FIRST STEPS ON THE JOURNEY TO PRIESTHOOD

Most of us at St Maria’s already know, however, for those people new to our parish, we have a young man in our midst who has begun a long and spiritual journey towards becoming a priest. Jean Claude Wildanger entered the Seminary of St Peter www.fssp.eu which is located in Opfenbach-Wigratzbad in the Allgaü region of Germany, in September 2013.

In the summer of this year, he very kindly invited me to attend a special Mass for those seminarians who have entered their Second Year of Study, which was to take place on Saturday 25th October 2014 in the church of “Unserer Lieben Frau” located on Lindau Island at Lake Constance. The Mass itself would be in the Latin Form and would last for just under 3 hours. In the Mass itself he would be receiving his black Cassock and Surplice as well as having some of his hair cut from the back of his head!

I travelled down the night before with my husband knowing that I would need time to locate the church and see how long it would take for me to walk from our Hotel the next day.

On the Saturday morning we left the hotel in plenty of time and arrived at the church at around 8:45 am, where we were surprised to see Jean-Claude waiting outside. I did not recognise him straightaway because he had shaved his beard off and looked very young! I found a place in the church (which was originally built in 1100, but burnt down in 1728 and was restored and reconsecrated in 1752 short history lesson over) and settled myself down. I can only just remember mass being celebrated in the late 1970’s when I was relatively young. I was, however completely overwhelmed by my experience. From the chants sung by the seminarians to the words used. I would certainly recommend anyone to experience a Latin Mass for themselves. In total 18 men who came from all walks of life received their Cassocks and Surplices that day. Afterwards we joined Jean-Claude, his parents and some of his friends at the Seminary for a 3 course lunch.

I felt very privileged to have been invited to such an important step in his life and together with our continued support he shall reach his ultimate goal. However, He still has a long way to go before that and would ask you all to keep him in your prayers.

Here is a link to a website that many of you may wish to look at regarding vocations to the priesthood https://fssp.com/press/vocations/

(by Rachel Emmerson)