I once visited a minor seminary somewhere in the Visayas and I was shocked to see the seminarians. “Oh my God,” I said to myself, “they are too young to be in the seminary!” Actually, it was a reaction that I think was directed more at me than at them as I saw myself in their situation who was also in the seminary at a very young age.
Yes, I entered the seminary in 1976 right after I finished Grade 6 when I was still a very young boy wearing purol (short pants) instead of pantalon (trouser) in school. In fact, I was so young that I was still sleeping with my parents at night which I would regularly do until I entered the seminary. How I came to the decision to enter the seminary at a very young age was really a puzzle to me now. Of course, we can call it a mystery if one looks at it from the vantage point of view of faith. Be that as it may, the decision to enter the seminary did not come from my parents but from me who was attracted upon hearing stories from my older brother who was then a seminarian.
To be in the seminary at a very young age is not always a walk in the park for some, because it has its own sub-culture that one has to adapt. While there are those who have the capacity to adjust quickly and make seminary life fun and memorable, some few others, however, go through it with difficulty to the point of experiencing “culture shock” that they carry with them for a long time. But I want to make it clear that it is not my purpose here to argue either for or against a minor seminary at the present time. My only purpose, however, is to reminisce my own personal experience of seminary life in light of the Ruby Jubilee of my graduation from high school in 1980. Yes, it’s exactly forty years now (1980-2020) that I finished my four years of high school in the seminary.
So, what are some of the experiences that I can easily recall when I was in the minor seminary? Well, there were just so many that I cannot write them all here; maybe I can just recall a few. The first were the tears that welled in my eyes when my parents left for home after bringing me to the seminary. It was like being left orphan amidst a milieu of new faces who will be my dormmate, classmate, playmate rolled into one in the years to come. But that feeling did not last long as I slowly established friendship with many of them. Then, there was the experience of being bullied by a senior year who was much, much bigger than me wherein I was ordered to climb up a coconut tree with the threat of a solid punch from his big fist if I disobey. In fact, the order was to steal because the coconut tree was already outside of the seminary perimeter fence. Trembling in fear I obliged even if I was not used to stealing and was not good at climbing a coconut tree as well, which of course is water under the bridge now.
Life in the seminary was so routine and regimented so much so that one could almost predict the next activity of the day. While spontaneity is admirable, ordered and regulated life has also its upside especially with regard to instilling discipline and formation of values. For example, we were trained to develop study habits, thus we had in our routine schedule a regular time for study periods. It was a big help especially for me a product of a public school who did not acquire much study habit. That is why some had to adjust for a period of time before shining out academically in class. If it’s true for academics, it’s true as well for the formation of spiritual life. If prayer is the means for the growth of spiritual life, I would say that we were also trained to acquire the habit of prayer with our regular prayer time schedule. We allotted time for prayer literally from the rising of the sun to its setting every day. But whether the routine schedules helped us internalize the said values or not can only be answered by each of us who went through it. But surely it was a big help, if not all, to many!
Another memorable experience I had, which I believe was shared by all of us in our class, was our participation in the 2nd National Inter-Minor Seminary meet held at St. Vincent Seminary in Iloilo City. I was in fourth year high school then. It was memorable because it was my first time, like majority in the class, to take an airplane. Someone like me whose exposure was only limited to a barrio setting, taking an airplane was already a big deal then. Likewise, meeting other minor seminarians on national level was challenging and exciting, especially to hear that we had similar common experience of seminary life. The euphoria of that experience took a while to fade away not only from my consciousness but to the rest of the class even when we were back in Bohol as we would talk about it again and again to almost no end.
If I was
shocked to notice very young boys in a minor seminary because I saw myself in
them, I would not categorically say I would never enter the seminary at that
young age if I were given a chance to decide again now. The fact is that I have
no comparison to make whether the decision is for or against. But one thing
sure is that I had happy memories of my experience in the minor seminary. Even
until now flashback of seminary experiences would appear from time to time in my
dreams which I am not an expert of interpreting them from the Freudian
understanding of the unconscious. But one thing clear to me is that it is indicative
that the seminary has a deep impact in my life. (Soc Mesiona)
