Peter Hornsby, Member of the Catholic Union writes:
This month I was most privileged to have been invited to visit my good friend James Somerville-Meikle, former Deputy Director of the Catholic Union, who is currently undertaking his first foundation year of training at the Royal English College Seminary in Valladolid.
After a smooth arrival to Valladolid from Madrid with a direct coach journey from the airport, I was delighted to see James for the first time since he left England in September to explore his vocation in a contrasting environment from back home.
He very kindly took me around for a tour of the city, including the cathedral and the world-renowned National Museum of Sculpture that houses a large collection of religious art and portraits in the Colegio de San Gregorio, a 15th-century building.
However, the tourist-highlight has to be the beautiful seminary itself which has a stunning library with books dating back several hundred years that are still used by the seminarians today for their research. James arranged for their expert librarian to give me a VIP-style tour and I had the privilege to read some of these wonderful works that were transcribed onto sheep skins.
The seminarians and the rectors were most welcoming and I joined them for their music rehearsals, prayers and for Mass, and it was also very intriguing to partake in their theological and spiritual discussions over coffee and lunch. It wasn’t all ‘work’ though, we played croquet in the sun on Friday afternoon and watched football in the evenings.
It was wonderful to see James serving at Mass, and most encouraging to see how so many seminarians were engaging with their faith in this special spiritual environment.
If you can, I urge you to reach out to James if you are able to visit him alternatively feel free to contact me and I would more than happily share more details about my experience.