God calls all people to the fullness of life, by sharing in the salvation he has earned for us through his Cross and Resurrection. And He calls some to leave everything to follow him, like the Apostles.
Intensifying your personal Christian life will help you to make this initial discernment. Taking regular time for silent prayer, meditating on the Word of God, going to Mass more often, going to confession regularly, reading spiritual books, getting closer to the Virgin Mary by praying the rosary.
Because it’s important not to confuse God’s call with your own personal projection, it’s a good idea to share this reflection with someone who can give you good advice and training. This is an opportunity to begin a relationship of spiritual accompaniment – which will be fruitful in any case.
Taking a special time for intimacy with God is also very conducive to vocational discernment. This could be a retreat or a quiet stay in a monastery or religious community.
A vocation to the priesthood is first and foremost a lovely call from the Lord. God sows in some hearts a desire to give Him everything in order to announce Salvation to mankind.
In a concrete life, this call often manifests itself in discrete ways that we need to know how to spot.
It involves three things in particular: desire, experience and ability.
This is how we recognise that the Lord is calling us.
Being a priest is both accepting an invitation from God and responding to the deepest desires of the heart.
We need to be even more precise: God freely calls whomever He wishes, regardless of merit.
God does not choose the best; He chooses ‘those whom He will’ (Mk 3:13). His call is heard in the silence of the heart. At the same time, this call is eminently personal, meaning that it comes to meet what is deepest in our person, and reveals the best part of ourselves.
If the question of becoming a priest arises and the desire is there, it’s not necessarily necessary to wait for irrefutable proof or striking signs. Trust! Discernment is achieved both by living your ordinary Christian life and by coming to see for yourself.
You can contact the Evron Formation Centre to take part in a retreat or spend a few days there. While there, discovering the life of the propaedeutics and seminarians can give us elements of discernment.
During a stay, discussions with the person in charge of formation and the person in charge of the propaedeutic year (‘Saint Martin’s Year’) can give us guidance: Should we continue to discern? How can we determine the right time to enter the propaedeutic year?
In any case, the propaedeutic year is a year of discernment. You don’t become a priest straight away!
The very comprehensive aspect of the training given here means that once you’re in, you can take the question of the call very seriously.
God’s call is then discerned in the Church. For although a vocation is first experienced as a personal desire in response to a call from God, it is also an ‘objective’ call from the Church, to which the Lord has entrusted the task of continuing his mission. Like Jesus, the Church, through the voice of its formators, chooses ‘whom she will’ (Mk 3:13).
Thus, discernment in the seminary is twofold: it is that of the young man who gives himself in the intimacy of his heart, and that of the Church, in particular the priests responsible for seminary formation.
Throughout their formation, and especially during the first two years, seminarians are called upon to refine their discernment and to test it over time. This is done on a personal basis, with the help of the spiritual director. There are also regular meetings with the person in charge of the propaedeutic year, and then with the person in charge of formation.
To become a priest in the Saint-Martin Community, you need to be attracted by the communal life, and be available for mobility in the service of the Mission.
The House of Formation welcomes young people who wish to become priests within the Community. It is a privileged place to listen to the Holy Spirit in order to discern God’s call in depth, under the watchful eye of the Church.
Seminarians also receive the human, intellectual and spiritual formation they need to exercise the ministry of priest or deacon. After six years of study, seminarians can be ordained deacons. After a year, often spent in a parish, they can be ordained priest.
Seminarians of the Saint-Martin Community are called to Holy Orders by the General Moderator of the Community.
The fraternal life of priests, and the exercise of ministry in common, in the image of the apostles, is a privileged means of exercising the priesthood of Christ and living radically as his followers.
It is founded on the fact that priests share in the one priesthood of Christ.
It is an opportunity to strive for authentic charity, capable of shining out over the whole parish. For these reasons, this form of life was strongly encouraged by the Second Vatican Council and the Magisterium.
To join the Saint-Martin Community, contact the person in charge of the House of Formation, don Edouard de Vregille.
It is possible to stay a few days before entering the seminary, to get to know the Community and make contact with the superiors.
To do this, you can contact the community hotelier.
