ASPECTS OF FORMATION
Human Formation
Human formation is the basis of religious and priestly formation.
Priests of the IVE must:
1. Reflect the Incarnation of the Word, in whom shines the intimate union of human perfection and divine perfection
2. Serve as bridge and not as an obstacle between God and man. ( Heb. 5:1)
3. Be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, compassionate, with integrity and balanced in judgment and behavior.”
This Human Formation also includes the formation of will, which is done through the constant practice of the virtues and the control of the passions. We want to form men who are authentically free and self-possessed; who by that self-possession can give themselves totally. We consider the practice of sports, camping, community vacations, etc. to be of great importance in this formation of the will.
Intellectual Formation
Philosophy
To acquire a solid and clear knowledge of man, the world and of God
With the methods and teachings of the philosophy, the seminarian will be helped to go deeper and live more profoundly his faith, to the loving worship of truth which lead us to the fact that this truth is not created and measured by man, but rather given to us a gift from God. To study Philosophy is also to prepare the future priest for the Theological studies.We seek to deepen our studies of philosophy and theology that we may be of worthy missionaries in this time of New Evangelization.
Theology
To possess a complete and a united vision of the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ and of the experience of the Church since we are called to be men of faith that should bring and strengthen our brethren in the faith!”
In our studies, we follow the magnificent synthesis that Saint Thomas Aquinas presents in his ‘Summa Theologica’, in which, starting from the idea of one God as the principal and the end, all of the great truth found its place: Trinity, Creation, Angels, Theological Anthropology, Moral, Christology, Sacraments, and Eschatology.
Spiritual Formation
Spiritual life must be understood “as a relationship and communion with God. (John Paul II)”
There is triple path for this encounter:
Meditation on the Word of God.
Participation in the Sacred Mysteries.
Fraternal Charity.
He became flesh in order that we might have life and have it more abundantly (Jn 10:10).
To have this life in Jesus Christ, it is absolutely essential to be united with his Person, have his Spirit, assimilate his doctrine, frequent his sacraments, imitate his example, profoundly love his Mother, be in perfect communion with the hierarchy of the Church by a double bond – the same faith and charity, and the governance of one alone, Peter, over all.
Our motto is “with Peter and under Peter.”
In this way, following the Holy Father in belief and following the saints in practice, we will never err, since neither the Holy Father can err in his teachings about faith and morals, nor did the saints err in their practice of virtues. We want to form virtuous men, according to the doctrine of the great teachers of the spiritual life, especially Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and from the example of all the saints of all times that the Church proposes as examples of virtue for us to imitate.
Pastoral Formation
A priest must be an image of Christ, the Good Shepherd.
This is the reason why the whole formation of a priest must aim to prepare the future priest to enter into communion with the charity of Christ, the Good Shepherd. This pastoral formation begins from the time of novitiate, wherein they are gradually introduced to the apostolates of our Institute. Every Saturday, our seminarians go to their assigned apostolates, be it the children’s oratory, working with the youth or helping in one of our parishes. On summer breaks, the seminarians also undertake different activities such as Holy Missions and Summer Camps.
We wish to be formed according to the Heart of Christ: priests who nourish our hearts and spirit with the Word of God, serving our neighbor in solidarity with all in need, tireless preachers, “rich in spirit“, “with tongue, lips and wisdom which the enemies of truth cannot resists”, merciful confessors, exceptionally fruitful in our apostolic and vocational efforts, not elusive to the missionary adventure, always joyful even in difficulties, lovers of the Cross and true devotees of the Virgin Mary.