JESUIT MUSICIAN

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have  a real Jesuit education learned more than just the basics. We learned the Jesuit disciplines of prayer and a life-long love of learning. For me part of this love is in the search for things new that stimulate the mind and the soul. Readers of this Blog know how I like to discover and write about Jesuits, and here is a new one even for me.

DOMENICO ZIPOLI (October 1688 - January 1726) was an Italian Baroque composer who worked and died in Córdoba, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, Spanish Empire, (presently in Argentina). He became a Jesuit in order to work in the Reductions of Paraguay where he taught music among the Guaraní people. He is remembered as the most accomplished musician among Jesuit missionaries. 

Domenico Zipoli was born in Prato, Italy, where he received elementary musical training. In 1707, and with the patronage of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, he was a pupil of the organist Giovani Maria Casini in Florence. In 1708 he briefly studied under Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples, then Bologna and finally in Rome under Bernardo Pasquini. Two of his oratorios date to this early period: San Antonio di Padova (1712) and Santa Caterina, Virgine e martire (1714). Around 1715 he was made the organist of the Church of the Gesù (a Jesuit parish, the mother church for The Society of Jesus), in Rome, a prestigious post. At the very beginning of the following year, he finished his best known work, a collection of keyboard pieces titled Sonate d'intavolatura per organo e cimbalo.

For reasons that are not clear, Domenico  traveled to Sevilla, Spain, in 1716, where he joined the Society of Jesus with the desire to be sent to the Reductions of Paraguay in Spanish Colonial America. Still a novice, he left Spain with a group of 53 missionaries who reached Buenos Aires on 13 July 1717.

He completed his formation and sacerdotal studies in Córdoba (in contemporary Argentina)  though, for the lack of an available bishop, he could not be ordained priest.

All through these few years he served as music director for the local Jesuit church. Soon his works came to be known in Lima, Peru. Struck by an unknown infectious disease, Domenico Zipoli died in the Jesuit house of Córdoba, on 2 January 1726. His burial place has never been found.

Domenico Zipoli continues to be well known today for his keyboard music; many of them are well within the abilities of beginning to intermediate players, and appear in most standard anthologies. 

His Italian compositions have always been known but recently some of his South American church music was discovered in Chiquitos, Bolivia: two Masses, two psalm settings, three Office hymns, a Te Deum laudamus and other pieces.

SACRED HEART, OUR REFUGE

Georges Desvalliers, 1905   (France, d. 1950) *

O most holy HEART OF JESUS, fountain of every blessing, I adore You, I love You.

O Jesus, we know You are gentle and that You gave Your Heart for us. It was crowned with thorns through our sins.

Through Your most Sacred Heart, make us all love one another. Cause hatred to disappear among men. Come into each heart.  Be patient and persistent with us. O Jesus, make our hearts open to You, in remembering the Passion You have suffered for us.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, Your are our refuge, our strength, our hope, and our salvation. You are the inexhaustible source of light, of perseverance, peace, and consolation.

Have mercy on us, O Heart of Jesus, and on all that we recommend to You according to Your mercy. We abandon ourselves to You with the confidence and conviction that You will never abandon us either in time or eternity. 

Amen

I love this art work, as it does not convey the insipid piety of so many depictions of the Sacred Heart. Here we have raw emotion, Jesus literally tearing His Heart out for us. What more can we say?

* From 1905 on, Georges Desvallières’ return to the Christian faith was progressively confirmed by his own personal reflections, and brought about a radical change in his life. He perceived Christ Incarnate sharing the sufferings of humanity. Perhaps he was iinfluenced by Léon Bloy or perhaps the simple piety of the faithful in the silence of a church, that brought about his conversion?

He painted more and more religious subjects in the framework of his family, and of his daily life. He became a Dominican Tertiary in 1926, while his daughter Sabine was to become, a Poor Clare nun at Mazamet, taking the name of Sœur Marie de la Grâce.

A JESUIT & THE SACRED HEART

When I was in college I was fortunate to have a wonderful academic counselor (mandatory for all students in my era) who later became my spiritual advisor.  It was he who really brought me to a love of the SACRED HEART of JESUS.  Little did I know at the time that he had just written and published a book  (1959) on the encyclical "Haurietis Aquas”  (You Will Draw Waters"),  the landmark encyclical of Pope Pius XII on devotion to the Sacred Heart written on May 15, 1956.

