Summer Seminary Immersion Program
Program Date: June 15 - 29, 2024
Application Deadline: May 31, 2024
Click here to Apply to the Summer Seminary Immersion Program
Program Overview
Led by priests, brothers, and seminarians of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the Summer Seminary Immersion Program (SSIP) is a two-week academic experience designed for high school aged men (15-18 years old) interested in deepening their relationship with Christ and His Church. SSIP is also open to high school men who may have considered a more serious calling to priesthood or to life as a religious brother. The program helps young men explore discernment of God’s call through study of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the office of the priesthood, and the consecrated life. Taking place on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, participants will be housed at Moreau Seminary, allowing them first-hand experience of seminary life. Additionally, the daily schedule will include Holy Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, social time, exercise and leisure. There will also be important opportunities for service-learning and community-building activities both on and off campus. Successful completion of the Summer Seminary Immersion Program coursework earns a college credit in theology from the University of Notre Dame.
Theology of the Consecrated Life
Throughout the centuries, men and women have courageously chosen to “leave all behind” and follow Christ by living the Consecrated Life, choosing to live chastity, poverty, and obedience in imitation of Jesus. While always rooting in a love for Christ, this kind of life has a fascinating variety of forms that students will be exposed to: monastic, contemplative, mendicant, apostolic, as a priest, as a brother. Considering the contributions of this life to the Church and world, as well as the gift that the religious life is to those who are called to it will serve as the major themes of the class.
This course will help young men considering the priesthood or religious life to better understand the rich and beautiful meaning of the religious life in its many forms, exposing them to the Church’s most foundational teachings on this life, while having the opportunity to experience what seminary life looks like for themselves. Students will engage the Scriptures, Papal Encyclicals, Vatican II Documents, Rites of the Church, theologians, and the arts to consider this special vocation from many academic perspectives to complement their own experience and discernment of this vocation.
Instructor
Fr. Matthew Hovde, C.S.C., is a Holy Cross priest and native of Miami, Florida. Fr. Matthew joined the Congregation of Holy Cross as a freshman at the University of Notre Dame in 2007, entering the Old College Undergraduate Seminary. He was ordained a priest at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame’s campus in 2016, and served for four years in pastoral ministry at Notre Dame, including time as a campus minister, chaplain, and rector. Fr. Matthew is currently a doctoral researcher at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. His research in theological anthropology focuses upon the paradigm which the evangelical counsels provide for the Christian understanding of human personhood.
Click here to Apply to the Summer Seminary Immersion Program