St. Gertrude Parish has been staffed by Dominican Friars from the Province of St. Joseph since it was established in 1944. In addition, St. Gertrude Priory has been the site of the Novitiate for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph since 1984. St. Gertrude School has been staffed by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia since it was founded in 1934.

The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Order, was founded by St. Dominic de Guzman in 1216.  As with all religious orders, Dominicans dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ and the service of the Catholic Church through the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The mission confided to the Order by the Church is “preaching for the salvation of souls.”  In order to better accomplish this mission, Dominican life is grounded in contemplative prayer and theological study.  
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While parts of Dominican life, including the habit and communal chanting of the Liturgy of the Hours, are drawn from earlier monastic traditions, the Order is committed to the work of evangelization, which includes strengthening the faith of those who believe, as well as preaching the Gospel through various means to the wider culture.  The friars’ commitment to theological study enables them to effectively engage the intellectual difficulties that modern life presents. As a Dominican parish, St. Gertrude reflects many of these distinctively Dominican features in her parish life, with a view towards catechetical and intellectual formation, devout prayer and liturgy, fervent preaching, and a robust Catholic community life.

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The Friars

St. Gertrude Priory, which is attached to the parish, is home to a community of Dominican friars who live and pray together, led by their elected prior. The friars serve in a variety of ministries for St. Gertrude Parish, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, as well as the wider Dominican Order. The priory is also home to the Novitiate for the Province of St. Joseph.  The novitiate is the initial year of formation in the Dominican life where the primary focus is the spiritual formation of the brothers before they begin their formal theological studies at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC. 

The Dominicans currently in residence at St. Gertrude Priory are:  

Fr. J. Alobaidi O.P. is a retired professor of Bible theology and languages (research assistant, University of Fribourg (Switzerland) Bible professor at The Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception and  lecturer in Islamic Theology and Post Biblical Judaism, Washington D.C.). Novice instructor.

Fr. Clement Dickie, O.P., is subprior (second in the community of friars) and parochial vicar at St. Gertrude. He grew up in Nashua, N.H. and studied economics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Fr. Clement entered the order after working for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He was ordained in 2016 and has been at St. Gertrude since 2017.

Fr. Michael Mary Dosch, O.P. grew up on the Jersey Shore, graduated as an electrical engineer from the Catholic University of America, then worked for the Federal Aviation Administration for four years before entering the Order of Preachers in 1998.  After his ordination in 2005, he was the young parochial vicar at St. Gertrude’s until 2010.  After six years as pastor of St. Patrick’s in Columbus, he returned to Madeira as the Novice Master in 2016.  His primary responsibility is the formation of the Novices.

Fr. Paul J. Keller, O.P., hailing from Saginaw, Michigan, is a professor of liturgical and sacramental theology at Mount St Mary's Seminary of Cincinnati. He served as parochial vicar at St Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut, and has taught at Providence College and Franciscan University. Besides being heard frequently heard on Catholic Answers Live, Fr Keller authors books such as 101 Questions & Answers on the Sacraments of Healing: Penance and Anointing as well as A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and Saint Thomas Aquinas and, most recently, A Year with the Eucharist.

Rev. John Langlois, O.P. was elected the prior of St. Gertrude in 2020.  Born in Berlin, NH, he entered the Dominican Order in 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1991.  He holds a doctorate in Church History, and has spent most of his priestly life teaching, both at Providence College in Providence, RI and at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.  Immediately before coming to St. Gertrude, he served as President of the Pontifical Faculty at the Dominican House of Studies for seven years. 

Fr. George Schommer, O.P., is pastor of St. Gertrude Church. He was born and raised in Detroit, MI and attended Franciscan University of Steubenville where he definitively discerned his vocation to the priesthood and the Dominican Order. Ordained in 1994, Father has served as parochial vicar at St. Gertrude 2 times, worked in the advancement office for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, traveled extensively as an itinerant preacher of parish missions, and served as pastor of St. Dominic Church in Washington, DC and St. Patrick Church in Philadelphia, PA. He returned to St. Gertrude Church as pastor in July, 2020.

Fr. John Mark Solitario, O.P., was ordained a priest in 2019 at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Having studied theology with the other friars at the Dominican House of Studies and gained some pastoral experience with the Catholic Latino community in Washington, D.C., he is happy now to be serving as a parochial vicar at St. Gertrude.