Deacon Nicholas Conner 
Birth Date
April 26
Parish Location
Holy Family, Peoria
Year entered the Seminary/Class of
Entered in 2018, Class of 2024
Studying at
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD
Why did you become a seminarian?
After graduating from Peoria Notre Dame, I got involved with the Newman Center community at Illinois State University. There I discovered a universal call to holiness, no matter my vocation. I formed valuable friendships during this time, enabling me to learn about struggles I had never personally encountered. I was able to walk with my friends who were going through various trials and allow them to help me with my own. My love for my friends is where my calling to the priesthood matured. I came to understand a priest not as someone who secludes himself from the world, but as a man who lives for others. I gradually began to desire “laying down my life” for my brothers and sisters.
Before you entered the seminary, what were you doing?
I graduated from ISU with a degree in finance. I then spent a year working at Pekin Insurance while actively discerning the priesthood.
An interesting fact about you
I have played ice hockey since I was 3 and consider myself an expert on the history of the Detroit Red Wings.