Our Mission
The Discernment Foundation is a Catholic nonprofit dedicated to renewing and preserving the sacred tradition of the Church. Through the provision of scholarships for vocations to the religious life and grants for restoration of Catholic churches, we aim to foster vocations and safeguard beauty, reverence and truth. Guided by the wisdom of the Church's timeless teachings, we support the formation of future priests and the revitalization of sacred spaces.
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Our Current Scholarship Recipient for 2026-2027 academic year is...
BROTHER NATHANIEL PIERCE, SJC
Br. Nathaniel Pierce is currently in his second year of Discipleship at Mundelein Seminary and is a candidate for a Master’s in Philosophy, which he plans to complete this year. He is under temporary vows with the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius in Chicago.
Before joining the Canons Regular, Br. Nathaniel was a parishioner at St. John Cantius for several years. A native of Chicago, he spent ten years running a wealth management practice in downtown Chicago. Br. Nathaniel holds a B.A. in English from Grinnell College, where he also played baseball.
Since his days as a parishioner at St. John Cantius, Br. Nathaniel has felt a deep calling to their charism of the "restoration of the sacred" and serving the Church at the parish level as a religious priest.