The sunrise is a familiar sight for Andrew Zipp.
A senior at the St. John Vianney Seminary, Zipp is up almost every morning by 6:15 for the seminary’s holy hour, usually followed by Mass. After, it’s off to breakfast with the other seminarians, then to classes, exercise and homework before an evening prayer gathering. Despite all this, Zipp said he doesn’t see his load as more than the average student.
“I see other students with jobs, and that just takes up the same. We just have our job being a seminarian,” Zipp said.
No matter if it’s help with philosophy homework or a teammate for a wiffle ball team in the “God Quad,” Zipp said the camaraderie amongst the seminarians is one of the best parts of living in SJV.
“We’re all striving for the same thing,” Zipp said. “We’re all striving to be holy, and I just think that’s so awesome to have all these guys all doing that with me.”
The Rev. Michael Becker, SJV’s rector, said fraternity is “one of the excellences” of the seminary.
“It’s a band of brothers running the race together,” Becker said.
According to Becker, there are 137 men in the seminary, making SJV the largest college seminary in the country.
“They all bring a pride of place and their own culture and habits, and that brings a kind of rich diversity,” Becker said.
He said a remarkable act of servitude he has witnessed is something his Resident Advisers did for his floor’s daily chore rotation.
“The least-desired chore is cleaning the bathrooms,” Becker said. “For three years in a row, my RA’s … they chose to clean the toilets. And they did it all year long. So that’s the kind of modeling of virtue.”
Not only are the leaders in the seminary models for others, all of the men provide a support system for each other, Becker said.
“We realize we’re not alone, that others have the struggles we have,” Becker said. “And they will encourage us, love us unconditionally, hold us accountable on the path to freedom.”
Zipp said there is no pressure to stay in the seminary if someone decides the priesthood isn’t his vocation.
“It’s very much a … time of discernment and deciding like, is this really what I’m going to do for the rest of my life?” Zipp said. “And guys at the end of the semesters, some will decide this isn’t for them, and they’ll go discern the married life. It’s a very affirming place.”
Baihly Warfield can be reached at warf3860@stthomas.edu.