Sulpicians: St. Mary's Seminary

St. Mary’s Seminary - Baltimore, Maryland

There’s something about living and working in a community
of scholars that creates an environment where everything
is possible.– Fr. Bud Stevens

St. Mary's Seminary and University, MD

St. Mary's Seminary

St. Mary's Seminary and University is the birthplace of seminary formation in the United States. Its priestly formation program for seminarians are complemented by an ecumenical theology program and the presence on campus of the Center for Continuing Formation.

about St. Mary's, click here.

St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore is the oldest Catholic seminary in the United States, and the Sulpicians have been present there for more than 200 years, forming priests for the Church. Three decades after its founding, Pope Pius VII allowed the seminary to become the country’s first ecclesiastical (pontifical) faculty with the right to grant degrees in the name of the Holy See.

Today, pontifical STB and STL degrees continue to be offered along with a variety of programs that meet the needs of today’s ministers in service to the people of God.
The Sulpician method of formation is clearly evident at St. Mary’s. The faculty joins with the seminarians to form a single community of prayer, study, and residential life. Formation here, as at other Sulpician seminaries, is expressed primarily by word and example.

A focus on priestly spirituality is emphasized through the Eucharist, liturgical prayer, meditation, devotions, and the priestly promises of celibacy, obedience, simplicity of life, and the divine office.

Pastoral generosity is encouraged, marked by commitment to the seminary community, service to others, collaboration, and self-sacrifice.

In addition to the seminary program, St. Mary's also offers an Ecumenical Institute of Theology as an evening graduate program offering studies in theology for persons of all religious traditions and the Center for Continuing Formation for sabbatical programs and other continuing education experiences for clergy.