Mount St Marys College - Pridwin Yearbook (Emmitsburg, MD)

Page 137 text:

wy Ns ane AS ot Mount St. Mary’s Seminary Proportioned in stone and mortar but assuming its char- acter and identity from its inhabitants, our Seminary building provided the scene for the daily schedule of 110 students and their teachers and directors. : The continuous cycle of the seminary rule began on the upper floors where shortly after dawn the student awoke. Descending to the chapel which extends from the rear of the building, he absorbed himself in the early morning exercises of prayer, meditation, Mass, and thanksgiving. Then to the refectory, where at tables set for six, the sems were served by their fellows the three daily meals. Classrooms large and small stood prepared on the 133 ground floor to serve students’ intellectual needs for a good portion of the day. A library was also at the con- venience of the student in his efforts to write that class assignment or increase the content of his knowledge. A bookstore supplied class texts and ordered books of sup- plementary reading for the students. Two recreation halls on the basement floor provided ample space for relaxation and the geneality so character- istic of group living. Meetings, movies, lectures, chess, music, and conversation here followed in carefree balance during the periods of recreation.

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SEMINARY A facet of life at Mount St. Mary’s which yet seeks reflection upon these pages is that of our Seminary. An inte- gral part of the campus and informed by those same ultimate principles that be- come a governing force in the lives of all Mountaineers, yet the Seminary is dis- tinct in purpose, and this basic difference of vocation is immediately evident to the chance observer—the clerical garb of the students, the schedule, and the fact of independent existence in a building re- stricted to its activities. The Seminary is a way of life, and it is in terms of the animating principles that the more obvious is explained. As with life, too, the spirit of the Seminary ex- capes adequate definition and description. Sketch, trace, illustrate—these we can do. But pictures verbal or visual cannot communicate the full meaning. To be known, it must be experienced; it must be lived to be appreciated. To be an Alter Christus—another Christ—is the spirit which vivifies this body of priestly aspirants and each of its members. To achieving in some measure this purpose, mutual assistance and edi- fication of a community life are most con- ducive. Brothers in Christ, in identifiying themsleves with the common purpose and means, they identify themselves with Christ and His Mystical Body. On the pages that follow shall be de- picted the seminarians in various atti- tudes of prayer, study, and recreation. These three aspects are permeated with the same unity of purpose that binds the seminarians in a common life.

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REV. FRANCIS P. McNELIS Spiritual Director of the Seminary and Professor of Ascetical Theology, Homiletics, and Latin; B.A., Mount St. Mary’s College, 1928. Founder of the Blue Army on campus and a familiar speaker at Novena services, Father McNelis combined a reso- nant and moving voice with a complete and out- spoken dedication to the Blessed Virgin inspiring us to make better Mountaineers of ourselves. As dean of studies and instructor in Latin and religion before he went to the Seminary faculty, his domi- nant, yet kind manner also made wiser students. Father left the Mount faculty to serve as a Navy Chaplain during World War I. In 1946 he re- turned to help educate the men he had seen war duty with. VERY REV. JOSEPH P. O’DONNELL Rector of the Seminary and Professor of Sacred Scripture, Greek, and Hebrew; B.A., Mount St. Mary’s College, 1931; M.A., Ibid., 1935; petal 89 Bese Gregorian University, Rome, 1937; S.S.L., Pontifi- cal Biblical Institute, Rome, 1939. Smiling and cheerfully friendly to the students of the College and Seminary, Father O’Donnell was noted for his subtle sense of humor. He liked to keep the grass trimmed on the front terrace with his golf clubs, and planted flowers in the circular gardens on the front and side terraces. Father O’Donnell, who served as moderator of the St. John Berchman’s Society, was appointed rector of the seminary several weeks before we started our freshman year at the Mount. 134