By Mary Powers
Introduction
On the memorial of the Queenship of Mary, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, chancellor of St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, consecrated the institution to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The consecration was in response to President and Rector Father Mark Doherty’s request from a group of seminarians who have been praying for the consecration.
This consecration was a renewal of the consecration of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, originally made by the archbishop in 2017 on the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima. It also served as a personal appropriation in the institutional life of the Seminary and in the life of each individual of the Seminary community.
Echoing his call to the faithful of the Archdiocese, Archbishop Cordileone asked the Seminary community to pray the rosary daily, adding penance to their lives such as fasting on Fridays throughout the year, availing themselves to the Sacrament of Penance, spending time in Eucharistic Adoration. Living the consecration comes with a promise, said the archbishop. “As Our Lady said at Fatima, ‘In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.’”
Founded in 1898 by San Francisco Archbishop Patrick Wiliam Riordan, St. Patrick’s Seminary & University has prepared Catholic priests in conformity to Christ’s sacrificial love to serve the people of God with His pastoral charity.
Origins of the Request
Three years ago, Deacon Scott Vincent Borba (Fresno), Joshua Lesan (Stockton), and Josue Montoya (Stockton) began a rosary walk on the Seminary campus, finishing at the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Initially it was three of them. In a short time, many more seminarians and faculty joined them.
“The first day we started the rosary walks, we asked Our Mother in prayer to double the size of the group, not for our own glory, but for the graces that we need for the Seminary,” said Deacon Borba. “Literally the next day, we had more than doubled the size of the group. We all saw it and said, ‘Wow!’ And then she did it again. She quadrupled it today, on the day of the consecration.”
After the Seminary’s pilgrimage to the apparition site in Medjugorje in September 2022 and inspired by his own consecration he made in high school, Lesan began to investigate whether the Seminary had been formally consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He eventually asked Seminary Father Doherty if the Seminary could be consecrated.
In February, Father Doherty approached the archbishop with the request, and he agreed. The date for the consecration was set for the memorial of the Queenship of Mary and the launch of the new academic year.
In addition to the rosary walks organized by the seminarians, they have also organized first Saturday devotions on campus. Earlier this year, many seminarians joined together for a 33-day preparation and spiritual commitment to make St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s Consecration to Jesus through Mary, which ended on March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation.
Our Lady’s role in fostering priestly vocations and in formation
This special devotion to Our Lady is not unique to St. Patrick’s. Across the country, data reveals the important role Mary is having on ecclesial vocations.
In July, a national study from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University found that Mary had a deep impact on vocations in the Church. The 1,091 survey respondents included diocesan bishops, diocesan priests, religious men and women, permanent deacons, and other vocations in the Church. The study showed that Our Lady had a “meaningful impact” or “great impact” on the respondents’ original sense of vocation (59%) and that more than 70% said that praying the rosary privately was the most popular devotion while discerning.
When asked about the importance of the Blessed Mother in discernment and formation, Archbishop Cordileone emphasized her motherly energy and care.
“The presence of Mary in our spiritual life helps bring us into the family of God,” said Archbishop Cordileone. “She’s there with her Son, reigning in glory. As we celebrate on the memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we do so with all the saints as part of the family of God. He created us for communion. The family is our preparation for that, and Mary reminds us of that.”
Father Doherty said that there is a direct correlation between the depth and breadth of the seminary community’s devotion to Our Lady and the zeal for the kingdom that one can feel “reverberating throughout the house.”
“Drawing close to our Lady means drawing close to her Immaculate Heart,” said Father Doherty. “As we do so, our hearts become more pure and generous, qualities that are essential not only to making a good discernment but also to making and keeping a commitment to serve the Church. Allowing our Lady to shape our hearts means, among other things, allowing her to share her zeal for her Son’s kingdom with us.”
“If you think that you’re going to be able to do this on your own and you’re not surrendering to her and to her Son completely, then you’re going to have an uphill battle,” said Deacon Borba. “It’s hard enough to stay focused and do everything that we’re stretched to do. Mary will allow you to do it well and with joy. That’s what she gives to me and to all of her children — a, sense of joy and peace. Even throughout challenges and times of difficulty, there is a sense of joy that we all recognize because we’re her children.”
“One thing Father Mark Doherty has talked about with us is how important Our Lady is for the priesthood, especially as we’re called to be celibate,” said Montoya. “For somebody who might be discerning consecrated life, there’s an advantage. They marry Jesus Christ, praise God! But man is not meant to be alone we hear in the Book of Genesis. We’re going to be celibate, but we need the feminine genius to always be with us. Our Lady wants to be that so badly for each priest.”
What the consecration means for the Seminary
As with the 2017 archdiocesan consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the next step for the Seminary community is to live out the consecration made in August.
“I think this idea of living the consecration is not transactional,” said Archbishop Cordileone. “If we live a spiritually serious life, God will work things out in His plan if we’re open to His graces. We can’t program how God’s going to do it, but if we stay with the plan, it eventually will work out the way God means it to for our own good.”
“Our Seminary community’s devotion to our Lady correlates with the quality of the theological instruction St Patrick’s is known for,” said Father Doherty. “As Our Lady’s heart embraces and embodies the fullness of the Lord’s Gospel teaching, so those who allow themselves to be drawn into her Immaculate Heart can’t help but also to be pierced through and possessed by the fullness of the Lord Jesus’ teaching.”
For Lesan, the transformation takes place in the hearts of the seminarians if they open themselves up to the care of their heavenly Mother.
“I don’t know of one guy who doesn’t soften up a bit when he starts talking about his mom,” said Lesan. “Our Lady, as the spouse of the Holy Spirit, will use that softness to help the Holy Spirit enter into our hearts so that we don’t just become good functionaries of dispensers of sacraments. Rather, we become transformed as disciples of Christ on fire with His love. Obviously, we were moved by Christ to come to seminary, but the conversion or discipleship, doesn’t end there. It has to push forward and keep going. It has to reach places that it hadn’t before in order to serve the way we’re called to serve.”
“We want our seminary brothers to know that Our Lady is so important in their vocation and in obtaining everything they need for all of their future parishioners,” said Deacon Borba. “And she’s trying to show everyone through the works that we’re trying to do for her and for her Son that she’s powerful, and she wants everyone to know that. We want people to open their eyes and their hearts to see this.”
For Montoya, consecrating the Seminary to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a powerful spiritual protection for the entire community.
“Let’s say if I were the devil, if I hated the Church, I would try to get into the Seminary,” said Montoya. “From the Seminary, you can mess up formation. From formation, you mess up the whole Church. St. Padre Pio once said that the only place the devil has no dominion is in the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And so, to consecrate this Seminary to her heart is such a powerful spiritual boost.”
Read Archbishop Cordileone’s homily from the consecration Mass: https://sfarch.org/three-requests-and-a-promise/
Learn more about St. Patrick’s Seminary & University at https://stpsu.edu/
Photos: Ramón Camacho
