Fall Appeal

Life Away from Home During the Seminary’s Restoration

“By the rivers of [Seminary Woods], there we sat and wept, remembering [the Salesianum]; on the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps. …O how could we sing the song of the Lord on alien soil?” (cf. Psalm 137:1-2, 4)

Such was perhaps the cry of many a seminarian, faculty, and staff member as we made the trek across Seminary Woods at the end of last school year to take up residence in the “Seminary in Exile” at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Pastoral Center. The show must go on, but how would we fare? How would we “keep singing” on alien soil?

With several months of the school year now under our belt, the way this seminary community is thriving is truly remarkable—partly because we’ve made “Exile” a home away from home, but partly because new life is springing up left and right. From meals in the Milwaukee Bucks’ former weight room, now affectionately referred to as “Cervus Commons” (Latin for “deer”), to the propaedeutic men doing the dishes (“propa-dish-duty”), to the silent hall of prayer and study (“ora et labora”), to scooters used to conquer endless corridors, to picnics with our archdiocesan friends at the pastoral center—we have found life in adapting to new circumstances together as a community.

Such was the very advice the prophet Jeremiah gave to those undergoing exile. “Build houses and live in them,” he urged. “Plant gardens and eat their produce. …Multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:5-7). This has been our joy and our salvation: to bloom where we’ve been planted, and to seek the welfare of the house we’ve been called to inhabit for the time being.

True, the longing for our “homeland” and the renewed halls of the Salesianum inspire much of our creative adaptation. But so says the Psalmist: “If I forget you, [the Salesianum], let my right hand wither! O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not, if I prize not [the Salesianum] above all my joys!” (cf. Psalm 137:5-6)

That longing tells us something of the deepest longings of the human heart—the yearning for our true homeland in heaven and a place to find eternal rest. “Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God” (Psalm 42:2). “Cervus Commons” and all the other places and ways we are finding refreshment in our temporary housing have much to teach us in this time of exile. In the meantime, we keep turning the soil, and planting gardens, with hope for what’s to come.

Thank you for your faithful support that keeps priestly formation strong and vibrant at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, even during our exile. We know of your generosity, and we are praying for you! We appreciate every gift that helps our men become priests of Jesus Christ.

With gratitude for your past generosity, we humbly ask you to prayerfully consider another sacrificial gift today. The need to form good priests is urgent, and you can make a difference through your support of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. Your donation will help us to ordain 11 priests this spring for a total of 48 new priests in just the last four years!

Thank you for your continued faithfulness to our mission. May God reward you abundantly! And, please pray for us!

The Saint Francis de Sales Seminary Community

PS – Please remember Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in your year-end charitable giving.

The Seminary community leaves the Salesianum behind as it processes through the woods to its temporary home at the Pastoral Center.

Previously a second-floor lounge, the new Saint Francis de Sales Chapel is the center of life in exile.