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

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of office but rather an augmentatlon Besides teachmg 1n the semmary the professor has an added functlon I the case of Fr Gluseppe lt was h1s work ln the Cathollc courts ln the case of the Qulgley professor nt ms hrs num erous parlsh dutles Now he must play a dual role-that of car1ng for the flock and that of teach1ng others to do the same But even m the semmary he has a dual role As a teacher he seasons lmmature m1nds as a pr1est he nur tures asp1r1ng souls And Fr Sarto was well aware of thls twofold task Father Gluseppe rose at four o clock each mornmg to say Mass ln the Cathe dral A fellow pr1est once sald that no matter how early he came to Church Father Sarto was already at h1s thanks g1v1ng In the qulet Church after Vlass he woud medltate on the l1fe of Chrlst Thus before the weary c1ty awoke thls zealous pr1est had set the pattern for h1s day The pr1est at Qulgley must also rlse early Before he even begms h1s day as 1 professor, he already has offered Mass m h1s parlsh made h1s thanks g1v1ng and medltatlon and read a part of h1s Dlvme OHice not to mentlon such obv1ous thlngs as eatmg break fast and travelmg from two to ten mlles Thls hidden l1fe ln the morning before n1ne o clock IS the part ln whlch the teacher at Qulgley dlffers from an ordlnary professor The Qulglew ln structor lb a pr1est professor one who teaches flrst the thmgs of God then those of men It was Fr Gluseppe s m1ss1on to lec ture h1s students on dogma morals Church law and llturgy Thls IS what he was to lmbed m the mmds of hrs students thrs IS the part he was to play 1n the formatlon of new prlCStS Fr Gluseppe fully reallzed the lmport ance of h1s part 1n the co operat1ve fashlonmg of a pr1est At Qulgley, each professor deals ln a certaln field Each IS a spec1al1st m a certaln branch of studles whlch sub ject he endeavors to replant ln the mmds of h1s students each professor realxzes that he IS addmg h1s own spe CIHC mgredlent to the process of trans formlng the semmarlan mto a pr1est Accordmg to the standards of the Church a pr1est should be possessed by no less knowledge and culture than IS usual among the well educated people of h1s t1me VV1th thls as the ldeal and pr1nc1ple, the sem1nary professors rn struct the students ln the certalntles of Mathemat1cs the 1nev1table laws of Sclence and Physlcs the lessons of Hls tory the fine po1nts of Enghsh and Speech the 1ntr1cac1es of forelgn lan guages especlally Latm the language of the Church and the beauty of lNIllSlC No means of enrlchmg the mmds of the students IS neglected from sc1en tlflC expenments to movmg p1ctures from makmg tape recordlngs of volce to learn1ng forelgn languages from phonograph records But they also reallze that a pr1est must have full grasp of the Cathollc teach1ng on falth and morals he has to be able to glve the reasons for the dogmas laws, and observances of h1s Church Every semlnarlan must there fore be well acqualnted wlth Fr Sarto s field of studles Chrlstlan Doctrlne wh1ch IS the groundwork for the later study of Phllosophy and Theology 4 . 9 a . fl . 0 A - 9 , ' l . , - 4 N . . . . .r , - 9 9 ' QA u ' . , . 3 , - , . 1 J 9 Y , - s a n , - J Q . , . C x ' 9 ' y s , - . . , . . . . 1 . . Y.- . ' J ' N s 3 9 ' ' . . , . . ' 9 J . . . V J Q , , , . 3

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C90 fke sS?el95 of 3 3al't0 HE canons of the Cathedral of San Pxetro 1n Trevlso Italy are a group of pr1ests asslgned to try cases IH Church law, somewhat hke our own Chancery Ofhce The neces sary requlrement for such a posltlon IS the possesslon of profound w1sdom and extenslve experlence Small won der then that ln 1875 the clty of Trevlso was startled when thelr blshop appomted a young country prlest to thls lmportant post Stlll more Father Sarto the new canon was also made a professor and sp1r1tual d1rector at the dlocesan semmary Blshop Zmelh belleved 1n glVlI'lg the best of hxs clergy to teach ln h1s sem mary He knew full well that there the maklng of good prlests But why should he choose an unknown countr prlest for such an elevated pos1t1on The answer IS clear The blshop was avs are of the fact as was anyone who ever came ln contact w1th Father Sarto that thls country priest possessed that perfect comb1nat1on unpretent1ous knowledge and sol1d plety What better teacher, thought B1shop 71nell1 could a semmarlan have than one who con Hrmed by hls da1ly l1fe what he taught ln the classroom And so IH 1875 TTCVISO had a new lawyer for her Catholxc courts, a new professor for her semmary, and a new spmtual dlrector to steer the souls of her sem lH3I'1aIlS The newly appolnted canon had a dlfhcult task ahead of hlm but anythlng that IS worthwh1le IS dllhcult Y P 42 Fr Sarto could look ahead and foresee worrles anxletles and fatlgue from a grlndmg routlne he felt a llttle fearful and greatly unworthy at havmg such a noble task lald 1n h1s incapable hands he saw the grave responslblllty the welghty commlssxon entrusted to hlm of moldmg lmmature boy1sh mlnds mto the sensus Chr1st1 But when a soul IS eager and w1ll1ng to do the Masters wxll Cod always glves the splrltual stlmulus and encouragement to fulfill the seemlngly lnsurmountable tasks The l1fe of Fr G1useppe IS l1ved over and over agaln day after day by the prlest teachers of Qu1gley The story of the holy prlest of Trevlso can well the story of the Chlcago prxest at ulgley for the l1ves of each are so closely allled that to tell the story of one IS to tell the story of the other Blshop Z1nell1 chose Fr Sarto as a professor 1n the dlocesan semmary only after he had found 1n h1m the requlslte fitness to hold such a responslblllty In Fr G1useppe the bxshop dlscovered a man possessed of a deep sense of holmess sol1d plety requlslte knowl edge and devot1on to work Such are the qual1t1es that every blshop looks for 1n selecting professors for h1s sem 1nary such are the qual1t1es that are found 1n every Qu1gley professor By becom1ng a semmary professor a prlest does not leave behxnd h1s job of car1ng for souls ln the world outslde the semmary lt IS not an exchange 0,1 . . . , , . , . . , . 3 . I . . . . S D i - . . , . . ' ' ' as ' ' ay , l ' ' , v p Q A 3 I ' Q 3 l ' . . 3 3 was no more fundamental work than be used to furnish the framework for Q ' , ' , . C , . . J J Q o u B , , - s s , . ' ! 3 S 5 . . .

