St. Mary's Seminary is the first Roman Catholic seminary in the nation: rich in tradition while focused on priestly preparation for the 21st-century.
These pages provide information on the history, personnel, environment, and formation (in the Sulpician tradition) at St. Mary's.
The three pages in this section of our site touch on the very basics of the formation process.
A major part of priestly formation is intellectual formation, accomplished through the pursuit of academic degrees.
Desiring to assist in the strengthening of Hispanic ministry and recognizing the need for well-prepared priests dedicated in-part or in-full to this ministry, St. Mary’s Seminary and University has established a specialized track in Hispanic ministry.
St. Mary’s Propaedeutic Stage implements the vision of the Program for Priestly Formation (6th edition). It takes place in a revitalized and expanded structure on the historic grounds of the original St. Mary’s Seminary in downtown Baltimore. The McGivney House welcomes candidates from all dioceses and is not limited to candidates destined to enter St. Mary’s Seminary & University, but is the recommended program for those who will come to St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute (EI) was founded in 1968 by St. Mary’s Seminary & University, America’s oldest Roman Catholic seminary, in cooperation with ecumenical leaders. St. Mary’s is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The Ecumenical Institute encourages people of all denominations to explore theological studies in a serious, open-minded, and supportive environment. All EI programs are available wherever you are - on campus in Baltimore, and on-line.
The Ecumenical Institute invites people of all denominations into theological study that pursues excellence and promotes ecumenical understanding and respect. All EI programs are available wherever you are - on campus in Baltimore, and on-line.
St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute has a rolling admissions policy. Students may apply at any time for admission by submitting the appropriate materials.
The Ecumenical Institute offers accredited graduate theological programs for two master’s degrees, several graduate certificates, and introductory explorations.
The post-master’s Certificate of Advanced Studies in Theology (CAS) is designed for individuals who possess a master’s degree in theology (e.g., MAT.), ministry (e.g., MACM), divinity (e.g., MDiv), or a related field and who desire to continue their theological education with a general or focused program of study.
The Doctor of Ministry program roots ministry in the mission of God, the ways God is working in your context, in your ministry, and in you.
Students have a host of resources available to support their theological education, from free parking and a great library to writing assistance and advising.
St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute offers accredited graduate theological education that is intellectually rigorous, personally enriching, and professionally empowering.
More than 750 alums of St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute are making a difference in Baltimore, in Maryland and D.C., West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and around the world.
General communication and individual contacts
It is the mission of the Center for Continuing Formation to encourage bishops, priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers to engage in human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral growth and to enable processes of growth that are ongoing, complete, systemic, and personalized.
Conference space rentals include a large room that will seat as many as 58 and smaller rooms that will seat from 4 to 30.
St. Mary's Center for Continuing Formation offers and hosts a variety of continuing formation programs for priests in the spirit of the Bishops' new Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.
St. Mary’s Seminary & University’s Pinkard Scholars is the cornerstone of Youth Theological Studies at SMSU.
For more information about any of our conference facilities or space rentals, please contact our offices directly.
The Marion Burk Knott Library of St. Mary’s Seminary and University is the largest specialized theological library in the Baltimore area, with additional materials in the areas of philosophy, psychology, pastoral counseling and church history, among others. The library receives over 390 periodicals and maintains a collection of 20,000 volumes of bound periodicals. Other holdings include newspapers, microfilm, and audio-visual materials.
The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University opened in the spring of 2002. Located on the campus of the nation’s first Roman Catholic seminary, this program brings together the archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (est. 1789), St. Mary’s Seminary & University (est. 1791), and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States (U.S. Province est. 1903), making it one of the most significant repositories for records relating to the early history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Click here for more information about hours and visitor policies.
This section was created to provide researchers with a brief description of the open collections in the archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, St. Mary's Seminary & University, and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States.
The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University has developed a genealogical policy responsive to individuals researching their Catholic roots.
We facilitate personal integration of the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions necessary for authentic priestly witness and service in the image of Jesus Christ.
