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Local priest finds new avenues for ministry
By Rebecca Bostic, The Catholic Sun
April 3, 2008
SCOTTSDALE — Fr. Doug Lorig always knew he had a gift for teaching.
In his ministry, “the teaching is everything,” said Fr. Lorig, pastor of St. Maria Goretti Parish. “God put me to work [teaching] — I really believe that.”
So when he was offered the chance to extend his teaching ministry through a DVD, he was open to it.
“The Way of the Cross with Fr. Doug Lorig” is the fruit of collaboration with two of his former parishioners at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert, where he was pastor for 14 years.
The devotional DVD takes viewers through the Stations of the Cross with prayer, reflection and explanation of not only the events of the stations themselves, but also how the Stations of the Cross relate to everyday Catholic life.
St. Anne parishioners Dan and Felice Ciernia produced the DVD through CAI Television.
“Dan thought people would like to have this devotion and I have a little different take on it because I do a lot of reading and study of the Eastern Catholic Churches and Orthodoxy,” Fr. Lorig said. “It interests me, especially monastics, and that gives you material that is different from what people are used to hearing.”
The DVD covers each station in a prayerful and informational manner. Beginning and ending with devotional Catholic prayers, each station offers new information or reflections from Fr. Lorig and features an artist’s rendering of the Stations of the Cross.
“Stations of the Cross is something that is often done as a community during Lent,” Fr. Lorig said. “When you go through the stations, at the end there’s a heightened sensitivity to what the Lord walked through. It opens a little portal for prayer sometimes.”
Although many Catholics practice the Stations of the Cross devotion during Lent, Fr. Lorig believes it should be practiced year round.
During Lent, the Ciernias noticed that Stations of the Cross seemed to be featured less in churches across the country.
“We decided the Stations of the Cross should be available to all Catholics to pray as a family during Lent and every day of the year,” Dan Ciernia said.
The Ciernias were also interested in creating a product that could benefit charities through sales. The initial profits of the DVD went to the St. Anne Parish building fund.
In 2006 “The Way of the Cross with Fr. Doug Lorig” won the MarCom Creative Award in the Religious Program category. The devotion has also been presented to the Vatican and is now included in the Vatican archives.
Following the success of the Stations of the Cross devotional DVD, the Ciernias and Fr. Lorig have already begun production on a devotional DVD that will feature the rosary. “Rosary for the World,” featuring Fr. Lorig, will be available in summer 2008.
“Fr. Doug’s deep love for Mary and his steadfast faith in her brings all 20 mysteries of the rosary to spiritual life,” Dan said.
Fr. Lorig credits his Catholic faith to the Virgin Mary and was happy to work on another project with the Ciernias.
“I’ll always pray the rosary when there’s a crisis in the family,” Fr. Lorig said. “Often the rosary becomes a vehicle for quieting, centering the heart and making supplication... it’s woven into Catholic prayer in a wonderful way.”
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