Stefan Paul Starzynski was born on Mother’s Day (May 11, 1969) in Bangkok, Thailand to Paul and Florence Starzynski.  He grew up in Arlington, VA, attended St. Ann’s Catholic Church, and graduated from Bishop Ireton High School.  Father Stefan holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Gannon University (Erie, PA) and graduated from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in 1996.  Shortly after that, he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, VA on May 18, 1996.

During his first 19 years as a priest, Fr. Stefan served as parochial vicar at St. Michael in Annandale, St. Mary in Old Town Alexandria, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Fredericksburg, St. Patrick in Fredericksburg, St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax, and St. Timothy in Chantilly.  As a parochial vicar, his duties included administering the sacraments, preparing couples for marriage, counseling, hospital visits, and many other responsibilities.  He has offered talks on Theology of the Body, done Life in the Spirit seminars, and served as a chaplain for Cursillo and Engaged Encounter Weekends.

Father Stefan also found time to write his first book, Miracles: Healing for a Broken World, which was released in April 2010.  Pre-orders from Amazon.com placed it asthe top-selling Catholic book within the first 48 hours, and it was the top seller for the publisher, Our Sunday Visitor, for the month of March 2010.  It quickly required a second printing and can still be found on the shelves of various stores and online sellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  All of his royalties go to support the Paul Stefan Foundation.

Father Stefan’s compassion and concern for others makes him open and willing to extend a smile and share his time with everyone who calls upon him.  So it only seemed natural that in June 2015, Bishop Loverde assigned him to be the full-time chaplain at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Annandale, VA, where he continues to serve the sick and suffering today.  However, even before he was ordained, God was leading Fr. Stefan to a healing ministry.

In the summer after he graduated from Gannon University, he worked with Mother Teresa for two months in two different places. One was a house for the suffering and the other a home for the dying.  Then during his time at the seminary, he read a book by Fr. John Bertolucci titled The Mass and Healing, in which Fr. Stefan realized that there are numerous references to healing within the Mass itself.  He appreciated that even though every Mass is a healing Mass, people still like to go to a special Mass and healing service with the hope of being touched by Jesus.

In his book Miracles, Fr. Stefan writes that when he was ordained and lying prostrate in front of the bishop, he quietly prayed to Jesus: “Jesus, I know I’m going to be a priest in the sacramental sense, but I want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, too. I need this Holy Spirit.”  Two days later, he went to a healing service celebrated by his spiritual advisor, Fr. Richard McAlear.  It was there that his prayer was answered and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.  As Fr. Stefan writes in Miracles: “I felt the Holy Spirit go through me from my head to my toes, and I knew at that moment that I was forever changed.”

From the day of his ordination, Fr. Stefan has been an instrument that God has used to heal people, both physically and emotionally, and our Lord continues to work through Fr. Stefan performing many healings, including for babies and individuals with cancer.  Early on in his priesthood, Fr. Stefan has participated in, and later celebrated, many Healing Masses and even now, he continues to find ways to bring God’s healing to those in need.  Many of these stories of healing can be found in his book Miracles but Fr. Stefan is the first to remind people that he is just an imperfect instrument and all glory should go to God who is the true healer.

MINISTRIES

Fr. Stefan is additionally a co-founder, and was the spiritual advisor for 5 years, of the “Paul Stefan Foundation of Our Lady of Guadalupe” which runs the “Paul Stefan Home for Expectant Mothers.”  These homes lovingly assist young women and their pre-born babies by providing safe havens where they will receive the spiritual, physical, emotional, and psychological support and nourishment necessary for their further growth and development.  The “Paul Stefan Homes” has proven to be a blessing to many women who would have had no place to go had this home not been there to welcome them.

As the current Catholic Chaplain at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Fr. Stefan was inspired to develop the “Padre Pio Ministry to the Suffering” ministry.  He wants to help ALL the sick – those who suffer in and out of the hospital – to see themselves as vital and essential members of the Body of Christ.  It became very clear to him that a hospital is an undervalued critical mission field for the new evangelization.  With the help of volunteers and mostly free materials, he created a prayer folder that he could give to every patient and family that he visited.  Over the past few years, this prayer folder has evolved and become more focused under the title “Padre Pio Ministry to the Suffering.”  Fr. Stefan would like to see these folders eventually used at all hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and even home-care throughout the Arlington Diocese and beyond.

He considers these prayer folders a way to extend his visit even after he has left the room, and he has seen many patients return to the faith in the hospital. Others are suffering yet have never learned of its redemptive value, and he sees this folder as a way for them to understand and experience this. Still others feel abandoned and lost; some have attempted suicide; others have just lost a child or other loved family member; many are terminally ill; and there are those who have just received a new lease on life. All of these patients need grace-filled readings and prayers, and these prayer folders are a wonderful opportunity to bring the love, comfort and the beauty of the faith to those in need of hope.

He knows that when we learn to help the sick offer up their suffering for the good of the Church, we will see many graces and blessing flowing down on the Church from Jesus.  In many ways, God’s suffering children are the Church’s most powerful army, and their suffering is precious and needed for the Church.  Venerable Fulton Sheen once said, “Think of how much suffering there is in hospitals, among the poor and the bereaved. Think also of how much of that suffering goes to waste.”  It’s true that hospitals – and other locations that take care of the sick and suffering – are gold mines of untapped grace.

To learn more about the Paul Stefan Home, click here: https://www.paulstefanhome.org

To learn more about the Padre Pio Ministry to the Suffering, click here: https://padrepioministry.org