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New seminary rector Fr. Burr: ‘I love Sacred Heart and its mission’

Seminary priesthood is a 'heightened level of spiritual fatherhood,' Fr. Burr says after succeeding Msgr. Lajiness on July 1

by Editorial Team

Fr. Stephen Burr is no stranger to Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

A member of the seminary’s faculty since 2008 and its vice rector and dean of seminarian formation since 2017, he loves spending his days teaching, mentoring and praying alongside those studying within the 102-year-old institution’s winding Gothic walls.

He loves the community — eating meals together daily, celebrating Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and venturing into the neighborhood to serve others.

He loves the seminarians, especially watching them grow into the men God intended them to be as they prayerfully discover their vocations.

It’s a part of who he is as a priest.

“Seminary priesthood is a heightened level of spiritual fatherhood,” Fr. Burr told Detroit Catholic. “A priest is always a father to his community, but here we live with the seminarians. We’re always there for them. We’re not only the spiritual fathers, the leaders, the teachers, but also the protectors, the ones who guide and the ones who challenge, just as a father would be to his son.”

Fr. Burr, 45, became Sacred Heart’s 14th rector and president on July 1, succeeding Msgr. Todd Lajiness, who has served in that role for the past nine years.

Read the full article from Detroit Catholic here.

by Editorial Team

Editorial Team

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Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a Christ-centered Catholic community of faith and higher learning committed to forming leaders who will proclaim the good news of Christ to the people of our time. As a leading center of the New Evangelization, Sacred Heart serves the needs of the Archdiocese of Detroit and contributes to the mission of the universal Church.