Six MTSM Seminarians Receive Candidacy

The Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati, along with the priests, seminarians and guests of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology, celebrated the patronal feast day with Mass and the Rite of Admission to Candidacy for six seminarians on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Mass was celebrated in the Chapel of St. Gregory the Great.

The Rite of Admission to Candidacy is the first of three public steps a seminarian makes before ordination of the diaconate. Within the Rite, the seminarian publically states his intention to be formed for Holy Orders. The Rite is generally celebrated in the first year of the Configurement Stage of formation, which corresponds to the first year of theological studies.

“Admission to Candidacy is the first time a man stands before his Bishop and the witnesses gathered there and declares himself committed to being formed for Holy Orders,” said the Very Rev. Anthony R. Brausch, Ph.D., Rector and President of MTSM. “It does not mean their discernment is finished, nor is the Church’s discernment of their vocation and aptitude finished. But it does mean their intentionality is to pursue this vocation whole-heartedly and in a spirit of trust in the work the Lord is doing in their lives.”

The other two steps towards ordination are the reception of the Ministry of Lector and the Ministry of Acolyte. These ministries will be received in the subsequent years of formation.

Those who received candidacy include:

Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Adam James Boehnlein, St. Augustine, Minster, Ohio
Anthony Joseph Brandt, Holy Trinity, Batavia, Ohio
Luke Robert Danis, St. Brigid, Xenia, Ohio
Bao Theduc Duong, St. Veronica, Cincinnati
Zachary Sterling Jarrell, Holy Angels, Dayton, Ohio
David Thomas Morand, Holy Angels, Sidney, Ohio

Founded in 1829 and the third-oldest Catholic seminary in the United States, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology (MTSM) is a graduate school that forms priests, permanent deacons and laity to faithfully follow Christ and serve His mission by fulfilling their vocations in the Church. The Seminary prepares men for ordination to the priesthood and permanent diaconate, while the School of Theology offers classes for graduate and certificate programs for laity, clergy and religious.

For additional information about MTSM, please contact advancement@athenaeum.edu or 513-231-2223.