Holy Cross Office of Vocations x Notre Dame Summer Scholars

Summer Seminary Immersion Program

Explore God’s call on the campus of the University of Notre Dame

Learn More and Apply

June 15-29, 2024

Summer Seminary Immersion Program

The Summer Seminary Immersion Program is a two-week program for high school men who are considering a vocation to the Roman Catholic priesthood. The program helps rising juniors and seniors deepen their own consideration of God’s call and experience a college seminary program. Participants live in Moreau Seminary, with one of the best views across St. Joseph Lake at the University of Notre Dame’s Golden Dome. Coursework, eligible for a college credit from Notre Dame, focuses on developing a deeper understanding of the priesthood. The daily schedule includes Mass, common prayer, and other community experiences. Students also have the opportunity to participate in social and service activities with the students in the Notre Dame Summer Scholars Program.

Discerning a call to the priesthood is not easy. The Summer Seminary Immersion Program helps young men consider whether a college seminary program is a step they should take.

“There was a lot that took me out of my comfort zone, but that was so good for me, and has really shown me that I’ve been missing out on a lot in life …. SSIP wasn’t just two weeks of trying to recruit me to Holy Cross, but the whole team was honestly interested in helping me follow God’s will.”

2022 SSIP Participant

Experience SSIP

Check out our promo video highlighting the countless ways SSIP participants discern God’s call and engage in brotherly community.

“My experience was better than I could have imagined; it was a really packed schedule, but it was entirely worth it.”

2022 SSIP Participant

Course Instructor

Fr. Matt Hovde, C.S.C.

Fr. Matthew Hovde, C.S.C., is a Holy Cross priest and native of Miami, Florida. Fr. Matthew joined the Congregation of Holy Cross as a freshman at the University of Notre Dame in 2007, entering the Old College Undergraduate Seminary. He was ordained a priest at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame’s campus in 2016, and served for four years in pastoral ministry at Notre Dame, including time as a campus minister, chaplain, and rector. Fr. Matthew currently is a doctoral researcher at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. His research in theological anthropology focuses upon the paradigm which the evangelical counsels provide for the Christian understanding of human personhood.

Fr. Matt Hovde, C.S.C.