From
the Brook
A Weekly Profile of Members
of the Ordination Class of 2008
from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood
Deacon
Daniel Michael Kredensor
(Sarah
Webb)
Deacon
Daniel Michael Kredensor
Age: 27
Where Born: Abington Memorial Hospital,
Abington
Where Baptized: St. Luke the Evangelist
Church, Glenside
Parents, Siblings: Eugene and Mary Kredensor;
a younger brother, Francis
Home Parish: Mary, Mother of the Redeemer,
North Wales
Current Diaconate Assignment: Maternity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Philadelphia
Grade School/Year Graduated: St. Stanislaus
Elementary School, Lansdale, 1995
High School/Year Graduated: Lansdale Catholic
High School, 1999
College/Major/Degree/Year Graduated:
• Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio; philosophy
major, theology minor
• St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood: majored
in philosophy and theology — earned a bachelor’s
degree in philosophy in 2003 and a master of divinity degree
in 2007
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary entrance date:
August 2001
Describe your earliest memory of going to church.
My earliest memory of going to church was at St. David’s
in Willow Grove as I walked in with my parents and grandmother
for Mass.
I was 5 years old.
At what age and how were you first called to the
priesthood, and what was the deciding moment that led you
to enter the Seminary?
I felt a calling to the priesthood at age 13, while I was
in the eighth grade. Ever since then, I always felt called
to the priesthood.
The deciding factor for me was on a discernment retreat
at the Seminary. After a Holy Hour had ended, I felt at
that point that God was calling me to focus on my discernment
to the priesthood and to ask the vocation director for an
application.
Who inspired and influenced you the most in your
decision to enter the Seminary, and how?
My pastor, Msgr. Philip Ricci, has been one of the greatest
influences in my life and helped me understand my decision
to enter the Seminary.
His greatest quote that he would tell me before I entered
was, “If God is calling you to the priesthood, I will
always be there for you to answer questions, but I will
never push you into something.”
The other great influence for my decision to enter the Seminary
was the late Father Robert Burns, a priest for the Diocese
of Harrisburg whose home parish was Mary, Mother of the
Redeemer.
He told me, “Danny, if you feel that God is calling
you, He will support you and walk with you through all your
days at the Seminary.”
Were there any particular moving or grace-filled
events in those beginning days or years at the Seminary?
This last year?
There were many grace-filled moments at the Seminary when
I first entered, especially many people telling me how much
they were praying for me every day.
This last year, as a deacon, I felt there were many grace-filled
moments — especially with the people of my diaconate
parish of Maternity B.V.M., and being able to walk with
them in their faith journey.
What will you miss most about St. Charles Borromeo Seminary?
The greatest thing I will miss as I leave St. Charles is
the fraternity of the seminarians and the ability to knock
on a door and talk to a friend who is down the hallway.
What advice do you have for the current underclassmen
about their remaining years at St. Charles?
The greatest advice I can give to the guys is for them to
persevere in the discernment of their vocation. They should
keep their daily Holy Hour, Liturgy of the Hours and the
rosary, because these are what will strengthen them every
day.
What advice would you give to seminarians who will
enter St. Charles for the first time this fall?
I would advise them, in their own personal prayer, to ask
God to give them the grace to be completely open to their
discernment and to the Seminary formation program.
What do you do for recreation?
I like to go hiking with my family in the state and national
parks. I enjoy biking around the Philadelphia area. I also
enjoy taking day trips to various sites and seeing shows
here in Philadelphia and in New York.
People would be surprised to know what about you?
I have been a volunteer firefighter for 10 years for the
Fire Department of Montgomery Township.
What are your favorite devotions and why?
My favorite devotions are the rosary, Eucharistic Adoration
and the Novena to St. Therese of the Little Flower.
What does the priesthood mean to you?
The call to the priesthood is a way in which Christ shares
Himself with the Church.
We as priests will assist the people of the Church to come
closer to Christ by the offering of the sacraments and our
example.
What do you think is the greatest challenge facing
the Church today?
The greatest challenge facing the Church today is the increasing
secularism and relativism in our culture and how it is affecting
everyone.
What is your greatest hope for the Church?
My greatest hope for the Church is the youth and how they
are thirsting to know more about God and what are the teachings
of the Church.
Their ability to ask questions of how they can follow Christ
and be faithful Catholics is very edifying. They are also
not afraid of the truth.
What will you, as a priest, do to combat negative
secular influences that attempt to divert people’s
attention from Christ?
I will preach the truth and by the offering of the sacraments,
lead people who have gone astray from the truth back to
Christ.
Besides prayer and your example, what is the first
thing you, as a priest, plan to do to bring others closer
to Christ?
To bring others closer to Christ, I have asked God to keep
me faithful to Him and the Church, and to be a man of prayer
by following His example.
— Compiled by CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine
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