First seminary year is a step away from the world and closer to Christ

Propaedeutic – pronounced proh-pi-doo-tik – is a fancy word from Greek that means “to teach beforehand.”

In Church speak, propaedeutic describes the first year of seminary formation, a vital introduction to seminary life. For the men, it’s a plunge into deeper prayer and service, getting to better know God, themselves and others. 

This year, eight seminarians from the Archdiocese of Omaha have entered their propaedeutic year at various seminaries.

The archdiocese’s eight new seminarians, all entering their propaedeutic year, receive vestments at a Seminarian Send-Off day earlier this month.

“It’s a time to disconnect from many things of the world in order to prepare for full seminary formation,” said Father Scott Schilmoeller, archdiocese vocations director.

The propaedeutic year includes a fast from many forms of technology and aims to provide a biblical view of the world.

“There’s a lot of different worldviews out there,” Father Schilmoeller said. The goal of the propaedeutic year is “to take someone out of the variety of worldviews and have him deeply steeped in the Catholic Biblical worldview, without the distractions of the world.”

Recently, during the pontificate of Pope Francis, the Church recognized a need to re-adjust seminarian formation.

In the United States, the years-long formation of seminarians is broken into several stages, which typically include the propaedeutic year, four years of discipleship and four years of configuration. A pastoral year of parish service is sometimes part of that formation.

Beginning soon, another, final phase will be implemented: vocational synthesis, the last six months of formation before priestly ordination. During that phase, men who have already been ordained as transitional deacons will serve at a parish in their home diocese, bringing together the previous years of formation into active ministry.

The propaedeutic year came about after a “rapid change in culture that’s taken place within the last 20 years,” Father Schilmoeller said. “This generation is the first generation in humankind, in the history of the world, that’s grown up with screen devices regularly consuming their time.”

Other changes have happened, too, said Father Ben Holdren, director of the propaedeutic year at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, part of the Diocese of Lincoln. Four seminarians from the Archdiocese of Omaha are under his direction.

Cultural changes include attempts to redefine marriage, gender and sexuality. In the Church, there’s been a re-emphasis on missionary evangelization and interfaith dialogue.

The seminarians themselves are different, too, Father Holdren said. Some were born outside the United States. Some experienced difficult family situations. Some entered at an older age.

“We’re in a different time,” Father Schilmoeller said, “and the Church has responded to that.”

THE BASICS

The propaedeutic year provides the basic groundwork for seminary life, Father Holdren said. The year focuses on relationships, with God and with others – and with the seminarians taking “a real look at themselves.”

“Our goal is to help them have a real friendship with our Living God,” he said. “A real encounter with the Lord, especially helping them to see what is the spirituality of a diocesan priest.”

At St. Gregory the Great and other seminaries, a priest, such as Father Holdren, is designated to be with the first-year seminarians full-time, to bring in teachers and speakers in areas of human and spiritual formation. At St. Gregory the Great, that has included psychologists and a variety of priests.

The men are taught basic Church teachings on prayer, Father Holdren said, “just explaining this is Who God is: God is personal; God is intimate; God is vulnerable; God desires relationship. He has loved us first.”

St. Gregory the Great seminarians will experience a five-day silent retreat toward the beginning of the year and an eight-day silent retreat at the end of the year.

They spend time in Adoration each day.

“My goal for these guys is that they would be very, very comfortable being in silence with the Lord,” Father Holdren said, “praying that they would have a greater knowledge of themselves and what causes them to be anxious or fearful or frustrated,” and take that knowledge into spiritual direction.

DETOX

The propaedeutic year, Father Schilmoeller said, helps seminarians “attach themselves in a deeper way to God and their spiritual life and to each other in community.”

The technology fast is key to that process.

The new seminarians at St. Gregory the Great have no access to tech devices on weekdays. “It gives them a detox,” Father Holdren said.

On the weekends, they’re allowed access to their own “dumb phone.” The simpler phones can be used to send texts and provide access to some apps, but not those that can be addictive, like social media.

“So if there’s a guy who has never been without his smartphone, after this year he will know what it’s like to be free from that,” Father Holdren said.

For the most part, the separation from technology goes smoothly. In fact, the seminarians thrive – like ducks thrown into water, he said.

The men get together to play board games, cards, pool, ping pong, basketball and Ultimate Frisbee.

ST. GREGORY THE GREAT SEMINARY

“We were made for relationships,” Father Holdren said, “and now they don’t have that temptation to go isolate themselves in their rooms on TikTok. Now they’re free.”

“My room is connected with one of our main propaedeutic lounges,” he said. “I’ll be sitting in my room and I’ll hear the guys just dying laughing on a regular basis. … They’re happy being connected with each other. And they’re kind of forced into being creative and finding things to do.”

“We encourage hobbies and really try to give them space and equipment to have activities. It’s been my experience that they love not having their phones and love just being with each other.”

The propaedeutic year also includes service and special times of travel.

From December 10-15, the propaedeutic-year seminarians will travel to Mexico City. They will be there during the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, along with 16 million other pilgrims. Their group will have access to the shrine when others are not there. They will also be working with the poor while in Mexico City.

In January, the men in propaedeutic formation will join more than 15,000 other young Catholics from across the country at a SEEK conference. In February, they will accompany Missionaries of Charity and other religious sisters in serving the poor.

Closer to home, every week they’ll help apostolates in Lincoln and Omaha in serving the poor, the elderly and others.

“I have really grown to love the Church’s vision for this propaedeutic year,” Father Holdren said. “I just keep thinking, wow, I wish I would’ve had this. It’s just incredible.”

“I think … if I would’ve had that, how different my seminary experience would’ve been. That’s a really common thing that I hear from other priests as well, who did not have this. And one of the most common questions that I get from my friends who are not priests: ‘Father, where can I sign up for this?’ ”

“The second most common thing is ‘Father, how old do my boys have to be before I can send them to you?’ ”