The Guardian

Newsletter of St. Joseph Minor Seminary

April Calendar
Preparation for Easter
The Holiness of Solitude
Old Man Rivers
The “Breakfast of Champions”?
No More Snow
Spring Activities
The Courts of the Lord

During this closing week of March we are taking our final Third Quarter exams. Soon we will enter Holy Week and then our Spring Break. Time is swiftly flying by as we enter the final two months of the school year.

With the departure of winter, the colds and flu bugs have also departed. Thanks be to God, everyone is well at the seminary. We have recently been enjoying a warm spring with temperatures often above normal. The flowers are sprouting up and the birds can be heard chirping each morning.

Even though our basketball season officially ended, Father allowed us to accept an invitation to attend a Montana state tournament, as long as we paid the entry fee. You will read about the tournament, as well as our breakfast fund-raiser in the articles in this issue. We all had a great time at the tournament. It was a good ending to a good season.

Our Lent began in earnest with Ash Wednesday ceremonies and our annual retreat, as well as Sunday Vespers. Soon we will begin practices for the Holy Week ceremonies, which are quite involved. These ceremonies are an important part of our spiritual lives here at the seminary.

Then will come Easter Break, with a much needed rest from school. We wish all of you a grace-filled Lent and a most joyous Easter. Please also continue to pray for us.

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April Calendar

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Preparation for Easter

During this closing week of March we are taking our final Third Quarter exams. Soon we will enter Holy Week and then our Spring Break. Time is swiftly flying by as we enter the final two months of the school year.  

With the departure of winter, the colds and flu bugs have also departed. Thanks be to God, everyone is well at the seminary. We have recently been enjoying a warm spring with temperatures often above normal. The flowers are sprouting up and the birds can be heard chirping each morning.

Even though our basketball season officially ended, Father allowed us to accept an invitation to attend a Montana state tournament, as long as we paid the entry fee. You will read about the tournament, as well as our breakfast fund-raiser in the articles in this issue. We all had a great time at the tournament. It was a good ending to a good season.

Our Lent began in earnest with Ash Wednesday ceremonies and our annual retreat, as well as Sunday Vespers. Soon we will begin practices for the Holy Week ceremonies, which are quite involved. These ceremonies are an important part of our spiritual lives here at the seminary.

Then will come Easter Break, with a much needed rest from school. We wish all of you a grace-filled Lent and a most joyous Easter. Please also continue to pray for us.

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The Holiness of Solitude

Our annual seminary retreat began on the First Friday of March at 5:20 p.m. with the rosary. Afterwards, we ate supper while Father read from the New Testament and another spiritual-reading book. During each meal during the retreat either Father or a seminarian read from the spiritual book. When we weren’t on dishes or recreation, there was absolutely no talking or communicating with each other, because we needed to keep a spirit of prayer throughout the retreat.

Quietly, everyone made a holy hour with the Blessed Sacrament exposed that first night of the retreat. On Saturday, after morning prayers and reposition of the Blessed Sacrament, we went to Mass and then listened to Father give three lengthy, superb talks on various subjects. At 4:00 we said the Stations of the Cross outdoors, with each seminarian providing the meditations for two of the stations. Before this spiritual exercise, the seminarians had a two-hour recreation period which allowed us to use up our excess energy.

When Sunday rolled around, we went to rosary and Holy Mass in the morning. After breakfast we had a study period, followed by the closing conference which ended about 1:15. Later, at 5:00, we sang Vespers as part of our Lenten prayer schedule. Overall, I think the retreat helped each seminarian in a different way.

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Old Man Rivers

At the seminary we finished our basketball season with a tournament in Missoula, Montana. This state invitational was on Feb 27 - March 1 and was a 12-team tournament. The first round was to decide the seeding and who would make it to the second round.

Our first game was on Thursday evening against a team from Helena, Montana — a team which had beaten us soundly the previous year in a tournament. In the first half we kept them in check with our defense. In the second half they made a game of it and got within a few points, but thanks to some good free-throw shooting, we pulled out a 4-point victory.

Our second game was against the “favorite” of the tournament. This team eventually won the whole thing. Although in this game we were within 10 points the entire game, we just ran out of time. The third game was a do-or-die for us against Great Falls. Everybody thought it was over for us. There were even opposing coaches who told us we didn’t have a chance. Obviously, we didn’t like to hear that, but it did do some good in that it fired us up to prove them wrong. Although we were dead-tired from having just played, we all knew if we lost this one we were done.

So we came out and ran a special play which we call Old Man Rivers. This is a screen play for a 3-point shot on the side. Brian drained the three. After that things just started to roll. We hit several more 3-point shots and played swarming defense. Our team beat Great Falls by 9 points, which automatically sent us into the second round. We had a chance to make it to the championship game but lost the semi-final game against a really good team, Gallatin.

