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

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early in his training in the seminary Pope Pius XI says, None should re mam content with a standard of learn ing and culture which sufliced perhaps in other times they must actually attain a higher standard of general education and of learning It must be broader and more complete, and it must correspond to the generally higher level and wider scope of modern edu cation as compared with the past Today more than ever the priest is bound to take the lead in thought and culture He must be equipped to com bat modern errors in the various sciences, especially that of philosophy which has produced Communism and Liberalism Today the people are crav mg for truth and today it is the pI'lCSt s task to clear away the mass of lies, which aim at destroying Christ and His Church on earth Truly life in our day has organized itself outside of Christianity today very many thmgs that people cher1sh are untouched by faith and thmgs go on now as though Christianity were only concerned with a licticious world Therefore the priest must strive to make the parish and CIVIC community as one Learning therefore, he must have None of these can be done if the priest holds himself aloof from his people They will not acknowledge him as one of them unless he can sympathize from within w1th their hardships and hopes The priest must therefore be self ldentified w1th Christ both in holiness and learning So also was It ln the l1fe of Gluseppe Sarto, for his aim to restore all things 34 in Christ, dld not end with his prog ress in the spiritual life, lt only began there His holy and meditative life helped to lay for him a strong founda tion that gave him the proper moti vation and zeal for his studies in the seminary and throughout his life lt gave him a realization that in order to triumph ln this ambition of stormg he must first learn the truths of Chrlst and become apt ln the means of transmltting these truths to the people Thus directed toward the spir itual and mental progress he built for himself the foundation for a construc tion which he might fabricate and re mforce throughout life He showed the necessity for this strong foundation in restor1ng all things in Christ not only by his zeal and industry as a seminarians first as the spiritual direc tor and rector of the seminary t Treviso and later as Blshop of Mantua and Our Holy Father at Rome Thus he made the seminary one of the chief concerns of his life Don Giuseppe Sarto oflicially began h1s training for the priesthood at Padua in northeastern Italy after he had re ceived his high school education There were fewer conveniences at Padua but regarding studies, lt was essentially what Quigley is today The course was a general but cultural one aimed at not only teaching the truths of Christ but tra1n1ng men to think correctlv and sharpening their mmds Gluseppe Sarto s first term report stated of him His mind is quick his will is strong and mature, his lndustry remarkable It is for these qualities that every seminarian must strive in his five years . . . . . . . . ,, . . . - . H . . . . . . a 1 . . . . . . Hre- . - . ,, I . l 1 n , it a l Q n ,, prejudices, and misunderstandings seminarian but also by his interest in . u . a S . ,, . . u p , . u . ' x

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e:5t0l'2 jam lil Afldt HE pnests role on earth IS a strange one He IS of heaven wlthout bemg 1n It h IS a man taken from among men and yet he IS ordamed for the sake of men Thus bound to God and to men the pr1est assumes h1s first role toward whlch all others tend Therefore why he must be holy IS evldent for how otherwlse lf he were not self ldentlfied w1th Chr1st would It be poss1ble for the pr1est to dlrect mank1nd to God? But more 1ntr1cate IS the questlon why must he be learned? The answer IS s1mple for just as through holmess devot1on and prayer the pr1est per forms h1s task of med1at1on from God to man so also as a man of learn1ng IS He has recelved from Chrlst the ofhce and commlssxon of teachmg truth Teach all natlons But how can he teach unless he h1mself possesses knowledge? The Holy Sp1r1t 1n the Prophecy of Malachy says The l1ps of the pr1est shall keep knowledge and they Qpeoplej shall seek the law at h1s mouth No one could ever have spoken a more wexghty word 1n pralse of pr1estly learmng than d1v1ne WIS dom Hlmself The pr1est should have a full grasp of the Cathollc teach1ng on faxth and morals he should know how to present If to others and he should be able to g1VC the reasons for the dogmas laws and observances of the Church of whxch he IS mmlster In such rel1g1ous quest1ons there IS st1ll much lgnorance darken1ng the m1nds of the people and It IS exactly that 1gnorance the pr1est must d1spel I thls respect h1s culture must be theo logxcal for he must acqu1re a culture wh1ch w1ll enable h1m to see the world, men and th1ngs from Gods pomt of VICW lfl order to spread H1s truths more efHcac1ously However the pr1est cannot remam aloof from the people He must llve among them and know the1r problems m order to restore all th1ngs 1n Chrxst Thus he must follow Samt Pauls own pr1nc1ple with the ews I l1ved l1ke a ew, to w1n the Jew wlth those who keep the law to w1n those who kept the law In th1s way the pr1est IS the soul and as It were munlty so that he h1mself truly gl1ldCS soclety He does lt1l'lCl1I'CCtly but none the less really He rema1ns ln the background but only so as to be of greater serv1ce To be a pr1est of the twentleth cen tury IS not a matter of copy1ng methods used IH former tlmes nor of 1nvent1ng new forms for the sake of novelty but It means to translate the message of Chr1st1an1ty 1nto present day terms 1n other words the pr1est must adapt h1m self Thls adaptatlon does not conslst 1n servzle 1m1tat1on of contemporary customs nor must the pr1est use the latest techn1cal lnventxons nor IS It only by keeplng up to date IU h1s read1ng that he w1ll get h1s people to llsten to h1m although these can be of great help and are requlred of h1m 33 0 I I . . . . . n . . . . S e . . . - . I , J I ' 1 ' ' u 7' J' - 1 , , I 4 Q - Q , . . . l D . 3 he able to brmg men closer to God. the v1talpr1nc1ple ofthe Chr1st1an com- . , U . . ' . - P ' A 3 - . . g . XS , , . . . P

