Three FFS Students And Father Stephen Travel To A Seminary For A Night Of Prayer
By Jim M.
Thirty years ago Father Stephen Peter Morris, Family School Dean of Students, attended The Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, NY. As a young man studying to become a priest he used to wander the crypt of the seminary where numerous small chapels are located, and he hoped that someday he would say Mass at one of these chapels.
Ben A., Chris G., and Jim M. recently accompanied Father Stephen to Huntington for an hour of prayer and adoration with two hundred other young Catholics who are in high school or college.
The group arrived at the seminary early; giving them time to explore the seminary’s various chapels and enjoys dinner with two seminarians from Uganda, Africa studying to become priests.
The event began at 7:30 in the main chapel with live music by a group of musicians and singers from SUNY Stonybrook and Adelphi.
The hour of prayer was for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
At the beginning of the hour of prayer, candles were handed out to everyone. After the adoration and prayer, every candle in the chapel was lit one by one. The seminarians led the people out onto the seminary grounds where prayers were said around a cross. There was also a bonfire nearby.
In the students lounge there was food, and in there was a fierce dodgeball tournament in the gymnasium.
Father Stephen and the boys woke up at 5:30 A.M. to have Mass in the crypt the next morning.
“This is a dream come true for me,” Father Stephen said during the Mass. He had fulfilled the dream of his seminary years.
There was only room for the four men in the small chapel of the Sacred Heart. The numerous other chapels included a chapel of St. Paul, St. Peter, St. Joseph, St. Francis, St. John the Apostle, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Charles Borromeo, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
