St. Patrick PriorySt. Patrick Priory
Father Peter John Cameron O.P. grew up in Vernon, Connecticut. He was ordained a Dominican priest in 1986. He holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Dominican House of Studies, and a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting from the Catholic University of America. He is an award-winning playwright, and the founder and artistic director of Blackfriars Repertory Theatre in New York City. Since 1994, Fr. Peter John has taught homiletics at various seminaries, and he now teaches at the Josephinum.
He is the author of ten books, including The Classics of Catholic Spirituality, Blessing Prayers, Mysteries of the Virgin Mary, Made for Love—Loved by God, Novenas for the Church Year, Jesus Present Before Me, and Why Preach: Encountering Christ in God’s Word. He served two terms as the director of preaching for his Dominican province. Fr. Peter John is the founding editor-in-chief of Magnificat, where he worked from 1998-2018. He is the Prior (the local superior) of St. Patrick Priory.
Father Hayes is currently assigned as a full-time itinerant preacher based at Saint Patrick Priory, Columbus Ohio. He is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. Born in 1953, he has seven brothers and sisters and rejoices in his Irish heritage. He holds an A.B. in Biology from Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire, a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and an S.T.B. from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (the Dominican House of Studies) in Washington, DC.
After practicing law for a few years, he entered the Dominican Order in 1982, made solemn profession in 1986, and was ordained a priest in 1988. Has served as a priest and pastor for 30 years in Ohio and Kentucky.
Fr. Hayes currently enjoys the priestly faculties of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. In addition to parochial service, Father Hayes has had experience in retreat work, parish missions, pilgrimage direction, and as a spiritual director and confessor, as well as experience in Catholic radio and print media. He has for many years been active in the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He is particularly interested in Holy Scripture, sacramentology, and medieval Christian history.
Fr. Thomas Blau, OP, is a native of Cleveland Ohio, and a diehard Browns/Indians/Cavaliers fan. He is number 7 of 9 children, and his parents were married 65 years. After attending public schools in Cleveland and getting his undergraduate degree from Akron University, Fr. Thomas had a chance to live in Honduras and Guatemala on an extended service mission. That peaked his interest in a religious vocation. Along the way Fr. Thomas has had numerous jobs – including a mailman, a grade school teacher, and a partial owner of a drug store.
After his work overseas, Father attended Franciscan University and received a Master’s Degree in Theology. There he also met the Dominicans and soon entered the order. Fr. Thomas lived in Washington, DC at the Dominican seminary and completed various degrees [including the Licentiate in Sacred Theology/STL]. He was ordained in 1999. Since then Father has been assigned to Dominican outreaches at the University of Virginia and Providence College. He was assigned to St. Patrick Church as a parish vicar in 2010.
Currently Fr. Thomas is an itinerant preacher in the Diocese of Columbus doing parish missions with his residence at St. Patrick Priory. He is one of the Pontifical Missionaries of Mercy of the Catholic Church, an inducted “Magistral Chaplain” for the Knights of Malta, and the local chaplain for the Columbus Legatus organization. He is also the founder of St. Barnabas Ministry which provides a Dominican priest ready to take over a diocesan parish to allow the priest to go on vacation or retreat. That ministry is beginning to take off in recent months. Fr. Thomas completed the Camino de Santiago [the entire Camino Frances] in August of 2019.
Fr Bernard Mulcahy OP is a native of Staten Island, NY. He entered the Order in 1993 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2003. He holds a PhD in systematic theology from the Australian Catholic University and has mostly ministered in higher education and priestly formation work. Fr Bernard is a spiritual director and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum. His interests include theological anthropology and the Thomistic theology of grace. He enjoys hiking, cooking, research, and dogs.
Originally from Virginia, Fr. Alcott grew up near Annapolis, Maryland, and is the oldest of six children. He attended public schools, and went to CCD classes at his parish. He began discerning a call to the priesthood in high school, which he traces back to the encouragement of a CCD teacher to pray the rosary. His discernment led him to attend Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he found two biographies of St. Dominic in a Franciscan bookstore (!) and later met his first Dominican friar. Drawn to the Dominican charism of handing on the fruits of contemplation and study through preaching for the salvation of souls and drawn to the community life of the Order, he applied to the Dominican Province of St. Joseph during his senior year at Franciscan. He was accepted into the novitiate and was clothed in the Dominican habit in August 1994.
Fr Alcott recently celebrated his 20th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, and has served in parish and/or campus ministry in every assignment so far (with almost half of those years spent in Ohio). He is a first-time pastor at St. Patrick church, where he has found a great community of friars, parishioners, and staff since his arrival in November 2016. At the invitation of the Diocese, he was glad to start a Catholic campus ministry at Columbus State Community College in Fall 2021. On his day off, Fr. Alcott enjoys taking hikes at the Metro Parks in the area.
Fr. Charles hails from Lancaster, Ohio. A graduate of St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus (’99) and Denison University in Granville (’03), he worked as a schoolteacher in New York City before entering the Dominican Order in 2009. After being ordained to the priesthood in 2015 and finishing his S.T.L. degree in 2016, he was assigned to St. Patrick, where he has served as Parochial Vicar, Director of Liturgy & Liturgical Ministries, Director of Youth Ministry, and Director of RCIA. He has also served as the Promoter of the Rosary for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph since 2018. He hopes to begin doctoral studies in Theology in the fall of 2022, with the intention of going on to teach at a seminary or university. He enjoys reading, classical music, piano/organ, and the outdoors. Recently, he has tried to cultivate a bonsai tree or three, with small success. 🙂
Fr. Frassati Davis was born into a military family and calls Bellevue, Nebraska home. He grew up with two older sisters and a younger brother, all of whom currently live in three different time zones. Attending St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, Fr. Frassati was taught by a Dominican Friar of the Central Province and earned a BA in Philosophy. He joined the Dominicans soon after completing his undergraduate studies and was ordained in Washington, D.C. in May of 2021. Before coming to St. Patrick’s, Fr. Frassati worked as a high school religion teacher and hospital chaplain with the Dominican friars at St. Vincent Ferrer Priory in New York City.
Rev. Brother Paul Dominic Marich is a native Ohioan, born and raised in Youngstown. He graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with degrees in political science and philosophy, and worked as a high school teacher for five years before entering the Dominicans in 2017. He completed his theological studies at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and was ordained a transitional deacon in 2021. Brother Paul serves at St. Patrick Parish as the Director of Liturgy and Liturgical Ministries, which includes overseeing the parish altar server program. He is preparing for ordination to the priesthood in 2022.
Fr. Peter was born and raised in the Washington DC area (Maryland, then northern Virginia). After graduating high school and taking a gap year (it may have been more than one), he attended the University of Dallas, majoring in philosophy. He then applied to the Dominican Order and was accepted into the novitiate August 1994, and made first vows the following year. Fr. Peter was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 2001, at St. Dominic’s Church in Washington, DC, and has served in many different houses and parishes of the Dominican province, including two years at St. Patrick Church (2007-2009), and, most recently, St. Dominic’s in Washington.
614-224-9522
friars [at] stpatrickpriory.org
280 North Grant Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43215-2652