Quigley Preparatory Seminary - La Petit Seminaire Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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As Gluseppe, every semmarlan finds ln medltatlon, coupled w1th the Eucharxst, the secret of perfectlon From medltatlon, he draws the hungry deslre to plerce the hldden meamng of the words and actlons of the D1v1ne Savlour The more he medrtates, the more he wants to learn about Chr1st, the more he medrtates, the more he 1S asslmllatmg hlmself to Chrlst, the more he medltates, the more he IS lncreasmg hls pr1estly sanctlty whlch accord1ngly experxences a momentous growth Through medltatlon, the semlnarlan cultlvates a profound adm1rat1on for the Man God an admlratlon that IS 1nev1tably converted to 1m1tat1on It 1sn t easy to medltate, It doesn t come naturally It requires self d1sc1 plme and a strenuous effort Its perfect cultxvatlon calls for the purlficatlon of mmd, and of w1ll Its development calls for mort1ficat1on and spxrltual readmg The semmarlan must qulckly come to reallze that splrxtual readlng pro v1des the foundatlon upon whxch the work of medltatlon IS to be bullt, lt affords an lmmedlate preparatlon for the exerclse of medltatlon In realxty, splrltual reading may be called the seeds of medltatlon, the actual exer CISC of medrtatlon causes these seeds to grow to maturlty, and the fru1t pro duced IS prlestly sanctlty Splrltual readlng offsets ev1l tendencles ofnature by awakenlng supernatural tendencies ln the soul, It substltutes for the maxlms and example of the world the ldeals and example of Our Lord and the samts It IS an 1nv1tat1on to look beyond the world to God and 14 the things of God Mortlficatlon loos ens the soul from any earthly bond that mlght be holdmg It down, whlle spmtual readmg ra1ses the soul to the supernatural plane on wh1ch the sem marlan can medltate on the dynamlc Personallty of the Gospel Every mornmg the semmarlan adds an lndlspensable lngredlent to the transformatlve process when he w1t nesses the most thr1ll1ng act ever per formed Every mornlng he IS a spec tator at the Dlvme Drama But yet he IS not only a spectator or a wltness, he hlmself IS offered wxth the Sacred Humanlty IH the perfect eXp1at1on Never a more thr1ll1ng moment, never a more preclous moment ln h1s day as that moment when Omnlpotence Itself humbles I-Ilmself so much as to obey the call of the prxest and descend tzm for s1n H1m whom the heavens cannot contaln, and yet Hlm VVho answers the call of the prlest and l1ke a gentle lamb submxsslvely offers I-I1m self to the Immolator for the sacrlfice Every mornlng the semlnarlan IS part of thls sacrlfice, one w1th Chrlst ln offermg to the Father, one ln mind, one m w1ll, one ln oblat1on Thls oneness wlth Chrlst IS preclsely the essence of prlestly sanctlty Chrlst offers Hlmself not only to the Father 1n the sacrlfice, but also to man 1n Holy Communlon The recep t1on of the D1v1ne V1s1tor IS the ful fillment of the sem1nar1ans oneness wlth Chnst, the confirmatlon of hrs unlon wlth Chrlst And every slngle day the semmarlan IS the object of such outpourmgs of D1v1ne Love The Blessed Sacrament IS the perfect com U . , . . . , conscience, purification of heart, of to the altar to become again the Vic-

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now every ch1ld could make h1s Flrst Holy Communlon as soon as he reached the use of reason About a mile outside of Rlese, along a country road, there IS a shrme dedl cated to the Madonna delle Cen drole Th1s shrlne conslsts of a beau tlful statue of the Blessed Mother and a small altar at whlch Mass was cus tomarlly celebrated once a week Here Beppo would stroll m the summer and devoutly pray the beads It was at th1sl1ttle countryslde shrlne that Beppo enklndled a last1ng love for the Im maculate Mother and her favorlte prayer, the rosary Truly xt was his home and early surroundlngs that planted 1n h1m the first dellcate roots of prlestly sanctlty Then, 1n an outburst ofH1s D1v1ne Love, God made If known to Gluseppe that He had chosen hlm from all etermty to be the medlator between God and man, to be the sacrlficer at the altar, to be Chrlst s other Self It was Gods uncontalnable love that oH ered Gluseppe H1s greatest glft the prlesthood Don Txto Fusarml, the parxsh pr1est of Rlese, sent G1useppe to Padua that he mlght take part 1n the scholarshlp examlnatlons sponsored by the sem mary of Padua The cond1t1ons ln the Sarto home had never been such as to afford to send a ch1ld of thelrs away to school Fortunately for G1u seppe he won the scholarshlp and was enrolled at the sem1nary of Padua At that moment began the happlest tlme of Giuseppe s l1fe G1useppe was well aware of what lay ahead of h1m He reallzed what the nature ofthe Work of the sem1nary was, he reallzed that to be made mto a pr1est meant