Year of Mercy
Blessed by his Pastoral Presence
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…
Conception Fall Production inspired by “dumb ideas”
Conception Seminary College will present The Dummest Play Ever by Brian D. Taylor as its annual fall theater production this year. The production is scheduled for October 27-29, 2023. In a series of silly scenes that will have you laughing at the “dumbness” in everything, the real question in the end is about what matters…
Journey to the Priesthood
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,…
Compete Well & Keep the Faith
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…
Rising to the Challenge for the Church
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…
Leading Them to Christ
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…
Brothers On and Off the Court
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…
Conception Seminary College releases Spring 2023 Dean’s List
CONCEPTION, Mo. – The Office of the Registrar at Conception Seminary College, in Conception, Missouri, announced the students named to the Dean’s List for the 2023 spring semester. To be included on the Dean’s List, a student must be enrolled as a full-time student and earn a 3.70 GPA or higher on at least…
Conception Seminary College releases Fall 2022 Dean’s List
CONCEPTION, Mo. – The Office of the Registrar at Conception Seminary College, in Conception, Missouri, announced the students named to the Dean’s List for the 2022 fall semester. To be included on the Dean’s List, a student must be enrolled as a full-time student and earn a 3.70 GPA or higher on at least…
Brothers Living in Unity
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…