Seminary Open-House

Every year on the respective Feast Days (or “Namesdays”) of their buildings, the seminarians have their open-house.  Each building is named after a saint, so on the Feast of St. Michael (September 29), the freshmen and sophomores have open-house in St. Michael’s Hall. This year, the monks are occupying St. Joseph Hall, which is normally the dormitory for the juniors and seniors.  Therefore, the upperclassmen are residing in Marian Hall for the year.  So, on the feast of St. Joseph, we had the open-house in Marian Hall.

Why don’t the monks have open-house?
Good question.  Well, since the monastery is “cloistered” or private, we do not invite guests or seminarians on our residence floors.  We are all about hospitality, but we have to preserve the silence and privacy of the monastery, even if we are in temporary quarters.  Additionally, the monks’ rooms are probably very boring and the seminarians would not be too interested in it.  If you really want to see the monks’ rooms and live among us, I encourage you to join the monastery.  You can contact me, I’m the Vocation Director.

It is a short walk to Marian Hall where we were for last night’s open-house on the Feast of St. Joseph.  I have to admit that it was one of the most interesting open-house events I have ever experienced (emphasis on “interesting”).  First, there was a superhero theme, which as you can tell by the pictures (scroll down, they get pretty funny), some of the seminarians took very seriously.  Also, there were a lot of decorations, including converting the lounge into a bar with flashing lights and music which served non-alchoholic margaritas and had assorted snacks and appetizers.  There were flashing colorful lights that were more akin to a disco club or some sort of rave.  Many of the seminarians also had games in their rooms that they offered for the visitors, while others just offered you a seat to visit for a time.

It was an enjoyable evening.  The seminary and monastic communities have a good relationship, but the monks would not normally be permitted to “hang out” in a seminary dormitory.  So, it was a nice chance to see their rooms and celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph.

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