13-Year-Old Boy Wins Newark Essay Contest After Describing Virgin Mary Vision, Subsequent Brain Tumor Shrinkage
A 13-year-old New Jersey student who says a vision of the Virgin Mary preceded the shrinking of a brain mass has won the Archdiocese of Newark’s 2026 Cardinal Joseph Tobin Essay and Video Contest. Dominic Auricchio, a seventh-grade student at Holy Trinity School in Westfield, received first place among 49 submissions, according to the archdiocese’s Office of Priestly Vocations.
Dominic said in his contest video that he experienced the apparition after developing a brain mass at age 9 and that a subsequent CAT scan showed the mass had begun to shrink. The Archdiocese of Newark said the reduction cannot be confirmed as miraculous because medication may have contributed to the improvement.
A Vision and a Shrinking Brain Mass
Dominic has said that he experienced the vision while doctors and his parents were considering treatment options for the brain mass. According to his account published by Jersey Catholic, he saw a woman wearing blue and a head covering whom he believed was the Virgin Mary.
Dominic said the woman told him not to worry and that everything would be OK. His mother, Maria Auricchio, told Jersey Catholic that a CAT scan the following month showed the mass had begun shrinking without surgery.
The Archdiocese of Newark has not declared the episode a miracle, and its publication said Dominic was taking medication that could have contributed to the improvement. Dominic and his mother nevertheless regard the timing of the vision and subsequent reduction as significant.
The Essay That Won Among 49 Entries
The Cardinal Joseph Tobin Essay and Video Contest is administered by the Archdiocese of Newark’s Office of Priestly Vocations and asks seventh-grade students to explain why priests are important. The 2026 contest received 49 submissions, with Dominic’s entry scoring significantly higher than the other submissions, according to the archdiocese.
Dominic received a plaque and $1,500 after winning first place. Father Patrick Seo, director of the Archdiocese of Newark’s Office of Priestly Vocations, presented the award during a June gathering at Holy Trinity School attended by Dominic’s family and classmates.
Dominic wrote that his health problems helped him understand how people feel when they are frightened or facing difficult circumstances. He said that experience strengthened his desire to help people who are dealing with sickness, grief and fear.
From Marine Service to the Priesthood
Dominic has said his interest in becoming a priest dates to a dream he experienced when he was 4. According to Jersey Catholic, he said he heard God’s voice telling him to become a priest and has maintained that ambition since then.
His plans also include military service. Dominic has said he hopes to follow his father and great-grandfather by joining the U.S. Marines before pursuing the priesthood, according to the Archdiocese of Newark’s publication.
His current activities already combine faith and service. The Archdiocese of Newark said Dominic serves as an altar server at Saint Helen’s Parish in Westfield, volunteers at a soup kitchen, gives money to people in need and serves as a “buddy” to a child with autism.
