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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Raising up an army for God: SJV college seminary marks 50th anniversary

Christina Capecchi
Reflecting on St. John Vianney College Seminary
Click image to enlarge

It’s Thursday afternoon, and Joe Wappes is playing pool at St. John Vianney College Seminary. He pauses from the game, leaning against the table and holding his pool stick, to reflect on his prospective vocation to priesthood.

“It’s got me so pumped up,” he says, his blue eyes sparkling. “It’s a daunting call, a huge responsibility. But what would I rather give myself to? Salvation is on the line.”

With that he resumes the game, sinking the No. 7 ball into a corner pocket.

“There we go!” he says.

He laughs with a fellow seminarian and considers his next shot. The fraternity Wappes has found among the 97 other young men now attending SJV has buoyed the 21-year-old, a junior from St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony.

“This is a place of great joy,” he says. “To be built up by this intentional Christian community has been amazing.”

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The fraternity spurs the piety, he explains — beginning with 6:30 a.m. Holy Hour and expected throughout the course of a rigorous day. And so, Wappes breaks from billiards at 4:50 p.m. to meet up for evening prayer.

He slips into the fourth row of the chapel, kneels and closes his eyes.

“God, come to my assistance,” he prays alongside the other seminarians. “Lord, make haste to help me.”

He gazes at the mosaic behind the altar depicting the miracle of the loaves and fishes, an image that has resonated with him recently.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about being like the boy who gives his all to Jesus,” Wappes says after prayer. “Even though it’s not much, it’s all he has, yet he gives it. That takes a lot of trust and surrender. Jesus does way more with it than what the boy had planned. And so, like the boy, I hope to be able to surrender my meager, humble gifts, trusting that Jesus can multiply them to reach thousands of people with his love.”

A multiplication of epic proportions has unfolded at SJV over the past half a century, beginning in 1968 when 119 seminarians moved into Loras Hall on the south campus of what was then the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Father John Roach, the future archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, became its first rector. It has since moved to the north campus and become one of the nation’s largest college seminaries, drawing over the years from a total of 46 dioceses ranging from Alaska to Alabama, and proving to be a magnet among Midwesterners.

Since its founding, some 1,525 men have attended SJV. More than 500 alumni are currently serving as ordained priests, including three bishops and a cardinal. Hundreds more, meanwhile, are faith-filled laymen building the kingdom of God as doctors, lawyers, teachers and mentors. SJV trained them all for fatherhood, as the late rector Father Bill Baer put it: some as spiritual fathers, some as actual dads.

In the words of Father Michael Becker, the current rector, SJV is “raising up an army for the Lord.” As a college seminary, it guides men during the most pivotal juncture of their lives ­­— a time at once thrilling and terrifying when they attempt to discern and then answer God’s call, which can vary in clarity day to day.

For Archbishop Paul Etienne of Anchorage, the intensity of his SJV experience in the mid ’80s remains vivid. “The invitation of Jesus to consider priesthood was disturbing,” he said. “It was something he was asking of me that I had serious reservations about. I had another plan for my future. There was a lot at stake, so I went [to SJV] to very intentionally listen more, to really learn about who the Lord is and what was his call. It was attractive and yet frightening at the same time.”

To see current seminarians face that fear and surrender to God is moving, said Archbishop Etienne, who encourages young men in his archdiocese to attend SJV, where one of his locals is now enrolled. “These guys are alive with faith. Their love for the Lord and his Church and their desire to serve the Lord is contagious. That leaves people, when they walk away from their experience, hopeful and inspired.”

A winning recipe

Nineteen dioceses outside the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis currently have young men at SJV. A number of factors set it apart from other college seminaries, according to sending bishops.

Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, a former SJV rector who currently has two local men at SJV, begins by identifying its presence at the University of St. Thomas, where the seminarians are deeply immersed in campus life and are the recipients of a stellar education.

“It is a very well-rounded seminary with tremendous resources,” Bishop Pates said. “It’s well respected and highly valued. The bishops that I speak to are grateful for it.”

