1957 THE SEMINARY

This used to be Saint Columba's Minor Seminary Springwood - Now a High School
At least they have a fine Chapel - I wonder how well it is used.

1957   THE SEMINARY

CALLED

The letter from the Seminary duly arrived, confirming my acceptance and spelling out what I would need to bring with me and specifying the commencement date. I think it also mentioned the particular train from Central Station to Springwood which would be used by the majority of students. The extra passenger load called for two more carriages than the train usually ran.

There was much to be done in the remaining weeks before commencement. Now that I think of it, it would have been great to have had contact with a current Seminarian to get more detailed familiarisation with Seminary life. That was not the case and Father McGovern the Archdiocesan Vocations Director remained available and helpful. There was clothing to be bought - Cassock, Roman Collar, Surplice and Biretta and a dark suit and black tie and white shirt. There were also books to be procured, though the weighty Liber Usualis, if I remember rightly, was purchased through the Seminary.

KITTED OUT

The Cassock was made to measure by an Order of Nuns in Annandale, on Pyrmont Bridge Road I think. I vividly remember sitting in prolonged silence on a settle in the gleaming polished corridor of the Convent until a distant but nearing swishing of a religious habit heralded the arrival of a Nun to usher me into a workroom where I was briskly measured up and asked to return in two weeks for fitting and delivery. This I did and all was well. (Nuns in habits! Their very appearance was a witness to their selfless commitment of their lives to God, and their names in religion, spoke of that commitment."I gotta be me" had to await the false "spirit of the Council".)

Fully Kitted Out -Don Camillo says:
"The hands are to  bless Lord,  but the feet....?"

For the Roman Collar, Surplice and Biretta, I went to Ambrosoli Brothers - one of a number of clerical outfitters - all went smoothly. However the Biretta had to be ordered in because they did not normally carry size 6 and7/8 ths in stock. My "dome" challenged the system! I love the Biretta and am sorry to see it so little used to-day. Nevertheless, I have never been a "hat person" and have never felt right wearing one.

In due course I was completely "kitted out" and ready to leave, well in advance of the required day.

NOT AN ALTAR SERVER

I HAD NEVER BEEN AN ALTAR SERVER -
THAT PRIVILEGE LAY 35 YEARS IN THE FUTURE
Here the saintly,brilliant and charismatic Archbishop Fulton Sheen

One thing sat oddly with my intention, acceptance and preparation. I had never once in my life acted as an Altar Server. As it happened, I never would be, until one morning some 35 years later, at St. Stephen's Cathedral Brisbane, The Administrator of the Cathedral Father Clem Hodge, found himself without a Server for the 8.00am Mass which I attended each weekday, and since he knew me well, overcame my objections that I had never in my life served Mass and gently pressed me into service. He is a good Priest and I could not let him down. Later I had the chance to assist a couple of other Priests similarly. One of them I had not held in too high a regard, but I was impressed by his careful attention to rubric requirements in a difficult situation, when the Sacristy Safe for Sacred Vessels could not be opened! In later years it was my great privilege to regularly serve the Latin Mass according to the 1962 Missal celebrated in his home by the good Jesuit Father Gregory Jordan S.J.  A true giant of the Faith in troubled Brisbane Archdiocese. I am forever grateful for that privilege, even though I came to it reluctantly, preferring to simply assist at Holy Mass. But I really came to love the opportunity to serve and so assist more directly.

ON OUR WAY

Back to my story. On Wednesday 15th February, 1957 I headed off to Central Station to join the nominated Springwood bound train. We all gathered on the appropriate Country Train Platform of the great Central Railway Station. We could readily identify each other as members of the group, most of a certain age, all soberly dressed in dark suit and black tie and carrying a bag and most attended by parents and siblings to see us off.

It was a pretty good reflection on the Church as she was in Australia before the Second Vatican Council, that so many young men were inspired to answer the call they believed they had received to become Priests. In most cases it reflected admiration for a Priest or Priests they had known. There were to be 52 at the beginning of our First Year Philosophy Class - by the end of that year the number would be down to 44 I believe, and I was one of the drop outs. This was a pretty normal evolution in the numbers each year.

C36 Class Loco of the type working the passenger trains to and from the Blue Mountains

The good, solid C36 Class steam locomotive blew its whistle, final goodbyes were waved and called out and our train gingerly threaded its way through the maze of tracks and points, until it found itself on the Main Western Line.

I don't really recall much of the trip. I do remember there was a lot of banter among those who knew each other and returning students from the previous year. There was obviously a lot of "in" talk that only made sense to those who knew the personalities, situations and subjects of the conversation. It was all clearly good hearted. Being rather shy in any case, and not knowing any of the background to the banter, I said little and kept largely to myself.

"COLUMBA PENNA NIVEA"

After the hard slog uphill from the coastal plain at Penrith, our sturdy loco paused at Springwood where we detrained, before continuing its climb up the Blue Mountains to the summit at Katoomba. For our part we piled into the buses waiting to take us the few miles to the North to St. Columba's College. The old hands began to sing the College hymn/theme song "Columba Penna Nivea" which carried us through the Gates and up the curving driveway. Tradition was being observed and I loved it!

