For 20 years, Deacon Brian Fischer led retreats and other efforts to share the faith on college campuses through St. Paul’s Outreach; in that time, he helped it grow into a national evangelization effort.

A member of Catholic lay association Community of Christ the Redeemer in West St. Paul, from which sprang SPO and high school outreach Net Ministries, Deacon Fischer also took final vows in 2004 as a consecrated lay celibate, a decision reached through prayer and spiritual guidance.

Prayer and an openness to God’s grace now have led Deacon Fischer, 42, to the priesthood, with an unusual assignment: Living as a hermit while providing spiritual direction to priests, particularly priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ordination is set for May 29 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

Shifting from active ministry to a life of contemplative prayer and penance for the Church, and particularly the archdiocese, is a dramatic change. It began in 2012, said Deacon Fischer, who grew up with his mother, Katherine LeDuc, and three brothers in St. Michael parish and school in Prior Lake.

“I experienced the Lord calling me deeper into prayer,” he told The Catholic Spirit May 20. “At the same time, I had a very active life in the new evangelization. Yet, here he was, asking more from me in terms of contemplative prayer. As a followed those graces, I began to make silent, directed retreats.”

During a 30-day silent retreat in 2014, the Lord provided a new way forward, Deacon Fischer said. It happened as God seemed to be speaking to him through Scripture stories.

“He’s reading about me in Scripture,” Deacon Fischer recalled. “As soon as I heard the word ‘priest’ there was so much joy and confidence. This was a sign of the Holy Spirit. Of course, I said ‘yes, I’ll give you whatever you want.’”

Deacon Fischer faced a special challenge leading up his ordination, he told The Catholic Spirit May 20. He contracted COVID-19, developed viral pneumonia and was hospitalized for nearly five days beginning May 13. He contracted the potentially deadly novel coronavirus around the time he was vaccinated against the disease.

“It was just bad timing,” he said. “The COVID-19 is crushed now. I’m on just a little bit of oxygen. That is also diminishing slowly.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who has known Deacon Fischer since the two met in Rome years ago while Deacon Fischer was leading an SPO retreat at the Pontifical North American College, said he is convinced the Lord is working through Deacon Fischer— just as the Lord is working through each of the men to be ordained May 29.

“He’s a great listener. He brings great consolation when he prays,” the archbishop said. “He has a deep love of the Church.” Those gifts appear to be nurtured as he lives the lifestyle of a hermit, the archbishop said.

Hermits are called to a life of prayer and penance and stricter separation from the world.

While Deacon Fischer’s vows to the priesthood will not be eremitical vows, he will be living the lifestyle of a hermit under Archbishop Hebda’s direction. Holy Trinity Hermitage has been incorporated as the concrete vehicle for him to engage in his ministry, with a board of directors who will help Deacon Fischer remain rooted in the Church, the archbishop said.

The hermitage is wherever Deacon Fischer is based — right now, a townhouse in Stillwater, the archbishop said. Given that Deacon Fischer will be inviting priests to seek spiritual guidance and rest, the hermitage will probably require more room than a townhouse, the archbishop said.

“A life of the priest is so demanding that he needs an opportunity to find the Lord in silence and contemplation,” the archbishop said. “The expectation and hope are that priests will go see him. The Lord seems to be calling him to serve in this way.”

One of a bishop’s chief responsibilities is to his priests, the archbishop said, and he is delighted that Deacon Fischer will be a strong resource on which the priests of the archdiocese will be able to draw. “I know there are great benefits that come to the local Church when we have someone praying for us,” he said.

Deacon Fischer is not the only active archdiocesan priest called to the life of a hermit. Father Roy LePak, now retired but still a spiritual director for many priests and bishops, has been assigned to live as a hermit since 1990. He lives in a remote area of the Duluth diocese.

“When I considered his impact on the priests of the archdiocese, I thought what a wonderful thing for the archdiocese to have another priest serve in that way,” Archbishop Hebda said.

Deacon Fischer said where there is a ministry, there is a need.

“I do think there can be a poverty in the spiritual life of a very active person,” Deacon Fischer said. “There is a lot of doing, but not a lot of being. How can you give what you don’t have?”

“Sometimes, we think the new evangelization requires more effort. But what it really requires is a radical surrender,” Deacon Fischer said. “If we would just let Jesus in on the mission, it would be very fruitful.”

Deacon Fischer will be vested by his spiritual director and mentor, Msgr. John Esseff of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Deacon Fischer plans to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at 2 p.m. May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul with the Community of Christ the Redeemer community, including about 200 SPO missionaries.