Nate Devlin

Parish: St. Mary, Rock Island

Birthdate: August 27

Seminary: Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary: Entered 2023, Class of 2031

Why did you become a seminarian?
From a young age I felt God calling me to the priestly vocation, but I consistently pushed back. During my senior year of high school I found it strange that I couldn’t decide what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. Nothing felt right. I finally had the courage to ask God what he wanted me to do. After asking the question, I spent time in silent prayer. It was during Eucharistic adoration that I grew in the conviction that my heart wasn’t set on anything else because God was still asking me to go to seminary. I was surprised by the tremendous amount of peace and freedom that I felt in making the decision. I didn’t feel the need to push back anymore and was now confident that seminary was the right step for me and gave me a lot of hope for my future.

What did you do before seminary?
I worked at the famous Quad Cities ice cream shop, Whitey’s Ice Cream, for two years. I was also involved in the US Air Force youth Cadet Program where I got to fly a plane and a glider.

An interesting fact about you:
I can juggle a baseball, football, and volleyball all at the same time. Sometimes that skill helps to entertain my 9 younger brothers and sisters!