Father Dachauer, who himself had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart, gave a simple and clear commentary in order “to help the reader better understand the significance of the Holy Father’s message, and to appreciate the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

One is struck by the beautiful insight of Father Dachauer into the threefold love of the Heart of Christ. This book gives a little more of the scriptural, traditional, theological, ascetical and historical background of this most important document on the Sacred Heart.

I know very little about Father Alban J. Dachauer, SJ, except he was from Milwaukee and entered the Society of Jesus in 1931. He received his BA from St. Louis University in 1936 and his MA in German three years later. He was ordained in 1944 and began teaching at Marquette in 1946.

In March, 1956, he was named assistant to the director general of the Apostleship of Prayer in Rome. He retired from that post and returned from Rome in 1958. He had a gift for modern languages, a talent that earned him a post at Creighton University in the language department.

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When I lived in Europe in the late 60s, Father had moved back to Rome, so I would visit him.

Being a true German, he was at times stern, but always had a twinkle in his eye, as if he had some  marvelous secret waiting to be told.

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In 1956  he was recruited to organize a prayer book published under the title  "With the Blessings of the Church" (later updated & titled  "The Rural Prayer Book" ) - literally, a book granted special permissions by Pope Pius XII to translate the published collection of prayers and blessings from their original Latin to English.

The prayer book written in cooperation with the National Rural Life Conference, included a plethora of blessings, prayers and devotions to mark specific seasons, feast days, holidays and holy days along with events of significance in the lives of simple country people.

The book includes prayers for blessing everything from houses to bacon.  “Even in a world where farmers are fewer and those still in the profession are guided more by computers than tradition we can gather for ourselves a simple guide to what Jesus knew when he commended his spirit into the hands of his Father.”                                                                                               Bishop Thomas G. Doran, Rockford, Ill.

JESUIT APOSTLE OF THE SACRED HEART

This week we celebrate the great feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Here is a saint, new to me,  who dedicated his life to fostering this devotion.

BL. BERNARDO FRANCISCO de HOYOS was born in Torrelobatón, in the province of Valladolid in Spain in 1711. He studied in the Jesuit school in Medina del Campo and entered the Jesuits in 1726. He studied theology in Valladolid at the Jesuit College of Saint Ambrose. This was a decisive turning point in his life.

On August 10, 1729, the Savior, covered with His Precious Blood, appeared to Bernardo, and showing him the wound in His Side, said, “Rejected by humanity, I come to find my consolation with chosen souls.” Bernardo’s experience closely resembles that of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque fifty-three years earlier in the Visitation Monastery of Paray-le-Monial in France.

Jesus told him on May 4th, 1733: "I wish for you to spread the devotion to My Sacred Heart throughout all of Spain." From then on, Bernardo did not live for anything else. On May 14th of the same year, he received what is known as the "Great Promise" from the Sacred Heart of Jesus: "This will always be my place of rest. I will make my home here—the place where I have desired and chosen to be. I will reign in Spain with more veneration than in other places."

"I had great confidence in my prayers and petitions, depending on the intercession of the Heart of Jesus; at present I have no doubt about obtaining whatsoever I ask, if it is for the greater glory of God. I am convinced that at the altar the Eternal Father can refuse me nothing."

The Vision

Bl. Bernardo formed a group of devoted collaborators to communicate the essence of the devotion to the Sacred Heart to others. Bl. Bernardo himself would distribute prayer cards and leaflets and founded many confraternities and associations in honor of the Sacred Heart. His book, “The Hidden Treasure”, was the first book published in Spain on the Sacred Heart. But the best way he spread this devotion was through his own holiness, piety, and personal witness to the love of Christ.

On January 2, 1735, Bernardo was ordained a priest, but within the year, on November 29, he died after contracting typhus. He was beatified in Valladolid 18 April 2010. He is considered  the “First Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” in Spain.

GROWTH IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Having had a very holy Irish priest with us the past ten days (he is stationed in southern California), I am reminded of my favorite monks (well, I can have favorites even though an ocean divides us).  These monks  have a problem with attracting vocations, but unlike much of the Western world, theirs is they have far too many men interested in their form of monastic life.  (See Blog  3/25/2017)

They are traditional Benedictines, but also have added adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament to their daily mission. This is in a spirit of reparation and intercession for the sanctification of priests.

