Dioceses is creating a House of Discernment for men considering priesthood, a first for OC

A former convent in Orange is being transformed into a communal house for men considering the priesthood, a first of its kind in Orange County and one of just a few Catholic residential programs in the United States.

Read more Meet the candidates who want to oversee California’s property tax system

A blessing ceremony for the project was led this week by the Most Rev. Kevin Vann, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. A sacramental rite of blessing was performed by several priests who sprinkled holy water throughout every room on both floors, many of which have been taken down to their bare wood walls.

When renovations are completed in fall or winter, the House of Discernment will serve as a residential, dormitory-style community where men who are considering the priesthood can live for a period of prayer, vocational testing and formation.

Renovation of the two-story, 5,800-square-foot structure, believed to be 105 years old, began earlier this year.

The Orange Catholic Foundation has been tasked with raising $3.5 million to complete the renovations and add furnishings to the building.

During visitors’ time in the home, diocesan leaders will have a chance to get better acquainted with and gauge the readiness of the future priests, said Fr. Cheeyoon Chun, director of priestly vocations for the diocese.

“I think this is what our Lord wants,” Chun said. “To provide a space for young men in our diocese to come away from the world and to live together in community and to really intentionally discern the call to the priesthood.”

This early formation helps ensure those who continue to seminary are ready to embrace the lifelong vocation, he said.

Read more Public executions in the US were once a community spectacle and then they stopped

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange lived in the former convent from 1932 to 1971, teaching at the adjacent St. Joseph Catholic School. The house served as the sisters’ first stable residence after the congregation relocated from Eureka to Orange in 1922.

In 1959, the sisters relocated to the newly built brick “Motherhouse” along Batavia Street in Orange.

“As we help build this house, we build on what has come before here,” Bishop Vann said.

When completed, the house will have seven bedrooms for discerners, each containing a bed, sink and desk.

The house will also have a living room, dining room, outdoor garden patio space and a chapel, as well as a visiting priest’s suite and a bedroom for the on-site priest who will manage the house.

“If we believe in the communion of saints, we believe that the spirits of those who lived here are still present,” said Sister Mary Beth Ingham, who serves as general superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph. “The prayers of those who prayed here are still present. The tears of those who wept here are still present. So that they’re going to be the support and the strength for the young men who will be living here.”

Read more Trump establishes committee to investigate Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook in latest effort to fire her