A seminarian reports on his seminary’s plans for the announcement of the next Pope

From a seminarian:

I just got done praying for good weather in Rome.

I thought it would be interesting to hear what seminaries are doing during this Conclave, and especially how they will celebrate when our new Pope is elected.
Here in Saint Paul, when we hear of white smoke, one of our guys is assigned to ring the seminary bell in the tower, we’ll rush out of class (if we’re in class), run to the seminary and sit in front of a TV and watch everything. Afterwards, we’ll head up to the chapel where our schola will sing the Te Deum and everyone will join in Christus Vincit. Who knows, our rector may even let us miss class for the rest of the day. Naturally, there will be a spirit of joy and celebration throughout the house.

I thought you’d like to hear how the seminarians are getting excited for their new boss in Rome. We love our Pope!!

This is especially poignant for me, given that I was at the St. Paul Seminary in the dark ’80’s when anything having to do with reverence for the Pope was met with sullen resentment and then passive aggressive persecution on the part of the faculty. How wonderful it is to read of such a turn around. Sing the Te Deum? Christus vincit? Back in the day the very suggestion would have resulted in the requirement of psychological testing and perhaps “deselection” from the formation process.

It would be great to hear from other seminarians about plans in their respective houses for the announcement of the next Pope! Chime in!

And thanks for praying for good weather! Please, Lord, no more rain?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in Brick by Brick, Conclave, Our Catholic Identity, Seminarians and Seminaries and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

11 Comments

  1. MarrakeshEspresso says:

    Oh that’s gorgeous. I know when Benedict was elected, there were rumours of a conga line slinking around the North American College, but that could just be idle talk.

  2. lizaanne says:

    There is hope!!! And soon — a pope!!

    Yay!
    That was a really nice way to start my morning – thank you for that post Father!

    God bless all who are braving that weather out in St. Peter’s. Stay warm and dry as much as possible, while we all pray for you back here at home.

  3. Father S. says:

    Presuming that the bunting was not removed during the renovation, seminarians at Kenrick-Glennon in St. Louis should have ample stocks of black, white and gold to hang from exterior fixtures for just these types of occasions!

  4. Pingback: Des séminaristes US se préparent à l’élection… | Riposte-catholique

  5. Tim Ferguson says:

    I can’t speak as to what will happen in the seminary, but here in the Tribunal, we have two bottles of champagne chilling in the refrigerator, at the ready for the celebration of the inauguration of the next pontificate.

  6. I’m not at seminary, but here at Christendom College, I had a “conclave party” yesterday afternoon and we’re gathering again today. I set up the live feed from Fox on a computer in the library and we sat around doing homework (well, attempting to) and watching the smokestack. We’ll be “stalking the smoke” as soon as possible after lunch today!

  7. Dr. Edward Peters says:

    Tim, SHMS (Detroit) will celebrate it liturgically. It’s a bit unclear whether we’re to let our guys out of class. Personally, I’m inclined not to: duty before pleasure and all that. But I might be talking to an empty room!

  8. JuliB says:

    “we have two bottles of champagne chilling in the refrigerator”

    I gave up drinking for Lent. I wonder if I can get a one time release for a tiny bottle of veuve clicquot I have…

  9. Charivari Rob says:

    I don’t know what our seminarys here might be planning.

    At a nearby parochial school, the kids made a mockup chimney so they could keep along with the developing story. Black cotton for black smoke, and they’ll break out the dry ice for white smoke!

  10. Chuck3030 says:

    Here at the University of St. Thomas, Saint John Vianney minor Seminary has two tarps converted into a papal flag that they are currently hanging off the front of the building. I do not know what the sems are doing to celebrate there, but this is the minor attached to Saint Paul Sem, so I expect that there will be similar celebrations. Hope I have the time to join the festivities.

  11. Giuseppe says:

    I gave up my alcohol fast for the night, and we bought a bottle of an Argentine malbec!

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