St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary
Brothers' Novitiate
21077 Quarry Hill Rd.
Winona, MN 55987

Novitiate Moves to Seminary

As you know, the big news this year is the move of the novitiate from El Paso to Winona. Fr. Pfeiffer explained perfectly the reasons for our superior’s decision. My first duty as the newly appointed master of novices is to thank all the priests who were my predecessors. They have dedicated their talents and time with great apostolic zeal and energy. May God reward their excellent supernatural spirit. I would also like to thank all of the district priests for their fatherly care concerning the religious vocations of these young men and for guiding them to the novitiate. Certainly more vocations will be coming in the future. We are blessed now with four postulants, and I am deeply convinced that they are the fruit of your prayers and sacrifices. Remember that your spiritual generosity is still necessary to ensure the perseverance of their vocations, for the enemies of our souls will try to stop them in the way of perfection. His snares and traps are often very subtle, having the appearance of “good and pious reasoning”. Let me give you one example used by Fr. Timothy Pfeiffer in his sermon for the last “vesture” of a brother.

A young man with a great desire of perfection went to see a monk in the desert. This young soul, full of zeal, was discouraged because of the numerous temptations and spiritual battles he found in the religious life. The old monk then showed him two paths: one a dirt road covered with only very short grass, the other rampant with weeds. The first corresponded to life in the world, the second to life in search of perfection. It seemed to the poor young religious that he was fighting against new temptations that he had never before encountered while living in the world. Of course the diabolical suggestion was to quit, to abandon the religious life in the name of the “better perfection” he had in the world. But what did the pious old monk tell this novice? He explained that the first path did not have long grass and weeds because in the “busy life” of the world, full of distractions, the soul is constantly running back and forth between God and the sin. He never realized that under the ground remained the very deep roots of weeds and that the devil was “distracting” him with such a busy life. The second path represented the beginning of his religious life. By leaving the distractions of the world, all of the weeds’ roots grew out and the young monk now began to see himself as in reality he is. His soul had a tremendous number of bad roots before, only during his worldly life he simply covered and ignored them. Thanks to God he now sees them and has the occasion to correct his life and work towards perfection.

Dear friends, how many young vocations have abandoned the monastery, the seminary, and the novitiate, feeling discouraged by their “new” temptations? What happened to them? They came back to the “distractions” of the world to ignore the weeds in their soul. You can apply the same example for many of our friends, benefactors, and parishioners who, after a few years in tradition leading a good spiritual life, have abandoned their zeal for the glory of God. If once this temptation was a snare for others, it still remains a danger for all of us today. Pray for perseverance in the service of God. Work and pray with humility.

In order to help these young vocations to persevere, the general superior of the Society Saint Pius X, His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay decided to join the novitiate with the seminary. Bishop Fellay took this decision based on his experience with other novitiates of the Society. Being with the seminarians, the brothers will enjoy the benefits of a stronger structure, more community life, and greater stability in their daily schedule. Also, it will constitute an excellent opportunity for future priests and brothers to get to know each other and to acquire a better understanding of the duties specific to each type of religious life. Another advantage will be the possibility to have greater fidelity to the specific statutes of the brotherhood because of the external frame provided by the seminary. Less contact with the world during their formation will certainly be beneficial and more in conformity with the spirit of the Church. As well, Archbishop Lefebvre asked that the brothers receive between three or four years of formation: one academic year of Postulancy, one complete year of Novitiate, and one or two years of professional formation after their first vows. The actual program is established to last three years. After, they will be sent to our priories and schools to help the priests in their apostolate. We will not keep them at the seminary unless we need them for the noble task of helping us to form new brothers.

Your prayers, sacrifices, and generosity are deeply appreciated and they are certainly blessed by God. Your support of the novitiate constitutes a tremendous help for the Church, for the Glory of God and the salvation of the souls.

Thank you and may God bless you with the maternal protection of the Blessed Mother.

Fr. Philippe Pazat