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It was 1n hls lectures 1n the semmary that Fr Gluseppe astonlshed everyone by the man1fest breadth of h1s knowl edge and the profund1ty of h1s scholar shlp The unassumlng erud1t1on of th1s obscure country prlest, together w1th hls characterlstlc slncerlty, s1mpl1c1ty ready wrt, and unfalllng good humor capt1vated h1s students They had never suspected that the unknown country prrest would be l1ke th1s expe clally s1nce they themselves had pre vxously heard Father Gluseppe say ln hls first chapel talk Perhaps you expect to find ln me a man of profound learmng and wlde experlence ln sp1r1tual matters, one of those fathers who are capable of dlrect 1ng and counsell1ng you But let me tell you plamly that I possess noth1ng a country prxest come here by the mll of God and s1nce Our Lord has wllled lt so you on your part must be ready to lrsten to my words and be indulgent w1th me From th1s hls very first day at the semlnary Fr Sarto s humxllty was con spxcuous It was planted 1n hrs soul as a chlld ln RICSC under the mfiuence of h1s humble home envlronment and was character1st1c of h1m all durmg hls llfe Humlllty' VVhat sweeter vlrtue can keynote the professor s second and foremost capaclty that of nurturrng the soul of the sem1nar1ans? Wlth Fr Giuseppe p1ety came first True h1s new respons1b1le ofiice was an opportun1ty for personal sanct1fica tlon Cand he took advantage of ltj but moreover lf was an opportun1ty to sanc txfy hls sem1nar1ans, to share w1th them the frults of hxs da1ly Mass commun 44 lon and medltatxon Here was the chance to mold a manly Chrlstllke character ln h1s sem1nar1ans at the most lmpresslonable and formatlve tlme of thelr l1ves Hos aetatls' How well he remembered the pr1ests who had taught h1m twenty years before ln the semmary at Padua where he had spent elght fru1tful years How well he remembered partlcularly Fr Anselml h1s rel1g1on teacher how rev erent he was whlle saylng Mass how Interested he was IH everyone how cheerful he was after a long try1ng day' Lxttle Gluseppe found h1mself1m1tat1ng Fr Anselml he made Fr Anselml hls model prlest And now just as a prlest professor hlmself Fr Gluseppe real1zed that he was not only a teacher of Church law or llturgy durmg class the tlme Professor Sarto the mstructor, was complemented by Father qarto, the frlend and advlser After school hours he would Slt ln h1s room and hear con fesslons hour after hour The students loved their sp1r1tual father VVas there ever a need of thelrs whlch he dld not satlsfy or a problem wh1ch he d1d not solve? H1s was the work of the sculp tor Chrlst through the blshop had glven Father Sarto the rough but prom lSlI1g marble of sem1nar1ans Vhth the ch1sel of secular learnmg and the ham mer of God s truth Father Gluseppe Sarto proceeded to ch1p away the jagged edges searchmg for the lmage of Chr1st ln hrs students Xrvlth esus Chrlst as the Model Father Sarto worked to complete masterplece after masterplece He confirmed th1s objectlve by what . . . , . . ' 3 - . . . .- . . . J . ,, , . . . . , - ., . . - - - 5 Q : , - . . . .3 . ' 9 - - , , or almost nothing of that. I am only time, but also a teacher of virtue all 1 y ' 5 1 , . . ,, . . . . , . . i , 0 Q I . . n . , . , . . , u 0 u a yn . . , . ' Q 3 . . 3 . , , -