MINOR SEMINARY SPIRITUAL GOALS

Most of you understand the spiritual objectives of our Minor Seminary: to provide an environment of silence, prayer and self-sacrifice in which pious young men can live the ideals from which religious and priestly vocations will flower, in which men of supernatural conviction can develop, in which future leaders of families and society can grow in character. It is to form, as Pope Pius XI put it in his 1929 encyclical on the Education of the Redeemed Man, "the supernatural man who thinks, judges and acts constantly and consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ; in other words, to use the current term, the true and finished man of character".

If all education has this goal, we have in a Seminary several choice means to bring it about: discipline and regularity, silence and mental prayer, liturgy and chant, daily Mass and weekly Confession, service of the altar and spiritual conferences, the integration of religion and other studies, the daily sacrifice of community chores, recreation, prayers and common life, in short all that is opposed to the egoistic spirit of individualism and naturalism, the bane of true, Catholic education.

Even the casual observer will see that there is nothing sad or morose, nothing introverted or introspective, nothing strained or artificial, nothing affected or put on, about these teenagers who live the balanced life of the Seminary, divided up as it is into a careful balance of prayer, chores, classes, study and recreation. Furthermore, if he looks a little closer, he will notice the intensity of purpose and the purity of intention that is applied to each of these tasks, and which the Minor Seminarians constantly learn from the example of the religious and Major Seminarians, who have already consecrated themselves to the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls. Fathers or young lads interested in such a formation are invited to come and spend a few days with us and see for themselves.

Unashamedly do we profess our conviction that such a formation, although not uniquely directed at vocations at all, will produce them, simply through the positive force of its example. We are all very much aware of the fact that our traditional chapels, churches and families are only producing relatively very few vocations, and that this world-wide phenomenon is a consequence of the many facets of liberalism that are endemic to our modern, easy life style. The failure of our youth to burn with zeal for the holy ideals of poverty, chastity and obedience is but the consequence. Spiritually, the Minor Seminary ought to be a remedy for this, not that it is restricted to those who feel they have a vocation, but simply inasmuch as encourages truly Catholic young men to become enflamed with the desire to live the evangelical counsels, according to God’s holy will for them, whether it be in the world or in the cloister.

ACADEMIC GOALS

However, frequent confusion arises concerning the academic objectives that the Minor Seminary pursues. Striving for excellence in studies is the immediate consequence of the spiritual life, reflecting as it does the combat against sloth, the yearning to understand and appreciate the perfect order of God’s creation, of Truth and of wisdom in every domain of human thought and expression. This necessarily means a struggle against the spirit of mediocrity, consequence of the liberal "do as you like" mentality of the modern world. Not infrequently, when boys arrive here they have been rather influenced by the cavalier, casual attitude towards studies that is not infrequent in our traditional circles, as if they were not that important. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not require of our minor seminarians great intelligence or even high achievement in itself, but rather that each one strive for excellence according to his own ability, achieving thus his full academic as well as spiritual potential.

Allow me to quote from one of Pope Piux XII’s last discourses, on the subject of the Catholic school in the modern world: "It would be a mistake to think that because of this (i.e. its profound spirituality) the Christian school holds specifically scholarly tasks in less esteem or has relegated them to a second place. On the contrary, the intellectual objectives, which are the aims of teaching, receive from the school’s spiritual orientation a firmness, a security, and an increased strength." (Sept. 14, 1958). This applies certainly to the studies of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, but it does so even more to the studies of the humanities that are more directly involved in the formation of personal conviction, and that consequently enjoy a primacy in the academic formation we offer: English Expression and Literature, Latin, French and History, not to mention the initiation to Moral and Dogmatic Theology included in the Religion class.

Pope Pius XII also commented on this in a September 5, 1957 allocution to the French Minor Seminarians: "You must rejoice first of all at pursuing classical studies, for they remain unequalled for the exercise and development of the most valuable qualities of the mind: penetration of judgment, broadmindedness, finesse of analysis and gifts of expression. Nothing helps to understand man today as much as a profound study of history. Nothing can teach one how to weigh the value of words, to grasp the nuances of an expression, the logic of an essay and the strength of an argument as well as the exercise of versions and themes in classical languages."

