By Sue Denny • Posted May 15, 2026

Imagine a year without a cell phone, laptop, social media – even a newspaper. For seminarian Dominic Mirenda, it was amazing.

Known as the Spiritual Year, the 12-month formation period at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary features a Sunday-through-Friday media fast that Mirenda called “the best year of my life.”

He is among eight transitional deacons who will be ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Nelson Perez on Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

Mirenda grew up in a Catholic family in western Chester County. His parents, Deborah and Theodore Joseph Mirenda Jr., have five children; Dominic is the second oldest.

He considers himself “the son of two parishes” since he attended Mass and youth groups at both St. Joseph’s in Downingtown and St. Peter’s in West Brandywine.

As an altar server, he remembers hearing, “You’re going to be a priest one day,” on more than one occasion from well-meaning elderly women.

“The idea of the priesthood was never foreign to me,” he said. In fact, it never left the back burner.

Mirenda attended Catholic schools and spent grades six through 12 at Philomena Academy, a Catholic homeschool co-op. During his sophomore year, he began to question seriously his vocation and what he was supposed to do in the future.

“God really broke into my life during a retreat I went on,” he said. “God definitely has me on earth for a reason. He has a plan for my life.”

A self-described man of many interests, Mirenda considered dozens of majors and colleges while finishing high school. “I could have gone in many different directions,” he said. Ultimately, he applied to only one: St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “It just felt right.”

While Mirenda believed any time he spent at the seminary would make him a better man, he entered in the fall of 2017 uncertain about the priesthood.

“I’ll see where this goes,” he told himself. “It does not mean game over, (that) I’m going to be a priest.”

After “a ton of discernment” during those early years as a seminarian, he felt the Lord pulling him close and realized he had chosen the right path. He met some “exemplar priests,” developed close friendships with other seminarians, and committed himself to ministry.

“The first half of seminary was completely falling in love with God and recognizing He is very real, He is very much involved, and He is gentle,” Mirenda said.

The Spiritual Year changed his life. He and his brother seminarians gave up all media every day except Saturday. The ban was designed to encourage them to develop hobbies and social opportunities without the internet or computer technology. He remembers a priest tacking the weather forecast on a bulletin board.

“I took an entire year to really step back,” Mirenda said. “It was a real gift.”

That same year, seminarians were sent off with a backpack to spend a month immersed in poverty, following Jesus’ teaching that caring for the poor is a moral duty. Some stayed in homeless shelters, while others lived in religious communities in impoverished areas.

The year concluded with a 30-day silent retreat and hours of Ignatian prayer, a form of imaginative prayer rooted in the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

“That was absolutely life-changing,” Mirenda said.  “It was an incredibly impactful year, drawing closer to (Jesus) and Him drawing closer to me.”

In May 2025, Mirenda was ordained a transitional deacon and assigned to St. Philip Neri Parish in Lafayette Hill.

“It’s been a joy to (serve at) the school and to be with the community on Sundays,” he said. “Preaching there has been wonderful.”

He will return there to celebrate Mass on Sunday, May 31.

Following his ordination, Mirenda will celebrate his first Mass on May 17 at St. Joseph Church in Downingtown and on May 24 at St. Peter Church in West Brandywine.

Mirenda’s goal for his life extends even beyond his lifelong ministry as a priest of Jesus Christ.

“I just want to be close to God,” he said. “I want to get to heaven and help everyone I meet get to heaven. Nothing else matters.”