Help a third year seminarian pay for his seminary formation

-Thank you for your interest in my campaign, as you know the world needs priests more and more each day, please help!-

Dear friends and benefactors,

What is a priest? The Pontificale Romanum, the liturgical book which contains the ritual for the ordination of priests, has been called the most beautiful book in the world for it presents to our eyes little by little the image of the true priest. Over the course of my time in seminary I would like to share with you some small reflections gleaned from the rites of ordination which lead to the priesthood.

This past June on the Vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul, I was ordained to the first two of the minor orders those of Porter and Lector. The office of Porter can be understood as the door-warden of the church. In the ordination of porters the Pontiff admonishes the Ordinandi to, “watch carefully that as you open and shut with material keys the visible church, so in like manner shut to the devil and open to God by word and example, the invisible House of God that is the hearts of the faithful.” The care of souls, the cura animarum, is of prime importance in the daily life and work of the Priest and the office of porter gives the cleric this charge as a foundation for all he will do. The gravity of this task is underscored by the Pontiff’s words at the touching of the items of the office, in this case a key, “So act as to give an account of those things which are kept under these keys.” And woe to him who does not give a worthy account! The Pontificale often reminds us of the duties and dignities of the Priest. In Canada we have the great example of a porter in St. Andre Bessette, who was tasked to keep the door at the Collége Notre-Dame, the school of the Congregation of The Holy Cross to which he belonged.Through his humility and devotion in service to the Church, God raised up a powerful saint and miracle worker. He drew many souls to the Church to be healed from the malady of sin and death and though he attributed all his miracles to St. Joseph, was given the grace to heal the many physical maladies of the pilgrims who came to visit him. The great sanctuary of St. Joseph founded by St. Andre, towers above its surroundings in Montreal. It is a fitting account of his labour for souls here on earth. In the Divine Office the Church praises the life of her confessor Saints saying, Beatus vir qui inventus sine macula, at qui post aurum non abiit…Quis est hic, et laudabimus eum? Fecit enim mirabilia in vita sua. “Blessed the man who is found without stain, who has not run after gold… who is he that we might praise him? For he has worked wonders in his life.” May we all one day have the same spoken of us.
   As I prepare to begin my third year at the seminary of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Gricigliano Italy, I look forward to continuing my studies with St. Thomas Aquinas and the perennial philosophy of the Church. The seminary is a place of recollection and peace where we strive to place our interior life at the forefront of all our actions. It is hoped that what is received during formation through study, prayer, and work, will in the future be an overflowing source of priestly labour and zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
   Thank you for your continued interest and support of my seminary formation. May God bless your generosity, please pray for me and be assured of my prayers for you.

In Christo Rege,

   Abbe Mitchell Gunnarson

Other ways to donate:

• Please note, this is a personal fundraiser, I am unable to issue tax receipts or refunds. If you would like to obtain a tax receipt please donate by contacting Una Voce Canada, https://unavocecanada.org/
• Funds may also be sent via email e-transfer to, mitchgunnar@gmail.com