Confrere Profile:

Father Hank Grodecki

As president of the Association of the Miraculous Medal and director of the National Shrine of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Perryville, Missouri, Father Hank Grodecki’s work touches the lives of many.

“It’s our mission to spread devotion to the Blessed Mother, and to bring her motherly care and God’s fatherly love to others,” says Fr. Grodecki, who took on the roles in 2005.

The Association of the Miraculous Medal (AMM) is an international spiritual organization that is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The association is part of the wider Vincentian family, with groups throughout the world. The U.S. organization is based in Perryville.
 The AMM prepares over 40 mailings a year, including bulletins, newsletters and tribute cards, to provide spiritual support for its almost 400,000 members. Contributions to the organization, besides funding the spreading of devotion to our Lady, are used to support a variety of Vincentian causes, including formation, works in the Midwest Province and retired priests and brothers.

Fr. Grodecki’s responsibilities as president include oversight of the printing and direct mail operation, which generates almost 10 million pieces of mail annually, and administration, including 70 employees.

“It’s been a real change for me,” says Fr. Grodecki.  “It’s taken the better part of two years to become familiar with the job.  I’ve been fortunate to have a dedicated executive team, which has been invaluable.  I’m still learning a lot.”

Prior to his current post, Fr. Grodecki spent many years as a seminary teacher and pastor, primarily in rural parishes.  “As a pastor in small communities, I was used to living alone.  The nearest Vincentian might be an hour away,” he said.  Now, back in Perryville where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1971 and later served as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, he once again lives in a large community house.

Despite the differences in setting, Fr. Grodecki says there are always ways to draw upon your experience.  “In pastoral work, we worked at building lay leadership, and that experience has been helpful in teambuilding here.”

Fr. Grodecki’s path to the priesthood was not traditional; he was not an altar boy, nor did he come from a particularly religious family.  Although he was raised in Lemont, Illinois, a small town with three parishes and formerly home to a Vincentian seminary, he attended public school until his junior year of high school.

“There were a number of Vincentians who celebrated weekend Masses in our parish. They were good preachers and enthusiastic people, and that impressed me,” says Fr. Grodecki.  Another influence was the nuns at his parish, who encouraged children, especially those attending public school, to be a witness to Catholicism for others.  

“They were very much ahead of their time in that regard.  I felt very encouraged,” he says. “When I began to explore how to become a priest, I spent Holy Week at the high school seminary that was about a mile from my home.  The camaraderie and respect between students made a big impression on me.  It was a much smaller school, and it offered a very classical education,” he continues.  He transferred there for his junior and senior years.  

Fr. Grodecki entered the novitiate at St. Mary’s Seminary in Santa Barbara, California in 1966, studied theology at DeAndreis Seminary in Lemont and was ordained in 1975.  He earned his master’s degree in Liturgy from the University of Notre Dame, and studied sacramental theology in Rome.

Reflecting on his time as a Vincentian, Fr. Grodecki says, “There have been lots of changes in recent years in terms of what we Vincentians look like and what we do.  We used to be heavily involved in training priests.  Now, we do more direct service to the poor and pastoral work.  As one consequence, we have tended to live in smaller groups rather than institutional academic settings.”

But one constant remains, he says:  “There’s a sense of being a missionary, even domestically.  A Vincentian is to go where he is asked.  It is part of what it means to be a member of the Congregation of the Mission.”