Traditional Seminarian

[PatienceAndLove]

I agree with SimpleSinner.

You are in my prayers, Matt

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

This is going to sound odd, but please- If you are going to be a priest, learn to use a pen and have the penmanship of a man. Too many men have trouble with penmanship and their handwriting looks as if a little boy did it. That may pass (and even be enduring) for a layman, but a priest needs an effective signature, a manly signature, a no-nonsense and even elegant signature. Just the way a cassock conveys a sense of being set apart, and the collar authority, think about what goes at the end of a letter. Nobody wants to see a childish scrawl at the end of a bulletin letter. It just wipes out any effectiveness it might have had, no matter how well worded.

Get a good pen, extra cartridges, some practice paper, and a journal, and well, practice in what little free time you have! Copy prayers, or scripture passages, or quotes from saints. But also write your name over, and over, and over again.

 

[Lepanto]

Get a copy of the Imitation of Christ.

Get a copy of the The Four Last Things.

Get a good little “Examination of Conscious” booklet, use it often, go to confession frequently.

I am reading your posts regularly and have some advice that is going to raise some eyebrows but it comes from the heart and experience. It comes with my sincere hope that if priesthood is your vocation you can make it through what will be difficult.

In short, keep the biretta at home, your mouth shut, and your head down. Stay out of the crossfire, do not give them an excuse. Period.

Sound harsh? Let me explain.

10 years ago I did go to seminary. A vocation was not for me, but I hung in for a while for discernment purposes.

But during that time I watched others - and myself - focus on externals, argue with instructors, and come in thinking they were theologians who knew well better than the priests there.

Here is the thing: You are going to hear things that are wrong. You are going to hear things that you do not agree with. You are going to see liturgical abuses - you are going to be taught they are OK. You are going to get some fluff theology. You are going to have instructors who are so effeminate and swishy you will wince. You ***will ***deal with sisters in pantsuits who think Joan Chittister is a hero and are annoyed that ***you ***get to study for priesthood when they believe they should already be consecrated bishop.

What do you do? KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND PERSERVERE.

And what happens if you should opt “stand up, speak out for orthodoxy and tradition!”? Rather simply two things:

1. It leads to the occasion of sin of pride.
2. It opens you wide up to being persecuted, drummed out, and could lead to the denial of Holy Orders that the faithful so gravely need.

I watched guys come in who spoke out against everything. They came in with the finest cassocks, the best externals, and pontificated on matters like they were just coming out of a conclave, newly elected. These were not bad guys, but they were targets.

"Ulta traditionalists. Unstable. Homosexual. Closet Case. Convertitis. Fundamentalist. Imbalanced. (Derisively) Pre-V-2-Crew. Mysogynistic. Antiquated. Rigid. Scrupulous." You will hear all of those things if you jump into the firing range.

If on the other hand, you keep your head down, mind your Ps & Qs, focus hard on your studies, and give no one an excuse you can do what a lot of guys I knew did - they made it to the altar, and they left the church swinging. They prayed together, they chose good confessors, and they jumped through the right hoops.

They run missions, preach orthodoxy, implore the faithful to the confessional, direct men to great and growing orders, take part in diaconal formation, counsel folks for good Christian marriage. And how did they get there? 4-8 grueling years of keeping their mouths shut and knowing that better things and bigger battles await.

We will all be praying for you during this discernment time.

Matt – you should print this out and tape it over your desk.

 

[RNMom4Life]

Wow…what good replies. I can think of very little else to recommend to you…the books recommended are great! I have read them all…You might want to include a good Bible. The Navarre Bible is good for meditation. Also Divine Intimacy is super great reading. God bless you and know that as a Secular Carmelite, I pray daily for priests and seminarians.You too will be on my list.

 

[CrypticWritings]

The most important thing to bring is devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary…remember she is your Queen, and should you become ordained, she will truly be the (only) woman that owns your heart.

 

[ASimpleSinner]

A surplice for Mass? Also, its a running joke that you can always tell American Seminarians because they wear pants under their cassocks. Can I suggest long stockings?

On a lighter note, in the early spring and late fall our seminary chapel could get RATHER HOT. I used to wear long black soccer socks underneath the cassock, and my light-weight cotton pajama pants/shorts & t-shirt. No point in passing out!

But be careful! At breakfast one day, I was in the kitchen and had to clean something and the way my cassock fell the rector saw my arrangement - knee socks and pajama pants rolled up to my knees.

I thought he was going to die laughing.