Their life, as ours on Shaw Island, does not involve outside works. They have kept the Latin and Gregorian Chant as we have, as well as Lectio Divina. “It is a sacramental configuration to Christ, Priest and Victim, in his oblation to the Father; and this, in the context of a hidden life, marked by silence and in effective separation from the world.”  

As you can see from the recent photo they have grown from just a handful to 13 in only a few years.

CORPUS CHRISTI SAINT

BL. JULIANA of MONT CORNILLON , born in 1192 at Retinnes, Flanders, Belgium,  was orphaned at age 5. She and her sister Agnes were raised by the nuns at the convent of Mount Cornillon. The canonry seems to have been established on the model of a double monastery, with both canons and canonesses, each living in their own wing of the monastery.

The two girls were initially placed on a small farm next to the canonry. Juliana, after entering the Order at the age of 13, worked for many years in its leprosarium. Agnes seems to have died young, as there is no further mention of her in the archives.

She became an Augustinian nun at Liege, Belgium in 1206 working with the sick, in the convent‘s hospital. She became Prioress in 1225.

From her early youth, Juliana had great veneration for the Eucharist (as did many of the women of Liège) and longed for a special feast day in its honor. When she was 16 she had her first vision. She received visions from Christ, who pointed out that there was no feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament.

Not having any way to bring about such a feast, she kept her thoughts to herself, except for sharing them with an anchoress, Blessed Eve of Liège, who lived in a cell adjacent to the Basilica of St. Martin, and a few other trusted sisters in her monastery.

The messages she received led to being branded a visionary, and accused of mismanagement of hospital funds. An investigation by the bishop exonerated her so she was returned to her position as prioress. She introduced the feast of Corpus Christi in Liege in 1246.

On the bishop‘s death in 1248, Juliana was driven from Mount Cornillon. Nun at the Cistercian house at Salzinnes until it was burned by Henry II of Luxembourg. Anchoress at Fosses.

She died in 1258 of natural causes and was buried at Villiers, France.

She was beatified in  1869 by Pope Blessed Pius IX.

The office for the feast was later written by Saint Thomas Aquinas, and was sanctioned for the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. The feast became mandatory in the Roman Church in 1312.

RADIANT BODY OF CHRIST

Last month (May) Magnificat Magazine gave us an exquisite piece of art in William Congdon’s EUCHARISTIA. It was painted in 1960, one year after he came into the Catholic Church. In a past Blog in Lent (2/28/15), I featured William Congdon’s very powerful crucifixions.  

This piece of art gives us an all together different feeling.  Here we rejoice, here we have hope!

Note the only real color is the bright red altar, which gives us the Holy Sacrifice. There are some gashes of blue at the side of the monstrance, which perhaps separate earth from heaven?.  Choirs of angels fill half of the painting floating upward, while below crowds of faithful worshipers give praise. At first glance it is almost as if they are holding weapons- perhaps a reminder we are the Church Militant?

But the predominant figure is the Eucharist, the center of our faith, our hope and our Savior, His Body given for us.

UPDATE ON NEW BLESSED- LOVER OF HUMANITY

June 15, 2019, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu’s homily for the beatification of EDVIGE CARBONI (see Blog 7/26/17) , praises her passion for wounded humanity.

The beatification took place in Pozzomaggiore, Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. A Franciscan tertiary, she supported the work of her brothers through her work as an embroiderer, and spent her life alternating between domestic work and prayer. She had extraordinary supernatural gifts and in 1911, the wounds of the passion of Christ appeared on her body.

In his homily, the Cardinal remarked that for many years Edvige Carboni “lived an ordinary life, from the outside the same as that of so many laypeople, but extraordinary in terms of her intimacy with God, her union with Him, to the point of identifying with Jesus in a perfect and transforming union with Him, the spouse of souls. Friend of the poor and the marginalized, she had words of consolation for everyone; she loved to repeat, ‘One must always infuse comfort and hope’”.

