Our Team
Founding Contributors
While we are excited to invite faithful Catholics to submit their works for publication, the backbone of our initiative is this group of Founding Contributors who have played a huge role in starting Transcendentals and who contribute their wonderful talents each month.
Miguel Andres - Artist
Miguel is a son, a brother, a friend to many and a fiance to one. He currently lives in Ottawa, where he serves the Lord as a missionary with Catholic Christian Outreach. He loves anything beautiful, especially his lovely fiancé Megan. You will often find him with a coffee in one hand and his iPad on the other.
Laura Bell - Design Advisor
& Artist
Laura is first and foremost a beloved daughter of Christ, second, a daughter of the Bell family, and third, a student of the Arts. This June, she will be graduating from Ryerson University with a Bachelors in Radio and Television of the Arts: Media Production. In addition to this, she has spent the last year as a devoted Youth Coordinator for a local Parish. Now, as she finishes her education, she is beginning a new chapter in her life by helping with Transcendentals; a community in which she can fully engage and combine her two true passions in life: her love for Jesus Christ, and her love for creating art.
Jan Bitara - Writer
Jan is a writer, musician, and independent filmmaker living in Regina, Saskatchewan. He graduated from the University of Victoria in 2016 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, and has been published previously in The Diocesan Messenger based out of Victoria BC.
Tyler Brooks - Managing Editor
& Writer
Tyler is a faithful Roman Catholic, student at heart, and passionate nerd. After recently obtaining an Honours Bachelor of Arts with a Major in History and a Minor in Political Science at UOttawa, he is now in the Master of Divinity program at Saint Paul University. He can be found reading history books, hanging out with his friends, and probably discussing theology.
Father Stephen Bruzzese - Writer
Father Stephen Joseph Bruzzese was born October 11th, 1989. From an early age, he always wanted to be a priest and found great joy in being an altar boy. After graduating from St. Michael’s Catholic High School in 2007, he received recruitment from several universities for football. In 2008, Father Stephen enrolled at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto and played one season for the Varsity Blues. Between 2009 and 2012, he earned a Baccalaureate in Thomistic Thought from St. Philip’s Seminary & between 2012 and 2017, he earned a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and a Masters of Divinity from St. Augustine's Seminary. Father Stephen is currently serving the people of God at Our Lady of the Scapular.
Clif Clemotte - Writer
Clif is a student of philosophy, currently pursuing graduate studies and living on Vancouver Island. He holds two undergraduate degrees from liberal arts colleges, institutions that fostered his love of reading, research, and stimulating conversation. For a year after graduation, he taught at a private elementary institution; now, a student once again, he plans to conduct research on the human mind and the process of knowledge.
Megan Joseph - Writer
Megan has lived across North America but calls Vancouver, BC home. She has always loved seeking the truth which led her to graduate in 2019 with a Bachelor of Theology and Culture from Saint Mark's College. Megan is currently a campus missionary with Catholic Christian Outreach in Halifax, NS. She is also a seasoned equestrian, avid rollerblader, and now - an amateur writer!
Follow her blog HERE!
Celia McCormick - Artist
Celia McCormick is a student at the University of Guelph. She switched out of the art program and into the business program upon realizing that the art they were creating was a mockery of the beauty that art once was. She is a caffeine-addicted art enthusiast who loves to create. Her ultimate goal is to become a saint and to drag a boatload of people with her. She is now serving as a missionary with NET Canada!
Emily Milan - Writer & Poet
Emily is a born, raised, and chosen Catholic whose missionary zeal has taken her across both Australia and Canada. She is a seasoned evangelist, and has served with NET, CCO, and various other ministries in her mission to see hearts return to the Lord. She is unashamedly in love with the Eucharist, dancing barefoot, sunshine, and the ocean.
Barnabas Ney - Content Coordinator & Poet
Barnabas is a beloved beggar of the Most High King. He enjoys adventuring in the wilds of his native Vancouver Island, but is even more excited to be serving Christ and His Church as a campus missionary for Catholic Christian Outreach. While he holds an MA in Economic Policy, his real joy is in pursuing and contemplating beauty and its One true source.
Joshua Terpstra - Artistic Editor & Artist
Joshua was raised in Belleville, Ontario, where he was received by a loving Catholic community in some of his formative years. His years in youth ministry coincided with a developing love of the arts, both in the theatre and in his sketchbook. Since beginning his studies at the University of Ottawa in 2017, not only has he found a community where he has been able to thrive, he has been led to travel across the world to Singapore, Cameroon, and Mexico to serve and to learn. As he finishes his psychology and theatre degree, he is teaching visual arts, drama, french, and english to elementary students at a private Catholic school. He is thankful for this opportunity to develop his gifts and share his artwork with others.
Follow his Instagram HERE!
Nolan Toscano - Writer
Originally from Pickering, Ontario. Nolan has a passion for history, writing, mixology and puns. A jack of all trades, he has done everything from freelance life guarding, to landscaping and construction, to car insurance and professional cooking, from children's camp counselor to Long-Term Care social worker. Ultimately however, he desires to bring glory to God, and this desire has led him all over the world in both mission and pilgrimage. You can find him pondering life's silly paradoxes, exercising, engaging in debate, or pursuing the Love of his life: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Irena Vélez - Artist and Social Media Coordinator
Irena is a passionate Ottawa-based artist working mainly in watercolour. Her art inspiration and ideas come largely from her Catholic faith and her desire to share it with others. When Irena is not painting, she is either at church, reading a good book, studying journalism and history, training in martial arts, or spending time with family and friends.
Follow her Instagram HERE!
Sean Williams - Journal Editor
Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, as well as a devoted reader and writer from a young age, Sean nurtured his passions by attaining a MA in Classics, focusing on philology. He is an ardent lover of the Latin and Ancient Greek languages and ancient literature, a love which often intersects with his faith as a professing Catholic. Moonlighting at times as a Latin teacher, Sean currently works as a Records Manager. When the weather's nice, he can be found either on his bike or on a sunny patio somewhere with his friends.