 

[holy_roamer]

On page 60 of the Ecclesiadei Latin Booklet Missal is says that one of the sins against the Holy Ghost is, “Envy at another’s spiritual good.” I can see an awful lot of that type of envy here on the Catholic Answers Forum. Is it the same in a Seminary?

 

[CatholicCajun]

The 7 volume of In Conversation with God is awesome. We sell out of them regularly at out shops. Another good thing, but is costly, is the Navarre Bible. These are printed by Scepter Publishers. I had my husband give them to me as gifts for different occasions so yesterday was my birthday and I got the Psalms of the Navarre and the last of the books. There are 10 hardcover books and it is cheaper to get them than the paperback ones. God bles.

 

[KathleenElsie]

I am starting seminary in just two weeks. I have a cassock, Christian Prayer (the one volume LOTH book), and a handful of Catholic books in addition to standard college supplies. What else would you recommend I obtain since I seek to live as a traditional college seminarian at a diocesan seminary?

Bring yourself and the knowledge that you are doing God’s will. The Pauline Mass needs more traditionalists to care for the Mass for the masses. Be true to Holy Mother Church and never forget why you said YES to God’s call.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Everyone, thank you for the suggestions. And I am certainly not at all offended by the suggestion to join the FSSP or Institute of Christ the King. I am a Traditionalist - I love, prefer, and wish to one day learn the TLM.

I have rosary beads , a cassock, and some of the books suggested such as Story of a Soul. I will definitely keep the other suggestions in mind I have also not stop discerning a vocation to a traditional seminary either.

If you wish to read my vocation story, it is here:

acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2006/01/my-vocation.html

Some of my beliefs (so that you can understand why I am a Traditionalist) are in the first post here:

websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/apologia/vpost?id=1869981

I read your sites. Thank you for being so true to Holy Mother Church and may God Bless you for being a wonderful example to the other Seminarians. I wonder how many of those that are called to serve God in this wonderful way are discouraged by others. Your way might be hard but it is well worth the hardships that you and others Seminarians will endure.

 

[markadm]

But be careful! At breakfast one day, I was in the kitchen and had to clean something and the way my cassock fell the rector saw my arrangement - knee socks and pajama pants rolled up to my knees.

I thought he was going to die laughing.

Heavens above! At a Church I used to go to, we would have been lynched for that. It was demanded that we wear black trousers and tuck them–cycle-clip style–into black socks.

 

[ASimpleSinner]

Heavens above! At a Church I used to go to, we would have been lynched for that. It was demanded that we wear black trousers and tuck them–cycle-clip style–into black socks.

Happy for me, where I went to seminary, no one was doing under-cassock inspections.

 

[mtr01]

If you don’t have it already, Divine Intimacy is a MUST have. I would suggest getting this book before anything else! It runs about $48.00, so it is on the expensive side. I was lucky to pick up a copy a few years ago when TAN brought it back into print for $14.95, so you may be able to find a good deal.



“Divine Intimacy is undoubtedly the classic Carmelite work on meditation – a book that helps one arrive at intimate union with God by the practice of considering holy truths. It is a book that shows how to join prayer and action and put the Catholic doctrine on the spiritual life into practice daily. Divine Intimacy has been translated into all principal languages and has met with extraordinary success, bringing encouragement and spiritual profit to lay people as well as priests and religious. For each day of the year, Fr. Gabriel gives 1) a brief introduction, 2) a two-part meditation, followed by 3) a colloquy – holy acts of love, thanksgiving, petition, resolution, etc., addressed to Our Lord and based on the truths just meditated upon. About three pages are devoted to each day, so it reads quickly, and even the busiest person can use it regularly. The meditations for Sundays are based on the Sunday Gospel readings of the traditional liturgical calendar. Grounding his work on a firm Thomistic basis, Fr. Gabriel (1893-1953) draws from Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the great Carmelite Saints, including St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity. His goal – marvelously achieved – is to cover the whole doctrine of the spiritual life in the course of a year. This is a lifetime book – one that is conceived to be used each day and to be read over and over. Divine Intimacy imparts an absolutely Catholic view of life and prepares the reader for the greatest possible union with God this side of Heaven. Leatherbound. Impr. 1227 pgs, HB”

 

[sphilomena]

If you’re still here, Matt, God bless you in your journey. If you stay clothed with Mother Mary’s mantle, you will be safe from any nonsense you encounter. I hope you have read de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. Some of the language is a bit archaic, or must be read with the era in mind, but it is powerful. Many of us will be praying for you.