Although our seminarians vary in age, nationality, and temperament, they have the same goal — the holy priesthood. The vocation to the holy priesthood is tested over a period of time. A seminarian spends two years in academic and spiritual formation in the seminary before he can become a cleric. During his next two years, he advances slowly through the minor orders of Porter, Lector, Exorcist, and Acolyte, which bestow upon him the fundamental responsibilities associated with the priesthood. Throughout his first four years, he is free to leave the seminary if he thinks it is not his vocation. Only after these four years does he make a final commitment to the life of celibacy by ordination to the subdiaconate. After that follows the diaconate and finally the great day arrives when he is ordained to the holy priesthood. How does one know whether or not they have been called to the priesthood? Young people sometimes worry about their vocation; they wonder how they may know if they are called. Each person must work out the problem for himself.

One great mistake made by young people is to think that if God is calling them to His service, He will manifest it to them in some extraordinary way. They must not expect an angel to tell them. This is certainly not the usual manner that vocations are given. The call from God may be an interior voice within the soul, it may be a certain spiritual attraction for the priesthood, or it may be a very faint whisper that one occasionally hears from God- “Come, follow Me.”

The most important disposition our young people must have is the simple desire to do the will of God. Thus the Blessed Virgin Mary prayed at the Annunciation,  “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum,” “Be it done unto me according to Thy word.” If our young people have this attitude of conformity to the will of God, they will find the vocation to which God is calling them in life. It is also very important that they receive counsel from their spiritual director or confessor who spiritually know them very well and can give solid advice.

And when we think about it, the vocation to the priesthood is an awesome calling with the most serious responsibilities. The priest is an “alter Christus”, for he acts in the Person of Christ. Such a vocation needs a time of preparation. Before the time of St. Augustine, young men were trained by their parish priests and then presented to the bishop for ordination. But from St. Augustine’s time, cathedral schools were organized to focus on the training of priests. At the Council of Trent, seminaries for students to the priesthood were established. The word seminary comes from the Latin word for seed, and the word originally dates back to the ancient Roman times when seeds were planted in nurseries to grow plants and trees. How appropriate this word was chosen for the house of spiritual formation of priests- where the seed of their vocation can grow and wax strong as the seminarians make each successive step toward the priesthood.

As important as the academic studies of the seminarian are, the most important part of the seminary is the spiritual formation. This primarily consists in a well regulated schedule with daily Mass and Holy Communion, meditation, spiritual reading, recitation of the Rosary and of the Divine Office, and spiritual direction. The reason for this is quite simple. The deciding factor of the success of a priest is the grace of God. The priest is the mere instrument of God, and as a holy priest once made the analogy: the clergy are the arteries in the Mystical Body of Christ; if the arteries are healthy and clear, the graces of God will flow freely and abundantly throughout the rest of the Members of the Mystical Body.

We commend the success of the seminary and the spiritual formation of our seminarians to Mary, the Mother of God, our patroness; most of her life was spent in union with her Divine Son, the Eternal High Priest. We hope that you find this website useful in helping to discern a vocation to the priesthood. If you are interesting in learning more about the application process, please see HERE. God bless you!