Br. Elijah Potter was born in 1995 in Oregon, the oldest of nine children, and was raised in the western suburbs of Chicago. His parents converted to Catholicism at Notre Dame when Br. Elijah was five.

After attending high school at Northridge Prep, he earned his BA at Hillsdale College in 2018. After teaching literature at Great Hearts in San Antonio for four years, he entered a diocesan seminary. After two years of formation, he discerned out of the seminary and then entered the Cistercian Order at Our Lady of Dallas. He is currently studying for the priesthood at the University of Dallas, in addition to teaching grammar (English Lab) and serving as a co-sponsor for the Community Service Council at Cistercian Preparatory School.