In a few weeks our entire seminary will attend the March for Life in Washington D.C. I am really excited because it will be a great experience for a worthwhile cause.

Some people have asked me what we do outside of class in the seminary. There are a lot of leagues and student organizations that seminarians can choose to get involved in. I participate in Project Warm. This is a program where seminarians chop and deliver wood to poor families that use wood stoves and cannot afford to buy their own wood. I also am a proud member of the Champion Intramural Volleyball Team!

On the weekends I sometimes go out to eat with my friends or go to a movie. There is actually a restaurant on our campus where students like to hang out and watch football. I go there sometimes to play pool, listen to the seminarian band (the SEMI’s), or play board games. My favorite game is Scrabble, and I have been playing one of my monk teachers regularly. He is by far the better player, which made my one win all the much more enjoyable!

Since we have seminarians from all over the country and from all over the world, the seminary is doing a nice job of teaching us about different cultures. Our supper one night consisted of an ‘Around the World Party.’ My most interesting experience was probably with the Kentucky Booth. They gave me a deep fat fried Twinkie and Oreo. Although these both were delicious, I didn’t have the same success with the mystery meat, which turned out to be pickled bologna.

On Halloween I attended my first Diaconate Ordination, and the Mass was very moving for me.  I became emotional at points during the Mass. Just as a man and women give themselves to each other in marriage, these Seminarians were giving themselves in marriage to the Church. My favorite part were when the seminarians laid prostrate during the Litany of Saints, a symbol that they were becoming obedience servants of Christ.

I thought I would close this blog entry by sharing with you a recent experience I had. I was sharing my vocation story with some students, and one student asked me, “But won’t you miss girls?” This was a very good question. In my response, I answered that a person cannot have everything in life. Whether single, married, or religious, and no matter where a person lives or what job they have, they cannot have everything in life. There are always trade offs and sacrifices will always be made. Just as married couples do not know the joys of ministering and administering the Sacraments, priests and religious do not know the joys of having their own family. A vocation is a calling, and is something God cannot and will not pressure someone into. Although each of us is responsible for discerning God’s will for us, He will not force a vocation on us that we do not want or that will not make us happy.

Merry Christmas!!!

Michael Cronin

Being in Rome, I could not find a better way to celebrate Christmas than with the Holy Father. The celebration at the North American College began with a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. Unfortunately, dinner had to be fast in order to prepare for Mass at St. Peter's Basilica. I volunteered with some other seminarians as part of the people's choir. If you had the opportunity to follow the Mass on TV, every time you heard the responses of the congregation, we were the ones with the microphones. Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to be a few feet away from the altar. My words cannot express the joy I felt. Perhaps you wonder if I saw when the Holy Father was knocked down. The answer is no, although I heard the commotion, my position on the opposite side of the Altar prevented me from seeing what was happening.

On Christmas Day I got up early in the morning to attend Mass in our chappel. After Mass, I joined the pilgrims at St Peter's Square for the Urbi et Orbi blessing.

It's been almost three months since I wrote on this blog to introduce myself. This time has been full of blessings, but also very busy. It feels like everything moves a mile a second.

Because of technical difficulties, I wasn't able to blog during this time. But now that everything seems to be working, I'll try to help you get an idea of what's is the life of a seminarian at the North American College like.

While you are probably having breakfast, or attending morning mass (8:00 AM), we are getting ready to welcome the families of men from all over the country that will be ordained deacons on Thursday in the Basilica of St. Peter. In a couple of hours (5:30 PM in Rome / 10:30 AM Central Time) the Rector of the College will celebrate the Mass that indicates the beginning of Ordination Week. This is one of the most important moments at the College, and everyone gets involved. For example, this afternoon I have to show our guests the beautiful view of the city from our terrace.

Please, join our community with your prayers for these men who will be ordained.

Greetings! My name is Michael Cronin and I am in my first week of the Seminary at St. Meinrad, in St. Meinrad, Indiana. This first week has been very exciting for me as I have become familiar with the facilities, the staff, and the other seminarians.  

I am in my first week of taking Philosophy Classes. I find them very interesting, but I am still in that stage of getting to know my professors. They are all very intelligent, and show a lot of interest in student learning. I feel I must be picking up some things, because I am finding myself pulling things from class to thank and praise God for in prayer!

A typical day for me includes getting ready and having breakfast. We then have Morning Prayer Together, followed by classes, Mass, and Lunch. The afternoons I have free to do homework, and in the evening we will pray Evening Prayer together as a community, followed by supper. I have the rest of my evening free to do as I wish.

St. Meinrad is good about having activities that will help us build community. We have nights where we have ‘family style eating’. We bring bowls of food to our table instead of going through the buffet line. We will also have house outings in the future, and there are specific nights of the week where Evening Prayer is with our classmates, our house, or with the other seminarians from our Diocese.

The facilities are very nice. I have my own room and bathroom. There are four buildings that are all connected, and there are doors and staircases everywhere! There are always about 4 ways to get from point A to point B.

The entire campus is built on one hill. If you like to run you may(or may not) be in for a treat! After my first run outside I decided to retire to the Gym, where they have a basketball courts, free weights , machine weights, and aerobic machines. They also have a soccer field and tennis courts.

In closing, I would like to say Hi to my family, my friends, and the parishioners of OLGC in Holstein. Know of my prayers for you.

God Bless,
Michael Cronin

  Morning Prayer at St. Meinrad