A priest is a baptised man configured by the sacrament of Holy Orders to Christ the Head and Shepherd, so as to preach the Gospel, celebrate the Eucharist and the other sacraments, and shepherd the People of God. Saint John Paul II's Pastores Dabo Vobis (1992) remains the Church's charter for priestly vocation and formation, and its four dimensions — human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral — shape every seminary today. A diocesan priest serves the parishes of a particular diocese under its bishop; a religious priest belongs to an order and lives its rule as well. Discerning the call is done with the Church, over years, and the Church is glad of every man who asks the question honestly.

What you need

• A regular life of prayer and the sacraments: Sunday and, if possible, daily Mass, regular confession, daily prayer
• Reasonable health, the capacity for study, and the freedom to consider it (an unmarried, baptised and confirmed Catholic man)
• A spiritual director or a priest you trust
• Contact with the diocesan vocation office or a religious community's vocation director

When to pray it

Daily; a weekly holy hour for your own vocation, and Mass as often as you can, are the ordinary prayer of a man discerning priesthood.

Steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Understand what a priest is

   Read Pastores Dabo Vobis, especially its chapters on the nature of the priesthood and on formation, and the Catechism on Holy Orders. The priest acts in the person of Christ the Head; his life is the Eucharist, the Word, and the care of souls, lived in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom and in obedience to his bishop or superior. Learn the difference between diocesan and religious priesthood, and notice which draws you: the parish and the diocese, or a particular community's rule and charism.

2. 2

   Step 2: Notice the signs of a call

   The Church looks for right intention (the desire to serve God and his people, not status or refuge); a life of faith and prayer; human maturity — the ability to relate well, to be honest, to live celibacy freely; adequate health and intelligence; and a lasting attraction to the priestly life that grows in prayer and brings peace. Often the first sign is simply that others — a priest, a teacher, a parent — have asked you whether you have thought of it.

3. 3

   Step 3: Pray daily and go to Mass

   Give a fixed time to prayer every day, with Scripture: the call of the apostles, the Good Shepherd (John 10), the priestly prayer of Jesus (John 17), the Last Supper. Attend Mass daily if you can, confess regularly, and make a weekly holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament for your vocation. Pray the Veni Creator Spiritus▾ and the Prayer for Vocations▾. Get a spiritual director, ideally a priest; the seminary will require one, and starting now is the best preparation.

4. 4

   Step 4: Contact the vocation office

   Every diocese has a vocation director, a priest whose task is to accompany men asking this question; find him through the diocesan website or your pastor. If you are drawn to a religious order, contact its vocation director instead or as well. Tell him your story frankly. He will meet you, suggest reading and prayer, and invite you to the diocese's discernment events. This is a conversation, not an application.

5. 5

   Step 5: Join discernment groups and make retreats

   Most dioceses run discernment groups that meet regularly for prayer, a talk and conversation with priests and seminarians, and discernment retreats or weekends, often with a visit to the seminary. Take part. Spend time with priests in their ordinary work — a parish, a hospital, a school — and ask them what the life is really like. Make a directed retreat with the question before God.

6. 6

   Step 6: Apply

   When you and the vocation director agree it is time, apply to the diocese or the order. The application includes an autobiography, references, sacramental records, academic transcripts, a medical examination, a psychological evaluation, background checks and interviews with an admissions board; the bishop or superior makes the decision. The process is thorough because the Church takes both you and the people you would serve seriously. Canon law requires a man to be at least twenty-five for priestly ordination, so the timeline is long by design.

7. 7

   Step 7: Seminary formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, pastoral

   Seminary forms the whole man in the four dimensions Pastores Dabo Vobis names. In the United States the Program of Priestly Formation (2022 edition) organises it in stages: a propaedeutic stage of at least a year, focused on prayer and human formation; a discipleship stage, with philosophy and the beginnings of a priestly way of life; a configuration stage of theological study and pastoral placements, during which a man is admitted to candidacy, instituted as lector and acolyte, and ordained a transitional deacon; and a vocational synthesis stage after diaconal ordination, lived in a parish. Throughout, spiritual direction, daily Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours and regular evaluation continue. A man may leave at any stage, and the Church may ask him to.

8. 8

   Step 8: Ordination

   At the end of formation, the bishop calls the deacon to priestly ordination. In the rite he promises obedience to the bishop and his successors, lies prostrate while the Church sings the Litany of the Saints▾, receives the laying on of hands and the prayer of consecration, is anointed on the palms with chrism and receives the paten and chalice, and concelebrates his first Mass. From that day he is a priest forever. The discernment of the call has become the living of it, and the daily prayer that began it continues.

Tips

• Feeling unworthy is not a sign against a vocation; every priest has felt it. Feeling that you would be good at it is not a sign for one either. Look for a steady drawing and a peace in prayer.
• The seminary is a place of discernment, not a commitment to ordination; entering it does not mean you must be ordained, and a man who leaves has not failed.
• Converts and men returning to the faith are usually asked to live the faith for a few years before applying; use the time well.
• Talk to priests, several of them, about their lives; the priesthood is best discerned in the company of priests.