Going away to Albany – Time to Grow Up!

Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, Albany, NY – an interdiocesan major seminary conducted by the Vincentian Fathers, established at Niagara Falls in 1856 and relocated in 1961 and closed in 1972 

After finishing six years as a student of Cathedral Prep Seminary in Brooklyn, NY (traveling by train from Astoria, NY), I was awaiting the news in the summer of 1965 about where I would go for the Major Seminary. I thought, for sure, it would be the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, NY. I forgot that the Diocese of Brooklyn was sending candidates, at that time, to other seminaries besides Huntington. Lo and behold, a letter arrived one early August afternoon. It indicated that the assignment was to the Seminary “listed below,” and at the bottom of the page, it said, “Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Albany, New York!” Surprise, surprise! I later found out that my class of 40 was divided up in three ways: 20 to Huntington, 10 to Christ the King in Olean, New York, and 10 of us to Albany – we called it SOLA for short.

Looking back, this assignment, while totally unexpected, was probably one of the best things that happened to me in my life. Leaving home was difficult, but it was to become a chance to begin a new adventure, to strike out on my own, to “break the ties” in the healthy sense of that term.

After a failed attempt to arrive by plane (an ominous start), I arrived late on September 8, 1965, by means of a rented car. There was a warm welcome, and I felt I was going to be okay. It turned out to be a rather easy transition, and soon it felt good to be “on my own” and I was at peace with being away from home. If I had gone to the seminary in Huntington, I would have been home more frequently. Being in Albany, we were allowed home at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and a long summer vacation.

At the seminary, we didn’t have any laundry service for our clothes, so I learned how to do my own laundry. It was not done the way mom used to do it, but it was clean and presentable! I shared a room for the first year with Leo Carroll, who turned out to be a very compatible companion. I made some friends there that I still keep in touch with, some 60 years later! Jim Janeski is one of my closest friends, and we bonded immediately, even though he mocked my “Brooklyn accent!” We still laugh about that today. All in all, we were a large delegation from our home Diocese of Brooklyn, so we had a lot to offer with our “city living” experiences.

The faculty – Vincentian Priests and Brothers – were absolutely the best you could hope for. They treated us like adults, and we were always given good examples, fine teaching, and spiritual guidance. Only one faculty member remains from my time at SOLA – retired now and living in Philadelphia – the wonderful Fr. Steve Trzecieski, C.M., whom I visited last year just to say “thank you” for a tremendously valuable effort that he and his confreres made to give us the best they had to offer.

The Seminary of Our Lady of Angels in Albany was a beautiful new campus built in 1961 (having relocated from the original seminary campus at Niagara University) and unfortunately closed in 1972, one year after my priesthood ordination. The buildings were modern and served us well! The community of people there – faculty and students – shaped us, molded us, and formed us into who we are today.