 | |
| Motto | Spes Messis in Semine Hope to Harvest the Seeds |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1897 |
| Rector | Most Reverend Christie A. Macaluso |
| Location | |
| Campus | Rural |
| Colors | Blue and White |
| Nickname | Saints |
| Website | StThomasSem |
St. Thomas Seminary, located in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is a minor seminary for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. The current rector is the Most Reverend Christie A. Macaluso.
St. Thomas Seminary was founded in 1897 by Bishop Michael Tierney, the sixth Bishop of Hartford. The original Seminary was located at 352 Collins Street in Hartford, in what was once the Chinese College. It opened its doors on September 7, 1897. [1] Bishop Tierney appointed the Right Reverend John Synnott as the first President of St. Thomas. [2] Due to the increasing enrollment it became necessary to find a larger space. Bishop John J. Nilan had the cornerstone laid for the present building in 1928, and in 1930 the seminary moved to its current location in Bloomfield.
St. Thomas Seminary opened on September 7, 1897, with 37 students in its first class. On the first floor was a study hall, classrooms, the refectory, and parlors. The second floor consisted of the chapel, a dormitory, and the professors' rooms. [3] Soon after the size of the building proved inadequate for the needs of the diocese, and a new building adjacent to the old Chinese College was erected, serving the diocese until 1930. [4]
On September 30, 1930, St. Thomas opened at its new location in Bloomfield, a suburb of Hartford. The Seminary was designed by architect Louis A. Walsh of Waterbury and built by W. F. O'Neil. [5] During its first 45 years (until 1942), the Seminary for the most part educated only seminarians for the Diocese of Hartford, then from fall of 1942 seminarians began arriving from the Dioceses of Albany, Burlington, and Manchester. The following year, the Dioceses of Portland (Maine) and Springfield (Massachusetts) were added.
The curriculum at St. Thomas at its inception consisted of a five-year program. The classical education consisted of courses in Latin, Greek, and English, as well as systematic training in French and German. Other courses consisted of mathematics, natural sciences, Christian doctrine, and history. [6] The curriculum developed over time and eventually the Seminary became a six-year program, with four years of high school and the first two years of college. Students completing the six-year program would receive the Associate of Arts degree.
Since the 1954-55 Academic Year, the two-year college program consisted of the following courses: [7]
Freshman Year:
| Sophomore Year:
|
Over its history, St. Thomas Seminary had various student organizations which were run by the students and overseen by the faculty.
The Stella Matutina, Latin for Morning Star, was the seminary's quarterly literary magazine produced by the seminarians. It was founded during the Fall Semester in 1917. The first editors of the magazine were Patrick Flynn, Lester Loughran, and Harry O'Brien. [8] Its twofold plan was to foster "the literary inclinations of the undergraduates and of uniting the alumni more closely to their ALMA MATER." [9] The Stella Matutina contained articles by seminarians, as well as poetry. The articles ranged from seminary life to current events, as well as academic papers. Later volumes contained photographs.
The Literary and Debating Society produced programs for the student body every month and would also show films.
The King's Masquers was the drama club of the seminary, and produced four plays a year open to the public.
The non-liturgical choir performed twice a year for the seminarians and the public.
The chapel choir sang for the special feast day liturgies.
The orchestra, like the Glee Club, was a non-liturgical group which gave two public performances a year. The orchestra was organized during the 1942-43 school year. [10]
The Printing Club was responsible for producing programs for the various school activities. It did not, however, print the Stella Matutina.
The Camera Club was responsible for photography of the major seminary events and for the displaying the photographs.
A spiritual club which met every other week.
The Mission Society was started at the Seminary in October 1920. [11]
Athletics were a large part of the student life of St. Thomas Seminary. Basketball and baseball were among the sports played at the original seminary on Collins Street. Among St. Thomas' biggest rivals was Hartford High School. A Tennis team was started in the fall of 1924. [12] After moving to its current location in Bloomfield, basketball was briefly dropped due to a lack of facilities. Sports added to replace basketball included ice hockey (1932), [13] bowling (1934), [14] and golf.