“One is struck by the inner fortitude and by the granitic faith with which, first in her town and then in the cities of Lazio following her sister, the new Blessed lived a life in the service of the family and among simple household chores, to which she added exemplary activity within the parish and a fervent apostolate of charity”, he continued. “If we ask what are the strong points of the Christian life of this sister of ours, and which lead her to be an example of welcoming prayerfulness and humble and joyful abnegation, we would say that there are essentially two: constant contemplation of the Crucified Lord and the adoration of the Eucharist. … Only by embracing the cross can one have fullness of life and be capable of radiating light, hope and comfort”.

“This spirituality, Passionist and of the Cross, sustained Edvige in the hardships of her daily life and in the misunderstandings within the family and outside it”, the prefect observed. “All of this could be inscribed in the image of Christ, denied, slandered, and despised. She prayed and asked prayer of the Crucified: addressing the Holy Cross she repeated often, ‘you resolve every bitterness. Bl Edvige shared the Passion of Christ with special intensity, also in the body, in a journey of conformation to the suffering and crucified Christ. Despite the abundance of charisms granted to her by God, she was always modest. The supernatural gifts were not a source of pride to her: she considered herself a small creature, but greatly blessed by divine grace”.

The new Blessed had “a heart that was humble and full of charity, because the long hours of prayer banished any trace of barrenness and spiritual idleness. Through prayer, Edvige performed acts of reparation for those who were in the shadows of sin, and implored divine mercy for those who insisted upon not allowing themselves to be reached by grace”.

“Humble and strong, generous and patient, laborious and proud, Bl Edvige incarnated the most beautiful virtues of the Sardinian woman of the age. Even from her human and Christian lived experience, there emerge facts that make her witness more relevant than ever: Edvige is a valid point of reference for women of today, of every age and every social level. Her simple and profound spiritual experience, marked by charity without limits, boundless humility and ceaseless prayer, is a model that remains current, as it demonstrates that even in a simple and ordinary life, it is possible to experience a solid communion with God and an apostolate characterized by the passion for wounded and disadvantaged humanity”.

OUR LADY OF SATURDAY

Saturday June 15^th, Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit  and priests, donned  hard hats to celebrate the first Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral since the fire two months ago.

DAUGHTER, MOTHER, SPOUSE

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF THE TRINITY

HAIL MARY, beloved Daughter of the eternal Father. Hail Mary, wonderful Mother of the Son. Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, my dear Mother, my loving Lady, my powerful Queen. You are all mine through your mercy, and I am all yours.

Take away from me all that may be displeasing to God. Cultivate in me everything that is pleas­ing to you. May the light of your faith dispel the dark­ness of my mind, your deep humility take the place of my pride; your continual sight of God fill my memory with his presence; the fire of the charity of your heart inflame the lukewarmness of my own heart; your virtues take the place of my sins; your merits be my enrichment and make up for all that is want­ing in me before God.

My beloved Mother, grant that I may have no other spirit but your spirit, to know Jesus Christ and His divine will and to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may love God with burning love like yours.

                                                                                     – St. Louis de Montfort

              

NEW PATRONESS FOR EYES

Tomorrow I will have my second cataract surgery, so was thrilled to find this saint to intercede for me.  The first surgery, while a success, has not been a piece of cake- so I need all the help I can get- for courage! 

BL. MARIA DOLORES RODRIGUEZ SOPENA, born in 1848 in Velez Rubio, Almería, Spain, was the fourth of seven children. Eye surgery at age eight left her with limited sight the rest of her life. A debutante at age 17, Maria did not care for the wordly life, and fearing that her parents would stop her, she secretly began working with the sick and poor. This was a time when a woman of her standing in society would never be found in the  neighborhoods of the poor.  But Maria’s faith gave her endless confidence, and she was motivated by a desire to have “one family in Christ Jesus”.

In 1868 when she was 20, Maria’s father was transferred to Puerto Rico where he eventually became a state attorney; the rest of the family moved to Madrid, Spain. There Maria found a spiritual adviser and began catechizing women in prisons, hospitals and Sunday schools. The entire family moved to Puerto Rico in 1872 during a time of schism and religious disruption.  There she was able to find a Jesuit priest to be her spiritual director. Maria’s poor sight ended an attempt to join the Sisters of Charity, and when she tried to work on her own, the religious upheaval limited her to visiting only the sick in the safety of a military hospital.

