By Gia Myers • Posted August 21, 2024

See Related: Seminarians Move in at New St. Charles Seminary Campus

A season of change has arrived for Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, which has been forming men for priestly service in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and throughout the world for more than 180 years.

The 2024-2025 academic year starts a new chapter in the seminary’s history at a new campus in Lower Gwynedd, Montgomery County, on 15 acres of land formerly owned by Gwynedd Mercy University.

Driving to the new campus, one turns off Evans Road in Gwynedd Township onto Assumption Drive, greeted by a blue sign for the new seminary home in bold, white letters and the shield of patron St. Charles Borromeo with the Latin word humilitas, or humility.

At the end of the tree-lined drive stand three prominent buildings. The largest of these is the newly constructed Student Life Center (SLC), the main campus building that houses the refectory (dining hall), auditorium, classrooms, library, and administrative offices.

Designed in the Spanish style with golden stucco, earth-tone brick detailing, and soft arches, it also features a bronze statue of the seminary’s patron, St. Charles Borromeo, within an alcove atop the building’s main entrance.

Beside the building is a clock and bell tower, the bell for which was transferred from the Overbrook campus. Traditionally, the bell calls seminarians to daily prayer and is rung during special occasions at the seminary including the yearly “clap out” for those approaching Ordination to the Priesthood at the close of their final semester.

Inside the SLC are classrooms and meeting rooms with white boards, ergonomic furnishing, and screens for digital presentations.  Light pours through large windows, and passersby admire the natural beauty of the surrounding campus, which includes green fields, woods and a creek.

The St. Jerome Library presents a large collection of reading materials –received from the former campus’ Ryan Memorial Library — on sliding bookshelves, along with quiet areas for study and contemplation.

Also within the SLC is the spiritual heart of the seminary, Immaculate Conception Chapel. Its furnishings include many items transferred from the Overbrook campus, including walnut pews, marble bas relief Stations of the Cross and towering marble statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph that previously adorned Saint Martin of Tours Chapel at Overbrook.

The stunning stained-glass windows and altar from Overbrook’s Immaculate Conception Chapel make a fitting bridge for the new namesake chapel.

The new, custom-made flooring in white and gold colors features an inlaid Miraculous Medal at its center. Another transfer from Saint Martin’s Chapel is a stained-glass rose window mounted in the ceiling, which bears the image of a dove representing the Holy Spirit.

The refectory in the SLC features a high, vaulted ceiling and windows for an open, airy feeling as seminarians and faculty enjoy their meals. Prominent in the refectory is the Humilitas stained-glass window, which was previously set in St. Martin’s Chapel. The refectory’s doors also open to a patio for outdoor dining during temperate weather.

Another new building on the seminary’s campus is the College Division’s residential hall. Featuring the same architectural design as the SLC, this building’s dormitories are home for students who are early in their seminary formation, and whose studies are equivalent to undergraduate collegiate studies.  Some faculty members also reside in this building.

Within the hall, St. Therese of Lisieux Chapel will accommodates up to 100 people, and will be used for small Masses and private prayer among the residents. Its stained-glass windows and altar originate from the faculty chapel at the Overbrook campus, and the pews are from St. Martin’s Chapel.

With much natural light streaming through its stained-glass windows and filling the intimate chapel, one is reminded of the light and love of the chapel’s patron saint, lovingly known to many as “The Little Flower.”

The third building made of a reddish-brown brick was pre-existing on the property acquired from Gwynedd Mercy University.

The SLC and College Division residential hall were designed to match the color scheme of this building, previously called St. Alexandria Hall and now the Theology Division residential hall. Its dormitories house students in the latter part of their formation, engaged in graduate-level studies. As with the College residence, some faculty members also reside in this building.

The residential hall’s St. Padre Pio Chapel, furnished with items from the faculty chapel at the Overbrook campus, represents the smallest of the three campus’ chapels. It holds about 50 people, appropriate for Masses among a small group of seminarians or for private prayer.

The beauty of the seminary’s impressive new campus in Lower Gwynedd evokes thoughts of the seminary’s foundation in 1832 by Bishop Francis P. Kenrick, third bishop of Philadelphia, in his home on Fifth Street in Philadelphia.

Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary has experienced much change and growth since that time, most notably the last 153 years at the Overbrook campus. The new home in Lower Gwynedd offers a firm foundation for this next phase in the seminary’s long history.

“There is an appointed time for everything,” Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds, “and a time for every affair under the heavens.”