Sacred Heart Major Seminary Official Web Site

The Four Pillars of Formation
Seminary follows mind of the Church in preparing priestly candidates
by Msgr. Patrick F. Halfpenny
SHMS former vice-rector and dean of formation

Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II entitled his 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, I Will Give You Shepherds (Pastores Dabo Vobis). These same words from the prophet Jeremiah are carved on Sacred Heart Major Seminary's cornerstone. This seminary has been preparing shepherds whose hearts are shaped in the image of the Sacred Heart of Christ, the Good Shepherd.

The Holy Father is very specific about how to go about this work. He speaks of priestly formation occurring in four areas: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. The seminary works with the candidate to integrate these four areas—the four cornerstones of formation—noticing how they affect and influence one another in his life.

We are also guided by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' document, The Program of Priestly Formation, which adapts for use in American seminaries the formation directives of Vatican Council II, The Code Canon Law and Pastores Dabo Vobis.

Mentoring, Monitoring

"The whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation" (PDV, no. 43). A candidate for priestly service should have certain qualities if he is to lead God's people as Jesus would. He should, for example, love the truth, be genuinely compassionate and have a sense of justice. He has to have balanced judgment, be affable, hospitable, generous, prudent and discreet (PDV, no. 43).

The seminary looks for evidence of these qualities in the candidate during the application process. On his arrival at Sacred Heart, the candidate works with his priest-mentor planning for the year during which he can build on those qualities he has and strategize how he will develop those that he still needs. Seminarians meet monthly with their mentor to review their progress, and adjust their efforts when necessary. The seminarian annually evaluates himself, taking into account feedback from his peers. He receives specific commendations and recommendations from the faculty about his progress in readiness for ordination.

Seminarians make serious efforts spiritually to grown in their relationship with Jesus Christ. They share a life of common prayer rooted in the daily Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. They meet every two weeks with a priest spiritual director with whom they talk about their progress in their relationship with God. They share frequently in the Sacrament of Penance.

Pilgrimage of Faith

Each year begins with a retreat to set the tone and direction for the coming year's activity. In addition, the Easter Triduum is a special retreat time, built around the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. Each seminarian spends time in personal prayer and meditation daily, frequently before the Blessed Sacrament.

A special feature of the SHMS program is the eight-week Desert Formation Experience. During this time of intensive spiritual formation, seminarians go on pilgrimage after their first year of theology to the shrines and holy sites of Western Europe. There, walking in footsteps of saints such as Bernadette, Ignatius of Loyda, Teresa of Avila and John Vianney, they reflect on aspects of the diocesan priest's spirituality while visiting and praying in Madrid, Fatima, Paris, Assisi and other sites.

Hands-on Training

The seminarians have a wide variety of pastoral experiences during their formation years. This pastoral experience takes different forms at different points in the program.

In College and Philosophy, the candidates yearly engage in three weeks of full-time immersion in mission work at the end of their second semesters—the Apostolic Experience Program (AEP). After working in parishes, at soup kitchens, in prison ministry or possibly visiting the Archdiocese's mission in Recife, Brazil, they reflect together on their experience in the light of the Gospel.

In the graduate program, pastoral formation reaches its climax in the eight-month Parish Ministerial Internship in their home diocese. During this internship, the parish's pastor supervises the seminarian's time in all aspects of parish life. The candidate also works with professional and volunteer lay ministers to prepare for his life as a parish priest.

The graduate-level seminarian also participates in CPE training during this time: Clinical Pastoral Education. It brings students and CPE supervisors together into supervised educational encounters, with an emphasis on "theological reflection." This means giving the seminarian the opportunity to perform Scriptural, spiritual, psychological and pastoral reflection upon his ministry.

To Become Like Christ

Sacred Heart's formation program helps the candidate to identify his strengths and weaknesses. He learns to build on his gifts, and to seek grace in all aspects of his life. He works with the seminary personnel, and with parish priests and staffs to integrate the theology he studies into his own spiritual and pastoral experience.

In short, he shares in the work of forming his own heart in the image of the Sacred Heart, who is the Good Shepherd.

What Are the Four Pillars?

Formation is an integrated process designed to develop the "whole person": the priestly candidate's human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral dimensions.

Human: To develop the natural human qualities such as truthfulness, compassion, maturity and justice, so that the priest can better manage his pastoral responsibilities.
Spiritual: To form the habit of drawing close to Christ as an intimate friend in every detail of life, so as to take on his likeness.
Intellectual: To use human reason and scholarship to make credible the changeless Gospel of Christ to a "culture of disbelief" that is indifferent to religion and rejects objective truth.
Pastoral: To prepare priests for practical service to the community, especially to the poor and alienated, while developing an ever-deepening identification with Christ the Good Shepherd. "Following this proven method," says dean of formation Fr. Patrick Halfpenny, "seminarians are prepared to be happy, healthy and holy priests, to do the work of the New Evangelization that the Holy Father calls us to in the third millennium."