About the Novitiate
THE NOVITIATE
About the Novitiate
THE NOVITIATE
Every August, St. Albert the Great Priory welcomes a new novitiate class - those men considering religious life and priesthood in the Dominican Order. Men wishing to enter the Dominican Order spend their first year of discernment with us. The novitiate year is dedicated to living Dominican life in a focused way. During the novitiate year, the novice comes to a better understanding of vowed Dominican life through:
Experiencing communal and personal prayer
Spending quiet time in reflection and study
Participating in daily Mass
Living community life
Ministering in the local community
Studying Dominican history, our constitutions, the vows, spirituality, etc.
Click the button below to buy books and other items for the novices.
To learn more about becoming a Dominican friar, visit our vocations website at
www.DominicanVocations.com
The Novices
THE NOVICES
The Novices
THE NOVICES
BR. JOSEPH MARQUIS
Alma Mater: University of Arizona
Hometown: Overland Park, Kansas
Br. Joseph was born in Chengdu, China, and moved to the United States with his parents at the age of two. Raised in Overland Park, Kansas, he later attended the University of Arizona, earning a degree in illustration with a minor in computer science. A convert to the Catholic faith, Br. Joseph was first drawn to the Church through its artistic and cultural beauty, its intellectual tradition, and the timeless depth of Scripture in revealing the truths of the human condition. These same dimensions led him to discern a vocation with the Dominican Order.
BR. PEPPER MARKOVICH
Alma Mater: Texas Tech University
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Br. Pepper grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, as the oldest of four children. He earned a degree in mathematics from Texas Tech University, where he was active at the Dominican-run Catholic Student Center (Raider Catholic). There, he was deeply inspired by the Order’s charisms of preaching, prayer, and study, especially as lived out in campus ministry. Through the witness of Dominican saints and friars he has known, Pepper has come to see the beauty of true brotherhood and service to God, and he hopes to embody these virtues as he begins his journey in the Order.
BR. JACOB MILLER
Alma Mater: University of Texas at Austin
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Br. Jacob was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. After his undergraduate studies, he was confirmed at Holy Rosary Parish in Houston, where he also met the Dominican Friars. While pursuing his legal education, he began to sense the Lord’s call to a life wholly dedicated to knowing and loving Him. Drawn by the Dominican Order’s deep intellectual tradition and its mission of preaching the truth, he answered that call, seeking to unite study and prayer in the footsteps of St. Dominic.
BR. FULTON AUGUSTINE SOSTRE
Alma Mater: Belmont Abbey College
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Br. Fulton Augustine was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and served seven years in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. While stationed in Jacksonville, North Carolina, he experienced a profound reversion to the Catholic faith and began discerning a vocation to the priesthood. He went on to graduate summa cum laude from Belmont Abbey College with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Drawn to the Dominican Order’s deep Eucharistic devotion, tradition of intellectual excellence, and reverent liturgies, Br. Fulton Augustine also found great inspiration in the joy and fraternity of the friars.
BR. ISIDORE ROSE PICKELL
Alma Mater: University of Texas at Arlington
Hometown: Greenville, Texas
Br. Isidore Rose grew up in the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas and studied electrical engineering and German at the University of Texas at Arlington. His interest in the Dominican Order began during a come-and-see visit, where he was struck by the strong witness of faith and joyful fraternity of the brothers. Inspired by their example of prayer, study, and ministry, Br. Isidore Rose felt called to explore a life wholly dedicated to Christ within the Order of Preachers. He looks forward to deepening his faith and serving God’s people through his Dominican vocation.