Meet our new St. Anthony Shrine Guardian
Fr. Carl Langenderfer, OFM grew up in a suburb outside of Cincinnati. He is the oldest of five children, two brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers, Fr. Max Langenderfer is also a Franciscan friar serving in our Jamaican missions.
Fr. Carl is a soft spoken, kind-hearted man with an innate talent with technical matters. He is a craftsman of many sorts and he has a broad spectrum of interests that include reading novels and skimming cookbooks, cooking, gardening and manual skills cultivated from a very young age by his parents.
From the time he was in grade school at St. Gabriel's in Glendale, Ohio, his father who built houses during the summer break, would take his young sons along to learn the trade. That is where Carl got hands-on instruction in architecture, electrical work, laying plans, setting foundations, and managing construction.
Young Carl was rewiring lamps in grade school and planned and wired one of the homes his father built when he was only a sophomore at Roger Bacon High school. That house is still standing.
Father Carl joined the friars in 1964 and was ordained in 1971. His first assignment was as a religious instructor at Bishop Luers High School in Ft. Wayne, IN. He remained there for four years. For the next ten years, he served in various positions as a member of the formation team (training program for future friars) in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
He then served in pastoral duties from 1986-1996 at Holy Rosary parish in Houma, LA and from 1997-2005 in St Clements in Cincinnati.
In 2005, he moved to St Anthony Shrine and Friary to serve as Vicar and Director of Postulants. On July 1, 2014, he took over duties as the St Anthony Shrine Guardian. We think he is a perfect fit. We are really looking forward to working with him. Among many other responsibilities, he will continue to light candles at the Shrine for your intentions.
A couple of interesting notes about Fr. Carl…he celebrated his very first Mass on June 13, the feast of St Anthony. He also has already spent one year as St Anthony Shrine Guardian back in 1978 when he inherited the project of the chapel renovation.
Thanks for all you do Fr. Carl!
Fr. Carl at St. Anthony Shrine with his mother Florence, and brother Max, also a Franciscan friar.
Posted in: News, Prayer, Saint Anthony, Saint Francis
