Features of the Propaedeutic Stage
Prayer Experience
Twice a week throughout the year, Propaedeutic Stage seminarians participate in the ‘Prayer Experience,’ which focuses on the basics of relational prayer, discernment of spirits, the examen, and lectio divina. The men are invited to pray their way through the content, and to share what they notice and receive in situ. The experience prepares the men to deepen their personal practice of prayer.
Healing Retreat
Each year in the Fall, seminarians in the Propaedeutic Stage participate in a healing retreat sponsored by the John Paul II Healing Center. Based on Dr. Bob Schuchts’s Be Healed, the retreat covers the following topics: Healing the Whole Person; Encountering the Father’s Love; Facing our Brokenness; and Living in Freedom.
Insights gained through the retreat feed the seminarian’s developing prayer life, and deepen his engagement in formation.
Minor Pilgrimages
On select Saturdays during the year, Propaedeutic Stage seminarians spend the morning in prayer at one of several local shrines (including Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg, the Black Madonna Shrine and Grottos, the Shrine of St. Joseph, the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne).
Minor Pilgrimages are interspersed among the full Days of Recollection, offering seminarians dedicated time with the Lord away from the seminary building. When possible, Holy Mass will be offered at the shrines.
“Retreats, pilgrimages, and days of reflection may occur more frequently during this stage than in other stages” (PPF 128).
Pre-Retreat Preparation
Seminarians in the Propaedeutic Stage return to the Seminary from Christmas break the Thursday preceding the silent retreat for a spiritual formation workshop meant to usher them into a fruitful retreat experience. While Pre-Retreat Preparation is open to the men in the Discipleship Stage, it is required for those in the Propaedeutic Stage.
Holy Week and the Easter Triduum
Seminarians in the Propaedeutic Stage remain at the seminary for the Sacred Triduum, and they participate in the the liturgies of the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection at a local parish together with their Formation Advisor.
During this time, they receive instruction on the form, structure, and meaning of the liturgies, alongside the opportunities to serve and sing.
