Our 

Spiritual Director

Fr. Vit Fiala, OFM

 

 

 

 

Fr. Vit was born in the 1950s in the small town of Litomerice in Czechoslovakia, about 40 miles northwest of Prague.

When he was 14 years old he left home to study music playing the cello at the Prague Conservatory.  Following school he spent two years in an obligatory military service as a cellist in a military symphony orchestra.  He then became a member of the National Opera Orchestra in Brno for 3 years where eventually he found his faith.  Afterwards, Fr. Vit escaped Czech and lived in a refugee camp for  almost two years, playing as a freelance musician.

After two years discerning whether to stay in Europe or move to a different country, he moved to Toronto, Canada.  Working as a music teacher, organist and church choir master as well as a cellist playing concerts with quartet and solo recitals is how he made a living.  During this time he developed a desire to learn about his faith and immersed himself in study, enrolling in a two year philosophy program for seminarians with the Oratorians in Toronto.  He was sponsored by Opus Dei and their priests were his spiritual directors.

Discerning the call to religious life, he joined the Franciscan Province of Immaculate Conception.  In the 1990’s he went through formation and studied theology in Boston.  He was ordained in 1998 in Toronto, Canada.   In 1999 he was sent to the Shrine of Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted in Youngstown, OH.  As a gifted teacher of the faith, he has served as Spiritual Assistant to several fraternities of the Secular Franciscan Order.

Currently Fr. Vit is the Spiritual Director to our fraternity as well as two additional Tertiary fraternities in the area.   He has been instrumental in the establishment of these Tertiary communities.