When the situation settled she founded the Centers of Instruction and the Association of the Sodality of the Virgin Mary who staffed the Centers. The taught reading, writing and religion, and provided medical help where needed.

Maria’s mother died, her father retired, and the family returned to Madrid in 1877. Maria became the matriarch of the family, found a new spiritual adviser, and resumed her work with the poor and sick. Following the death of her father in 1883, she joined a Salesian convent. That lasted ten days; she realized that the cloistered, contemplative life was not for her.

In 1885 Maria opened a center where the poor could bring social problems to be resolved, and which was similar to a modern half-way house, helping prisoners return to society. The terrible conditions of the poor that she witnessed led to the formation of Works of the Doctrines. Due to anti–clerical attitudes in the 20th century, these became known as the Center for the Workers. In 1892 she founded the Association of the Apostolic Laymen (Sopeña Lay Movement), and in 1893 she received government approval to expand her work into eight poor and crowded Madrid neighborhoods.

She made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1900, and received approval to form a religious institute to continue the work of the Works and Association. With eight companions and co-workers, she founded the Ladies of Catechistical Institute on 24 September 1901 in Toledo, Spain. She founded the Social and Cultural Work Sopeña  which received government approval in 1902, papal approval in 1907, and is today known as the Sopeña Catechetical Institute.  

Maria was chosen Superior General of community in 1910, and they expanded into the Americas in 1917. Her legacy continues today with her groups working in Spain, Italy, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Those in the community continue to do her work today, wearing street clothes identifying with the poor.

Bl. Maria died in Madrid in 1918.  She was beatified in 2003 and her feast is celebrated January 10.

PENTECOST= A NEW SPIRIT

COME HOLY SPIRIT FILL THE HEARTS OF THE FAITHFUL...

D. Werburg Welch- Stanbrook Abbey, England

 Today we start the prayers at Vespers for Pentecost, which marks the end of the Easter season.

Pentecost is the celebration of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, coming upon Mary,  the Apostles, and the first followers of Jesus who were gathered together in the Upper Room to celebrate the ‘Feast of Weeks’ which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  .

A “strong, driving” wind filled the room where they were gathered, and tongues of fire came to rest on their heads, allowing them to speak in different languages so that they could understand each other.

The Holy Spirit  gave those gathered the other gifts and fruits necessary to fulfill their mission to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations. We are given those  same gifts to fulfill our mission here on this earth.

Pentecost is the “birthday of the Church” as it commemorates the establishment of the Church through the Apostles’ teachings of the gospel and the baptism of thousands of followers.

Typically, priests will wear red vestments on Pentecost, symbolic of the burning fire of God’s love and the tongues of fire that descended on the apostles.

Jyoti Sahi- India  1983

 

However, in some parts of the world, Pentecost is also referred to as “WhitSunday”, or White Sunday, referring to the white vestments that are worn in Britain and Ireland. The white is symbolic of the dove of the Holy Spirit, and typical of the vestments that catechumens desiring baptism wear on that day.

In Italy Pentecostal tradition is to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues, and so in some places in Italy, Pentecost is sometimes called Pascha Rosatum (Easter roses).

In France, there is the tradition to blow trumpets during Mass to recall the sound of the driving wind of the Holy Spirit.

No matter the country or the custom, on this great feast we all need to ask, "What shall we do?"  and as Peter replies, "Each one of you must turn away from his sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38) This is still the message - repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We, too, are called to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words… Romans  8:26

MRS. CHESTERTON - SILENT WIFE

Most of us of my generation who grew up Catholic, read the works of Gilbert Keith (known as G.K.) Chesterton.  Today many know his work only through the Father Brown mystery series on PBS. He is at present being considered for canonization and I personally feel it should be alongside his wife.

The Chestertons were happily married for 35 years.  Frances brought G.K. to Christianity, and  twenty years later, he brought Frances to Catholicism. Theirs was a happy marriage of ideas, debate, friendly banter, faith, and love.

A friend recently sent me the interesting biography of his wife Frances by Nancy Carpenter Brown (The Woman Who Was Chesterton). Due to a lack of material on Mrs Chesteton, Ms Brown had to do a lot of digging and much of what she found was in G.K.’s own writing.

Frances Blogg never intended to live a life that would bring her any attention; the promise that she exacted from G.K. that he not speak of her in his autobiography, made clear that she had no desire to be known, hence so little information on her.

