The Rev. Mr. Joseph Lapeyrouse and the Rev. Mr. Matthew Prosperiewill be ordained to the transitional diaconate, Thursday, Sept. 29, at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Altar of the Chair in Vatican City, at 9:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. C.S.T.). The ordaining prelate will be Bishop Austin Vetter of Helena, MT.
The two seminarians have been in formation at the Pontifical North American College (NAC) in Rome, Italy, since the fall of 2019.
The Rev. Mr. Joseph Lapeyrouse is a 25 year old native of Houma. He is the youngest child of Chris and Robin Lapeyrouse, and has one older sister. He graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma in 2015.
He attended St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict from the fall of 2016 to the spring of 2019 when he earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy and the liberal arts (summa cum laude). In spring 2022, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology (magna cum laude) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. This fall, during his last year as a seminarian he will begin studying canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Throughout his priestly formation, he has served at Sacred Heart Church parish in Cut Off (2017), St. Ann Church parish in Bourg (2018), St. Hilary Church parish in Mathews and St. Anthony Church parish in Gheens (2020), St. Mary’s Nativity Church parish in Raceland (2021), and St. Genevieve Church parish in Thibodaux (2022).
Throughout his time in these parishes, he has been able to accompany priests in their sacramental work and assist with funerals and weddings, while also helping in the church parish offices. He has engaged in homebound ministry in several of the parishes, had the opportunity to give a few talks and reflections at some of the parishes over the years, and has been involved in youth ministry programs. During his last two summers, he was able to gain experience at the diocesan Pastoral Center doing different tasks and working in the Tribunal Office.
“I have been blessed to engage in many different ministry opportunities at all of these parishes that have each helped form me in my years as a seminarian,” he says.
The Rev. Mr. Lapeyrouse says that he believes he has grown much in his spiritual life and faith throughout his vocations journey. “I initially began considering entering the seminary during my senior year at Vandebilt Catholic High School, but I was very hesitant to discuss this possible calling with others. I decided to go to college prior to seminary for one year. It was during this year that I began to more seriously consider and pray about becoming a priest for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. I decided that I had to go to seminary to further discern if I was truly being called as I was hoping to receive clarity in my discernment. Upon entering seminary, I have grown in confidence about my calling to this vocation, and in particular, I felt very much affirmed from my time at the various parishes throughout the diocese during my summers there. I am thankful for the priests of the diocese and also the faithful who have helped me in my discernment and in being able to grow in my spiritual life. I received more and more confirmation the more I engaged in pursuing this vocation actively and growing spiritually in the seminary.”
He says what he is most looking forward to after being ordained to the transitional diaconate is being able to proclaim the Gospel well and preach the word of God in the opportunities that he will have to give homilies.
“Since I will be ordained in Rome, I will not have a summer at a parish as a deacon as is the case for many of the previous transitional deacons. With this being the case, I am looking forward to being able to teach the Gospel in the opportunities that I do have in Rome prior to my, God willing, priestly ordination next year,” says the Rev. Mr. Lapeyrouse. “I also look forward to praying for the faithful of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux as a deacon in Rome. Upon promising to faithfully pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day, I look forward to praying for the diocese through fulfilling this promise to the best of my abilities.”
The Rev. Mr. Matthew Prosperie is a 25 year old native of Bourg. He is the son of Nick and Peggy Prosperie, and has three brothers and two sisters. He graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma in 2015.
He attended St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict. This fall, during his last year as a seminarian he will begin studying dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Throughout his priestly formation, he has served at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church parish in Golden Meadow (2016) visiting families, bringing Communion to the hospitalized and serving Mass; Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever (2017) studying leadership qualities, renovating guest rooms, gardening, pressure-washing the facilities, and serving Mass at Christ the Redeemer Church parish in Thibodaux on weekends; St. Thomas Aquinas Church parish in Thibodaux (2018) assisting with altar-server training, visiting families, and walking the Camino de Santiago.
