Meet Dcn. Matthew Chartier, a transitional deacon for the Diocese of Marquette (Home parish: St. Barbara, Vulcan), who will be ordained a priest later this year.

What was the highlight of your time at Sacred Heart Major Seminary?

The biggest highlight for me isn’t a single moment, but rather it is simply the relationships I built with my classmates and other guys at the seminary. The time spent with them has been amazing as I have faced different trials and struggles in my own life. They have been present, supporting me to become the priest God has been calling me to be. Discernment isn’t done alone; it is done in the midst of a community. The friends I have made at seminary include not solely priests but happily married men, or even men that went back to school to glorify God in the world, and I am excited to see what they all will do. It is truly a brotherhood that gets formed at the seminary, so to highlight one moment at the seminary would be a disservice to the many moments of getting to know all of my brothers over these past eight years.

What has been one or two highlights of your time serving as a transitional deacon?

One major highlight has been preaching. It is sharing my own experience of what God has done in my life and also breaking open the Word of God. God is speaking to us; we just have to open our ears to the words in the scriptures — this is God’s voice.

Also, I just recently got to serve as a deacon for Mass in a chapel where St. Faustina is buried. This was very special for me, because my family always had a strong devotion to the Divine Mercy Image. I remember always going to a big Divine Mercy celebration on Divine Mercy Sunday at home in the Upper Peninsula. So, to be in the presence of St. Faustina the great saint who brought us the devotion of the Divine Mercy was very special.

How are you preparing for your priestly ordination? 

I have been praying to the great priest saints that have always inspired me. These saints include: St. Maxiliam Koble, Pope St. John Paul II, St. John Vianney, Bl. Stanley Rother, Bl. Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski, and Ven. Bishop Frederic Baraga. I have been reading about their lives and asking for their intercession. These are priests I want to be like, so I figured I should ask for their intercession.

What kind of priest do you want to be?

I have been inspired by two great holy priests. The first is Ven. Bishop Baraga, the first bishop of Marquette. He did so much missionary work for the Native Americans in my diocese. He would face the harsh conditions of an Upper Peninsula winter and snowshoe or canoe to a group or even just one Native American in need of baptism or the proclamation of the Gospel. He protected their land from the greed of the big mining industries buying the land for them. He wrote the dictionary of the Ojibwe language. He was a man in constant care of his people and I want to be a priest like him. 

The second priest is St. Maxiliam Koble. I am 25% Polish and this Polish priest has always inspired me. He suffered in Auschwitz at the hands of pure evil. He sang Psalms until the moment of his death; he would show love to his enemies to the point that the Nazi soldiers blindfolded him, because they couldn’t handle the love he showed everyone. He would comfort those in prison with him giving them his blankets and covering them up to make sure they stayed warm. I could go on and on about him. I want to live with that compassion and love as a priest, joyfully willing to suffer so much for, not only the salvation of those he was suffering with or those in the Church, but also for those who are not following the Gospel of Christ. I want to love so much as a priest that I would be willing to give all of myself, like St. Maxiliam Koble did.

What are you looking forward to after being ordained?

I am looking forward to saying Mass and hearing confessions. My conversion occurred during Eucharistic Adoration where I experienced Jesus fully present to me in the sacrament. This shaped my life. I am still humbled and moved when the priest consecrates the bread and the wine and they become Jesus fully: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, no longer bread or wine. I want to bring Jesus to all

and feed them with His Body and Blood, just as I met Jesus in adoration at my conversion, and the next day at Mass.

Please join us in praying for Deacon Matthew Chartier during his final months of preparation leading up to his ordination.