Deacon Daniel Colby, a seminarian for the Diocese of Columbus, had something special to celebrate on his birthday this year.

Colby was ordained to the order of diaconate at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral on Nov. 10, his 33rd birthday.

Colby joins four seminarians in the diocese, Deacons Tyler Carter, Jason Fox, Michael Haemmerle and David Johnstone, who were ordained to the diaconate in May. After Colby’s ordination, the diocese has five seminarians serving as deacons until their anticipated ordination to the priesthood in May 2024.

Daniel Colby prostrates himself before the altar at St. Joseph Cathedral as Bishop Earl Fernandes (second from left) and other deacon seminarians pray. CT photo by Ken Snow

Colby, from Columbus Immaculate Conception Church, is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. He graduated from Virginia Tech University in 2013 with a degree in industrial design, and he worked in consumer product design and development. He worked in Charlotte, North Carolina after college and moved to Columbus for a design job in 2014.

Colby was raised Presbyterian, but, he said, he left the faith during high school because he “didn’t want some ‘guy up in the sky’ telling me what to do.”

Upon moving to Columbus, Colby was introduced to the Xenos Christian Fellowship by his next-door neighbors, who were a part of the evangelical church community. Colby was invited to their cookouts and Bible studies, he said, which helped answer questions he had about God and the Christian faith.

A “pivotal moment” in his faith journey, he said, occurred after his neighbors invited him to hear Lee Strobel, an apologist, or person who defends Christianity, present a case that Christ’s Resurrection was a true historical event.

“I was intellectually convinced now that Christ really did rise from the dead, but that meant that I had a decision to make,” Colby said.

After Strobel’s presentation, Colby said he prayed “for the first time in over a decade to receive God back into my life and to let Him be my Lord.” He felt reborn and renewed, and he began attending services at Xenos with his neighbors.

However, later that year, during Christmas 2014, Colby had a conversation with his father that changed the trajectory of his faith journey. Colby’s father, Steve, announced that he was leaving the Presbyterian church to become Catholic.

Colby said this news “sparked an interest” in the various Christian denominations, and he sought to learn about each one. When Colby read about Catholicism, he recalled experiencing a desire to attend Mass.

“I remember waking up very early on the morning of January 1, 2015 with an inspiration that I needed to go to Mass, even though I had never been to Mass or had been in a Catholic church before,” he said.

Deacon David Johnstone (left), a diocesan seminarian, and Deacon Chris Campbell, who serves at Columbus Immaculate Conception Church, place the dalmatic on newly ordained Deacon Daniel Colby at St. Joseph Cathedral. CT photo by Ken Snow

Colby lived near Columbus Holy Name Church, and he attended an early Mass there on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which is a holy day of obligation for Catholics to attend Mass.

“When the priest elevated the host for the consecration, I felt a surge of power and fear, and my head unconsciously turned away from looking at it,” he said.

The Mass “lit a fire under me,” Colby said, and he was determined to figure out what occurred at the consecration of the host. He studied Catholic doctrine and Church history in the following months and spent more time in prayer.

Colby was convinced, he said, that the Catholic Church was the true Church founded by Jesus Christ.

During summer of that year, Colby began Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes (now the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) at Immaculate Conception Church.

“It was during RCIA when I first learned about the priesthood and felt a very clear call from God to pursue that path,” he said. “I continued in RCIA and was brought into the Church at the Easter Vigil in 2016.”

Colby became involved with the parish, helping with the Knights of Columbus and the parish men’s group. He also regularly spent time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Colby continued to experience a call to the priesthood. He applied to the Pontifical College Josephinum and began seminary in fall 2017.

As a Catholic, Colby said, he appreciates the Church’s history, the witness of the saints and the Catholic worldview of “seeing the natural and supernatural united in every part of life.” He considers devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary the most important part of his faith journey.

During his first year of seminary, on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, Colby consecrated himself to the Blessed Mother. He followed the book “True Devotion to Mary,” written by St. Louis Marie de Montfort.

“It’s principally through growing in my relationship with her and learning to hear her voice and guidance in my life that I’ve understood more deeply my call to the priesthood,” Colby said. 

“I believe that she is asking me to be her Son’s priest to help reach all of her lost and scattered children who are away from faith and away from Christ like I once was.”

He appreciates the witness of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a 20th century Polish priest who gave his life in place of another man at Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Colby admires that the saint, who had a vision of the Blessed Virgin at age 12, held his devotion to Mary at the center of his priesthood and apostolate, or his mission as an apostle of Christ, he said.

“And it helps that we sort of share a surname.”

While in seminary, Colby assisted at several diocesan parishes including Zanesville St. Thomas Aquinas and Columbus St. Mary Magdalene, St. Aloysius and St. Agnes churches on the west side of the city. He completed his pastoral year at Marion St. Mary and Cardington Sacred Hearts churches.

He also assisted at Mount Vernon St. Vincent de Paul, Danville St. Luke and Delaware St. Mary churches. He participated in a summer Hispanic ministry immersion and served at Holy Family Soup Kitchen.

“Each one of these assignments has taught me a lot about myself and showed me where I need to grow to be a good and holy and relatable minister of Christ,” he said. 

“I’m very grateful to all of the priests and people of these parishes for their prayers, their friendship and their support. I hope to visit them before long as a priest to celebrate Mass with them as well.”

Newly ordained Deacon Daniel Colby (left) and Bishop Earl Fernandes   CT photo by Ken Snow

As a deacon, Colby said, he looks forward to preaching at Mass and sharing the richness of Christ and His mercy with people in their daily lives. He is also eager to lead the faithful in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, he said, because of how much the Eucharistic Lord helped him “grow as a man.”

Looking ahead to his projected ordination to the priesthood in May, Colby said, he anticipates reconciling people with God in the sacrament of confession and bringing the Body and Blood of Christ to people in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

“I also look forward to getting to teach the faith and help people learn all the beautiful things about Catholicism that I’ve been privileged to learn over the past decade.”