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Dehon in the French seminary Santa Chiara

"At last I was in my real element. I was happy." (NHV IV/123)

With the entrance into the French seminary in Rome "Santa Chiara" Léon Dehon begins his long desired formation towards priesthood. The spirit of the house will be deeply impressed on his priestly identity. Santa Chiara, still today the French seminary next to the Pantheon, was founded in 1853 at the express request of Pius IX. and entrusted to the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. With the establishment of several seminaries the Pope intended to recruit an ecclesiastical elite to Rome. In 1865 about 70 candidates studied at Santa Chiara. Due to the political situation of of the Pontifical State’s opposition to Italy the number of students will decrease in the following years, e.g. 48 in 1867.

The ambience of the seminary was more than simple. Though Dehon tried to calm his anxious parents in his letters, describing the comfort of the house again and again as modest, but later on he comes out somewhat more honestly
"I was encamped on a floor that was very high up but not very beautiful.... Our rooms were miserable, the corridors were dark and winding, the stairway was so steep that it was more like a ladder." (in: Manzoni, Leo Dehon and his message, p. 103)

However, of greater importance and consequence for Dehon is the spirit of the seminary. In Santa Chiara, he can dedicate himself to both science and devotion - for Dehon a perfect combination. The Fathers of the Holy Spirit, especially the superior of the seminary Fr. Freyd, bring him into contact with the École Francaise/French School, which suggests "that Christians, especially priests, could develop a deeper union with God by constant meditation on the mysteries of the life of Christ." (Yves Ledure, A short life of Leo Dehon, p. 40) The masters of this school, Bérulle, Olier and Jean Eudes seek "to strengthen the priest by incorporating him in a religious congregation or a support group of priests." (Ledure, ibd.)

Thus already in the seminary Dehon is orientated to a conception of the priest as consecrated to God, acting in the persona Cristi, and to religious life. In this perspective Dehon writes after his ordination: "I stood up again, as a priest, belonging body and soul to Jesus. I was filled with His love for the Father, His zeal for souls and His spirit of prayer and sacrifice." (NHV VI/81)