Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook Spiritual Year www.scs.edu
Introduction Following the call of the 2016 Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis 1, for a propaedeutic stage as necessary and mandatory (Introduction, 3), the Spiritual Year of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary is a preparatory phase of formation for seminarians intended to precede core philosophical studies. The Spiritual Year offers formation intentionally in a smaller community setting to provide a solid basis for the spiritual life and to nurture a greater self-awareness for personal growth" (Ratio, #59). Key goals of the Spiritual Year include the opportunity for the seminarian to enter deeply into solitude so as to solidify his self-knowledge of his vocational calling, and to profoundly affect the seminarian s interiority with the heart of Christ. Utilizing all dimensions of priestly formation human, intellectual, pastoral, and spiritual this one-year program strives for a life-experience which will allow the seminarian to find God in all things. The stillness of the year freed from academic grades aims at fostering a monasticism of the heart to remain with the candidate through ordination and throughout priestly life. 1 Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis The Gift of the Priestly Vocation. Vatican City: L Osservatore Romano, 8 December 2016.
Spiritual Formation Since spiritual formation is personal union with Christ, which is born of, and nourished in a particular way by prolonged, silent prayer, a holy hour with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament occurs each morning, with a weekly group lectio divina discussion (Ratio, #102). The celebration of the Mass occurs in the middle of the day as a reminder of its centrality. The Hours of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer are prayed in common. Conferences on the Blessed Mother aim to allow the seminarian to realize Mary s role in forming a priestly heart after her Son. The rosary and stations of the cross are prayed regularly in community. A pilgrimage is made in both the Fall and Spring semesters. Seminarians are prepared for both preached and directed retreats. The year culminates with a 30-day Ignatian Exercises retreat. The seminarian is required to have a regular spiritual director, meeting frequently to process personal prayer and relationship with God. As a means of separating from the noise of the world, the Spiritual Year includes a media fast. Phones, television, computers, popular media and other electronic devices are not used Monday through Friday. All day Saturday, the media fast is lifted. On Sundays, a modified media fast is practiced.
Intellectual Formation Emphasizing the need for a sufficiently broad knowledge of the doctrine of the faith, (Ratio, #156) and that relationship with the Word of God holds a prominent place (Ratio, #103), the core courses of Scripture, Catechism, and Spirituality & Spiritual Classics, meet once and every week. A central assignment is a complete reading of both the Bible and the Catechism. The Formative Relational Topics and Spiritual Formation courses include the following topics: Core Courses Scripture Catechism Spirituality & Spiritual Classics Methods of Prayer Ignatian Discernment Priestly Identity Celibacy Liturgy of the Hours Salvation History Theology of the Body Christian Anthropology Marian Conferences Communication skills Vatican II Documents Psychology Grades are not assigned; however, classroom participation and one synthetic essay per semester will be used to gauge the student s ability to integrate coursework with prayer. Pastoral Formation As a way of cultivating missionary zeal, and practicing his spiritual fatherhood fruitfully, each seminarian embarks on a month-long immersion program which begins the second semester (Ratio, #33). Seminarians are sent forth in pairs to travel simply, and serve the poor. This experience provides a concrete shedding away from materiality which can so easily mask the interior. In addition, during the normal course of the year, one afternoon per week is spent in field education.
Human Formation Solid human formation requires all those characteristics that enable the candidate to be a man of communion, who has a basic human and spiritual serenity (Ratio, #41). The Spiritual Year promotes being a gift to others through communal living in a distinct house. Seminarians experience opportunities for genuine Christian etiquette, courtesy, and the need to accept the responsibility of maintaining good order and cleanliness. Various human formation talks include the following: community living, recreation & leisure, communication techniques, the role of silence in our lives, and Christian manhood with St. Joseph as model. Through both a regular work hour and house job, each seminarian is afforded the opportunity to serve the community, working with different Spiritual Year seminarians on a rotating basis, which is one way meant to overcome all kinds of individualism, and to foster the sincere gift of self (Ratio, #63). St. Charles Borromeo Seminary offers the opportunity for seminarians to grow through counseling. Seminarians are free to receive accompaniment in their formation by approaching the resident priest-counselor in the internal forum. The director of the Spiritual Year accompanies the seminarian as his formation advisor in the external forum.
Pattern of Life 6:15 7:30am Eucharistic, Adoration, Morning Prayer, & Benediction. 7:30am Breakfast 8:00 9:30am Interior Time: Reading & Studying 9:30 11:30am Class 11:45am Mass 12:30pm Lunch 1:00pm Work Hour 2:00pm Recreation/ Free Time 5:30pm Evening Prayer 5:45pm Dinner 6:40pm Rosary 7 9:00pm Discretionary Time, Varies by Day 9:00pm Night Prayer Grand Silence The daily schedule for the Spiritual Year is focused on providing ample time for prayer and active reflection. Interior time is the opportunity for the seminarian to choose among studying, reading, prayer and constructive communal conversation. Afternoons will always include time for recreation. Evenings will vary from a communal movie (Sunday evenings), to group lectio divina, to recreation time. No workshops take place on Saturdays. This is a day for recreation. The seminarian is free after morning Mass for the whole day until evening, with the goal of spending this leisure day in a productive way for human growth. On Wednesdays, the Spiritual Year seminarians will join the greater St. Charles Seminary community for Mass and dinner. Fridays are communal adventure days. Communal activities range from a shrine visit, to a museum, to a picnic, to a nature hike. Opportunities to experience both history and the arts are also included in the Friday outings throughout the year. Eucharistic adoration through the night happens from Saturday night into Sunday morning, whereby the seminarian receives one hour to enter into the hopeful expectation of the Resurrection each week in deep communion with the Blessed Mother.
General Calendar Late August Early October November 1-3 November 4 Mid-November Late November Late December Early January February March - April Spring Early May Mid-May - June Opening Day Three-day Preached Retreat Forty Hours at St. Charles Seminary Main Campus Patronal Feast Day St. Charles Borromeo Fall Pilgrimage (day-trip) Thanksgiving Break Fall Synthetic Essay and Christmas Break Return from Christmas Break & depart for Immersion Program Return from Immersion Program / Five-Day Directed Retreat Holy Week and Easter Break Spring Pilgrimage Spring Synthetic Essay 30-day Ignatian Exercises Retreat
To maintain the integrity of the Spiritual Year program, enrollment is limited. For more information please contact: Reverend Christopher Cooke (484) 344-5796 ccooke@scs.edu Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary Overbook 100 East Wynnewood Road Wynnewood, PA 19096 Front cover: Depiction of the Holy Spirit, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in the apse of Saint Peter s Basilica in Rome. www.scs.edu