Fr. Lawrence Brophy was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and is an alumnus of the Cistercian Preparatory School (’01). While attending the School, he identified with the Cistercian spirit of simplicity and enjoyed the sense of community where he built lasting friendships. Here his love of learning blossomed, and he relished the opportunity to compete in a number of sports while simultaneously participating in several clubs. It was in this community that he first began to discern a vocation to the priesthood. He was struck, in particular, by the impact the monks’ daily fidelity to the faith made on the students and the larger community.
After high school, he earned a bachelors (BS ’05) and masters (MS ’06) in Applied Mathematics at Texas A&M. After joining the monastery, he would go on to earn a doctorate in Mathematics (PhD ’19) at North Texas. While he has a deep appreciation for a number of fields of mathematics, analysis is his strong suit, and he has a special interest in the mathematics of randomness (Brownian Motion and Stochastic Calculus), decision making (Optimal Stopping Theory and Game Theory), and mathematical modeling. As a math teacher, he strives to communicate his love of problem solving to his students.
His time in College Station played an essential role in his decision to enter the monastery. Again, he enjoyed the combination of challenging academics and a variety of extracurricular activities. He was active at St. Mary’s attending daily mass, staffing Awakening Retreats, and enjoying The Rock, a praise and worship group that met weekly. As a teaching assistant, he discovered that he loved teaching and saw the importance of solid secondary education from the other side of the teacher’s desk. Enjoying his experience as a TA spurred him to embrace his call and share in the three-fold vocation to be a monk, priest, and teacher at Cistercian.
He entered Our Lady of Dallas in 2006 and made his solemn profession on July 3, 2011. As a part of his formation for the priesthood, he earned degrees in theology from UD (M.Th. ’10) and Sant’Anselmo (STB ’11). On September 8, 2012 he was ordained a priest. He is Form Master for the classes of 2021 and 2029 at Cistercian Preparatory School. He also teaches mathematics and serves as a school administrator.