More than 500 people packed into St. Benedict Church at Subiaco Abbey Nov. 22 for a significant milestone.
Celebrant Bishop Francis I. Malone of the Diocese of Shreveport ordained Brother Raban Heyer, OSB, a priest, calling it “a rare occurrence.”
Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Father Heyer grew up in Iowa and Wisconsin as the second oldest of seven siblings. His journey toward the priesthood began after he completed his studies at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., where he earned a degree in English and a minor in philosophy. He later pursued a master’s degree in English at Ohio Dominican University.
In 2011, Father Heyer moved to Arkansas, where he took a job as a teacher and track and cross country coach, first at St. Joseph High School in Pine Bluff, then at Christ the King School in Little Rock, where he first met Bishop Malone, who was then the pastor of Christ the King Church. It was during these early years of teaching and coaching that Father Heyer began to sense a deeper calling.
Months after beginning his teaching career, Father Heyer felt called to join the Subiaco community. In 2014, he entered Subiaco Abbey. He made his profession of vows Feb. 2, 2016. Alongside his monastic responsibilities, he continued to teach and coach at Subiaco Academy, a boarding and day school for seventh through 12th-grade boys.
As Father Heyer continued to discern his vocation, he began considering the possibility of pursuing the priesthood. This led him to explore attending seminaries with the help of Abbot Elijah Owens, who was the vocations director of Subiaco at the time. In the fall of 2019, he began his formal studies for the priesthood, and he was ordained to the transitional diaconate in July 2023.
“Priestly ordination kept coming up over a long period of time during prayer, particularly with lectio divina,” Father Heyer said. “The need both in our community and also with Subiaco’s ministries was evident, and through conversations with my spiritual director, it became evident that God was calling me to pursue this path within the context of my monastic vocation.”
Father Heyer, 35, has spent the last several years studying theology at Pontificio Sant’Anselmo (St. Anselm Pontifical University) in Rome.
In the hours leading up to his ordination, Arkansas Catholic asked Father Heyer how it felt to be nearing the finish line of his vocational journey.
“The major commitment we monks make is our solemn profession. My primary vocation is as a Benedictine monk of Subiaco Abbey,” he said. “For us, priesthood is secondary to my vows as a monk. One of our vows is conversatio morum, or a continual conversion to the monastic way of life here. As such, the ‘finish line’ of my vocational journey is when we’re all together in heaven. Priestly ordination is only a step along the way.”
In his homily, Bishop Malone shared two anecdotes, attesting to his anxiety in the hours leading up to his own priestly ordination, when Msgr. Scott Friend advised him that his ordination to the priesthood had been part of God’s plan for all eternity.
“This was all part of God’s divine plan and always had been,” Bishop Malone said. “So we are filled with joy and the absence of fear for what God is about to do and what he can do through you.”
The second anecdote happened when then-Msgr. Malone asked a class of first communicants before their First Communion to raise their hands if they were nervous — and every hand raised. But when Msgr. Malone asked if the students were scared, every hand went down.
Bishop Malone, at the end of his homily, turned to Father Heyer.
“Are you nervous?” To which Father Heyer nodded.
“Are you scared?” To this, Father Heyer shook his head no.
Bishop Malone invited Father Heyer forwarded to be ordained.
When reflecting on his spiritual and vocational journey so far, Father Heyer gave credit to his parents, grandparents and “many friends, monks and priests,” who have given him help and support throughout his spiritual and vocational journeys.
“Most changes in my spiritual life have been very gradual. If I had to choose one more critical moment, I would say the decision to apply to join Subiaco Abbey,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being of service and ministering to those who come to Subiaco Abbey in this new role.”
After being ordained and hugging his brother priests and monks, Father Heyer gave his first blessing to his parents, Charles and Ellen Heyer.
Following the Mass, Abbott Owens encouraged all young people present to discern a call to the priesthood or religious life as Father Heyer did.
Father Heyer offered advice to young people who are discerning their vocation as well: “Pray regularly.”
“Go regularly to Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation,” he said. “Having a spiritual director will be a big help.”
Abbott Owens told Arkansas Catholic that he considers Subiaco “blessed and honored” to have Father Heyer there.
“Chapter 62 of the Rule of St. Benedict continues to govern our monastic community 1,500 years later when it reads, ‘Any abbot who asks to have a priest or deacon ordained should choose from his monks one worthy to exercise the priesthood. The monks so ordained must be on guard against conceit or pride, must not presume to do anything except what the abbot commands him, and must recognize that now he will have to subject himself all the more to the discipline of the rule,’” he said. “Our monastic community is blessed and honored that after Father Raban’s studies in Rome, he has returned home and will offer the sacraments to his brother monks and the people of God.”
For his assignment, Father Raban returned this fall as the academy’s English department chair and cross-country coach.