St. Thomas also had intramural sports, which included basketball, baseball, handball, tennis, ice hockey, golf, bowling, touch football, volleyball, softball, and billiards. The largest intramural sports event was the annual Field Day, with inter-class rivalry.
Rectors
| Bishops(Arch) Bishops of Hartford since the seminary's founding
|
Graduates of St. Thomas Seminary who went on to become Bishops:
† = Deceased
Today, St. Thomas Seminary is known as The Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary and serves as a Retreat and Conference Center for a variety of Roman Catholic and ecumenical, educational, and other groups. It also houses the Archbishop O'Brien Library which is open to the public and serves many Archdiocesan agencies.
In 2007, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell dedicated the Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin Residence for retired priests. a state of the art facility. The apartment suites were built in two of the four former dormitory halls of the Seminary.
The following are Archdiocesan agencies that are housed at the Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary:
|
|
Information about The Archdiocesan Center is given on the archdiocesan website at http://www.archdioceseofhartford.org
The Archdiocese of New York is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester to the north of the city. It does not include the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn or Queens, which are part of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in southeast Wisconsin in the United States.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States.
James Francis Stafford is an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as major penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary from 2003 to 2009.
St. Joseph's Seminary and College, sometimes referred to as Dunwoodie after the Dunwoodie neighborhood of Yonkers, New York in which it is located, is the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. Since 2012, it has also been the major seminary for the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
The Archdiocese of Boston is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. The archdiocese is the fourth largest in the United States. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap., on August 5, 2024, and has appointed Bishop Richard G. Henning of Providence, as his successor. O’Malley will continue to administer the archdiocese as its apostolic administrator until Henning's installation on October 31.
The Archdiocese of Liverpool is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the Isle of Man and part of North West England. The episcopal see is Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The archdiocese is the centre of the Ecclesiastical Province of Liverpool which covers the north of England as well as the Isle of Man.
John Lawrence May was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mobile (1969–1980) and Archbishop of St. Louis (1980–1992).
Jerome Edward Listecki is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 2010.
Martin David Holley is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, from 2016 to 2018, when he was removed by Pope Francis for alleged mismanagement of the diocese.
Philip Francis Pocock was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1971 to 1978.
Saint John's Seminary, located in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is a Catholic major seminary sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The current rector is Fr. Stephen E. Salocks.
The College General is a Catholic interdiocesan seminary located in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia. The college's foundation can be traced back to the 1665 establishment of the Seminary of Saint Joseph in Ayuthia which was then the capital of Siam.
Thomas Aloysius Boland was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1952 to 1974. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the same diocese from 1940 to 1947 and bishop of the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey from 1947 to 1952.
George Joseph Lucas is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska since 2009, having previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois from 1999 to 2009.
Daniel Edward Thomas is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Toledo in Ohio since 2014. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2014.
Christopher James Coyne is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Hartford since May 2024. He had been coadjutor archbishop since June 2023. He has also served temporarily as administrator of the Diocese of Burlington since June 2023.
Henry Joseph O'Brien was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first Archbishop of Hartford from 1945 to 1968.
Norman Francis McFarland was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Orange in California from 1987 until 1998. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in California from 1970 to 1976 and as bishop of the new Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas in Nevada from 1976 to 1987.
Reynaldo Gonda Evangelista is a Filipino prelate and a professed member of the Franciscan Order who is the current bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Imus appointed by Pope Francis on April 8, 2013, his first appointment in the Philippines. He replaced Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle after he was installed as the Archbishop of Manila in December 2011. Evangelista was installed as the fifth Bishop of Imus on June 5, 2013. He previously served as the third Bishop of Boac in Marinduque province from December 11, 2004, until his appointment to Imus.
