Seminarian who served at ordination reflects on Bishop Izen’s example

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

Alexander Marquette — a second-year seminarian at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul — is holding a letter as he talks about following the call to become a priest. During the 2008-2009 school year at St. Timothy’s School in Maple Lake, Marquette, in fourth grade at the time, received the letter as part of a letter-exchange program with local seminarians begun by Bishop Michael Izen, who was appointed pastor of St. Timothy in 2007. The letter Marquette received was from Father Evan Koop, who was a seminarian at the time.

Marquette, 23, recalled writing his own letters to seminarians; now he receives letters from students at St. Timothy and at different schools throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“The students draw pictures, and they always say that they’re praying for us and, like, ‘good luck at being a priest’ or something like that,” Marquette said. “Children … have just a joy and innocence about them that causes delight and when seminarians receive these letters and drawings from them, they receive joy and love from these children. Also, the children find it quite something special to receive mail at school from one of the seminarians writing back to them. They give us delight and joy, and we get to share with them in return our own delight and joy.”

“It’s always a delight to receive the ones from St. Tim’s because that’s where home is and I know a lot of these families, I know these kids personally,” Marquette, a member of St. Timothy, said. His mother, Peggy, has taught first grade for 25 years at the school and he said he visits her classroom to spend time with the students as often as he can.

The letter program isn’t the only aspect of Marquette’s life touched by Bishop Izen; the bishop was instrumental in Marquette’s early discernment to become a priest.

Marquette recalled being in third or fourth grade and being at a school Mass when he said Bishop Izen asked, “‘How many of you young men are going to be priests one day?’ And something stirred up inside of me to raise my hand. The desire was there from a young age.”

Soon after, as a fourth grader, Marquette learned to be an altar server, under Bishop Izen’s tutelage. “I absolutely loved it from day one, being able to help out and being able to be that close to the Lord in the Eucharist,” Marquette said. He viewed being able “to take full advantage of the privilege that it is to serve at the altar and to be able to serve well” as “a huge blessing that brought a lot of joy to me and still brings a lot of joy to me. I always look forward to the days I still get to altar serve here at the seminary or at my teaching parish” of Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights.

During remarks at his episcopal ordination, Bishop Izen explained that six of the 11 altar servers at the ordination Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul once assisted him at his parish Masses and are now seminarians:

Dominic Romportl and Steven Lang, both of St. Michael in Stillwater a school” as well. As he takes on the role of auxiliary bishop, he said he felt like “I’m kind of becoming an empty nester” and that he “may not know them (the students) the way I have been able to know them.”

Romportl is a sophomore attending St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul. Lang, a first-year seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, “actually flew back for this, so thank you, Steven, for making this a priority,” Bishop Izen said.

Christopher Yanta and Alexander Marquette, both of St. Timothy Yanta is a third-year seminarian and Marquette a second-year seminarian, both at The St. Paul Seminary.

Josh Gerads of St. Raphael in Crystal Gerads is in his first year of pre-theology studies at The St. Paul Seminary.

Derek Gilde of St. Mary in Stillwater Gilde is a third-year seminarian at The St. Paul Seminary.

Marquette said Bishop Izen’s example, particularly in the way he exuded joy around Marquette and his classmates, informed his own desire to be placed at a parish with a school.

“He (Bishop Izen) came and had school lunch with us almost every day in grade school and (he was) always smiling, always joyful, always delighting, being around us kids. As a grade school kid, to have your spiritual father come and just delight in you, that left a large impact in my life,” Marquette said. He recalled “seeing (then-)Father Izen and seeing how happy he was and wanting that same happiness, seeing the joy he brought to the people of the parish and wanting to do the same and just sort of emulate his example. That desire, it started there at a young age and the Lord’s been bringing it to fulfillment and hopefully, very soon, I’ll be able to do it in a parish of my own.”

During his remarks at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul Jan. 5 — the day Pope Francis named him as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese — Bishop Izen, 56, said being with students has been a favorite part of his ministry. “I love the schools,” he said, noting all his parish assignments have “been blessed to have

“I think (then-)Father Izen very much saw the need to form good Christians from the youngest age,” Marquette said, which can be accomplished through the values of “respect and virtue and kindness and personal responsibility” taught in Catholic schools.

Those teachings have stayed with Marquette as he continues his seminary education. “The studies, even though they’re grueling, it’s like being put into the fire and being forged stronger, going through the studies, going through formation.” When it comes to life as a seminarian, Marquette said he especially loves that “the seminary life is so disposed to prayer … Being able to pray together as a community, as a family multiple times each day is one of the greatest blessings of seminary life.”

When he’s not studying for his master’s in divinity degree, Marquette fills his days with prayer and adoration, faith formation and Cor Jesu nights at the seminary, and learning from pastor Father James Peterson at Immaculate Conception. In his spare time, he enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee, going to baseball games, playing the piano, spending time with friends, playing cards and cooking. As he goes about his days preparing for priesthood, the encouragement he’s felt on his path has contributed to his current outlook: “Every day is just grace.”