Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

PPF 101

Seminary Formation: Those Who Accompany Seminarians

all this in a context of faith. 152 This is a gradual process of growth that integrates both the human and spiritual life of the man and leads to a deepening of interior freedom. The growth of interior freedom leads ultimately to a configuration to Christ and thus makes him capable and willing to live the Paschal Mystery of Christ in his own life. The formator accompanies the man in this gradual growth process and assists “the seminarian in becoming aware of his condition, of the talents that he has received, and of his frailties, so that he can become ever more receptive to the action of grace.” 153 This dialogue will involve challenge and encouragement, correction and accountability, as the formator listens to the deeper motives behind the actions of the seminarian and helps him to integrate the various aspects of his life. It will require cultivating in the seminarian attitudes that promote living a life of virtue. It requires truly knowing the seminarian and his particular growth needs. To this end, “it is important that every seminarian be aware of his own life history, and be ready to share it with his formators. This would include especially his experience of childhood and adolescence, the influence that his family and his relatives have exercised upon him, his ability to establish mature and well balanced interpersonal relationships, or his lack thereof, and his ability to handle positively moments of solitude.” 154 Such accompaniment must bring together all the aspects of the human person, allowing him to surrender his whole life to Christ in obedience and interior freedom. “In fact it is only in the crucified and risen Christ that this path of integration finds meaning and completion; all things are united in him (see Eph 1:10).” 155

The key element in this formative accompaniment is mutual trust. It is essential that “the seminarian should know himself and let

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152 See USCCB Committee on Priestly Formation, Spiritual Formation in the Catholic Seminary (1982). 153 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 46. 154 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 94. 155 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 29.

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