ATLA Religion Database provides information on topics such as biblical studies, world religions, church history, and religion in social issues. ATLA Religion Database contains more than 1.3 million bibliographic records covering the research literature of religion in over 60 languages. It includes more than 460,000 article citations from more than 1,500 journals (651 currently indexed), more than 260,000 essay citations from over 15,400 multi-author works, more than 423,000 book review citations. Coverage spans from 1949 to the present. This database is produced by the American Theological Library Association.
ATLA Instructional Video
JSTOR Religion and Theology Collection covers the history and philosophy of religious thought spanning traditions, periods, and critical approaches. The collection contains more than 80 titles drawn exclusively from existing JSTOR Arts and Sciences collections.
The Library of Latin Texts (LLT) is the world’s leading database for Latin texts. It gathers Latin texts of all genres and all periods. The texts have been taken from the Corpus Christianorum series and from many other leading editions.
“Sources Chrétiennes Online” forms the digital, searchable counterpart to the well-known “Sources Chrétiennes” series, based in Lyon and published by Éditions du Cerf, Paris. By 2025, the database will incorporate the source texts from the more than 600 printed volumes, in Latin, Greek, Syriac, Armenian and Georgian, sided by French translations and allowing for targeted and filtered searches.
NTA Online is produced by ATLA in partnership with the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Abstracts are in English. NTA offers more than 38,000 articles and more than 13,500 book summaries.
Old Testament Abstracts is a comprehensive reference tool designed to support Old Testament Studies scholarship in graduate education and faculty research. Old Testament Abstracts on CD-ROM contains more than 35,000 abstracts of journal articles, books, essays and software.
The Philosopher’s Index provides indexing and abstracts from books and journals of philosophy and related fields. It covers the areas of ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, and metaphysic logic as well as material on the philosophy of law, religion, science, history, education, and language. 1940-
A comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global is the world’s most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text.
Books in Print with Reviews
Books In Print® with Book Reviews provides easy access to crucial information on the U.S. book publishing industry with more than 500,000 full-text reviews from more than a dozen of the most respected sources, including Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, CHOICE, Reference and Research Book News, Sci-Tech Book News, University Press Book News, The Horn Book, The Boston Book Review, and Quill & Quire. Plus, there’s a notation if a title has been reviewed in key publications such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and 8 others. Updated monthly.
Containing the entire backfile of Book Review Index print content from 1965 to the present, Book Review Index Online is unparalleled in scope, with more than 5.6 million reviews on more than 2.5 million titles.
This is the industry’s most used business research database, providing the full text for nearly 8,200 serials. Business Source Premier provides full text back to 1965 and searchable cited references back as far as 1998. Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business. This database is updated on a daily basis via EBSCO host.
ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, contains more than 2,200 digests along with references for additional information and citations and abstracts from over 1,000 educational and education-related journals.
This database is the richest collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide, providing information on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health. Health Source: Consumer Edition features searchable full text for nearly 150 journals. This database is updated on a daily basis.
This database provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition also features abstracts and indexing for nearly 850 journals. This database is updated on a daily basis.
ProQuest® Literature Online is the leading online resource for the study and teaching of literature in English. It is a fully integrated service that combines the texts of over 357,250 works of literature with huge resources of criticism and reference.
MLA International Bibliography
MLA International Bibliography is a bibliography of journal articles, books and dissertations. Produced by the Modern Language Association, the electronic version of the bibliography dates back to the 1920s and contains millions of citations from journals and series, as well as book publishers.
OCLC index of articles from the content pages of journals.
Index of Latin American journals in the sciences and humanities.
OCLC catalogue of online electronic books available through libraries worldwide.
An OCLC collection of scholarly journals.
An index of U.S. Government publications.
All areas of medicine including dentistry and nursing.
The union catalogue of digital resources.
OCLC index of papers presented at conferences worldwide.
An OCLC index of worldwide conference proceedings.
A database of all dissertations and theses available in WorldCat.
Catalog of books and other materials from libraries worldwide.