Shortly before Nathaniel Daubner was ordained a priest this spring, Father Don Wagner reached out to Jennifer Daubner, Nathaniel’s mother, asking for a photo from Nathaniel’s First Communion. As a longtime friend of the family, he told Jennifer he was “cooking something up,” and she didn’t ask questions.
Nathaniel received his First Communion at St. Edward Parish in Princeton where Father Wagner was serving as pastor. After Mass, Father Wagner was invited over to the Daubner home for a meal and celebration which included photo opportunities and young Nathaniel inviting Father Wagner to “play Mass.”
“I told him, ‘I’m just going to sit in the pew,’ and I pretended I was at Mass with him,” Father Wagner said. “It’s probably one of the quickest Masses I’ve attended.”
Days later, Father Wagner received an envelope in the mail. By the writing on it, he could tell it was from a child. Inside, a card contained a hand-written message in pencil with misspellings and letters incorrectly capitalized. The card was from Nathaniel who wrote the note and addressed the envelope all without the help of his parents Jennifer and Nathan.
It endearingly read: “Dear Father thanks for being our Prest thanks for blessing and for comeing to my First Communen Love Nathaniel”
What was written under Nathaniel’s name stood out to Father Wagner.
The note continued, “Oh, I forgot samething. I Want to become a Prest SomDay.”
“For him to write ‘Oh, I forgot something. I want to be a priest someday,’ meant that he had really given thought to becoming a priest and it was going through his head,” Father Wagner said.
Cherishing the note, he tucked it away in a metal box with other mementos.
The Daubner family kept in touch with Father Wagner, who now serves as pastor of Assumption in Eden Valley, St. Anne in Kimball and St. Nicholas in St. Nicholas. Even after he was assigned to parishes outside of the Princeton area, the Daubners invited him over for meals, just as they do with many priests of the diocese.
“I think it’s important to spend time with priests, not only for their sake, but also for our kids’ sake,” said Jennifer. “It’s important to get to know priests on a human level and to support them, but also, how do you know you are called to this vocation if you don’t get to know priests?”
As the years passed, Father Wagner checked in with Nathaniel about the priesthood and told him he was in his prayers.
And, every time Father Wagner came across Nathaniel’s note in the metal box, he thought to himself, “Wouldn’t it be neat if Nathaniel did become a priest?”
Years later when he heard Nathaniel decided to join the seminary, Father Wagner felt a sense of joy.
“Father Wagner is a big reason why I started thinking about the priesthood and why I chose to go into seminary,” Nathaniel said. “He was such a spiritual father for me and was supportive and he didn’t brush off [my desire to be a priest].”
This spring, knowing Nathaniel would be ordained in June, Father Wagner dug out the card that the second-grade Nathaniel sent him from the metal box for the last time.
On June 7 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud, Father Wagner watched as Bishop Patrick Neary laid his hands on Nathaniel’s head and recited the Ordination Prayer, recalling his own ordination.
“I remember the firmness of Bishop [George] Speltz as he laid his hands on me,” Father Wagner said.
As is the custom, the newly-ordained priests select a special person for investiture, which is part of the ordination ritual. Father Nathaniel chose Father Wagner to help him remove the diaconate stole and place the priest’s stole, worn draped over both shoulders, and chasuble, the outermost garment a priest wears as celebrant during Mass. Although he was honored to be asked, he was a little nervous when the time came to vest him.
“It happened so quick and I was most concerned about putting the vestment on right,” Father Wagner laughed.
The two later shared a hug during the ordination Mass.
Later that same day, Father Wagner had the opportunity to chat with the new priest. He invited Father Daubner to recall the desire God had put on the heart of second-grade Nathaniel. He gifted Father Nathaniel his note alongside the photo Jennifer provided — custom-framed together.
Father Daubner had forgotten the note, but his desire to serve as a priest still lived in his heart.
After Father Daubner settles into his new assignment with the Northern Cross Area Catholic Community in Dent, Perham and Butler, he intends to hang the frame in his rectory office. Father Wagner plans to continue to affirm God’s plans for Father Daubner.
“I will tell him, ‘This is where God wants you to be right now,” Father Wagner said. “Just delight in it.”
To listen to a new podcast with Father Daubner and newly-ordained Father Joseph VanDenheuvel, click here.