Fr. Daniel Lydon, CSV

by | May 22, 2017 | Meet a Viatorian

Fr. Daniel Lydon, CSV, made his first profession as a Viatorian in 2010 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2015. For many years before those milestone moments, he had already been ministering and serving in the Viatorian mission.

In 1996, Principal Br. Michael Rice, CSV (left), recognized then-Mr. Dan Lydon (right) as Saint Viator High School’s Teacher of the Year.

He first met the Viatorians in 1969, as a freshman at Saint Viator High School. Over 20 years later, he was an adult and a veteran educator, looking for his next teaching job after some time with the Christian Brothers. And so, Fr. Charles Bolser, CSV, hired him to teach Spanish. After several years teaching Spanish, Dan would move into school administration.

Over his time at Saint Viator, Dan discovered his call to Viatorian life, initially as a lay associate. He would spend some time as Coordinator of Association and apply his education expertise to strengthening the formation program for pre-associates. Gradually, he found that God was inviting him to religious life. Dan entered religious formation and professed first vows at the age of 54.

Dan worked in a number of roles as a layperson and associate and early in religious life, including as a classroom teacher, association coordinator, vocation director, and school dean.

“Sometimes we never know about these turns of events,” Fr. Dan said at his ordination in 2015. “If Fr. Bolser hadn’t hired me, you just never know what would have happened.”

In religious life, Fr. Dan served at Saint Viator High School in support of adult faith formation and later served a term as the school’s president. During his term, Fr. Dan oversaw a number of initiatives, including the installation of central air-conditioning through the building and updated the Alumni Memorial Chapel by mobilizing special donors. The chapel gained a refurbished baptismal font with new marble top, a new tabernacle, and hand-stenciled backgrounds for its statues, some of which came from St. Viator College and are over 100 years old.

The chapel improvements included these new backdrops, a new tabernacle, and new placement of classic, historic statues.

“I am committed to our relentless pursuit of a rigorous and meaningful academic program, the bold enhancement of our building and campus, and our financial vitality,” Fr. Dan said in a letter to the school community. “We at Saint Viator have made a conscious decision to deepen our commitment to continuous advancement, access, and achievement.”

In between stints at Saint Viator, Fr. Dan served Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Bourbonnais, IL, as parochial vicar to Pastors Fr. Richard Pighini, CSV, and Fr. Jason Nesbit, CSV.

The last few years have involved moving back toward education through the ministry for formation direction. In 2025, Provincial Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, asked Fr. Dan to take on direction of the Colombian pre-novices for a transitional period. So, Fr. Dan moved to Bogotá, where he helped Fr. Juan Carlos Ubaque, CSV, who served as vocations promoter and house director, set of Casa San Justo (Saint Just House) as a new house of formation. “While I was a bit surprised, the more I thought about it, the more I felt that it would be a great challenge – and perhaps a way I could be of service to the community that I’d never considered. Working with the pre-novices would be a form of spiritual accompaniment, helping them enter more deeply into a life of prayer and some sort of ministry experience,” Fr. Dan said.

After one year accompanying these men in formation, Fr. Dan returned to the US to serve as Director of Novices for American formation. He has set up the novitiate at St. Patrick Parish in Kankakee, IL, and he will move around the province a bit with the men to facilitate their study and prayer.

Fr. Dan also served a term on the Provincial Council, serving as a councilor to Fr. Daniel Hall, CSV, from 2018 to 2022, and he was elected by his brothers as a delegate to the 2018 General Chapter and the Fourth Viatorian General Assembly in 2025.

More on Fr. Dan from Viatorians.com:

Updated on July 23, 2026 by Associate Dan Masterton.