On arrival there was much greeting from students from other Dioceses (for this was a Provincial Seminary for the Province of Sydney which takes in the whole of New South Wales) who had arrived earlier. The atmosphere was one of happy excitement. But there was essential business to be done. College Professorial staff and appointed Prefects soon had lists of designated Dormitory occupants and we were detailed off to our austere Dormitories and then after leaving our bags by our iron framed beds, we were shown the shower stalls and the toilets and given a brief run-down as to what was expected of us in matters of timeliness. It was immediately clear that this was a tightly run ship. (The experience was to stand me in good stead in future years on shipboard in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve). That done, we moved quickly down to the Chapel where we had time for reflection in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament before joining in prayer for a productive year ahead.

We then moved to the Refectory where Tea (in to-days parlance Dinner) was served. The Refectory was close to the Main Entrance. It was a considerable room which accommodated the 135 or so Seminarians at tables ranged on either side of the room with one end butted against the respective walls and a broad aisle left down the centre. Along the entry end wall was the table of the Rector and Professorial Staff and, at the opposite end of the room a Lectern, at which selected students read to those assembled who were required to eat in silence. On special occasions the Rector would dispense with the silence rule by tapping a glass with a piece of cutlery at the conclusion of Grace before Meals.

AMEN!

On this first occasion we sat wherever we chose, but in due course we were to be allocated specific tables within our Class groups with appointed Table Prefects. My lasting impression of that first meal was of the resounding "AMEN!" bouncing of the walls and relatively low ceiling from the throats of 135 fit and healthy young men. As a group, I thought we sounded like a formidable team!

TOP TABLE TEAM

The professorial Staff was of course headed by the Rector Monsignor

" Charlie " Dunne - formidable, dour, and obviously in no sense a "fatherly " figure, then came the Dean of Studies Dr George Joyner a Priest of robust manly manner and deep booming voice, who was to teach us Latin and Greek. He had a good sense of humour and I liked him from our first meeting. He had a curious habit of inserting the word "anyway" up to four or five times in a row into his lecturing monologues at any pause to collect his thoughts. We were all amused at this little bit of professorial vulnerability , as only the arrogance of youth with its certainty of its group perfection, but knowledge of its individual defects, can affect. Father Noel Carroll was our Lecturer in Italian and I believe History. He was known as "say" for his habit of using that Americanism as in: "Say, have you seen.....”He also had some other minor Americanisms and tendencies in speech which the students blamed on his having "changed planes once in Chicago". Thin and with eyes that tended to bulge, he was, all in all, ripe for caricature and parody - grist for the teenage student mill. Our Philosophy Lecturer was a tall young , plumpish Dr. John Burnheim he was forever seeking examples to illustrate some abstract point he was trying to make in Philosophy and all too often his eye would wander out through the window and out he would come with "Now, take that tree...." It became a cause for constant mimicry and amusement. His vague manner suggested to this observer at least, a foggy mind induced by his Philosophic studies at Louvain. Fulton Sheen he was not. Some years later after a stint as Rector of St.John’s College at Sydney University, he left the Priesthood. I was not surprised.

Father Bede Heather was the Lecturer in Sacred Scripture, but I don't believe we had started those studies when I left. He was known to the Seminarians jokingly as the “Vulnerable Bede" for his softness of character. He later became Bishop of Parramatta and his episcopate was truly disastrous. During that time, he had overseen the introduction of false religious education materials into the schools of the Diocese, and when the errors were pointed out to him with crystal clarity, chapter and verse; he dismissed the proof and did nothing. Two of his Priests, having also received dismissive treatment, to say the least, formally took the matter to the Holy See as they were bound in conscience to do. They were in fact students in the Class above us in 1957. Talk about "bearing the heat of the battle", the heroic Fathers John O’Neill and Carl Ashton had to bear the sensationalist media scrutinising the issues and playing up the public difference between the Church's teaching, which they were defending, and their Ordinary.

Bishop Heather's lack of orthodoxy in matters of teaching etc extended to other areas, and in due course he developed a Roman illness and retired early though all too late, but at least quietly.

The Spiritual Director was Father Ted Shepherd. As I look back on it, his approach to that role seems to me to have been re-active rather than active, “seems to me" are the operative words. I would not presume to judge him or the approach he adopted. They were very different times, and it may very well be that he did not have the freedom to adopt a different approach. What now seems to me to be an appropriate approach to the Spiritual Direction of Seminarians would be active individual and small group counselling and leadership in prayer, meditation, Lectio Divina ,Sacred Liturgy and the spiritual life. At the time, his pattern of operation was all I knew, and possibly all he knew, and so I assumed that it was as it ought to be.

Commencing some five or so years earlier in Gemany, this devout and brilliant
young Seminarian was to be of extraordinary importance for the whole Church.

