Posts by Jaque Colwell

I was looking for a diocesan priest to serve at Conception Seminary College as a spiritual director to the seminarians. Several priests from my home diocese of Tulsa had recommended Msgr. Patrick Gaalaas. A few weeks later, when I was visiting my family on vacation, my mother handed me a copy of the Eastern Oklahoma…

Thank you to the monks for being true witnesses of what it looks like to fall in love with God the Father and His Holy Church. The total surrender and the Benedictine vow of constant conversion is something that serves as an inspiration to all of us. If we all become priests in our dioceses,…

St. Paul wrote, “Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one” (1 Cor 9:25). When young men visit the seminary, they often ask what the seminarians do for fun. The discipline of waking up early each morning and arriving to the chapel to…

An unfortunate reality in the worldwide Church is that many young men leave the priesthood after being ordained, typically within the first five years. Additionally, the culture the men are being asked to serve in or from which they are entering seminary is becoming increasingly hostile to traditional Christian values. Something needs to change to…

St. Paul explains to the Corinthians the role of the ministers who are preaching and teaching the Gospel to them. He writes, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth” (1 Cor 3:6-7). Seminary…

With months of practices and scrimmages under our belts, class-absence green-sheets submitted, and a quick jump start for one of the Abbey vans, the basketball team rolled out on Thursday, January 26, headed for Mundelein seminary and the 21st Annual Fr. Pat O’Malley Invitational. Eight hours later, we rolled onto a snowy campus, a little…

It was a cool April morning, around 7 a.m., shortly after the seminarians prayed the Office of Readings in their Holy Cross Oratory. Suddenly came the sound of an excavator rolling in next to St. Maur Hall, positioning itself at the north end of St. Benedict Hall. Then, there was the sound of crashing, broken…

Conception Abbey and Seminary College inaugurated the Deacon Formation Program in 1989 to provide the theological training for candidates preparing for the permanent diaconate. This formation consists of 13 courses on a variety of theological subjects. Candidates earn undergraduate credit, and their spouses can audit courses or receive credit as well. The program responds to…

When I reflect upon my time at Conception Seminary College, I am filled with utmost gratitude for the constant outpourings of God’s grace upon my brothers and me as we prepare to lay down our lives at the service of Christ. Upon entering the seminary, I viewed my own formation as something I had to…

Two of Conception Seminary College’s most vibrant – and, dare I say, popular – additions in the last three years are a pair of married Catholic laymen. Dr. Jonathan Fuqua teaches philosophy and Mr. Benjamin Darnell serves as the seminary’s first lay Human Formation advisor, and also teaches theology. Each considers it a privilege to…

Men enter seminary to discern the priesthood, which, more fully, means going through the process of formation to produce an “integrated man.” Integration, in this sense, translates to a well-rounded, healthy man. Each aspect of formation impacts all the other aspects. The ancient philosopher Plato, when discussing education, argues that each child, in addition to…

Each semester, the seminarians of Conception Seminary College are given a wonderful opportunity to donate a significant amount of money to a charity of their choosing. This money comes from the St. Teresa of Calcutta Fund, which was given to the seminary by an anonymous donor, who wanted to give the seminarians firsthand experience in…