Fr. Aidan McDermott
- Posted by FI Catechetical School
Father Aidan is the Spiritual Director for FRESHImage Catechetical School. He is a Benedictine monk and priest of the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis in Saint Louis, Missouri. Father Aidan grew up in Saint Louis with his mother and father and two sisters in a working class Irish Catholic family. A good part of their life revolved around their involvement in their home parish and school. After high school, Father Aidan worked while taking classes part time at the local community college. After his older sister answered a call to the religious life; the Holy Spirit, to his surprise, began to tug at his heart as well. Father Aidan responded to a call to the monastic life by entering the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis. However, at the time, Father Aidan had limited knowledge of the religious life and quite frankly monks for that matter.
Father Aidan professed Simple Vows on the Feast of Saint Augustine in the year 2000. He went on to profess Solemn Vows in 2004. During this time, he served in Saint Louis Priory School, the school his monastic community founded and operates. In 2007, Father Aidan earned a BA in English Literature from Webster University in Saint Louis. In 2009, Father Aidan began studies towards the priesthood, another supernatural surprise. In 2011 he began theological studies at Saint John XXIII National Seminary in Massachusetts. Father Aidan was ordained to the priesthood in 2015 on the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. After ordination he returned to teaching Theology and Medieval Arts at Saint Louis Priory School. In 2018, he was appointed Pastor of Saint Anselm Parish, a parish of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis housed on the grounds of the Abbey.
Father Aidan prays his contributions will help the faithful discover how the Benedictine virtues of obedience and humility, can helpful in their particular vocation to seek the image of Christ through purity of heart in their lives.
Father Aidan’s latest FRESHImage articles can be found here.
The FRESHImage Catechetical School exists to train and equip catechists to catechize students in a challenging societal environment. Our courses are designed to learn at a college level at an affordable price and at your own pace.