Blog of a Roman Catholic Seminarian
Name: Anthony Urban
My name is Anthony Urban, I am Roman Catholic seminarian. I am studying at St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. I am a Philosophy major and a Catholic studies minor. I am originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and the diocese I am studying for is the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. I am currently a junior and I am 21 years old. I enjoy reading, rollerblading, hanging out with my brother seminarians, playing ping-pong and shooting pool.
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This will be my last post. As a directive from my rector all seminarian blogs will be discontinued. I hope that this has helped some of you grow closer to Christ and the Catholic church.
Tonight a group of us went out to celebrate one of our brother seminarian's 21st birthday. We went out for dinner and went to a bar in St. Paul and somehow, some of the guys ended up talking to a woman who was raised Catholic and had fallen away. By the end of the conversation, she had really been given the right information about a lot of things in modern culture pertaining to religion. She asked for e-mail addresses and we were happy to talk with her and help her in any way. Please pray for her, that she might seek further help from the Catholic church.
Classes have started up again and I am taking four classes as usual. I have some upper level philosophy and theology classes. The line-up is Readings from St. Thomas Aquinas (not to be confused with Though of Aquinas which is the philiosophy course offered here), Epistemology, Contemporary Philosophy, and Astronomy. It should be a good semester. The men that have been in Rome since September are coming home today. All of us are going to the airport to pick them up and welcome them home. Two of them will be living across the hall from me. I just made my first pot of coffee for this semester. Here we go.
Here are some more pictures from my trip to Rome.
This is a picture of St. Peter seated upon his throne. His feet are quite worn down from people touching it.
This is the tomb of Raphael at the Pantheon
This is the main altar at the Pantheon. Look at all of the relics!!
The famed roof of the Pantheon.
This is the body of Blessed John XXIII. He has remained incorrupt since his death in the mid 60's. Pope John Paul II is buried in his former tomb.
I have been silent the past week or so because I was in Colorado on a silent retreat. We were at St. Malo retreat center near Estes Park. This is the place where Pope John Paul II stayed during World Youth Day in 1993. The theme of the retreat was mental prayer and it's importance for a diocesan priest. I went skiing for the first time and fell only about ten times. It was quite beautiful. I will continue to post pictures from Rome and the retreat.
Here are some more pictures from Rome. These pics were taken on top of the cupola (dome) of St. Peter's Basillica.
This picture was taken from the top looking down on the dome itself and the Sistine Chapel. Luminaries were put on the metal disks and lit up during papal elections and other big events.
This is the Pope Paul VI hall. This is where the weekly audiences with the Holy Father are held. 
This is the Pontifical North American College. This is where I stayed.
This is a more direct shot of the Sistine Chapel.
This is the floral arrangement for Pope Benedicts coat of arms.
I am back in the United States and it is nice. I will post five pictures a day so keep coming back to look. I am only doing five at a time because I would like to explain what the picture is of and other misc. stuff.
This is St. Longinus. This statue is in St. Peter's and is set within a pillar that faces the altar. St. Longinus is the soldier who pierced Christ's side (notice the spear). He was a martyr in the early Church.
This image of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is in St. Peter's near the altar of St. Joseph. I have taken St. Margaret Mary as one of my patrons and nearly broke into tears upon seeing this image.
This is the list of all of the popes, which is near the sacristy. Most Catholic Bibles have the list on paper, but it's pretty darn cool to see it etched in stone.
This is the altar of St. Gregory the Great. This is also his burial place.
The crest of our late Pope: John Paul the Great.
I've been in Roma for almost a week and I have seen quite a few things. I will post pictures once I get back. I attended the Epiphany mass which was celebrated by the Pope Benedict. I got a pretty good shot of him as the processcion was leaving the church. Once I go through my pictures I will be able to tell a bit more. Praise God.
I continue to prepare for my trip to Roma. I have been looking at different places to go and looking at some maps. Things are going well. I'm charging my camera and will be going to get some styrofoam to transport wine bottles back to the states. I hope customs doesn't give me any grief that I am not 21 yet(I turn 21 a few days after I get back). I look forward to being in the eternal city. I am hoping to travel to Assissi an Pompeii for day trips. I will be taking many pictures and will post some when I am back. I hope to blog a couple of times as I travel. Holy Innocents, pray for us.
It has been quite a while since I last posted. I got home on saturday afternoon and relaxed with my family. Sunday was spent relaxing, making phone calls, and all that fun stuff. The past few days have been somewhat difficult. I have come to the conclusion that I need structure to my days. I am going to start with small things. A daily workout, time to read, and most importantly time to pray. I hope that all of you have a merry Christmas.