But she had such a great influence on G.K.  that one could not fully appreciate his  life and career without knowing his wife.

 Like her husband, Frances was a writer, a poet and playwright. Her works long lay in obscurity, except for a few Christmas lyrics. Her plays for children were in demand when she wrote them and  there is a demand for them again today. Her poems and plays reveal a woman of deep thought, a spiritual woman, a woman longing for Christ, and especially drawn to Him at the Nativity, when He was a small baby. 

To read these works is to understand better G.K. Chesterton’s wife and spiritual companion.  A recent publication with her works is How Far Is It To Bethlehem: The Plays and Poetry of Frances Chesterton, compiled and edited by Nancy C. Brown.

The saying behind every great man is a woman, certainly holds true for the Chestertons! I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know GK better and the woman behind him.

CHILDREN IN ADORATION

As I have said in past Blogs, I think the only hope for the future of the Church is a return to a deep love for the Eucharist. I was encouraged to read recently of a grammar school in South Bend, Indiana that started an after school club dedicated to adoration of the BLESSED SACRAMENT..

 “Our main purpose for starting the adoration club is for students in Kindergarten all the way up to eighth grade to have time to spend time in Eucharistic adoration, to teach them how to use their time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and [to] really deepen their relationship with Christ,” Katherine Soper, a second grade teacher  at St. Joseph Grade School.

Ms Sober said she is excited to offer students an opportunity to pray weekly in the presence of the exposed Eucharistic host. There are now 22 students enrolled in the club, Soper said, but more are expected to join.

The first few lessons will discuss reverence, proper manners in adoration, and expectations. The next series of lessons will review adoration history and miracles.

Afterward, the students will head to the chapel for an hour of adoration. During adoration,  students will be led in a rosary, the Gospel, and reflections on scripture. Music will also be incorporated into club, using contemporary and Latin hymns.

“The goal for the Eucharistic adoration time is to give the students a time to reflect and silence. We see a need for students to have a time for silence [and] prayer… These students have a burning desire to deepen their relationship with Christ.”

Young children are hungry  for a relationship with God and what better way to start them on a path to holiness.

St. Pope John Paul II wrote from the Vatican on May 28, 1996, “I urge priests, religious and lay people to continue and redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion. How will young people be able to know the Lord if they are not introduced to the mystery of His presence? Like the young Samuel, by learning the words of the prayer of the heart, they will be closer to the Lord, who will accompany them in their spiritual and human growth.”

The saint's favorite place to pray was before the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, his great love for Jesus Christ would cause him to delay his schedule, which upset his assistants.

St. John Paul knew that the Eucharist was the greatest treasure the Catholic Church possesses.

STATS FOR NEW PRIESTS

The typical member of the priestly ordination class of 2019 is a 33-year-old cradle Catholic, according to a recently released survey of 379 of the 481 men slated to be ordained to the priesthood in the United States this year. 

St. Louis Basilica

The typical ordinand regularly took part in Eucharistic adoration and prayed the Rosary before entering seminary, according to the survey.

75% of the men were preparing for the diocesan priesthood, with the largest number of responses coming from seminarians in the Archdioceses of Cincinnati and Washington (eight each), the Dioceses of Cleveland and Paterson (seven each), and the Archdioceses of St. Louis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, and Milwaukee (six each). Among members of religious communities, the largest number of respondents came from the Jesuits (16), Dominicans (11), and Legionaries of Christ (10).

25% of the ordinands are foreign born, with the most typical foreign countries of birth being Mexico (5%), Nigeria (3%), Colombia (2%), and Vietnam (2%). On average, these foreign-born seminarians have lived in the United States for 14 years and arrived in the US at age 22.

A disproportionately high percentage of ordinands attended a Catholic elementary school (47%), Catholic high school (39%), or Catholic college (38%).

In addition, a disproportionately high percentage were home schooled: 11% were home schooled, typically for eight years, at a time when less than 2% of US children were educated at home. If one assumes that all of the home schooled seminarians came from the United States, then nearly 15% of US-born ordinands were home schooled.

We have 200 priests serving the Archdiocese of Seattle, 115  are Diocesan, 90 religious, and 25 extern/international. There will be 3 young men ordained June 22.