St. Mary's Seminary is the first Roman Catholic seminary in the nation: rich in tradition while focused on priestly preparation for the 21st-century.
These pages provide information on the history, personnel, environment, and formation (in the Sulpician tradition) at St. Mary's.
The three pages in this section of our site touch on the very basics of the formation process.
A major part of priestly formation is intellectual formation, accomplished through the pursuit of academic degrees.
Desiring to assist in the strengthening of Hispanic ministry and recognizing the need for well-prepared priests dedicated in-part or in-full to this ministry, St. Mary’s Seminary and University has established a specialized track in Hispanic ministry.
St. Mary’s Propaedeutic Stage implements the vision of the Program for Priestly Formation (6th edition). It takes place in a revitalized and expanded structure on the historic grounds of the original St. Mary’s Seminary in downtown Baltimore. The McGivney House welcomes candidates from all dioceses and is not limited to candidates destined to enter St. Mary’s Seminary & University, but is the recommended program for those who will come to St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute (EI) was founded in 1968 by St. Mary’s Seminary & University, America’s oldest Roman Catholic seminary, in cooperation with ecumenical leaders. St. Mary’s is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The Ecumenical Institute encourages people of all denominations to explore theological studies in a serious, open-minded, and supportive environment. All EI programs are available wherever you are - on campus in Baltimore, and on-line.
The Ecumenical Institute invites people of all denominations into theological study that pursues excellence and promotes ecumenical understanding and respect. All EI programs are available wherever you are - on campus in Baltimore, and on-line.
St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute has a rolling admissions policy. Students may apply at any time for admission by submitting the appropriate materials.
The Ecumenical Institute offers accredited graduate theological programs for two master’s degrees, several graduate certificates, and introductory explorations.
The post-master’s Certificate of Advanced Studies in Theology (CAS) is designed for individuals who possess a master’s degree in theology (e.g., MAT.), ministry (e.g., MACM), divinity (e.g., MDiv), or a related field and who desire to continue their theological education with a general or focused program of study.
The Doctor of Ministry program roots ministry in the mission of God, the ways God is working in your context, in your ministry, and in you.
Students have a host of resources available to support their theological education, from free parking and a great library to writing assistance and advising.
St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute offers accredited graduate theological education that is intellectually rigorous, personally enriching, and professionally empowering.
More than 750 alums of St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute are making a difference in Baltimore, in Maryland and D.C., West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and around the world.
General communication and individual contacts
It is the mission of the Center for Continuing Formation to encourage bishops, priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers to engage in human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral growth and to enable processes of growth that are ongoing, complete, systemic, and personalized.
Conference space rentals include a large room that will seat as many as 58 and smaller rooms that will seat from 4 to 30.
St. Mary's Center for Continuing Formation offers and hosts a variety of continuing formation programs for priests in the spirit of the Bishops' new Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.
St. Mary’s Seminary & University’s Pinkard Scholars is the cornerstone of Youth Theological Studies at SMSU.
For more information about any of our conference facilities or space rentals, please contact our offices directly.
The Marion Burk Knott Library of St. Mary’s Seminary and University is the largest specialized theological library in the Baltimore area, with additional materials in the areas of philosophy, psychology, pastoral counseling and church history, among others. The library receives over 390 periodicals and maintains a collection of 20,000 volumes of bound periodicals. Other holdings include newspapers, microfilm, and audio-visual materials.
The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University opened in the spring of 2002. Located on the campus of the nation’s first Roman Catholic seminary, this program brings together the archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (est. 1789), St. Mary’s Seminary & University (est. 1791), and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States (U.S. Province est. 1903), making it one of the most significant repositories for records relating to the early history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Click here for more information about hours and visitor policies.
This section was created to provide researchers with a brief description of the open collections in the archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, St. Mary's Seminary & University, and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States.
The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University has developed a genealogical policy responsive to individuals researching their Catholic roots.
We facilitate personal integration of the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions necessary for authentic priestly witness and service in the image of Jesus Christ.
These are the words Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier used to describe the aim of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. It was a house to help men conform themselves to Jesus Christ in an apostolic community centered on the Lord’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Living supremely for God, they could truly say with St. Paul “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Pietas Seminarii 1; Gal. 2:20)
Since Olier’s founding of the Sulpician Fathers in Paris in 1641, the Society of St. Sulpice has been dedicated to the formation of diocesan priests. Our mission expanded with the establishment of St. Mary’s Seminary in 1791, the first Roman Catholic seminary in the United States.
Now we bring that history and tradition to a renewed vision of priestly formation for the twenty-first century as articulated by the sixth edition of the Program for Priestly Formation (PPF). After wide collegial consultation and at the request and encouragement of several bishops, we have established The Blessed Father Michael McGivney House of Formation, a program of St. Mary’s Seminary & University and the Society of St. Sulpice, at the original site of St. Mary’s Seminary.
The McGivney House is a program of formation for the propaedeutic stage as envisioned by the new PPF. The Society of Saint Sulpice is excited to offer a home to seminarians beginning their preparation for the priesthood on the site where priestly formation began in our nation. It is a regional program primarily serving St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore and Theological College in Washington, D.C., and a number of dioceses from the Eastern and Mid-Atlantic regions, the South, and beyond.
Our Propaedeutic House gives seminarians an opportunity to get to know each other, discern reflectively, develop a sense of prayer, and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ. We are confident that seminarians will find in The McGivney House the spirit, community, and space they need to begin their formation for priestly service in their local churches.
Impressed with the Society’s success in France and concerned to provide for the growth of the Church in the new United States, Bishop John Carroll invited the Sulpician Fathers to come to Baltimore to establish the nation’s first Catholic seminary.
Acquiring an inn known as The One-Mile Tavern, the Sulpicians founded St. Mary’s Seminary in 1791. The seminary eventually expanded into several buildings, including the Chapel of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin. In this Chapel, which is still standing, the McGivney community will gather regularly for prayer and the Eucharist. It was here that then-seminarian and now Blessed Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus and patron of our propaedeutic house, was formed to serve as a priest for the Diocese of Hartford. Mother Mary Lang, founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, also made her profession in this same chapel.
In 1929 the seminary expanded to include a new campus in Roland Park. Later, in 1974, the program was consolidated at the new site and the old seminary building on Paca Street was demolished to make way for the present St. Mary’s Park. The Society of St. Sulpice retained several of the original buildings, however: the chapel, the house that the Sulpicians gave to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton when she was forming her community, and the former convent for the sisters who served in the seminary. This convent is being renovated extensively and expanded and will serve as the main house for the program, accommodating up to twelve seminarians and two priest-formators. An auxiliary building is capable of housing additional seminarians and visitors.
Fr. Olier founded the Society of St. Sulpice to renew the Church by renewing the priesthood. “Three good priests can transform a diocese”, Fr. Olier once said. Renewal of the priesthood comes from a commitment to the triune God through Our Lord Jesus Christ incarnate as essential to the Church’s growth in holiness. The McGivney House unites Fr. Olier’s vision and the tradition it inspired to the PPF’s vision of a propaedeutic stage as the beginning of seminary formation.
As stated in the PPF:
The propaedeutic stage seeks to provide seminarians with the basic groundwork they need to engage in priestly formation. Through no fault of their own, the requisite qualities for formation are often missing in new seminarians. A significant imbalance is present between the lifestyle promoted by contemporary society and priestly formation. There are many generous young men open to a priestly call who nevertheless need more intensive preparation before they are ready to enter into the discipleship stage of formation; thus, a propaedeutic stage prior to the discipleship stage is essential. (PPF § 119)
To fulfill this vision, The McGivney House provides: