HONG KONG (SE): “There were 45 beds in a dormitory on the third floor of the seminary. At six every morning, our senior would tell us to wake up and praise God in Latin. One day, the senior asked us to get up. But when we stood up together, we hopped back to our beds at once. It was because our room was flooded due to a water leakage upstairs and our slippers were floating everywhere!” Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming said as he fondly recalled his interesting life with other minor seminarians at the Holy Spirit Minor Seminary in an interview posted on the seminary’s Facebook page.
Each month, to mark the 90th anniversary of the seminary as well as the 50th anniversary of the Holy Spirit Seminary College of Theology and Philosophy, its Facebook page features an interview with priests or lecturers of the college. The series of interviews was started in November last year and will continue till the end of this year.
Father Chan, who was featured in the first episode, recounted that he joined the Holy Spirit Minor Seminary at the age of 12 in 1966. There were around 120 people there who lived and studied together so they had a strong community spirit and often played ball games together happily.
Father Chan remembered that the teachers at that time were mostly English-speaking priests and so they couldn’t fully understand the lessons. It was also hard for the minor seminarians to develop a close relationship with the teachers because of the language barrier and the strict teaching style. They also had to complete their formation by passing examinations as the minor seminary would soon be closed. So they really worried about their studies.
One day, the senior asked us to get up. But when we stood up together, we hopped back to our beds at once. It was because our room was flooded due to a water leakage upstairs and our slippers were floating everywhere
He said there was one priest from Macau whom the students loved and looked to as their role model, but he later left the priesthood. “We were all disappointed and felt lost,” he said. Their spiritual advisor then consoled them by saying that they should follow Jesus instead of any priest. Looking back, the incident gave him important clarity.
Four other priests were ordained together with Father Chan by John Baptist Cardinal Wu Cheng-chung in 1979. He said they have different characters and strengths, and seminary life gave them a good chance to learn from each another and get along with one another with understanding.
One priest who was ordained with Father Chan was Father Joseph Yim Tak-lung, who joined the seminary in 1969. In another interview, he shared how he overcame his fears during the formation process.
Father Yim said that when first responding to his vocation, he only wanted to be a seminarian. At a young age, he worried about allergies from the consecrated wine at Mass, feared dead bodies in funerals and delivering homilies. However, he soon realised that God has his plans as he overcame the difficulties one by one.
‘When I first joined the seminary, I worried that seminary life would be too detached from the outside world,’
Father Simon Li
He remembered that while undergoing pastoral training in hospital, he once had to help a nurse dealing with the remains of the dead. “I dared not look at the remains. I tried to remove the clothes, but I could not take them off. And the nurse laughed. Then I discovered that I had not undone the buttons,” he recounted.
After repeated practice, he said he gradually overcame the fear by seeing a dead body as a peacefully sleeping person. In addition, he soon built up his confidence in preaching through the homiletics lessons at the seminary which equipped him with the necessary skills.
Father Simon Li Chi-yuen and Father Philip Chan Tak-hung shared about their seminary life together. The good friends entered the seminary in 1981 and recalled that there were only 14 candidates. It was not a big number but they were still required to share a room with another candidate to learn how to be understanding.
“It was not difficult to share a room. The usual problem is snoring. My snoring is the loudest,” Father Li chuckled.
“When I first joined the seminary, I worried that seminary life would be too detached from the outside world,” Father Li said, adding that in order to reach out to more people, he would visit an old people’s home in Tin Wan before he returned home every Saturday.
During summers, the seminary would give them different pastoral training assignments. Father Li was once sent to Nepal to take care of the mentally-challenged children, while Father Chan was assigned to work with troubled teens with the support of social workers, visit patients at hospitals with chaplains and to do packaging in factories.
The two recounted that seminary life was joyful. They remembered that before an exam, one of them suggested playing football at night to relieve their stress, but they were stopped by their spiritual director for making too much noise. And after the trees at the seminary were trimmed, they would start a barbecue with the branches and cook chicken, chestnuts and sweet potatoes.
Father Li said he looked back with happiness at his seminary life and encouraged current students saying that even though they only have a small class now, it is a good chance for them to cherish their relationship with each another.
