Many influences and role models led new South Bay L.A. chaplain to the priesthood

Father Marinello Saguin is the new chaplain of the South Bay L.A. Legatus Chapter in California. He joined the Discalced Carmelite Friars after high school but opted for the priesthood with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles instead. Since his ordination in 2015, he has served in several parishes and was named pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Encino last July.

Tell me about your Catholic upbringing and what led you to the priesthood.

I grew up in the heart of Los Angeles. My parents emigrated from the Philippines in the 1970s. I attended St. Francis of Assisi School, staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Capuchin priests and the Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception served the parish. They were happy, joyful people serving the Lord. I grew up thinking, “One day, I could be like them.”

I had some wonderful religious who were role models, such as Sr. Mary Christopher. In second grade, she prepared us for First Reconciliation and Communion. One day, she was showing us the vessels used for Mass. I remember saying, “One day, I’m going to be using those vessels.”

While I was in the fifth grade, one of the Canons Regular, who is today Norbertine Fr. Hildebrand Garceau, was training us to be altar boys. He told us, “Being an altar boy is a school for the priesthood. While some of you will be called to be fathers, some of you may be called to the priesthood. You will touch and live the mysteries at which you are serving.” What he said really made an impression on me. Father Hildebrand would later vest me when
I was ordained a priest.

My grandmother helped me develop my prayer life. I would pray with her as a boy. She was a Filipino lady who said many novenas. I would stare at her and see the intensity she had while praying. I thought, “I want the fervor and relationship with God my grandma has.”

She was too old to come from the Philippines for my ordination, but she did live to learn that I was ordained. People asked her, “Aren’t you happy that your prayers were answered and he is a priest?” She would respond, “I have to pray all the more that he never lose his vocation.” She was a true testament to faith.

Has anything surprised you about the priesthood?

The real shock was in the confessional. Nothing in the seminary can prepare you to understand how broken and wounded people are. They come to the sacrament knowing they are fragile and weak. We minister to them and allow them to regain a sense of hope.

What do you like most about the priesthood?

It is a joy to come into people’s lives at their high and low moments, accompanying them along the way. I have a wide range of experiences with people throughout the day, then I bring it all back to the Lord for prayer and reflection. I also love being able to celebrate the Eucharist and then to bring the Eucharist to God’s people.

What changes have you made since coming to Our Lady of Grace Parish?

I’ve tried to deepen our parishioners’ spirituality and increase their love for the Eucharist. I’ve tried to improve our liturgies, do some catechesis, and have more times available for adoration and Confession. When I arrived, few were coming to Confession, and a priest friend told me that this reflected a spiritual poverty within the parish. I began to speak on it in homilies and to add Confession times, and now many more come.