That gratitude is echoed by Julie Sullivan, St. Thomas president. “We really enjoy the enthusiasm and the presence that the young men bring to the campus,” she said. “Their passion for life and God also translates into their passion for this university. They have such a positive impact on our community.”

The impact may be most evident at “Last Chance Mass.” As the bell tolls 9 p.m. on Sunday, hundreds of students and alumni flock to the SJV chapel for what is considered the latest weekend Mass in the archdiocese, a liturgy that is hosted by the seminarians and includes confession beforehand and refreshments afterwards.

SJV’s connection to the broader Church is amplified by being housed in The Seminaries of Saint Paul, which include a major seminary, a diaconate program, graduate programs for lay students, ongoing clergy formation and world-class catechetical institutes.

As rector, Father Becker points to three traits that distinguish SJV. “Everything begins with Holy Hour and Mass and flows out of that encounter with God. Secondly, the strength of fraternity and the accountability that comes with it. And third is the gift of our association with the Catholic Studies and philosophy departments [at St. Thomas] and the opportunity to study in Rome.”

Combined, those factors make for a unique SJV experience, forming young men who are grounded in faith and reason, who have experienced the universal Church and who long to serve it.

The ritual of Liturgy of the Hour runs deep in alumni — especially, they say, the seminarians’ Sunday-night gathering, a touch point that marked the ending of one week and the beginning of another.

“It was the best way to start a new week with the brothers, to get back together,” said Father Spencer Howe, who graduated from SJV 10 years ago and now serves as the parochial administrator of Holy Cross in northeast Minneapolis.

“Almost every seminarian I know from those days can still chant Sunday night prayer from memory,” Father Howe said. “I can still hear those voices coming together for the Canticle of Simeon: ‘Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake, watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.’”

Mitch Milless, 33, an SJV alumnus who works as a financial planner and belongs to Holy Family in St. Louis Park, has fostered the tradition of Sunday night prayer with his three young sons. “They think it’s really cool,” he said.

Having fun

Along with the foundation of prayer, SJV staff focus on human formation: preparing future priests who are well-adjusted, well-rounded men.

“Bishops are concerned about human formation today in light of the state of the Church and priesthood,” Father Becker said. “Is a man socially gifted? Does he possess an integration of emotions, a peace and a certain self-possession with regard to sexuality and chastity? We know grace builds on nature, so it’s important to have a good nature. What I hear from [sending] bishops is that they’re happy our men come through with self-knowledge, discipline and a certain amount of affective maturity.”

Those virtues are developed at SJV, in part, through one-on-one spiritual direction, Father Becker said. “The duty of a rector is to create an atmosphere where charity imbues the house and trust is fostered among the men, where they can share their struggles and know they’re going to be loved and affirmed by spiritual fathers and brothers. We have that environment.”

Indeed, Church leaders note, the SJV seminarians are well integrated: a lively bunch of young men who, according to wholesome standards, work hard and play hard.

SJV seminarians are competitive athletes, excelling at intramural sports, and talented musicians, including a jazz band that plays on Sunday afternoons. They have a sense of humor, Sullivan said, performing skits and comedy sketches for campus variety and talent shows.

The seminarians come together once a week for dinner and “Tuesday Night Entertainment,” a tradition that nurtures their robust sense of fraternity.

“They have a lot of fun in the midst of their disciplined lives,” Father Becker said. “Joy is a fruition of love. Those who are in love possess joy, and the men here are definitely in love with God, and then they share that love with each other and those they encounter.”

It prods the seminarians to become students of humanity, to listen better and, hence, to evangelize more effectively. That love extends to the poor and marginalized in their midst and those they meet on mission trips.

The men have a can-do spirit, said Bishop Peter Christensen of Boise, who attended SJV in the late ’70s and served as its rector from 1992-1999. Once, he recalled, the seminarians decided to perform a living Stations of the Cross with one-week lead time.

“That was no problem,” he said. “They can do things. They don’t spend a lot of time in deliberation. As a priest, what a nice shot in the arm, to be getting doses of that from time to time.”

