Father LaRoche shares journey

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press
By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

It’s been a somewhat atypical journey for Father Lucas Marshall LaRoche, who was ordained a priest for the Worcester Diocese Saturday.
Discernment of his vocation didn’t come in an instant sign, but more as “a quiet whisper.”
He shared some of his experiences, including two meetings with Pope Francis and getting unexpected preparation for parish life in Scotland. In the mix was the coronavirus.
Father LaRoche was born in Leominster on June 16, 1994, the son of Brian and Ann-Mari LaRoche. His siblings are twins Jamison and Adrienne LaRoche.
He said parish priests influenced him when he was growing up, especially Father Andre M. Gariepy, his pastor at Holy Spirit Parish in Gardner, who died May 25.
When Father LaRoche was a child, his mother’s father told family members that the boy might have a vocation. But he doesn’t remember that his grandfather, who died when he was about 9, ever told him.
“It was never on my radar in any serious way until my sophomore year of high school,” said Father LaRoche, who attended Gardner public schools and Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School, where he got a diploma and certificate in printing and graphic design.
He’d gone on one or more retreats with the diocese’s vocations office. But at the end of his senior year, he decided he wasn’t ready to pursue priesthood, so he enrolled at Assumption College, now Assumption University.
At the end of that first year, he felt ready, and the following spring entered Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies in Worcester, where some seminarians live and receive formation. He was assigned to continue at Assumption, where he studied philosophy, theology and classics, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2016. He said it was a good transition being with classmates his age who weren’t seminarians.
His next step was St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, where “everything’s in house” – prayer, classes etc. He spent a year there, before being sent to Rome.
“Being away from home forces someone to grow up,” he said. “That was exciting,” though he was somewhat nervous too.
He recounted a humorous experience from his arrival in Rome. As he and about 35 other seminarians and clerics walked to the offices and training area of the Swiss Guard for a tour, they passed an American taking photographs in St. Peter’s Square. He overheard the surprised tourist exclaim, “Everyone’s a priest here!”
From 2017 to 2021 Father LaRoche lived and received formation at Pontifical North American College. He studied at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from which he received his bachelor’s in sacred theology in 2020.
On Feb, 20, 2020, he first met Pope Francis. He was among the seminarians invited to go an ad limina visit with Melkite Bishop Nicholas J. Samra of the Eparchy of Newton.
“The Holy Father has a good sense of humor,” he said. “He thanked us for not having brought him a football jersey” like other seminarians had done.
He met the pope again on Sept. 29, 2020, after a Wednesday audience, when the Holy Father stopped to see seminarians.
What’s it like to meet the pope?
“It’s positive in a lot of ways,” Father LaRoche said. “You’re seeing someone you hear and read a lot about and the opportunity to meet him is a blessing, since he shepherds the Church in the footsteps of Peter.”
Priestly preparation wasn’t always glamorous, however.
Seminarians studying in Rome usually don’t go home their first summer there. After submitting three options for pastoral ministry to Bishop McManus, he was sent to the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland. Father LaRoche said he learned later that the head of the archdiocese, Archbishop Leo W. Cushley, is friends with Bishop McManus.
In Edinburgh, he served at St. Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral, living in the rectory with four priests.
“That summer was good,” Father LaRoche says, despite his onetime task of shoveling sewage out the sacristy when construction at a nearby shopping mall caused a backup.
Some might say, “That’s not what I signed up for,” Father LaRoche noted. But, “it is. We signed up for whatever’s given to us.”
Finishing his summer in Scotland, he returned to Rome to continue his studies.
“After the second year, we get to go home,” he said. “I was in Charlton,” assigned to St. Joseph Parish.
Then it was back to Rome for his next year of seminary, which he said got a little messed up – because of the pandemic.
“We … left in haste,” he said. “We ended up back home in Massachusetts.”
He moved to St. Paul Cathedral’s rectory, served at Masses at the cathedral even when the public was not allowed to attend, and took classes online.
Last summer, he served at Our Lady of Providence Parish at St. Bernard Church in Worcester, when “we were all trying to figure out how to move forward.”
Then it was back to Pontifical Gregorian University to work toward his licentiate in sacred theology, studying patristic theology. He said he hopes to finish this degree while serving as a priest in the Worcester Diocese. He is assigned to Blackstone Valley parishes.
Asked if he has a vision or goal for his priesthood, he replied, “Whatever the Diocese tells me.”
He does have his personal interests, however. Asked about his favorite saint, hymn and Scripture passage, he said he likes his patron, St. Luke the physician, and St. Nicholas of Myra; Cardinal John Henry Newman’s hymn “Firmly I Believe and Truly,” and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus. His hobbies include reading and cooking.

