Dear Parishioners:
As you may know, it takes a long time to be a priest. One must obtain a Bachelor’s degree in order to enter the Major Seminary. Also, in order to enter the Major Seminary, a man must have at least two years of Philosophy studies completed. Then, the Seminary has a program called the “Pastoral Year.” After two years of study at the Major Seminary, a seminarian is placed in parish for a year to get some practical experience. So, most priests will have spent seven years in study before his ordination.
For me, I went to the high school seminary (St. Pius X) and the College Seminary (Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception). Both of these institutions have closed, and we no longer have these educational institutions. But, for those of us who went to the seminary high school, college and major seminaries, we are referred to as “lifers”!
I say this as a long introduction to AUGUSTE HORNER. Auguste is a seminarian who will be with us from May 13th to July 17th. I turn over the rest of this letter to Auguste to introduce himself.
AUGUSTE HORNER
Hello, everyone, and thank you for welcoming me to St. Patrick’s! My name is Auguste Horner, and I am studying to be a priest to serve the people of Long Island. I am in my first year of theology studies at St. Joesph’s Seminary in Yonkers (four years away from ordination). This summer I have been assigned to learn from the priests here at St. Patrick’s and will be here until the end of July.
I am a French-American born and raised in New York City. My mother is from the French island of Corsica, and my father is from Cedarhurst, Long Island. I have one older brother who lives in Brooklyn. I’m a lover of music, film, and the outdoors.
Before entering seminary, I studied History at Yale and taught History and Latin at a small Catholic high school in Westchester called the Montfort Academy. I loved my work teaching and working with young people, but I felt in prayer and reflection that God was asking me to serve him as a priest. Since joining the seminary I have gotten to be involved in many beautiful ministries. This year in seminary, I worked at a halfway house for recently incarcerated people and was able to witness for them the love of Jesus.
I’m looking forward to meeting you all and to seeing everything that the Holy Spirit is doing here in Smithtown!
God bless you, Auguste