SAINT BENEDICT, Ore. — Mount Angel Seminary, a center of vocations and culture in the Catholic Church for more than 135 years, is embracing growth — and recognition, as Pope Francis recently named its chancellor, Benedictine Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Abbot Jeremy’s historic five-year appointment on Jan. 11 comes after serving as a consultor to the dicastery over the past 20 years. His appointment casts light on the thriving seminary, its educational offerings, and the beloved Benedictine monastery, founded in 1882, that serves as its spiritual and cultural hub in the western United States.

Coherent Curriculum Reaps Rewards

The curriculum at Mount Angel Seminary is centered on communion ecclesiology — that all things are rooted in a deep relationship with Christ and his Church, centered on the Eucharist — and emphasizes the liturgical formation of seminarians.

“We have had in place for some 30 years the seminary that Pope Francis called for in his apostolic letter, Desiderio Desideravi,” Abbot Jeremy told the Register. The 2022 letter stated, “The plan of studies for the Liturgy in seminaries must take account of the extraordinary capacity that the actual celebration has in itself to offer an organic and unified vision of all theological knowledge. Every discipline of theology, each from its own perspective, must show its own intimate connection with the Liturgy in light of which the unity of priestly formation is made clear and realized” (37).

“We have developed a coherent curriculum for our students across all disciplines with this in mind,” Abbot Jeremy added. He teaches first-semester, first-year theological studies, focusing on connecting the parts of the Mass to parts of the academic program. “It’s a systematic way of moving through the parts of the Mass and classic themes in academic theology. It is a prayerful way of studying,” he explained.

Enriched by Culture and Spirituality

Abbot Jeremy says that in addition to the quality curriculum, “This is a seminary that has a lot going on around it, which enriches the seminary.” The monastery, world-class library, art collection, Mount Angel Institute, bookstore, coffee shop, an active guesthouse and the Benedictine Brewery create a dynamic formative environment for those who come to study and live at Mount Angel.

Daily life at the abbey and seminary is marked by communal prayer, the celebration of the liturgy, and time for personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament — with fellowship between monks and students, the abbot explained.

“They pray with us all the time and join us for Mass and vespers. Our monastic witness fits in very well with what they are being formed for.”

“The fact that we get to be here on this holy mountain with the Benedictine monks is so special. They welcome you as Christ,” said Myrna Keough, who serves as the coordinator of liturgical formation of students, as an associate professor of sacred music, and as coordinator of the liturgical celebrations that take place at Mount Angel.

“One of the things I love is helping the students grow in their love and appreciation for truly sacred and solemn liturgical music and how that can transform their appreciation of the Mass,” Keough said. “To be with them in that formational process is so special and rewarding.”

Embracing Growth

Father Jeff Eirvin, a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, and an alumnus of Mount Angel Seminary, was installed as the 10th president-rector of the seminary by Abbot Jeremy last August. He served as an adjunct professor at the seminary from 2014 to 2017.

“I’m very excited to lead this flock of seminarians, now entrusted to my care, into deeper communion with Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, whose image and likeness they will be configured to on the day of their ordination,” Father Eirvin said.

The seminary is comprised of a College of Liberal Arts and a Graduate School of Theology, which also offers theological education to qualified laymen and women.

There are now 130 students engaged in degree programs. Currently, 93 men from 16 dioceses and five religious orders are in seminary, while 37 students are pursuing either a Master of Arts or Doctor of Ministry degree.

“The seminary embraces a communion, or communio, where we are in communion with the Trinity. It flows out into the celebration of the Eucharist. Our goal in formation is to see how a man is moving into being a man of communion,” Father Eirvin explained.

Deacon Justin Coyle, a married deacon in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ordained in 2023, serves as associate dean of the Graduate School of Theology and associate professor of theology, Church history and philosophy. He came to Mount Angel in 2018 and has assisted in the reorganization of the curriculum over the past several years.

“It wasn’t until after I started teaching here that I took the bishop’s suggestion that I study for the diaconate,” Deacon Coyle said. “I truly believe that the students and the monks taught me to hear that. I wasn’t ready to hear that before I got to Mount Angel.”

Deacon Coyle added, “The students have taught me so much about being Catholic, about loving the Lord, about faithful scholarship — even the research I do. My vocational discernment would have been harder had I not been here.”

He credits the collegial environment for the success of the seminary’s integrated curriculum.

“We are all committed to this vision that the Eucharist and the liturgy ought to shape the very way we approach theological studies. It’s the very form of the way we instruct people,” Deacon Coyle said.

“Not only are the students open to being formed by the liturgy, but the professors are also committed to being students of the altar,” he explained.

Propaedeutic Year Sparks Spiritual Fire

Since 2022, when the 6th edition of the Program for Priestly Formation — the U.S. bishops’ implementation of the Holy See’s 2016 document Ratio Fundamentalis Institutiones Sacerdotalis — was promulgated, there has been a noticeable enkindling of the Holy Spirit among the seminarians in the propaedeutic stage, or first year of formation.

Mount Angel Seminary went from two seminarians enrolled in the propaedeutic stage the first year, to 25 seminarians in formation in their propaedeutic year currently. The propaedeutic stage focuses on spiritual and human formation.

“This is an incredibly exciting time to work in priestly formation,” said Father Michael Niemczak, coordinator of the propaedeutic year. “We are in the middle of the greatest paradigm shift in the way the Church approaches progress through seminary formation, really since the Council of Trent. The renewed focus is something that was implicitly there, but now we are making it explicit. That is, progress through the stages is less tied to the degree that you are getting in academic studies, but more tied to your relationship with Christ and the Church.”

The seminarians in their propaedeutic year do take some classes, but the whole curriculum is built around spiritual and human formation.

“It’s a year they get to dedicate to knowing themselves and knowing themselves in the light of Christ. The goal is discernment, to understand if they want to move forward along this path. The main goal is that he comes out of it equipped to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, a disciple of priestly formation or a saint in the world,” Father Niemczak said.

“We’re getting more men, and there is a quality of vocations,” said transitional Deacon Edward Burke, 27, of the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau, Alaska. “I can see a tangible difference, there’s so much zeal! They are reenergizing the rest of the seminary.”

Seminarian Jeremy Berka, 46, of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings in Montana, was in the propaedeutic stage of formation last year.

“We’re a special group, ranging in age from 19 years to 46. We all respect each other like brothers. We have a broad spectrum of men; engineers, accountants, a Division 1 athlete and deep thinkers. We are so blessed by the group,” Berka said.

Berka credits seminary formators for developing a program not only about priestly formation, but more importantly about becoming a saint. “It’s about a journey of a lifetime, the walk of sainthood for a lifetime; not something that leaves you when you leave seminary,” he explained.

Berka believes the monks also have a profound impact on the seminarians. “I enjoy the humanity of the monks themselves, their spectacular knowledge base, and their kind hearts. There is a soft purity that shines from them,” he said.

‘Shining Star on a Hill’

Add to this the many professors who are married and regularly bring their families to attend liturgies and cultural events on the Hilltop, and you have a unique community.

“That’s part of what makes Mount Angel a shining star on a hill — so many people quietly and strongly living their vocation — whether it be a monk, a professor, a formator or a student,” Berka said. “That really sets the tone for us to live out our vocation. And that’s a real part of what’s making Mount Angel Seminary so successful.”