The Two Emphases of Seminary: Prayer and Fraternity
By Scott Curtis

I’ve been at IHMS [Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary] for a little over a month, and so far it’s been better than I could have imagined. I can already see how the Seminary is helping me to gain a better prayer life and a closer bond with my fellow seminarians. The IHM Seminary does an excellent job of stressing the importance of these two things.

I came to the Seminary without a very structured prayer life. I had a lot of questions about what I should do, and at times I would struggle to keep a normal prayer routine. One of the first things we did at IHMS was to learn about prayer. We pray the Divine Office [Liturgy of the Hours] together and have a community rosary once per week. We begin each day celebrating Mass together.

My prayer life has also been guided during spiritual direction, which has been excellent for me so far. I now have a much larger focus on prayer in my discernment and have a much better idea of how to pray.

The other thing the seminary stresses is a strong fellowship among the seminarians. So far, I have been able to get to know some excellent young men, who are all going through the same struggles as me. We all eat dinner as a community each night, so we get to know each other in a very open and friendly setting. We also have a lot of free time on weekends and during free weekends to do things outside of the seminary. I know that many of the friends I make here will be friends for the rest of my life and their support will help me make it through many of my struggles in the seminary. I love the seminary! I am looking forward to the next four years of my life!

Note: This article was written in the fall of 2005 when Scott Curtis was a freshmen at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary (IHMS).