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

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Humlllty must be the keynote of h1s l1fe too It must be the foundatlon of prlestly sanctlty, the root of Chrlstllke holmess And the root of humllnty hes m the sacrament of Penance and lts resultlng self knowledge It IS through h1s weekly confesslon that the semm arnan IS able to read more and more clearly h1s own heart and plerce the depths of h1s soul The tremendous graces of Penance not only wash away his sms and refurblsh h1s soul, but they also perform thelr mevltable work of fosterlng and nourlshlng the growth of hum1l1ty What weekly confesslon IS to the combat of 1mperfect1on, dally Mass and Communlon are to the at tamment of perfectxon Gxuseppes ever present hum1l1ty formed the basls of other v1rtues Hls respect for author1ty was rooted en tlrely 1n the reallzatlon that obedlence ns a pre em1nent character bullder Gzuseppe was so SubmlSSlVC, and mam festly so, that h1s superlors made hlm prefetto della camerata Durmg study per1ods when no professor was present ln the classroom, Gluseppe was responslble for the behavlor of h1s class mates It was these llttle dutles that were entrusted to hlm ln the semmary that paved the way for the day when the entlre Mystlcal Body and all 1tS responsxbllltles would be entrusted to hlm, that day when, even after he humbly begged the College of Cardmals not to elect hxm, the cares of the world would be put upon h1s shoulders But he would be capable of such an oH-ice 16 because he possessed to a lofty degree prlestly sanctlty prxestly sanctlty that became all the more mamfest under the stram of the papal crown prlestly sanctlty that would some day be held up for the adm1rat1on and 1m1tat1on of all prrestly sanctlty that was born nn the semmary' The semmary' It was there that Gluseppe Sarto was transformed mto a man, mto a priest, 1nto Chrlstl It was there that Gluseppe had learned to medltate, to reallze the nature and value of vlrtue, to put on the sensus Chr1st1 How precxous those years were, how prlceless they were' Now as pope he was ever so deslrous that semlnarxans realxze how prxceless those was keenly lnterested m the spmtual welfare of h1s sem1nar1ans and prlests As pope, h1s fatherly mterest m the development of prlestly sanctlty as sumed world wlde proportlons In an exhortatlon to prlests and sem1nar1ans all over the world Blessed Plus placed the goal of prrestly sanctxty before them and showed them the way to attaln lt, just as he had been shown back 1n the semmary But more powerful than words, Blessed PIUS left us the example of h1s llfe the ldeal prlestly llfe, the perfect prxestly sanctlty The semmary had accomplxshed :ts work It had welded prlestly sanctltv to the soul of Gluseppe Sarto, lt had transformed another young, lmmature soul mto a l1v1ng lmage of Chrlstl . . . . H , . .,, . 0 l . n q . . . Heetmg years ln the semmary are. He ll li ' ' l

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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

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efoucdem ou 5 N the year 1875 Plus X, at the t1me Don G1useppe Sarto, served as sp1r1tual d1rector of the semxnary 1n the Trevlso d1ocese Although Don Sarto spent a compar at1vely short tlme at the semlnary, he was well loved and respected by hlS young charges Hls qulet, easy manner and h1s manly v1rtue engendered 1n the sem1nar1ans a s1ncere, respectful affec t1on Today we call thls same qulet llttle man Blessed and before long, he w1ll be called Sa1nt Plus X Every sp1r1tual d1rector shares ln the glory of Blessed Plus X, for h1s eleva t1on to the ranks of the sa1nts assures them that 1n all the1r Works, they have an understandmg and helpful patron Besldes help1ng sp1r1tual d1rectors as a patron samt, Plus X serves as a model, for he was all that a sp1r1tual director should be P1us X was a model, a confessor, a confidant and advlser, a retreat master, a spur of encouragement, but above all, a fr1end to every semlnarlan Today the sp1r1tual dlrectors at Qulgley are fulfillmg Wlth the same zeal the tasks that the sa1ntly Pope loved P1us X, xn h1s Letter to Przesfs sa1d Chrlst H1mself, the Model of prlests, first taught by deeds and then by words No 1m1tat1on of that Model was more s1ncere than that of Don Sarto as sp1r1tual d1rector of the Tre vlso semlnary For such was h1s teach 1ng, Hrst by deeds and then by words HIS success as a sp1r1tual d1rector was ln great part due to the example that he gave, for from observance of thls samt there grew trust and adm1rat1on among h1s boys And so It 1S w1th Qulgley s sp1r1tual d1rectors, the1r own act1ons are the most eloquent of ser mons, for they are samtly men com pletely devoted to the boys m the1r care They know the lmportance of the1r task, and no sp1r1tual d1rector g1VCS less than h1s best IH that task The sp1r1tual d1rector IS a personal fr1end to every sem1nar1an It IS he who pomts the way to a holy pr1est hood by means of the help that he glVCS each semmarlan Probably the most effectlve ald to hohness for the sem1nar1an at Qulgley IS the weekly receptlon of the Sacra ment of Penance COHfCSSlOD 1n the semlnary IS not a torture, but a won derful means of advancement 1n the sp1r1tual l1fe To a great extent, lt IS the sp1r1tual d1rector who makes the sacrament so Wonderful a means of advancement, for he IS the hnest of confessors He IS a confessor l1ke Don Sarto, always kmd and full f encouragement, yet LOHSCIOUS of h1s duty of help1ng to form better prlests Don Sarto as a confessor was most generous w1th hrs t1me He often sat for hours ln a chllly llttle room hear mg the confesslons of h1s semmarxans Desplte the pet1t1ons of h1s fellow prlests, Don Sarto refused to lessen the tlme he spent IH the confess1onal, saymg that he was comfortable enough The confessors at Quigley are no less generous 1n g1v1ng of the1r t1me They 17 J . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . ' J ' so n - ' ' ' . . . . , . . . - - . l - . . , . O . . D H . . . . . . . H . . . . . . . . . . , - ' cc n ' . .