Four seminarians formally accepted as candidates for Holy Orders
Four seminarians, Carson Kitaif, Eric Hernandez, Alex Jansen, and Evan Lang, were formally accepted as candidates for Holy Orders by Bishop Michael Olson during Mass on June 10, 2025 at St. Peter Church in Lindsay. Their admission to candidacy marks the seminarians' entering the final stage of formation. (NTC/Tom Otto)
LINDSAY — On June 10, Bishop Michael Olson celebrated the Rite of Candidacy Mass at St. Peter Parish in Lindsay. Four seminarians, Carson Kitaif, Eric Hernandez, Alexander Jansen, and Evan Lang, were formally accepted as candidates for Holy Orders.
This sacred liturgy marks the Church’s formal recognition of the candidates’ readiness and intention to continue discerning the call to the priesthood.
The four men rose and stood before the altar, stating “I do” to public resolutions to complete their preparation to assume ministry within the Church and to prepare themselves to give faithful service to Christ and His Church.
The Rite of Acceptance for Candidacy marks a pivotal stage in priestly formation, denoting the completion of the first two stages and the formal entrance into the third stage.
The first stage a seminarian passes through is called the propaedeutic, or introductory, stage.
The second stage, discipleship, is a period of encountering and being conformed to Jesus through prayer, study, ministry, and growth in self-awareness.
Wearing the Roman collar is a visible sign of the third stage, known as the configuration stage. The focus of the seminarians’ studies changes from philosophy to theology.
Surrender to Christ and prayerful perseverance characterize this third stage, explained Bishop Olson in his homily.
He said, “The configuration stage of formation is a time in the life of a seminarian when he is called to empty himself of egotism, more than to fill himself with knowledge of skills. This self-emptying on the part of the seminarian is in itself the graced process of configuration to Christ.”
This third and final stage does not end with priestly ordination, the bishop continued. “In many ways, this stage of configuration continues throughout one’s priestly ministry and life and is accompanied by a more intimate relationship with Christ who called you not because of your worthiness, but because He loves you and desires you to share in His merciful plans for your life and the salvation of the world,” he said.
“As your bishop, I ask you to strive to be so configured to Christ that you … find the fullness of life in being sacrificed in the loving manner that the priesthood demands — that you might be credible. As your bishop, along with the priests of the Diocese of Fort Worth, we pray for you that we might one day welcome you into our presbyterate when your seminary formation is completed and I call you to Holy Orders,” Bishop Olson concluded.