It is a tradition in the Springfield diocese that before departing for their respective seminaries in the fall, the diocese's seminarians and their parents are invited to join Bishop Thomas John Paprocki for Mass and dinner in Springfield. But a power outage at the Villa Maria Catholic Life Conference and Retreat Center at Lake Springfield on Aug. 13 — just hours before the scheduled event — forced vocation director Father Christopher House to take quick action.

As pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Auburn, Sacred Heart Parish in Virden, and St. Patrick Parish in Girard, Father House was able to reach everyone, and notify them to make the short trip to Auburn.

"There was a slight change in the menu. Villa Maria catered the chicken in, and did everything else on the menu they had planned to do. Everything worked out well," Father House said. "There were about 75 of us, including nine new seminarians. We have 26 seminarians in all. Last year there were 20, so once again, it is the biggest class we've had in over 25 years."

Normally, the gathering would have been an overnight if it was at the Villa, with Mass and prayer the next day. "We had to abbreviate things," he said. "This year, after Mass we had a quick introduction of everyone, and then the bishop spoke with them for about an hour. But then sadly, everyone had to go home that night," said Father House.

"You never know what is going to happen. But everybody pitched in and made it work. That is why vocations are doing so well right now — everyone is playing a part," Father House said.

Steven Arisman St. Agnes Springfield Mundelein Seminary Theology III	Samuel Bagyo Jr. St. Paul Highland Mundelein Seminary Theology II	Paul Bonk St. Mary and St. Mark Madison Sacred Heart School of Theology Theology I
Seth Brown St. Peter Petersburg Mundelein Seminary Theology III	Craig Brummer St. Anthony Effingham Saint Meinrad School of Theology Theology I	Derek Burns St. Paul Highland Sacred Heart School of Theology Theology I
Matthew Clarke Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Springfield Mundelein Seminary Pre-Theology II	Rev. Mr. David Curtin Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Springfield Saint Meinrad School of Theology Theology IV	Gregory Fleckenstein St. Joseph Springfield Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College III
Michael Friedel Holy Angels Wood River Mundelein Seminary Pre-Theology II	Michael Haley St. Agnes Springfield Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College II	William Jansen II St. Isidore Dieterich Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College II
Robert Johnson Resurrection Illiopolis Mundelein Seminary Pre-Theology I	Aaron Kuhn St. Francis Solanus Quincy Mundelein Seminary Pre-Theology I	Braden Maher St. Anthony Effingham Saint Meinrad School of Theology Theology I
Michael Meinhart St. Isidore Dieterich Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College I	Adam Prichard Blessed Sacrament Quincy Mundelein Seminary Theology II	Dominic Rankin Blessed Sacrament Quincy Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College III
Cody Sandschafer Sacred Heart Effingham Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College III	Rev. Mr. Hyland Smith St. Michael Greenfield Mundelein Seminary Theology IV	Martin Smith Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Mt. Zion Mundelein Seminary Theology II
Wayne Stock St. Anthony Effingham Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College IV	Jason Stone Blessed Sacrament Quincy Mundelein Seminary Theology II	Mark Tracy Holy Family Mt. Sterling Saint Meinrad School of Theology Pre-Theology I
Dominic Vahling St. Francis Teutopolis Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary College I	Joseph Wagner St. Aloysius Springfield Mundelein Seminary Pre-Theology II