Features of the Propaedeutic Stage
Intellectual formation in the Propaedeutic Stage is pursued according to the Socratic, dialogical method.
Seminarians meet in the conference room on the second floor of library to discuss the content of their studies. Ample leisure time promotes the habit of sustained reading across literary genera.
Because of the kind of content engaged, some subjects are continuous, others modular.
Continuous subjects of study include the Catechism Series (2x week) and the Catholic Culture Seminar (1x week), in addition to the Prayer Experience (2x week) and the Propaedeutic Seminar (1x week) explained above.
“The Propaedeutic Stage is ‘an ideal opportunity to acquire an initial familiarity with Christian doctrine by studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church.’ Teaching new seminarians the basics of priestly identity and spirituality is also a chief aim of the intellectual formation of this stage” (PPF 268).
The Catholic Culture Seminar meets once a week to discuss works of literature, thematically selected to reflect human growth and conversion. The seminar aims to cultivate the seminarian’s appreciation for beauty, and to form the imagination and affections.
Sequential modular subjects (3x a week) occur in three-week installments, and include the Salvation History Timeline, The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Christian Anthropology (coupled with the November Healing Retreat), and English Grammar and Writing.
“Seminarians should obtain an introductory knowledge of the Bible that equips them to thoughtfully read and pray with Sacred Scripture” (PPF 268).
