Vocations Tree - Pray for our Seminarians during Lent

Stop by our Vocations Tree in the church narthex. It is covered with cards featuring seminarians of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.  We invite you to choose one card (or more than one) and commit to praying a short prayer for that seminarian each day during Lent, and beyond if you wish. Make it a beautiful offering to the Lord this Lent to pray for those whom He calls to give their lives in service of His Church. This is a great activity for families, too! 

By the way, did you notice each seminarian’s card lists his year of formation? Did you wonder what it meant? Archdiocesan seminarians go through many years of formation before ordination. Seminarians who have just begun their formation journey spend a year of further discernment and preparation (Propaedeutic Year) before they start more rigorous studies. Then those who have graduated from high school work on earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy (First College, Second College, Third College, Fourth College) before moving to graduate-level theology (First Theology, Second Theology, Third Theology, Fourth Theology). Men who have already earned a bachelor’s degree before coming to the seminary will spend two years in a pre-theology program (First Pre-Theology, Second Pre-Theology) before advancing to graduate-level theology. Before ordination, a seminarian may spend a year at a parish (Pastoral Year). Usually a seminarian is ordained a transitional deacon the year before he is ordained a priest. If you picked a deacon, pray for him in a special way: He is preparing for ordination in June, God willing!