News

On Tuesday, March 13th, students, faculty, staff, and guests of Mount Angel Seminary gathered in the Aquinas Dining Hall to celebrate the annual Annunciation Dinner. At the dinner, guests shared fellowship and honored particular members of the community for their contributions and achievements. The awards and their winners are listed below.

The Saint Benedict Award for outstanding progress in both graduate and undergraduate human formation was presented to graduate student Deacon Nathan Dail (Theology 4) of the Diocese of Boise, and joint awards for undergraduate students Ian Gaston (College 4) of the Diocese of Orange and Abundio Colazo Lopez (College 4) of the Diocese of Tucson. The award is given to those seminarians who best exemplify the highest formational ideals of the seminary, who model the Benedictine charism, who live the values of the Kingdom and actively proclaim the Good News, who love the Church, and who manifest servant-leadership in the seminary community.

The St. Anselm Award was awarded jointly to John DePalma (Pre-Theology 2) of the Archdiocese of Seattle and Sebastian Richardson (Pre-Theology 2) of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, in recognition of those philosophy students whose love of learning, excellent academic record, appreciation of philosophy and the liberal arts, rigorous self-discipline, active classroom participation, and outstanding leadership ability have gained them the respect of the faculty and the admiration of their peers.

The Saint Thomas Aquinas Award for outstanding academic achievement from a theology student was presented jointly to Deacon Joseph Lustig (Theology 4) of the Diocese of Boise and Stephen Kenyon (Theology 3) of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. This award is given in recognition of those students whose love of learning, excellent academic record, outstanding ability to articulate Catholic theology, rigorous scholarly research, active classroom participation, generosity with time and talent, and strong leadership ability have won the respect of the faculty and the admiration of students.

Deacon Brent Crowe (Theology 4) of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, received the Saint Paul Award for outstanding progress in developing preaching skills. The award is based on the ability to proclaim the Word of God, call to conversion those who hear the Word, and the ability to possess a comfortable presence at the ambo.

The Saint Bonaventure Award for outstanding contribution from a faculty member was presented to Dr. Andrew Cummings, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor of philosophy at the seminary. The award is based on the ability to teach effectively and generosity with time and talent which have inspired students and won the praise of colleagues.

This year the Saint Michael the Archangel Award for special contributions to the seminary and its programs, was awarded to the Frassati Group. This award is given to a student or students, who have contributed significantly to the life of the seminary by establishing something new and beneficial or, through exceptional fidelity, commitment, creativity, and good will, have furthered something already established.

In honor of the Most Reverend Thomas Connolly (d. 2015), past Bishop of the Diocese of Baker, the Bishop Connolly prize is awarded in recognition of those seminarians whose submitted projects were recognized as commendable by the faculty. For his essay entitled “Liturgical Mysticism as the Path to Trinitarian Theosis”, the faculty awarded the graduate prize to Dominic Sternhagen (Pastoral Year) of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. For his essay entitled “‘Come, Lady, Die to Live’: Humility and Redemption in Much Ado About Nothing and King Lear”, the faculty awarded the undergraduate prize to Matthew Knight (College 4) from the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon.

Mount Angel Seminary began forming men for the priesthood in 1889 and is now the oldest and largest seminary in the western United States, and the only seminary in the West that offers both a college and a graduate school of theology.  Since its inception 129 years ago, MAS has educated and formed thousands of priests, and many qualified religious and lay men and women as well, for service to the people of God in nearly 100 dioceses and religious communities across the country and around the world.