s.
Father LaRoche was born in Leominster on June 16, 1994, the son of Brian and Ann-Mari LaRoche. His siblings are twins Jamison and Adrienne LaRoche.
He said parish priests influenced him when he was growing up, especially Father Andre M. Gariepy, his pastor at Holy Spirit Parish in Gardner, who died May 25.
When Father LaRoche was a child, his mother’s father told family members that the boy might have a vocation. But he doesn’t remember that his grandfather, who died when he was about 9, ever told him.
“It was never on my radar in any serious way until my sophomore year of high school,” said Father LaRoche, who attended Gardner public schools and Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School, where he got a diploma and certificate in printing and graphic design.
He’d gone on one or more retreats with the diocese’s vocations office. But at the end of his senior year, he decided he wasn’t ready to pursue priesthood, so he enrolled at Assumption College, now Assumption University.
At the end of that first year, he felt ready, and the following spring entered Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies in Worcester, where some seminarians live and receive formation. He was assigned to continue at Assumption, where he studied philosophy, theology and classics, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2016. He said it was a good transition being with classmates his age who weren’t seminarians.
His next step was St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, where “everything’s in house” – prayer, classes etc. He spent a year there, before being sent to Rome.
“Being away from home forces someone to grow up,” he said. “That was exciting,” though he was somewhat nervous too.
He recounted a humorous experience from his arrival in Rome. As he and about 35 other seminarians and clerics walked to the offices and training area of the Swiss Guard for a tour, they passed an American taking photographs in St. Peter’s Square. He overheard the surprised tourist exclaim, “Everyone’s a priest here!”
From 2017 to 2021 Father LaRoche lived and received formation at Pontifical North American College. He studied at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from which he received his bachelor’s in sacred theology in 2020.
On Feb, 20, 2020, he first met Pope Francis. He was among the seminarians invited to go an ad limina visit with Melkite Bishop Nicholas J. Samra of the Eparchy of Newton.
“The Holy Father has a good sense of humor,” he said. “He thanked us for not having brought him a football jersey” like other seminarians had done.
He met the pope again on Sept. 29, 2020, after a Wednesday audience, when the Holy Father stopped to see seminarians.
What’s it like to meet the pope?
“It’s positive in a lot of ways,” Father LaRoche said. “You’re seeing someone you hear and read a lot about and the opportunity to meet him is a blessing, since he shepherds the Church in the footsteps of Peter.”
Priestly preparation wasn’t always glamorous, however.
Seminarians studying in Rome usually don’t go home their first summer there. After submitting three options for pastoral ministry to Bishop McManus, he was sent to the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland. Father LaRoche said he learned later that the head of the archdiocese, Archbishop Leo W. Cushley, is friends with Bishop McManus.
In Edinburgh, he served at St. Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral, living in the rectory with four priests.
“That summer was good,” Father LaRoche says, despite his onetime task of shoveling sewage out the sacristy when construction at a nearby shopping mall caused a backup.
Some might say, “That’s not what I signed up for,” Father LaRoche noted. But, “it is. We signed up for whatever’s given to us.”
Finishing his summer in Scotland, he returned to Rome to continue his studies.
“After the second year, we get to go home,” he said. “I was in Charlton,” assigned to St. Joseph Parish.
Then it was back to Rome for his next year of seminary, which he said got a little messed up – because of the pandemic.
“We … left in haste,” he said. “We ended up back home in Massachusetts.”
He moved to St. Paul Cathedral’s rectory, served at Masses at the cathedral even when the public was not allowed to attend, and took classes online.
Last summer, he served at Our Lady of Providence Parish at St. Bernard Church in Worcester, when “we were all trying to figure out how to move forward.”
Then it was back to Pontifical Gregorian University to work toward his licentiate in sacred theology, studying patristic theology. He said he hopes to finish this degree while serving as a priest in the Worcester Diocese. He is assigned to Blackstone Valley parishes.
Asked if he has a vision or goal for his priesthood, he replied, “Whatever the Diocese tells me.”
He does have his personal interests, however. Asked about his favorite saint, hymn and Scripture passage, he said he likes his patron, St. Luke the physician, and St. Nicholas of Myra; Cardinal John Henry Newman’s hymn “Firmly I Believe and Truly,” and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus. His hobbies include reading and cooking.