Each Lent, the faithful across the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington take a card bearing a seminarian’s photo and commit to praying for him.
The simple act is part of the “Vocations Tree” project, which began two decades ago at St. John Neumann Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and has since spread to more than 100 parishes.
Participation continues to grow. This year, 108 parishes and three Catholic campus ministries across the archdiocese are taking part, ordering 303 sets of vocations cards, including 227 in English, 63 in Spanish, 10 in French, two in Vietnamese and one in Korean, for a total of 18,500 cards.
The Vocations Tree began in 2006 after Deacon Mike Davey suggested the parish vocations ministry, formally known as the St. John Paul the Great Vocations Society of St. John Neumann Church, find a way to encourage parishioners to pray more intentionally for men preparing for the priesthood.
“It’s a very simple idea,” said Mary Beth de Ribeaux, a volunteer with the ministry who has helped lead the project since its earliest days. “Whatever works in your parish is great, because then the seminarians are being prayed for, and that’s the ultimate goal.”
De Ribeaux said the idea came together after she awoke one morning with a clear vision of how the parish community could pray for seminarians.
“I could see it in my mind,” she said. “I knew exactly how it would look and how it would work. The only way I can explain it is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”
The first Vocations Tree took shape when Deacon Davey brought a bare branch into the church to create the display de Ribeaux had envisioned for the parish narthex. Karen Nelson, also a member of the ministry, created the first prayer cards by hand, printing, cutting and assembling each one individually.
The project initially existed only at St. John Neumann, but within a few years parishioners began sharing the idea with neighboring parishes and interest spread.
By 2011, St. John Neumann’s vocations ministry had begun creating the cards digitally and offering them to other parishes.
The project’s biggest expansion came during a meeting of parish vocations representatives from across the archdiocese. After hearing about the initiative, Father Carter Griffin, now rector of St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C., offered to cover the printing costs.
“Oh, we’ll pay for that,” de Ribeaux recalled him saying.
Griffin’s decision removed the financial barrier and allowed the project to expand quickly throughout the archdiocese.
Today, the Office of Priest Vocations provides information for each seminarian card, while de Ribeaux handles the design and layout. The cards are printed at the archdiocese’s Pastoral Center print shop. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington currently has 65 seminarians preparing for the priesthood.
Over the past two decades, the project has placed thousands of prayer cards in the hands of the faithful across the archdiocese. One hundred forty-one priests have been ordained for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, including Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr., who once appeared on a Vocations Tree card as a seminarian.
According to de Ribeaux, several priests ordained since the Vocations Tree began have also served at St. John Neumann. The parish community has also seen members respond to vocations to the priesthood and religious life, including seven men ordained to the priesthood, five to the permanent diaconate and one parishioner who professed final vows in religious life.
Karen Nelson, who helped create the first prayer cards, now organizes a Vocations Tree at her parish in West Virginia. Her son, Chris Nelson, is studying for the priesthood for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. De Ribeaux keeps Chris Nelson’s seminarian card hanging in her kitchen, where she prays for him as she prepares meals for her family.
She said the prayer cards help parishioners see seminarians as real people responding to God’s call.
“I think those little bios are very important,” she said. “People read them and think, ‘Oh, he likes soccer. I like soccer.’ It helps them connect.”
Many parishioners continue praying for their seminarians long after Lent ends, she said.
“I’ve heard so many stories of people who keep the cards. Sometimes seminarians later meet someone who says, ‘I’ve been praying for you for years.’”
While the official cards printed by the archdiocesan Office of Priest Vocations feature seminarians of the Archdiocese of Washington, de Ribeaux said the project has expanded in other ways. She also creates custom cards for parishes wishing to pray for those discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.
“We’ve never wanted to limit vocations promotion just to the priesthood,” de Ribeaux said. “We want to promote vocations to the full range of religious life.”
De Ribeaux said she remains humbled by how the project has grown.
“It’s such a privilege to be involved,” she said. “It was a gift from God from the very beginning.”
Each Lent, parishioners select a card and commit to praying for a seminarian.
“That’s a lot of prayers for our seminarians,” de Ribeaux said.
For more information about vocations to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, visit the Office of Priest Vocations at adw.org/archdiocesan-offices/priesthood-vocations or dcpriest.org.
