This week, the Church in Australia celebrates National Vocations Awareness Week, promoting vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, and inviting each of us to pray about how God is calling us to live out our vocation more deeply. Significantly, the week coincides with the solemnity of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s first saint.
Along with a dedicated team, I have the privilege of helping prepare candidates for priestly ordination at Corpus Christi College, the diocesan seminary for Victoria and Tasmania.
The word seminary comes from the Latin for ‘seedbed’, a dedicated place where something created by God is nurtured and encouraged to grow. And so Corpus Christi College provides this seedbed for priestly vocations. Guided by the Holy Spirit, it seeks to form its members in the ways of Christ the Good Shepherd for priestly service in our parish communities.
Last year, the College celebrated its 100th anniversary, and during this time it has trained more than 1000 priests.
At the heart of Corpus Christi College has always been the mission to form priests who generously serve the People of God.
De Te Vivere, often translated as ‘To Live from Thee’, has long been the motto of Corpus Christi College. Chosen by the second Rector, Fr Henry Johnston SJ, and coming from one of St Thomas Aquinas’ Eucharistic hymns, the words ‘de te vivere’ sum up well the purpose and mission of the college. The verse from which our motto is drawn reads:
O memorial of our Lord’s death!
Living bread that gives life to man!
Grant my soul to live from you,
And always to savour your sweetness.
Our seminary was established to train priests who faithfully lead God’s people to the fullness of life in Christ, offering them the Bread of Life so that they can draw strength from life in him.
Archbishop Daniel Mannix founded the college on Christmas Day in 1922, making it the oldest seminary still operating in Australia that keeps its original name. That name could not be more Eucharistic, and for the last 100 years, Corpus Christi College has been forming priests to offer the Eucharist for a Eucharistic people. Described by the Second Vatican Council as the ‘source and summit’ of our Christian life, it is the Eucharist from which our Christian mission and apostolate flow.
Since 1923, the seminary has operated in four locations. Styles of priestly training have varied with the times, but at the heart of Corpus Christi College has always been the mission to form priests who generously serve the People of God.
In February, we welcomed ten new students to their first year in the seminary, and there are currently 30 students in training for the priesthood.
The activities at the seminary are many and varied, with our seminarians’ weekly routine encompassing daily prayer, meditation, Mass and, among other things, classes in philosophy, theology, history and Scripture, as well as pastoral work and musical training.
This year, the college community has had regular opportunities to offer hospitality to visitors, and to invite them to share their wisdom with us.
Kevin Bailey AM, Director of Parousia Media, spoke to us about the intersection of faith and politics, and of the importance of maintaining a strong voice in the public square on matters of religion and conscience.
In May, we welcomed Justice Simon Steward of the High Court to our community dinner. His Honour explained various aspects of the Australian legal system, gave a personal account of daily life as a judge and reflected on the importance of his Catholic faith in his professional and personal life.
A few days later, ABC journalist Lisa Miller, co-host of ABC News Breakfast, gave a talk on her experiences during 31 years as a journalist. As well as speaking about some of the momentous world events she has reported on, Lisa reflected on the importance of overcoming fears and of acknowledging the impact that trauma can have on those who regularly witness distressing events.
Our seminary community is so grateful for the prayers of so many faithful people who support our priestly formation, helping us to provide the Bread of Life to our parish communities.
During the Week of Christian Unity, we were delighted to welcome Anglican ordination candidates from Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, who joined us for Evening Prayer and dinner, and who have reciprocated with an invitation for us to attend Evensong and dinner at Trinity in the coming weeks, reviving a happy tradition going back several decades.
And on 2 June, just before academic exams, the seminary hosted the Melbourne Corpus Christi Procession, which commenced with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli, and was followed by a Eucharistic procession attended by an estimated 1500 people. That evening, a good number of priests who had trained at Corpus Christi were welcomed to dinner to celebrate the college’s feast day.
In mid-June, our first-year students—undertaking something that has become a very formative spiritual experience in the seminary program—made a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, visiting Hamilton, Mt Gambier, Penola and Portland. This was followed by some weeks of pastoral experience, caring for the elderly in local retirement homes.
After a well-deserved end-of-term break, the life of seminary formation has again begun in earnest. It goes without saying, but indeed should still be said, that our seminary community is so grateful for the prayers of so many faithful people who support our priestly formation, helping us to provide the Bread of Life to our parish communities, and to live up to our seminary motto: ‘To Live from Thee’.
Banner image: First-year seminarians from Corpus Christi College, accompanied by Frs Cameron Forbes and Daryl Montecillo (first and third from right) and artist Barbara Skorupa (centre), at the ‘Great Women of Faith’ exhibition at St Patrick’s Cathedral, March 2024. (Photo courtesy of Corpus Christi College.)