not only a development of the intellectual powers, not only a development m the physlcal aspect, but most of all, a tremendous development ln the llfe of the soul There l1es the supreme task of the sem1nary nour lshmg young, lmmature souls, repro duclng Chrlst ln the soul of the young semmarlan To accompllsh ltS task, the seminary first of all appoxnts 1ts most competent prlests as spxrltual dlrectors I thelr charge to gulde the progress IH hollness of every single semmar1an The spmtual dlrectors see to lt that the semmarlan s prayer, mortlficatlon, and frequent receptlon of the sacraments become eH ect1ve IH the development of pr1estly sanct1ty Both 1n and out slde of confesslon the sp1r1tual dlrector searches deeply mto the semmarlan s soul and advises how to uproot lmper fectlon, and replace It wlth perfectlon The splrltual dlrector teaches the sem 1nar1an how to pray well, and especlally how to medltate Truly the splrltual dlrectors play a major part m the sem marlan s quest for holmess True, G1useppe had always prayed at home and at the h1lls1de shrlne but praymg ln the sem1nary was alto gether dlfferent He had never before heard of medltatlon, the kmd of prayer stressed most at the semmary H could v1v1dly remember how each nnght after supper h1s mother would read a passage from the B1ble to her ch1ldren and draw a lesson from the text that they were to follow the next day but that had never penetrated nearly so deeply 1nto the life of Jesus Chrlst as medltatlon I3 . H . . . ' 1 ,, . . . . , - - - . . . tlS . . . . , . . . Y . . . . , - . . . . , . , .. . , . . . . D , - . a . C , - s 9 . . . , . - ' a . .

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plement of medxtatlon, wh1ch com bmed make up the most powerful force m the development and transformatron of the sem1nar1an s soul mto the soul of Chrlst The sem1nar1an has the ever present opportunlty to sl1p 1nto chapel for a word or two w1th Chrlst Perhaps rt IS only for a mmute between classes, perhaps If IS a regular chapel v1s1t w1th hrs class In any case, he finds the chapel a source of refuge and re freshment from h1s stud1es There he can make a short ejaculatlon of ador at1on to the Tf1HlfY ask for a llttle help 1n h1s stud1es, medltate, say h1s rosary make the VN ay of the Cross, or thank Chrlst agaln for H1s mornlng V1S1t, whose fruxts st1ll permeate h1s heart The atmosphere of qulet and sol1 tude ID the chapel was a far cry from that of Gluseppes favorxte boyhood shrlne, the Madonna delle Cendrole lt was ln the qulet and solltude of the semlnary chapel that he now sald h1s rosary, but lt was back at that h1ll slde shrxne that Gluseppe had learned to love h1s Blessed Mother and her rosary Llke G1useppe, every semln arran must learn to love h1s Blessed Mother and the rosary Mary rs the mother of all pr1ests and semlnarlans But whereas before she was the pro tector of our youth, now she assumes an lmportant new role as guardran of our vocat1on Now she IS a potent 1ntercessor for us Her rosary IS now an eff1cac1ous means rn obtalnmg strength of character, guldance m our august vocatlon, a keen sense of ap preclatlon of all that God has glven 7eal and perseverance IH our work, a tender consclence, and perfectlon of v1rtue It IS only w1th the Blessed Mother at h1s s1de that the semmarlan can truly be transformed 1nto Chr1st s other Self A fundamental and vxtal factor 1n the alteratlon of the sem1nar1an s soul IS the cultlvatlon and constant prac tlce of v1rtue Vlrtue lSjL1St what the word 1mpl1CS manhness A real man IS a pure man, a humble man, a char1t able man Smce the sem1nar1an must become a real man m the true sense of the word, If follows that Vlrtue must be h1s rmmedlate goal whlch w1ll lead to his final goal, lntxmate umon w1th God Vlrtue and consequently perfec t1on are the means to thls final goal The cultlvatxon of v1rtue does not mean merely the avoldance of v1ce It means constant prayer for strength actlvely to pract1ce lt, lt means stern determmatlon of the will to l1ve the Gospel every moment of the day That IS what the sem1nar1an IS called upon to do The pract1ce of v1rtue IS d1fH cult but lt IS lmperatlve for It IS an essent1al factor rn the transformatlon of the soul of the sem1nar1an The most consplcuous v1rtue of Giuseppe Sarto s llfe at the semlnary and, for that matter, the most consplc uous v1rtue of h1s entlre l1fe was h1s hum1l1ty It was a hum1l1ty that was Hrst xmbued 1nto h1s soul by h1s de voted parents 1n the humble home at Rlese, It was a hum1l1ty that grew w1th age Th1s hum1l1ty seemed to be the keynote of h1s whole sp1r1tual hfe Everythlng he dxd, everythlng he saxd, only manlfested the more h1s hum1l1ty The sprrrtual hfe of the sem1nar1an must also be founded on hum1l1ty 15 . . , . . . , . . . . . . , J J , . 9 ' ' . , . . . . . ' KI il . . . , . . x