Seminary of Mar Abba the Great
Encyclopedia
The Seminary of Mar Abba the Great is a Chaldean Catholic seminary
located in El Cajon, California
. The seminary is the first and only Chaldean Catholic seminary outside of Iraq
. The seminary is part of the Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, a diocese
which encompasses 19 of the western most states of the United States. The seminary was consecrated by Mar Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
on July 25, 2008. Fr. Andrew Younan was appointed as the seminary's rector
and Mar Bawai Soro was assigned to the post of spiritual director for those discerning the priesthood
. The seminary proper has dorms for as many as 10 men, and there is there is another building on the land which is the Institute of Mar Abba the Great which is home to a chapel, library, and a classroom.
Mar Abba became Patriarch in 540, a time of great interior and exterior turmoil in the Church, but despite the disasters before him, he faced his Patriarchate with great brilliance and nobility. He visited every diocese and dealt fairly with any divisions, he revived both monasticism and Christian scholarship, creating educational systems for the simple faithful as well as theological universities, and he returned the Church, through his policies and his personal example, to its original purity and simplicity, all in the course of a 12 year Patriarchate, during most of which he was either in prison or in exile for defying the Zoroastrian authorities. At his Synod in 544, Mar Abba solidified the internal reorganization of the Church of the East and reached out enthusiastically for unity with the Western Church.
After his death in February 552, the faithful carried his casket from his simple home across the Tigris to the monastery of Mar Pithyon.
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
located in El Cajon, California
El Cajon, California
-History:El Cajon is located on the Rancho El Cajon Mexican land grant made in 1845 to María Antonia Estudillo, wife of Miguel Pedrorena. In 1876 Amaziah Lord Knox , a New Englander who had recently moved to California, established a hotel there to serve the growing number of people traveling...
. The seminary is the first and only Chaldean Catholic seminary outside of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The seminary is part of the Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, a diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
which encompasses 19 of the western most states of the United States. The seminary was consecrated by Mar Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
Mar Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
Mar Sarhad Yawsip Hermiz Jammo is a prelate of the Chaldean Catholic Church who presides over the Eparchy of St. Peter The Apostle in the United States. He has been the bishop of this diocese since its inception on July 25, 2002. His bishopric currently sits at St. Peter's Chaldean Catholic...
on July 25, 2008. Fr. Andrew Younan was appointed as the seminary's rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
and Mar Bawai Soro was assigned to the post of spiritual director for those discerning the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
. The seminary proper has dorms for as many as 10 men, and there is there is another building on the land which is the Institute of Mar Abba the Great which is home to a chapel, library, and a classroom.
Patron saint: Mar Abba the Great
The seminary's patron saint, for whom the Seminary was named, was a convert from Zoroastrianism. The man who would later become the Patriarch of the Church of the East was the secretary of the governor of a Persian province when he met a Christian during one of his journeys. He was so impressed by the Christian’s simplicity and humility that he began to talk to him and eventually became a Christian himself. He soon became a monk and made a pilgrimage to visit much of the Western Christian world, including Jerusalem, Egypt, Greece and Constantinople, with his friend Toma, where they were received with great enthusiasm as holy men and fine scholars.Mar Abba became Patriarch in 540, a time of great interior and exterior turmoil in the Church, but despite the disasters before him, he faced his Patriarchate with great brilliance and nobility. He visited every diocese and dealt fairly with any divisions, he revived both monasticism and Christian scholarship, creating educational systems for the simple faithful as well as theological universities, and he returned the Church, through his policies and his personal example, to its original purity and simplicity, all in the course of a 12 year Patriarchate, during most of which he was either in prison or in exile for defying the Zoroastrian authorities. At his Synod in 544, Mar Abba solidified the internal reorganization of the Church of the East and reached out enthusiastically for unity with the Western Church.
After his death in February 552, the faithful carried his casket from his simple home across the Tigris to the monastery of Mar Pithyon.