St Joseph Seminary

We had a wonderful celebration until the fire department came. We had decided to have a procession around the seminary only to discover that the incense set the fire alarm off. It was rather embarrassing when the firemen arrived by but we all had a good laugh and continued with the Triduum celebration.

The love of God for His people, and their love for the Catholic faith, is evident in those who come to worship with us.

Barb Megal, after 10 years as the secretary for St. Joseph Seminary, retired. With a wit, laughter and a smile, she was well loved in the seminary. A party was in order and that is exactly what we did. Barb's family was invited to the festivities and you can see Barb with her granddaughter. I good time was had by all. Barb still comes to visit but without the administrative stress that comes from the work at the office ... and when she comes, so too does her bubbly personality.

Chinese New Year was celebrated in 2011. We began with a Mass with traditional oriental symbols of incense sticks and flowers. Oriental style vestments were also used. Fr. Huy Nguyen was the celebrant. The Vietnamese seminarians prepared the food and we also had the traditional dragon dance. It was a wonderful celebration much appreciated by all who were in attendance.

The seminary is not only a place of formation for the seminarians that are in attendance here, we also have set times in the year in which we have a Come and See weekend. This offers men who may be considering the priestly vocation a chance to spend a weekend with the seminary community. In March 2010, we had such an event in which the main celebrant for the Sunday celebration was Archbishop Richard Smith. Four the candidates that spent the weekend with us at the Come and See entered the seminary in the fall of 2011. Praise the Lord!

Seminary life incorporates four element of formation. These are spiritual formation, intellectual formation, pastoral formation and human formation. Seminarians are the first instigators of their own formation through their openness and willingness to participate in the many activities the seminary has to offer. One of these activities is community night in which all seminarians and those priests involved in their formation gather together for an evening of communal fun. As you can see from these pictures, this was an evening of Karaoke. Even if your voice is not pitch perfect, you can still make a joyful noise unto the Lord.