Holy competition

An unusual feature of the Archdiocese of Baltimore is the fact that we have two major seminaries within our borders: St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg. They are the oldest and second-oldest United States seminaries, respectively.

Both are excellent centers of priestly formation with sustained and growing enrollments and are blessed with excellent formation faculties. Both serve and form not only seminarians from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, but also other dioceses, near and far.

For quite some time, the two seminaries have been rivals – in soccer. Annually (this year is an exception), these two seminaries, together with other mid-Atlantic seminaries, compete for the Vianney Cup (named for St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests). The competition is formidable but the friendship among the seminarians is gratifying. Currently, the Vianney Cup resides at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, but who knows where it might wind up in the future! 

Now, another type of rivalry is brewing. It is a holy competition, the kind of competitiveness that ought to be promoted. Each seminary now numbers among its alumni a priest who has been proclaimed a “blessed.”

In 2017, Pope Francis authorized the beatification of Father Stanley Rother, an alumnus of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, a diocesan priest of Oklahoma City who suffered martyrdom in Guatemala. In 2020, Pope Francis approved the beatification of Father Michael J. McGivney, an alumnus of St. Mary’s Seminary, a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, and founder of the Knights of Columbus. Now, the race is on to see which of these holy priests the church will canonize first.

Stanley Rother was born into a wonderful Catholic family in 1935. He grew up doing farm chores, playing sports and attending a Catholic school. In high school, he felt the call to the priesthood and his bishop eventually sent him to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary for formation. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1963 and not long thereafter volunteered to serve in an archdiocesan mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.

He gave himself with utmost generosity to his new spiritual family. He became fluent in Spanish and in the local dialect. He was tireless in ministering to the poor and to the sick. He helped his people find ways to improve their farming and irrigation techniques. The people he served came to love and trust him, opening the way for effective evangelization and catechesis.

Eventually, however, Father Rother found himself caught in the crosshairs of the civil war between government forces and insurgent guerillas. Early in the morning of July 28, 1981, three men entered his rectory and executed him. Father Rother had given everything, including his life, to the Lord and to the people he served. He was beatified Sept. 23, 2017.

Michael McGivney was born in 1852 into a large Irish immigrant family in Waterbury, Conn. Like other such families, his experienced hardship and struggle. His father worked in a factory under dangerous conditions and died early. Young Michael McGivney also worked in a factory to support the family but soon felt the call to priesthood. His final years of priestly preparation took place at St. Mary’s Seminary (then located on Paca Street in Baltimore).

He was ordained to the priesthood Dec. 22, 1877, in the Cathedral of the Assumption (now our basilica) by then-Archbishop James Gibbons of Baltimore for service in the Diocese of Hartford. His bishop assigned him to serve at St. Mary’s Parish in New Haven. At the time, the parish was struggling.

This young assistant pastor, by his priestly zeal and his capacity to engage the parishioners, transformed it into a vibrant community of faith, worship and service. He readily understood the plight of families left penniless when the father of the family died prematurely. At the same time, he saw the need to help the men of his parish to practice their faith more avidly.

His solution to these needs was to found the Knights of Columbus. Rooted in the principles of charity, unity and fraternity, the Knights became a pathway for husbands and fathers to live their vocation more fully and to provide life insurance benefits for their families in the event of their death.

After a slow start, the Knights began to expand rapidly and is today the largest lay Catholic organization in the world. Father McGivney also ensured that the Knights would remain lay-run. Having given himself to the Lord and to the church with utter dedication, Father McGivney, by then the pastor of St. Thomas Parish in Thomaston, Conn., died Aug. 14, 1890, at age 38. He will be beatified Oct. 31 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Hartford (see page 6).

Both of these holy diocesan priests, each in different ways, “fought the good fight” and “ran the race” (2 Tim 4:7). They are exemplars of priestly courage, leadership and pastoral charity. Both are a source of encouragement, not only for seminarians but also for those of us already ordained. Both are interceding for us.

May devotion to these beatified priests be a great blessing to these two great seminaries and may the Lord bless us and keep us in his love.

Press play below to listen to a Catholic Review Radio episode about sainthood and saints who served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

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