THE THINKING YOUNG MAN

This, indeed, is our goal, both for the young men who will return to the world and for those who will study for the priesthood: that they might learn how to think for themselves, understand, analyze, refute error, and communicate their ideas. It is only such thinking young men who can draw the conclusions from the principles of our Faith, whether it be to guide souls to God, or whether it be to contribute in some real way to the realization of the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the thinking man is not the revolutionary, who goes along with the ideas in vogue, who is like a reed blown around by the shifting winds of human opinion, who embraces the indifferentist, democratic, egalitarian ideas of religious liberty and ecumenism. Such a man claims to be a thinking man, but in fact he simply repeats ad nauseam the platitudes of the majority, meaningless as they truly are, without any understanding of principles, lost in his ignorance.

If a man is to be traditional, whether he be a priest, a father of a family, the leader of a business, or a voice in society, he can only do so if he can think for himself, understand the arguments for Tradition, analyze the errors of logic in those who believe in evolutionism and who would undermine the deposit of the Faith, and refute naturalism with personal convictions concerning the necessity of the Redemption, the Church and the transformation of grace.

As men who adhere to the supernatural order, submitting with perfect docility to what has been handed down to us, it is not reason that we have to fear, but the lack thereof. For the submission and obedience of our Faith is the most reasonable thing that a man can do. To the contrary, it is the lack of true reason that makes a man forget who made him and for what purpose. It is the lack of reason that leads to the pseudo-intellectualism of rationalism, the refusal of submission to the supernatural order. Education is all about clarity of thought, making the correct distinctions, precise expression and profound ideas. They are the only answer to the ignorance of the Faith that is so characteristic of our modern world. As St. Pius X taught: "For it is not true that the progress of knowledge extinguishes the faith; rather is it ignorance, and the more ignorance prevails the greater is the havoc wrought by incredulity" (E supremi, §12). Today’s concentration of high school studies on technical and specifically scientific skills, on work-related or university related knowledge, on various kinds of specialization, is the denial of this true knowledge that education is really all about.

C.I.E.

Some have asked why it is that our minor seminarians sit examinations with Cambridge International Examinations, which is, after all, a secular board of education, devoid of any Catholic sense or direction. For two reasons. The first is that the motivation to achieve well in cultural and linguistic skills, in historical and literary analysis, will only be heightened when there is an external hurdle to be jumped, a challenge to be overcome. The Cambridge examinations are just this. They are certainly more demanding than any other comparable examinations world wide, and they force the boys to constantly reason through their subjects and express themselves cogently and precisely in essay form, and consequently to justify and explain the Catholic positions that are systemically and clearly taught in class. A secondary reason is that they might receive certificates recognized universally throughout the world, in particular with respect to university admission. However, this being said, our internal grades are for us the chief measure of the success of our education, based as they are both on the standards required by C.I.E. and our Catholic view of education.

Our minor seminarians sit three series of examinations with C.I.E. The first, or IGCSE (=International General Certificate of School Education), formerly known as O levels, is prepared by two years of studies. Although theoretically equivalent to 10th grade, it is considerably more demanding. The second is the AS level, preceded by a further year of study, and the third A level, after a fourth year of study. A level subjects bring high school studies to their end. Given their level of difficulty, a very satisfactory result for university or major seminary entrance would be two or three good grades in subjects at A level, and another one or two subjects at AS level.

We were very gratified by the results obtained last year at IGCSE level by the 10 founding students who did all or most of the two year IGCSE program with us, although not all in all subjects. They received one A+, 12 A’s, 8 B’s, 8 C’s, 1 D and 0 E’s or F’s in their subjects: English Expression (3 A’s out of 7) & Literature (3 A’s out of 9), History (4 A’s out of 6), Mathematics (1 A and 2 B’s) and Combined Science (2 A’s out of 5).

With the upcoming opening of the St. Joseph House, we will have openings for additional minor seminarians, and we hope and pray that God will send generous young lads, desirous of availing themselves of this unique opportunity. We thank you for your own prayers and support, and commend all your intentions to the Blessed Mother in our daily Rosary.

Yours faithfully in Christ Our Crucified and Risen Lord,

Father Peter R. Scott