Seminarians of the Diocese of Sioux Falls along with Father Michael Kapperman (right, front row), Father Jeff Norfolk (left, 2nd row), and Deacon Alexander Leschisin (center, 2nd row). Photo courtesy of Father Michael Kapperman.
By Deacon Alexander Leschisin
One of the most noticeable things as the Advent season begins at Saint Paul Seminary (SPS) is the music in Saint Mary’s Chapel. Gone are the hymns of ordinary time, and in their place come familiar Advent favorites: “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” “On Jordan’s Bank,” “Behold a Rose of Judah.” The incense in the chapel is changed from rose-scented to pine, and the Advent wreath takes pride-of-place in the sanctuary.
A large outdoor creche is erected by seminarians in our main courtyard (preferably before the snow comes!). While the creche remains vacant until Gaudete Sunday, the three Magi have been known to wander the corridors of SPS, ending up in offices, lounges and waiting around blind corners to surprise unsuspecting staff and seminarians.
For the last several years, on St. Nicholas Day, seminarians who bear the name “Nicholas” band together to offer a treat to the other seminarians. Advent at Saint Paul Seminary is truly an experience that affects each of the senses.
While the Church calls us to take time to pray and reflect on the Incarnation during the Advent season, the pace of life only seems to speed up for seminarians. Final exams usually come around in about the third week of Advent, and with them all the stress of study and last-minute projects. Add to that holiday plans with families and parishes back home, and Advent calendars can fill up very quickly indeed.
In spite of all that activity, Advent is a privileged season, and the spirit in the house reflects that reality. Seminarians await with joyful anticipation not just the end of an academic semester or the arrival of Christmas vacation, but the coming of our Lord, both in history and at the end of time.
One of the biggest feast days of the Advent season at SPS falls on Dec. 12, the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe. Many priests and seminarians have a devotion to Our Lady under this title, and at the halfway mark of Advent, it is a wonderful thing to be reminded of the words of Mary to St. Juan Diego in 1531: “Am I not here, I, who am your Mother?” For all Catholics, but in a particular way for seminarians and priests, Mary becomes our mother as we enter more deeply into life in Christ.
In the sacraments, we share in Jesus’ life, and as Mary by her fiat gave him life in the flesh, so even today, Mary, by her prayers of intercession, becomes Mother of Christians. The tenderness and love with which Mary received Jesus on that first Christmas takes root in us as we prepare to receive Jesus more deeply into our hearts and homes, through the sacraments, not just on Dec. 25, but each and every day of the long Advent that is our life.
