I'm 14 and all I want is to be a priest

[ivdaeorum]

Its wonderful that you feel called to be a priest. You still have a few more years discernment though as the required age to be accepted now days is 21. Until then it is advisable to speak to your Priest, and the vocations director in your diocese. During these years of discernment you will have the opportunity to go to vocation retreats and to see what is involved. God bless.

 

[Attempto]

Hi. I’m 14 and I want to be a priest. What should I do? Who do I talk to ? My priest? What happens if I choose to be a priest. I live in Scotland.

Carissime frater,
you are not who choose to be priest, God is. You are called or not. It isn’t your decision. You should listen to God’s voice and be His instrument on the Earth.
You are in my prayers,
In Christo, qui vere resurrexit alleluia,
frater Attempto

 

[devoutchristian]

Its wonderful that you feel called to be a priest. You still have a few more years discernment though as the required age to be accepted now days is 21. Until then it is advisable to speak to your Priest, and the vocations director in your diocese. During these years of discernment you will have the opportunity to go to vocation retreats and to see what is involved. God bless.

The required age to be accepted into seminary is 18, although I think that it is 17 in some countries.

 

[DeusSalusNostra]

Salve Frater!
(Latin for Greetings, Brother!)

My Prayers are with you at this time. I am 15 and in Scotland; I also have considered the Priesthood of Jesus Christ for a year now.

So, first off you have to speak to your parish priest. He will tell you a lot. It is also better to speak to the many younger Priests we have in Scotland about it.

Let me tell you the process for Priestly Formation in Scotland:

• At 17 (normally 6th year in high school) or over years, you would enter a “Year of Discernment”, where you would go on retreat for a weekend once every few months. This “Year” normally begins in the September I believe.
• Nearing the end of your “Year of Discernment” - through which you might realise the Priesthood isn’t for you by the way - you would then take a big long retreat to the Royal Scots College in Salamanca, Spain. This retreat would cover a lot of things you will need to enter Seminary. There are, generally speaking, two seminaries one can enter for Scotland;
  - Pontifical Scots College, Rome; The Papal Seminary for the Formation Priests
  housed in Rome, Italy. One has to learn Italian to study here, You would also
  study at the Papal Universities when attending this seminary. There are 21
  Seminarians currently studying here
  - St. Mary’s College, Oscott; A more local seminary in Birmingham, England. This
  Seminary is English-speaking and quite large. There are currently 2 men from
  Scotland in Oscott. There are probably about 60 Seminarians there in total.
• You will spend seven years in Seminary. The youngest age you can be ordained a Priest according to Canon Law is 25, or 24 with the Dispensation of the Bishop.

Please send a Private Message to me on the Catholic Answer Forums. It would be indeed very interesting to hear from another Scotsman as young as myself so interested in the Priesthood. It would also be interesting to hear what diocese you are from. When I saw you were from Scotland my eyes popped out of my head and I started getting a tad excited!

Learn some more about the General Catholic Faith here too! It’s a great resource; youtube.com/user/ChurchMilitantTV

You may wish to brush up on Latin a bit too! It’s the official language of the Church and it is truly beautiful and suited to the liturgy. I have actually taught myself Latin from the Internet in the last year and now I can actually serve the Old Traditional Latin Mass that has been said almost since the beginning of Christianity.

My brother you are in my prayers, stay faithful to the Holy Rosary and the Holy Mass. Do not let temptation fall to you; pray to St. Michael and ask him to defend you from evil, and place your vocation in the Gracious prayers of Our Blessed Mother and St. Peter.

Pax vobis,
Deus, Salus Nostra

 

[DeusSalusNostra]

Also, might I add;

Carissime frater,
you are not who choose to be priest, God is. You are called or not. It isn’t your decision. You should listen to God’s voice and be His instrument on the Earth.
You are in my prayers,
In Christo, qui vere resurrexit alleluia,
frater Attempto

(In Christo, qui vere resurrexit alleluia = In Christ, who has truly risen Alleluia!)

My dear brother and friend, Attempto is also correct. A Vocation to the Priesthood is a calling that requires deep discernment.

To be honest, the discernment only truly starts when one actually enters the seminary. You must pray, pray and pray - ora, ora et orate - You need to pray, Eucharistic Adoration and the Holy Mass are indeed your greatest aids. I will pray for you. Please pray for me!

 

[Attempto]

Fratres,
Christus dixit: Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me. (Mth 16. 24).
Orate et gaudete quoniam vos a Deo vocati estis.

In Christo, qui surrexit sicut dixit, alleluia,
frater Attempto

 

[GWright]

Hi. I’m 14 and I want to be a priest. What should I do? Who do I talk to ? My priest? What happens if I choose to be a priest. I live in Scotland.

Hi there

Its great news to see another young Scotsman on this forum interested in the priesthood!

You are right that your parish priest should be your first port of call for advice, and to find out more.

I also advocate listening to DeusSalusNostras advice - he is another young scot discerning a vocation and has already begun the process of engagement with the Church.

Also see:

priestsforscotland.org.uk/

Priests For Scotland
St. Joseph’s
14 Fullarton Avenue
Tollcross,
Glasgow
G32 8NJ

Tel. 0141 763 1476

The website has a vocations section, where curious parties can submit online questions to Fr Andrew McKenzie; it might be worth speaking with him in addition to your parish priest.

My Glasgow parish has been advertising a retreat for enquirers who are interested in finding out more about the Diocesan priesthood. You have probably seen it in your parish bulletin too. The details:

Its at the Conforti Institute in Coatbridge (it runs from 6pm Fri 31st May, to 2pm on Sat 1st June). The Conforti Institute is run by Xaverian priests. Maybe your priest will recommend you going along, if you speak to him beforehand. Or maybe he will want to have a few discussions with you, before ever attending such an event.

The advert in our bulletin says that, in addition to interested men taking the first step, there are also four men taking part who are already in the seminary applicants year.

confortiinstitute.org/

The Conforti Institute
Missionary House / Calder House
Calder Avenue,
Coatbridge
ML5 4JS,

Tel: 01236 607120

Good luck to you and God bless you!
Best regards
GWright

 

[catholictiger]

The required age to be accepted into seminary is 18, although I think that it is 17 in some countries.

there are some catholic seminaries in the world but they are hard to find and could be a long distance. There is actually a guy in my seminary who went to a high school seminary in Canada.

But talk to the thread poster

1. Get a spiritual director, you are young but I don’t think its ever to early to get a spiritual direct.
2. pray
3. let your parents know
4. talk to your pastor (if he isn’t your spiritual director)
5. get to know the vocations director talk to him about your call.
6. when you get closer to graduation from high school go on discernment retreats, visit a seminary you may attend.
7. trust in God he will get you to where he wants you if you trust in him.