May 13: We were recently asked where 'The Seminary Rule' can be found. We are posting a list of various resources. This particular book is not currently in print. We may consider scanning it in or you can look for it used.
May 9: The Seminary Rule discusses how a seminarian should make time for spiritual exercises. The first thing this book addresses is the temptation to cut short spiritual exercises. It devotes a notable amount of space to this temptation and then concludes that we should never cut short our spiritual exercises. No, this must be most important. Let us consider with a piece of advice: If ever there should arise the situation in which there absolutely and genuinely is not, as a rule, sufficient time for both parish activities and one’s spiritual exercises, the former must be cut down and not the latter. A priest is actually doing much more for the souls committed to his care as he kneels or sits in meditation than when he is at his desk or in the conference room. Now all Christians must devote themselves to spiritual exercises and must have a regular routine of spiritual practices, such as morning and evening prayer, prayer before and after meals, spiritual reading, meditation, daily Rosary, etc. And in these days we should be seeking to increase them, not reduce them.