Br. Michael Kattady was born in Thrissur, India in 2002, and he immigrated to the United States with his family only six months later. After a brief stay in Michigan, his family eventually moved to Plano, Texas, where he attended St. Mark’s the Evangelist Catholic School before coming to Cistercian Preparatory School, where he joined the Class of 2020 in Form IV. After graduating from Cistercian, he attended Columbia University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics-Philosophy.

It was during his time at Columbia, aided by the guidance and inspired by the examples of his college chaplains, Fr. Dan O’Reilly and Msgr. Roger Landry (as well as the fraternal encouragement of a motley crew of friends and self-styled ‘Crusaders’), that Br. Michael discerned a call to the monastic life. After several retreats with the monks of Our Lady of Dallas, and after receiving much wisdom from his Form Master Fr. Philip, and from many long conversations with Cistercian classmate and longtime friend Br. Charbel Salhab, he entered the monastery as the youngest of seven novices in August 2024.

In addition to studying at the University of Dallas, Br. Michael currently teaches Form II Religion, and serves as a Co-Sponsors for the Community Service Council at the Cistercian Preparatory School.