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| SOLT Seminarians in Ann Arbor, Michigan |
On June 8 and 9, 2013, Christ the King Catholic Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan held a special weekend collection for the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT).
SOLT Development Director Sister Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was available to meet and thank the many parishioners who donated to SOLT. She was joined by two SOLT seminarians attending Sacred Heart Major Seminary in nearby Detroit.
Sr. Mediatrix noted that parish sponsorships could become an important development tool to assist SOLT in serving emerging needs in the United States and around the world. Future parish sponsorships are being nurtured by the SOLT Development Team in two other dioceses at this time.
The partnership with Christ the King emerged from the relocation of the SOLT seminarian formation program from Rome two years ago.
SOLT officials decided in 2011 to relocate the seminarian education and formation program to the Archdiocese of Detroit, in order to better prepare its seminarians and future priests for ministry in the United States.
As part of this relocation, SOLT was assigned a parish in central city Detroit, Most Holy Redeemer, which has a large rectory where the 15 SOLT seminarians lived this past year while studying at the Archdiocesan seminary, Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
Even though Christ the King is located in a separate diocese and is nearly 45 miles away from where SOLT serves, Christ the King has developed a strong relationship with SOLT. Part of this is due to Christ the King’s large number of members on the faculty at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit. At last count, 14 parishioners teach at Sacred Heart, including internationally known professors Dr. Ralph Martin and Dr. Mary Healy.
Christ the King also has a vibrant prayer life, with 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration, and 27 parishioners, mostly young men and women, in seminary or in formation for religious life. One of those religious is Sr. Annmarie Claire of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Kowalczyk, SOLT. This is a remarkably high number of vocations for a parish of just 800 members, contributing to the parish’s love for communities like SOLT that are growing and joyful!
Christ the King Catholic Parish is a very unique parish in that it is one of only a few charismatic personal parishes in the United States. The parish is uniquely structured so that it does not have a territory for which it is responsible like most parishes. Allowances for personal parishes like Christ the King are based in Canon Law (Code 518) where there are “specialized groupings of people with particular pastoral needs, often without regard to territorial boundaries”. These needs include, but are not limited to: language, Rite (e.g. extraordinary form of the Roman Rite), and special purposes (e.g. Anglican Use or charismatic worship).
In this respect, Christ the King ministers to Catholics who are seeking a deeper presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, with liturgies and overall ministry oriented to encourage growth in the Holy Spirit and the charismatic gifts that God wishes to provide.
For more information on SOLT or on this unique parish sponsorship, please contact Sr. Mediatrix at (361) 387-8800 ext.312; or email at: srmarymediatrix@gmail.com
