“Sulpician Month”
Program of Formation Concludes July 30, 2019
Last week a month-long program for new Sulpicians from around the world concluded at the Sulpician seminary in Issy-les-Moulineaux. The program, called the “mois sulpicien” consisted of four weeks of conferences, discussions, and pilgrimages on Sulpician history, spirituality, and pedagogy.
The program, which was animated by a team of three experienced Sulpicians, included sixteen participants from the three provinces of France, Canada, and the United States. These new members and candidates came from quite a variety of countries: France, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Benin, Togo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroun, the United States, and Zambia.
Everyone agreed that the highlight of the month was the extended pilgrimage to the Auvergne region of France where Sulpician founder Jean-Jacques Olier had preached several missions for the reform of the Church in that area in the seventeenth century. Important sites were visited in Le Puy-en-Velay, Langeac, Pébrac, Ars, and Lyon. Noteworthy was a visit to the cloistered Dominican Sisters at the Monastery of Saint Catherine where Father Olier had first met Blessed Agnes of Jesus, then Prioress of the monastery, who prayed intently for Father Olier and helped him maintain his priestly vocation. There was also an extended visit to Ars where the famous Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, had done such an effective ministry in the nineteenth century.
This program constitutes only one part of a larger program of formation for all Sulpicians, which includes longer introductions to many aspects of the Sulpician ministry of initial and ongoing formation of priests. A date for the next mois sulpicien has not yet been set, as it depends on a sufficient number of candidates. Normally, it is held every three years and always takes place in France, where the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice was founded.
Below are a few pictures from the month.
