Each year, the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage invites the faithful to draw closer to Christ through the preaching, prayer, and liturgy of the Order of Preachers. This year’s pilgrimage features a gifted team of friars who exemplify the Dominican charism. Fr. Austin Dominic Litke, O.P., serves as the principal preacher, bringing the wisdom of the Church Fathers to life through his preaching. Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., will offer the homily at Mass, drawing from years of pastoral experience and theological depth. And Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P., the Province’s newly appointed Promoter of the Holy Rosary, will serve as the main celebrant, guiding pilgrims in prayer and leading us to a deeper devotion to Mary.

Fr. Austin Dominic Litke, O.P.
Principal Preacher
Fr. Austin Litke, O.P., is a Dominican friar of the Province of St. Joseph. He was ordained a priest in 2011 and has served as chaplain to patients at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Hospital in New York city as well as to students at New York University. He earned a doctorate in Patristic Theology from the Pontifical Patristics Institute of the Lateran University in Rome and has taught at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the Angelicum) in Rome as well as the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC. He is currently a professor in the Department of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. This Fall, he will move to Rome to teach at the Angelicum. Fr. Austin is a member of the Hillbilly Thomists.

Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P.
Promoter of the Holy Rosary & Main Celebrant
Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P. entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph in 2010. He made his solemn profession on August 9, 2014 and was ordained a priest on May 21, 2016. In the spring of 2010 he graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a Bachelor of Arts and subsequently received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Masters of Divinity from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. Fr. Joseph-Anthony served as the chaplain to Catholic Hoos at the University of Virginia from 2017-2024. In 2025 he began to serve as the Promoter of the Rosary for the Province of St. Joseph and Associate Director of the Dominican Friars Foundation. He is a co-host of the Godsplaining podcast alongside three of his Dominican classmates. Over the years he has worked in overseeing large-scale liturgies which include World Youth Day Krakow, USCCB Convocation, Fr. Emil Kapaun Homecoming, Amazing Parish conferences, and the National Eucharistic Congress. A native of St. Clairsville, OH, he is the youngest of three.

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Homilist
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is Ordinary Professor and Editor-in-Chief of The Thomist at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies and Master of Students for the deacons of the Province of St. Joseph at St. Dominic Priory in Washington, DC. Previously he served as a parochial vicar in Rhode Island, a missionary in Nairobi, Kenya, a doctoral student at the University of Notre Dame, and formator at the Dominican House of Studies. He is an author of many publications including The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh, Magnificat’s Way of the Cross and Rosary for a Eucharistic Revival, and he co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life and Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope. He enjoys preaching on the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.