So on Saturday evening we played the decisive game for 3rd and 4th spots in the tourney. A South Dakota team was our opponent. They were a very good outside-shooting team and had an excellent center. After a few defensive changes we pulled ahead by 15. They slowly started to creep back until we were only ahead by a couple. In the fourth quarter with only about 30 seconds left, they came from behind to lead by 2. On our offensive set Matt was fouled on a shot and had two free throws with only about 20 seconds to go. He hit the first shot, bringing us to within 1 point. He missed the second shot, but the ball came to our center Pat Strain who dropped in the winning two points.

It was the perfect end to our season and brought home for the first time a trophy for the St. Joseph Sentinels. I think all will agree with me when I say this was our best basketball season here at the seminary.

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The “Breakfast of Champions”?

Recently, the seminarians sponsored a breakfast at Mary Immaculate Queen Church after Sunday Mass to pay off the debts incurred by our Sentinels’ basketball team. We made pancakes and an egg dish that had sausage and bacon in it. There were also biscuits and gravy which was really good. For sweets we had a lot of cinnamon rolls and brownies. As for beverages we had juice, hot chocolate with mint and coffee.

After we were done serving our delicious meal we had the annual basketball awards ceremony. The first award given out was for “Offensive Player of the Year,” which was presented to Phil. He also received the MVP award. Jared received the award for best “Defensive Player of the Year.” Brian received the “Good Hands” award, which means he had the most steals. I received the “Chairman of the Boards” award for rebounding. Stephen received the “Most Improved Player” award, and Pat was presented with the “Sportsmanship” award.

The awards ceremony was followed by a brief performance by the grade school band. Afterwards we cleaned up the dishes and utensils. We put things away, straightened the parish hall, and then took a well-deserved nap.

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No More Snow

When will springtime be here? The snow has melted, rain is here and the temperature is up in the 50’s and 60’s. Here at the Seminary this is mud season. The thing around here is that the mud gets easily tracked into the Seminary, which Father does not like. So each of us has to check his shoes when coming inside.

Among all of the seminarians, Seth was the one who wanted snow the most. He even prayed a couple of decades of the rosary every day for snow, but he finally figured it wasn’t going to snow any more this winter season. You could tell that spring was here. Some of us thought that this was a lousy winter because we have had less snow than normal. There was barely anything. But now spring is here and everyone is happy that we can join in outdoor sports.

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Spring Activities

Spring is here, even though it is arguable whether there even was a winter. Now the time has come for warmer weather, greens grass, and baseball. Because basketball season is over it’s time to move on, so we have started playing baseball. I personally don’t care for baseball, but I like sports so I’ll play it.

For P.E. we are starting to do more conditioning. We are doing weight training and, of course, a lot of running. We have also started cross-country running. There was a little bit of snow on the trails and some of them are still muddy. But now that things are drying out we can enjoy more outside activities.

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The Courts of the Lord

In early March the seminarians participated in their annual retreat. Since I was unable to obtain a guest retreat-master this year, I gave the retreat myself. This was fortuitous for several reasons. First, it was good for me to make the retreat with the boys. I was also able to see how the schedule worked, as we have used the same basic schedule for the past four years. And also, I had the opportunity to discuss with the seminarians my hopes and concerns for them and for the seminary. In general, I was quite pleased with their effort to observe the silence and make a good retreat. It was a blessing for all of us.

During the Season of Lent we spend considerably more time in church than we otherwise would — and that is as it should be. Not only do we have our annual retreat during Lent, but we also have Sunday Vespers and the Forty Hours devotion. The seminarians participate in the opening and closing ceremonies and the two public Holy Hours, which are part of our Forty Hours here. They also spend private time with the Blessed Sacrament.

Finally, Lent concludes with the magnificent ceremonies of Holy Week. These liturgical ceremonies are quite complex and require lengthy practices if they are to be performed well. The seminarians will participate in ceremonies for Palm Sunday, the Chanting of the Passion, Holy Thursday and Good Friday. They will also attend the chanting of Tenebrae at Mount Saint Michael.

A love for the liturgy of Holy Church and a love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament are indispensable qualities of a seminarian. For this reason there is much emphasis placed upon these things in the seminary. Let us pray that with the time they spend in church, our young men will grow in love of the House of God and will make their own the words of the psalmist: “How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 83).

Again I thank each of you for your prayers and financial support. We have received thus far a good response to our Lenten alms drive, for which we are most grateful. Please continue to pray for the success of our seminary and for more vocations. May God reward you for your generosity, and may you have a joyous Easter.

— Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI

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The Guardian is published monthly for the enjoyment of our benefactors and for the family members of our seminarians. This newsletter is free upon request.

Do You Have a Vocation?

If you are a young man of high school age who has a vocation, then Saint Joseph Seminary may be the place for you. Our four-year course of studies offers the regular high school curriculum, with an emphasis on Theology, Latin and foreign language. A well-rounded program of daily Mass, prayer and sports complements our academic schedule. For more information, write to the rector of Saint Joseph Seminary at the address below.

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If you are not yet a member of the Seminary Support Club and would like to become a member, you may write to the seminary at the address below. Members pledge to pray for the success of the seminary and, if able, to send a regular financial contribution for its support.

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