deacon Briggs graduated and began work at a nearby winery.
He worked at the winery for three years, but, “It was around that time that thoughts of the priesthood that I’d initially had back in high school kind of resurfaced,” he said. “Priesthood definitely kept coming up in prayer.”
He couldn’t quite close the door on his discernment. “It was like Our Lord had his foot in the door and was like, ‘no Philip, I’m still here.’ ”
He and his girlfriend decided to end their long-distance relationship, both agreeing that it was not bringing them peace. Soon after, he visited Alaska with a friend for about a month, where he voiced his discernment of the priesthood. His friend was supportive. After returning to Front Royal, Deacon Briggs began to discuss this with his pastor.
He was accepted as a seminarian for the diocese and assigned to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., in 2016, and was ordained to the diaconate April 10, 2021.
Now he’s making final preparations for the calling he first felt as a teen. He’s been reviewing the prayers of ordination, and visiting family and classmates. After ordination, he’s looking forward to “stepping into the role of spiritual fatherhood.”
“I’m really looking forward to being attached to a specific parish and getting to know those parishioners and being a father to them,” he said.
He will be assigned as parochial vicar of St. Philip Parish in Falls Church.
Bartlett can be reached at [email protected].