Our Seminary Day

We rose each day at 6.00am, quickly showered and dressed to be downstairs in the Chapel at 6.30 am for Morning Prayer and brief Meditation before Holy Mass at 7.00 am. Allowing time for Thanksgiving after receiving Holy Communion, we were to be back  upstairs making our beds at 7.45 am. At 8.00 am we were in the Refectory for Breakfast after which we were free until 9.00 am when Classes began. We had a brief Recreation break from 11.00 am to 11.15 am when Classes resumed until 12.25 pm when there was a Recreation break until a brief Examination of Conscience from 12.40 to 12.45 pm. At that time, Dinner (Lunch in these times) was served in the Refectory. This was followed by Recreation until 1.40 pm at which time Classes recommenced until 3.40 pm when we had Coffee. We were then free for Recreation until 5.20 pm. At that time, we paid a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and did Spiritual Reading.

Should it happen that anyone who is not a Catholic is reading this, the term "Spiritual Reading" might seem rather limiting and dull. Far from it! The Catholic Church is 2,000 years old and rich beyond belief in writings and reflections on every aspect of the Life of Jesus Christ, on Sacred Scripture, on Prayer and the lives of the Saints. One could spend a long life trying to read, let alone study, meditate on and pray over only a part of this Treasury of Wisdom. The depth of this wisdom is amazing even when some of it has been written in the so- called Dark Ages. And it is all the more cherished because it has survived "dungeons, fire and sword” through persecutions, wars, all manner of hostility and even temporary loss, to lift up the hearts of Catholic people to Jesus Christ, God become Man.

On designated days in our printed Calendar Book, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament took the place of the Visit and, on Wednesdays and Fridays; the Spiritual Reading was displaced by a Spiritual Conference and the Stations of the Cross, respectively.

At 6.30 pm Tea (Dinner in these times) was served in the Refectory. At 7.20pm The Rosary was recited in the Chapel, and at 7.35 pm we were in the Classrooms for Study. At 9.15 pm we walked around the Grounds until 9.30 pm when we gathered in the Chapel for Night Prayers and Meditation Points. And finally at 10.00 pm we were abed and lights were out. At first this furious pace of disciplined activity was daunting, but it did not take long to get into the rhythm of it and we were able to wear it lightly.

Our movie for 18th March, 1957

Saturdays were business as usual, save for the Literary and Debating Society between 7.35 pm and 9.00 pm. According to my recollection, we occasionally had films at that time. These included:

March 18th. The Lavender Hill Mob

March.25th Religious Films

April 21st.    The Barber of Seville

May 1st.       Hobson's choice

I have always had a loathing for amateur operated movie projectors, hating their all too audible "clackety clack" noise of operation, the regular going out of focus, slipping the teeth of the drive and more problems. So much easier to-day (with due regard for warnings about public exhibition death and destruction etc.).

Sunday was different. We did not rise until 6.30 am. Mass at 9.30 am was Solemn High Mass or a Missa Cantata. It was followed by recreation from 10.30 am until 10.45 am when the Rector's Conference took place followed by Recreation until 12.40pm.At that time we had Spiritual Reading and Examination of Conscience. At 1.00 pm Dinner was served in the Refectory followed by Recreation until 2.00 pm.Then private reading and letter writing were allowed until 4.30pm when study was set down until 5.30 pm and at 5.45 pm we prayed Vespers and had Benediction in the Chapel. At 6.30 pm Tea was served in the Refectory followed by Recreation until 7.20 pm.Then we assembled in the Chapel for recitation of the Rosary followed by study in the Classroom. At 9.00 pm we had Recreation via our nightly walk around the grounds, assembled in the Chapel at 9.15 pm for Night Prayers and Meditation Points until at 9.45 pm we were to be abed and it was lights out.

The beautiful Cardinal Cerettii Memorial Chapel at the former St.Patricks Seminary Manly
The Chapel remains under the control of the Archdiocese even though the former Seminary buildings are now
leased long term to a Catering College  an arrangement concluded in Cardinal Clancy's time.

THE CHAPEL

The heart of any Catholic Seminary is the Chapel. Here is the Eucharistic Lord every Seminarian aspires to serve, reserved in the Tabernacle. Here the Seminarians gather, arranged in Choir,along either side wall for the celebration of Holy Mass and  Benediction, for the praying of the Liturgical prayers of the Office and for private prayer and Meditation. I have always rejoiced in the privilege of living "under the same roof" as Our Lord,at Springwood and in later years on Retreats and at Conferences. To be able easily to come into the Divine Presence is a truly marvellous privilege. It was one that very many of the Seminarians took continuing advantage of, dropping in to pay a visit as we Catholics say, during Recreation times, or whenever it could be fitted in. This is where the design of Churches and Chapels is so important. They must be places imbued with the sense of the sacred, and conducive to prayer and devotion, not "gathering places about the people”. Rather they must, by their shape, proportions, materials and fittings lead the eye and the mind and all the senses toward God Who is the object of our worship and devotion. Both at Springwood and at Manly the Seminarians were blessed not only by the Presence of Our Lord but also by Chapels designed and built and tended in full appreciation of the dignity of their purpose , and nobly seeking to glorify God come among us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.