Saint Patrick's Seminary & University

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About St. Patrick's President's LetterGreetings and welcome to St. Patrick's Seminary & University located in beautiful Menlo Park California. St. Patrick's is an institution dedicated to the initial and ongoing formation of priests for service in the Roman Catholic Church. St. Patrick's serves dioceses throughout the western United States and the Pacific Rim. The priests of the Society of St. Sulpice have dedicated themselves to this ministry of preparing diocesan priests here at St. Patrick's since 1898 when the first Sulpicians came to San Francisco.God continues to bless St. Patrick's in so many ways. Amidst so many rich gifts and experiences the Lord teaches his disciples of today, just as he taught his first disciples, telling all to focus only on the tasks he gives each to do. This sets the stage at the outset of our academic and spiritual enterprise. As St. Patrick's welcomes new men the community is humbled by the work of the Holy Spirit and the action of God in the lives of these individuals. The seminary focuses on cultivating the seeds of faith sown by their parents, family members, pastors, religious, vocation directors, catechists, friends, lay faithful and countless others. All are reminded to be very conscious of the sacrifice of those who have sowed the original seeds of faith in the hearts of the men who come to the seminary. Those who come here, who desire to study and be formed into priests of the Lord Jesus Christ, do so moved by the example of saints all around them and ultimately motivated by the One who provides for the growth. As the evangelist St. John records, "For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work." ( John 4: 37-38 )The men of our time studying for the priesthood aspire to a noble enterprise. They will certainly need selfless and positive energy in these challenging and yet wonderful times. Many of these new priests will take assignments wherein they will be responsible for ministering to people in multiple locations. They will also be blessed to be ordained into service of a church that encourages the people of God to assist them in the tasks of addressing the many needs of their brothers and sisters in their communities. In light of this reality the seminary is further convinced about the need to form pastors in the seminary today rather than simply parochial vicars who would, in previous decades, be named pastors later in their years as priests.