The human dimension underpins the spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions, which are received and lived to the extent that the seminarian’s humanity is well-disposed. The spiritual dimension, in turn, draws the human, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions into unity or integration, such that the seminarian himself is the locus of formation.
In a Christian anthropology, human and spiritual development are inseparable, because the humanity to which the Christian aspires is supernatural – elevated by grace. Human growth, therefore, depends above all else on a deepening intimacy with Jesus, who orders a man’s personality and directs him to seek healing and maturity. “The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly . . . his unrest, uncertainty, his weakness and sinfulness . . . [must] draw near to Christ. He must . . . enter into [Christ] with all his own self, he must appropriate . . . the incarnation and redemption in order to find himself” (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 10).
One cannot fully know, accept, or possess oneself if one does not see oneself reflected in the eyes of Jesus. Therefore, human and spiritual formation both rest on the seminarian’s willingness to receive the Lord’s love, together with the truth about himself in that love. The integration of the human and spiritual dimensions occurs chiefly in prayer, in the seminarian’s readiness to ‘move with God’ prayer. Thus, “the essential foundation of priestly ministry is a deep and personal bond to Jesus Christ. Everything hinges on this bond, and the heart of all preparation for priesthood . . . must be an introduction to it” (Ratzinger, Called to Communion).
The Propaedeutic and Discipleship Horaria establish the basic discipline of prayer, including Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, a daily holy hour, Lectio divina, and the Holy Rosary.
Specific lessons invite seminarians to learn and experience basics of relational prayer, such that they come to notice and identify interior movements, relate them to God, receive his love, and respond with generosity.
Seminarians in the Propaedeutic and Discipleship stages gradually develop a capacity to share the fruits of their divine encounters with others, most especially in Lectio, Jesu Caritas meetings, and with their formators.
Discerning a vocation presupposes that a man is engaged in discerning his own personal life: that he is “integrating [his] own personal situation and history into the spiritual life,” and that he is learning “how to interpret and understand his own motivations, his gifts, his needs and frailties,” such that freed from disordered affections, he can “seek out and find the will of God” (Ratio 43).
“The seminarian is called ‘to live in intimate and unceasing union with God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit.’ This is the foundational call to discipleship and conversion of heart. Those who aspire to be sent on mission, as the apostles were, must first acquire the listening and learning heart of disciples. Jesus invited these apostles to come to him before he sent them out to others” (PPF 226, quoting PDV 45).
Common Components
Spiritual Direction
A regular meeting (every two weeks for an hour) with an approved Spiritual Director is an essential part of spiritual formation, “especially in arriving at the interiorization and integration needed for growth” in sanctity, virtue, discernment, and readiness for Holy Orders (PPF 229d)
Honest self-disclosure in spiritual direction is indispensable.
In consultation with the Director of Spiritual Formation, the seminarian should choose a Spiritual Director he can trust to know his heart, one who will both encourage and challenge him to grow. Introductions and selections of spiritual directors take place during orientation at the beginning of the year.
Alongside the public program of formation in its human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral components, spiritual direction takes place in the internal forum, wherein “the Spiritual Director is held to the strictest confidentiality concerning information received in spiritual direction” (PPF 111).
It is expected that seminarians “confide their personal history, personal relationships, prayer experiences, the cultivation of virtues, temptations, and other significant topics to their Spiritual Director” (PPF 260).
The Spiritual Director also assists the seminarian in acquiring the skills of spiritual discernment.
Still, “a solid relationship of trust with his formators in both fora will benefit the seminarian as he receives guidance from all formators. This relationship will allow major decisions to be reached following regular discussions through the formation process” (PPF 95).
Days of Recollection
Pre-Theologians in both stages of formation participate in five days of recollection during the school year, typically on Saturdays.
Recollections are days of quiet reflection and prayer, with extended periods of adoration. They include two conferences, and opportunities for spiritual counsel and confession.
The program places a high value on days of recollection. Typically, no permissions are given to mitigate or forgo them except in cases of emergency.
The Annual Retreat
In January, Pre-Theology joins the College for the annual five-day directed retreat, beginning on Sunday and ending on Thursday. Everyone is asked to engage in four one-hour prayer periods each day, according to the discretion of his spiritual director.
The Annual Pilgrimage
After the January retreat and before the beginning of the term, Pre-Theologians depart on a pilgrimage to a sacred destination, often visiting religious communities and sites of historical Catholic interest along the way. The pilgrimage affords time for prayer and reflection on themes pertinent to the destination. It is planned and prepared by the Pre-Theology Council, together with the Director of Pre-Theology.
Lectio Divina
Once a week, Pre-Theologians gather in Mary, Mother of the Word Chapel to pray with the Gospel reading of the upcoming Sunday. After half-an-hour of silent meditation, they are invited to share the fruits of their prayer with one another, such that they develop “the ability to speak with facility about God’s work in [their] li[ves]” (PPF 237).
Marian Devotion
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is indispensable to the development of a priestly heart, because the Holy Spirit formed the human heart of Jesus – the heart of the priest – in her immaculate womb.
Furthermore, Jesus took his actual, earthly body from Mary, and he needed her fiat “to prepare the matter for his sacrifice” (Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, 16 August 2009). To offer himself as a gift in union with Jesus’s sacrifice on the altar, the seminarian too must learn to utter Mary’s ‘yes.’
Pre-Theologians are encouraged to consecrate themselves, their discernment, and their vocation to Mary during the Propaedeutic Stage. They are also encouraged to pray the Holy Rosary every day. As a house, however, Pre-Theologians pray the Rosary together once a week.
Features of the Propaedeutic Stage
Features of the Discipleship Stage