He also served at Holy Savior Church parish in Lockport (2020) doing youth ministry, serving Mass, praying the rosary with the men’s group;Sant’ Alessandro in Milan, Italy, (2021) where he was an adult leader at an Italian youth camp; went on retreat with a group of local families; went on retreat with the parish priest, and served Mass; St. Bernadette Church parish in Houma (2022) interviewing parish staff, serving Mass at a nursing home, bringing Communion to the sick, visiting classrooms, leading altar-serving training, visiting families, and helping with the church parish’s annual garage sale.
“Vocations do start in the family often and that was the case for me. My family prayed the rosary together from when I was young, and the seeds were planted then; but when I began going to St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School in Houma in the fifth grade, friends and teachers would occasionally ask if I was going to be a priest when I grew up. I would usually give a reserved, and guarded, response such as, ‘Maybe; it would be cool,’ but I was still unsure.”
From that time on, he says, the sense of his calling to the priesthood continued to grow. During his high school years, he says the diocese had a discernment group for 10-12th graders that met weekly, and this group was instrumental in his decision to say “yes,” to the Lord. In March of his senior year, he made the decision to enter seminary after high school.
“Now, seven years later, a lot of beautiful things have already unfolded from that initial ‘yes,’ but the path I’ve walked to this point has been anything but predictable! In fact, during Christmas break of my sophomore year at St. Ben’s, I told the vocation director and (then) Bishop (Shelton J.) Fabre that I wanted to take a year off at the conclusion of that year, which they were willing to allow me to do,” says the seminarian. “I always intended to go back to seminary after, but I asked for the year off because I had a desire to get a regular job, go to regular college, travel, hike some of the mountains in the United States, and live with a little more flexibility to do things I wanted. Although this seemed to me to be something that even God wanted for me, it didn’t take too long for me to realize that while it was a sincere desire of mine to do those things, it actually was not God’s desire for me – at least, not like that.”
Little did the seminarian know that five years later, he would be looking back on having traveled to seven different countries as part of his seminary formation, walking 500 miles across Spain, living in Rome for three years, and spending three weeks in the mountains of the Italian Alps.
“I realized that whatever I am called to is the ‘regular job’ that each and every person must accept and is their role in life. As much as we want to choose what we do in life and the impact we make in society, we also have to think about what must be done, what needs exist in our communities, and whether God is calling us to fill that need – to say, as Isaiah did, ‘Here I am, send me!’ So, God certainly gave me everything I wanted, in his own time and in his own way – which is always better. And, after seven years, it is clear to me that seminary, my ‘regular college,’ and diaconate/priesthood, my ‘regular job,’ are better than anything I could have chosen … it is God’s will for me.” After praying about what he is most looking forward to after being ordained to the transitional diaconate, the Rev. Mr. Prosperie says what came to mind is just the depth of what is going to happen to him in ordination.
“It changes me so deeply; it’s a change at the roots of me, the unseen part of me where only God is, where only he knows, but which wells up like a fountain for all to be refreshed by. The sacraments are God’s action in us –his very life in us. So, for me to receive the sacrament of ordination is having Christ even more present within me. I never was good at math, and it frustrated me, but my older brother used to patiently sit next to me and teach me so that I finally understood. That always felt so good … when the math ‘clicked’ and made sense. I think receiving Christ in the sacrament of ordination will be a little like having Christ in my heart, as if he was my personal teacher, always patient and calm. And I think Christ will teach me how to love others more deeply, with a love like his own. To be ordained is to sit at the feet of Christ to be taught by him daily, to get a front-row seat to his love in the Mass as I hold the chalice of his precious blood, the blood he gave out of love for us, the love which we receive into ourselves when we receive the Eucharist.Ordination is like an earthquake caused by God at the depths of my soul, shaking up and settling it, shaping it (like he shaped Adam and Eve) to something new, something different, recreating it in a way, to be holy, consecrated. I look forward to that, and every day after.”