On Sunday 30 August 2026, the seminarians for our Eparchy made their way across the mountains to Edmonton on the eve of the beginning of the new Church Year and the new Seminary Year at Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Seminary. Alexander Emanuelli, originally from Holy Cross Parish in Surrey and Juan Pablo Salas, from Holy Eucharist Cathedral Parish in New Westminster, will be living the formation program at Holy Spirit Seminary while pursuing studies in philosophy and theology at Newman Theological College.
We don’t know what the future holds for these young men. We don’t know what the Lord’s Will is for each of them. However, they felt a call in their hearts to serve the Lord. They are presently discerning day by day whether the Lord might not be calling them to serve His Church and His People as priests! They discern by prayer – i.e. their prayer and OUR PRAYER - and by living in the seminary environment that provides them with training, studies and a fraternal atmosphere in which they can explore their vocation.
Please keep our seminarians and all seminarians in your regular prayer! It is no secret that we can always use more priests - good and holy and bright and dedicated priests to serve us and lead us. So as we pray for the seminarians of today, let us also pray for more vocations to the priestly and monastic (religious) life!
The main theme of our Synod of Bishops this past summer at Zarvanytsia, Ukraine was exactly that - "Vocations to the Priestly Ministry and to the Consecrated [Monastic] Life”. Read the Bishops’ Pastoral Letter here: [Come Follow Me!].
Here is a version of the famous Prayer for Good Priests by the Venerable Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky….
“Lord, O Lord, look down from heaven, survey and visit the vineyard which You planted with Your right hand. May Your all-powerful hand be upon our people that You love. Grant us, Eternal God, in every generation to the end of the world – holy bishops and priests filled with Your Spirit... pastors and teachers of Your law who skilfully and without compromise uphold the truth of Your holy revelation and who teach and lead the people with love. Grant Your clergy the grace of never fearing sacrifice when it concerns Your glory and the good of Your People. Inflame the hearts of Your Priests with a zeal for the salvation of souls.... grant them a supreme sense of the holiness of the mission to which You have called them... bless their work... protect them from harm... unite them by Your grace that they would be as one...”
