We are pleased to welcome to Our Lady of Lourdes, priest in residence, Rev. Larrydom JR. K. Magdasoc.



Father Larry first thought it would be good for him to pursue the “amazing calling” of the priesthood when he was in high school in his native Philippines, but his parents wanted him to wait to make such a big decision until after college. So he earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology from De La Salle Lipa (University) in Lipa City, Philippines, in 2012, then worked as a web developer at a television network in Manila for a few months. But he was unhappy and knew that was not what he wanted to do with his life. “I came back to my first calling, to the priesthood,” he said. “God was really calling me to this life.”               

The journey to ordination took him first to St. Francis de Sales Major Seminary in Lipa City, Philippines, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in classical philosophy in 2018. He was invited to participate in a monastic discernment program with the Trappists in Mepkin Abbey in Moncks      Corner, South Carolina, where he met a priest of the Diocese or Metuchen.     

When he discerned that monastic life was not for him, the priest suggested he consider the New Jersey diocese. Knowing that many priests from the Philippines come to the United States where vocations are not as plentiful, the seminarian applied and was accepted for service here. He earned a Master of Divinity degree in pastoral ministry from Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange.               

Father Larry was ordained as a transitional deacon on May 13, 2023, and to the priesthood on June 8, 2024. His first assignment as a priest was at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Bridgewater as a parochial vicar. Effective July 6 of this year, the Diocese of Metuchen with its Administrator, assigned Father Larry as the Chaplain of Immaculata High School in Somerville, and the Director of Catholic Identity.

He is currently staying as a resident priest at Our Lady of Lourdes in Whitehouse Station. Father Larry enjoys traveling, taking photos, visiting churches and other religious sites and spending quite time with the Lord and in meditation and silence. “I am really, really thankful for what the diocese has given me and what God has done for me.”