Father Howe fondly recalls how that can-do spirit fueled his class at SJV — whether they were serving in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or embarking on a walking pilgrimage from Viterbo, Italy, to Rome. “We were on an adventure together, in pursuit of the Lord,” he said.

‘The heart of a lion’

The seminarians’ spirit is energizing, calling forth the best from everyone who visits, say SJV donors.

“It’s this hidden gem,” said Ann Fleming, a grandmother who belongs to Holy Name of Jesus in Wayzata and participates in the seminary’s “Spiritual Mothers” prayer group. “When you go to SJV, the Holy Spirit is palpable. You meet these young kids, and you feel such hope for the Church. I wish every doubting Catholic out there — and there are many — could see this.”

Ann’s husband, Tim, speaks to the seminarians as part of the Virtuous Business Leaders group, sharing wisdom gleaned from his work as CEO of the Upper Midwest Region of Marsh & McLennan Agency. A visit to the seminary never ceases to impress him, Tim said. “It’s an unbelievable treasure.”

SJV compels the couple to be better Catholics, he said — to pray and study their faith and share it more passionately.

Milless said his SJV formation prompts him to challenge his sons. “I try to encourage them: ‘You can do this! I believe in you. You’re called to do great things; you’re called to be a saint.’”

He takes special care with his firstborn, a 7-year-old who is the smallest kid in his class. “I try to boost him up and tell him: ‘You have the heart of a lion, but you serve people like a lamb.’”

The call to greatness is a hallmark of SJV, said Father Howe. Father Baer would quote Daniel Burnham, the architect who helped rebuild Chicago after the infamous 1871 fire: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir man’s blood.”

The boldness infused in Father Howe as an SJV seminarian informs his priesthood. “I hear it in my voice, that instinct to go beyond the conventional, the easy nugget. I hear it in the confessional and in my preaching. We never want to make the Gospel palatable but keep it radical and dangerous and alive.”

For Archbishop Bernard Hebda, every visit to SJV inspires him to embrace his vocation. “It’s so reaffirming for me, when I realize that the Lord continues to call such fine young men to serve his Church,” he said. “It’s a concrete reminder of God’s love for this Church, even in a difficult time. It is the source of our renewal.”

The occasion of SJV’s 50th anniversary is cause for celebration, Archbishop Hebda said. “It’s an opportunity for us to give thanks for the many blessings that he’s (God’s) brought to his Church through the work that goes on at SJV. At the same time, it’s an opportunity for us to recommit ourselves to continuing that work and being intentional about the work of formation.”

Father Becker has a similar view of the milestone. “I rejoice in all the successes of past community members and what they’re doing now,” he said. “At this juncture, I know the Church needs evangelists for the future. We can’t just rely on a base of Catholic culture to sustain us. We need to go out in fresh ways to the fringes, to invite others to the Church rather than expect them to just show up.”

Developing a bond among future priests is part of that equation, he added. “We need them to become stronger together, to have a certain strength together so they can build community fabric in their parishes, knowing what it’s like to live in community here. A community is a beacon.”

The next chapter

For all its storied history, SJV is oriented, by its very nature, to the future. It is a place where you can glimpse the Church of tomorrow.

“We get a front-row seat to the future of the Church, and the future looks bright,” said Tizoc Rosales, director of advancement at The Seminaries of Saint Paul.

After 50 remarkable years, in many ways, the best is yet to come. “I feel like the stories are just being written,” Milless said. “It’s just hitting its stride.”

Ann and Tim Fleming also have high hopes. “I can only imagine what the fruits of its incredible leadership will be,” Tim said.

For his part, Wappes will continue the work of a seminarian: to listen to God’s voice. Tuning out distractions has helped the bright-eyed junior.

“It’s so freeing to live in the present moment,” he said. “St. Therese of Lisieux — her simplicity, abandoning to the Lord’s mercy — has been a powerful theme for me.”

Reflecting on the seminary’s 50-year history fills him with awe and propels him forward, he said. “I think of the hundreds of priests who have walked these halls, and now they’re out there saving souls for the Church.”

A version of this story is expected to appear in the Spring 2019 edition of Vianney News, biannual publication of St. John Vianney College Seminary.

 


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