I close my eyes in order to see -Paul Gauguin
An Overview
Spirituality
The Tansi Seminary Family is in no doubt of the gravity of the task that lies before her. She knows that “Without priests the Church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 1). But she also knows that “an intimate bond exists between the priest’s spiritual life and the exercise of his ministry” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 24). Consequently, the Seminary places great emphasis on the spiritual formation of the seminarians.
The formation experience is so structured to imbue seminarians with a deep desire for intimacy with God, an imitation of Christ and a passionate love for others. In fact, this aspect of the formation – the spirituality of the seminarians – is the centre that holds all the aspects of the formation together. That is why the chapel is regarded as the number 1 building in the Seminary.
The Seminary Main Chapel is a symbol of unity, as this one house brings together the entire members of the Tansi Family for community prayers and worship. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate this formation in intimacy with God, and to bring the mystery and beauty of Christ even closer to the door of the heart of the seminarians, each hostel has its own chapel where the members of the hostel, as a small family within a larger family, come together for the breaking of the bread and prayers.
It is still in this desire that students learn “to live in intimate and unceasing union with God the Father through the Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit” (Optatam Totius, 9) that students spend an hour of meditation before the Blessed Sacrament every morning after Lauds. Lunch and dinner is preceded by short scriptural readings and concluded with a passage from Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. Students meet in small groups to share the Word among themselves and to encourage one another. Confessions are organized every week, which does not exclude the opportunity to meet any of the Spiritual Directors for confession whenever the need arises. Seminarians are challenged to a life of charity. Very importantly, seminarians are trained to cultivate silence as “the spiritual atmosphere vital for perceiving God’s presence and for allowing oneself be won over by it” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 47). In fact, the spiritual activities of the Seminary are so arranged as to aid the seminarians to be God-centered priests.
“Prayer should not be regarded as a duty to be performed but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed. A rare delight that is always revealing a new beauty”