N THE PAST TWO YEARS, I have moved twice: from Ohio to Georgia when I was appointed music director at St. Pius X, and then from Georgia back to Ohio when I decided to join the Diocese of Steubenville. And yes, I am moving again, but it’s a little further away this time. Due to some immigration complications, I won’t be returning to the USA for a few years. The Diocese of Steubenville has decided to send me to study at St. Joseph Seminary in Macau, China for the coming few years. I am very grateful for their support and allowing me to continue my seminarian formation.

I will be moving to Macau in less than a week. Please continue to pray for me and my discernment. I am very happy that I am sent to St. Joseph Seminary. It’s nice to live so close to home (Macau is only an hour away from Hong Kong). The seminary has a wonderful faculty and a very good formation team. Also, there are many historic Catholic churches in Macau, including the seminary and its church.

St. Joseph Seminary was founded by the Jesuits in 1728. The seminary building and the church was built and consecrated in 1758. The church was built in the Baroque style and it is the only church in Macau with a dome. A pipe organ was installed in the choir loft in 2009. On the St. Joseph side altar, an first class relic, a bone of the arm, of St. Francis Xavier is exposed for veneration. In contrast with the elaborate architecture of St. Joseph’s Church, the Seminary is a simple, neo-classical compound designed with an internal cloister garden. Here are some pictures of the seminary and the church:

Next week, I will introduce more about the history and the churches of the Diocese of Macau.