Rev. José I. Lavastida

President's Letter

Dear visitor to our website:

As we begin this new semester we have been blessed with a great group of new men ready to begin or continue their discernment about the priesthood of Jesus Christ. We have 35 new men, 2 returning seminarians, and 4 beginning a spiritual year this Fall! Our seminarians come from 12 dioceses and four religious communities this year. Thanks for your prayers in support of vocations to the priesthood!

Notre Dame Seminary welcomes you to the pages, pictures, and information that are at the tip of your hand through the magic of the internet! We thank you for visiting our site, and hope that you can find useful information and inspiration to live a life closer to God.

Much has been going on lately at the Seminary. We have been specially hard at work during the Orientation process of the new men and planning for the semester.

This past August 20th, our Chancellor, Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond celebrated his first anniversary as Archbishop of New Orleans!  Congratulations to him in the Lord!

There were several ordinations during the summer, where we saw the culmination of so many years of studies and dedication for our seminarians, now ordained to the diaconate or the priesthood. All the ordinations, and the ones still to come, were great occasions of prayer and communion with the dioceses and communities that support us.

We are beginning to plan for our great Gala and Auction 2010 which will take place on October 30, 2010. There is already a link in these pages to take you directly to the work of this Gala and to offer you the opportunity to collaborate with us. Visit the Gala site within these very pages you have accessed!!!

Our Fall 2010 Calendar is also already posted on this website. We look forward to this beginning of the new school year!

As many of you know, Notre Dame Seminary is a theologate and graduate school of theology whose main purpose is to form men to the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ. We also have lay people who benefit from our programs and dedicate themselves to receive a degree in Sacred Theology.

We have been serving the Gulf South region since 1923, and through this website you will have access to much of our history and to the contribution of our students to the propagation of the Kingdom of God in this world.

We ask you for your prayers, your support, and any other contribution you feel could help us spread the good news that God is alive in our midst through his continued call to serve Him through the holy priesthood of Jesus Christ, the High Priest. You have an opportunity on this website to make your financial contribution to the seminary and to priestly formation.

May Mary, the Immaculate Mother of Christ, and our mother, continue to inspire you to follow the ways of her Son, who is Lord for ever and ever.
Amen.

Pax Christi,

Fr. José I. Lavastida, S.T.D.
President Rector