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at ulgley They are preliminary qual 1t1es which he must cultivate as a part of that foundation m order to tackle the three years of Phllosophy and four years of Theology at Mundelem and prospectlvely to perform his offices ln the prlesthood And It IS here ln our great midwestern metropolis of Chicago where he wlll do the work of restor mg all things ln Chrlst For as Chlcago IS the very heart of the nation from whlch the arteries and veins of railways and highways and airways branch throughout the country so too it must be the dispensary of Chrlstlan doctrine Thus we the future pr1ests of Chicago must be equipped to send Christ s l1ght through the prlsm of our clty as it were dlffuslng His truth throughout our country But how do the various subjects pre pare us for thls workp They all have a speclal transfer value ln the l1fe of the future priest FIFSI of all Religion and Engllsh bear a very speclal rela txonshlp smce the one glves us a knowl edge of the truths of Christ while the other develops ln us a faclllty for trans mlttmg these truths to the people These two are most important smce they make up the back bone for all the others m as much as they w1ll be the most important in the pr1ests work of restor1ng both ln the pulp1t and in the confess1onal They g1VC us the subject matter the means and the method of preachlng The rel1g1on course begms with an analysis of the fundamentals of Doctrine and Practlce 1n the first and second year whlle m the third fourth and fifth year It con sxsts 1n the study of Viorshlp Morals and Dogma All of these of course are studied wlth the ldea that they are fundamentals for our future study m the major semmary and for the rest of our llves With regard to English we learn first of all the grammar I first and second year words phrases and sentences are studled, followed by construction of paragraphs ln th1rd year and the short story and expos ltory wr1t1ng m the fourth year These are culminated with the study of the principles of Speech and finally written and oral speeches throughout the fifth year But besldes studymg the English lan guage we also have a companlon a literature course deslgned to give the semmarlan an appreciation and to de velop him into a cultured gentleman In his first two years the student be gms wlth a get acquamted course by readmg fascmatmg stories and enter ta1n1ng poems all these to secure interest In the third and fourth year lt consists in the study of the hlstory of our American llterature and English literature m thelr various stages to gether with a discussion of the lives and lmportant works of the authors m each period In fifth year If reaches ltS peak termlnatmg wlth a study of the Greek drama and Dante s DIVIHC Comedy The cultural course of the seminar lan is well rounded out ln his study of Latm and Greek orators, statesmen, poets and heroes The Latin scholar gets acquamted mth the works of such men as Caesar Cicero, V1rg1l and Horace whlle ln Greek Plato Demos thenes Xenophon, and Saint ohn Chrysostom are read along with the New Testament 35 Q . - . . . . . . 7. . . . fl - . . 3 3 D . ' u - , - - . . . H . . . . . ., , . ' J - , - . . . . . i 5 ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J . . , . . . . . , H . H . . . . ! J . . . . . . V. D 3 3 3 - . . , . 3 D - 3 J . . , . . ! J . .