Father Hasser called it a “highly valuable, intensive formation opportunity.”

   Funding was provided by an anonymous donor. 

Seminarians Will Summerlin, Matthew Andrzejewski, Sam Schneider and Matthew Spencer begin the first cut to clear a large tree from the trail. (Photo provided)

  As the seminarians labored using two-man crosscut saws, axes and shears, they got to know one another amid the beauty of the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mass was celebrated daily and the men prayed the Liturgy of the Hours – prayers said daily by Roman Catholic priests.

   “The experience of hiking this deep into the remote wilderness was similar to the detachment of leaving everything behind when going on a spiritual retreat,” Father Hasser said. “It was great not because it was easy, but because it tested us and pushed us to our limits both physically and mentally.”

   They worked in the Domeland Wilderness Area, which is in the southernmost section of the national forest. The men slept in tents and hauled all their gear to their base camp on their backs. They filtered all their drinking water – at least one gallon per person per day.

   The men hiked nearly five miles to and from their work sites. That, and the labor, left them sunburned and exhausted, but the U.S. Forest Service presented each man a certificate of appreciation for a job well done.

   Among the team members was William “Will” Summerlin, 19, a seminarian at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. He attends St. Maria Goretti Church, Westfield.

   “I’ve always loved spending time outdoors and doing manual work,” he said.  “I knew that the fraternity of all the seminarians would really grow.”

   A large rock and a fallen tree served as makeshift altars for Mass.

   “Praying outside is very peaceful,” Summerlin said. “You can hear the sounds of nature … we’d have 30 minutes of silent prayer every day. Each of us would go to a spot and sit in the silence. That was my favorite -- you can hear God.”

   The men “learned how to push through and persevere,” he said. “We all kind of learned that when you keep persevering, you can accomplish more than you thought you could. Prayer throughout the day rejuvenated us.”

   Team member Steve Duquaine, 26, is a third-year theology student at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. He’s from St. Ambrose Parish, Anderson.

   “It was a great opportunity for silence, to experience the beauty of nature with my brother seminarians, and to work in an environment that was very foreign,” he said. “We had to rely on each other. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the younger guys I hadn’t really talked to a lot.”

   The sense of brotherhood, he said, “will be present, hopefully, when we are priests.”

   He enjoyed using traditional, manual logging tools.

   “We talked about how pleasant the sound was as we smoothly sawed through the wood with the two-man saw,” he said. “There was a rhythm; there was almost a meditative aspect to the work.”

   The expedition was led by John Bradford, director of Wilderness Outreach, a Catholic lay organization that challenges priests, seminarians and laymen to embrace and develop their God-given manhood.

   Father Hasser, Bradford, Summerlin and Duquaine were joined by diocesan seminarians Pete Logsdon, Matthew Spencer, Derek Aaron, Alex McGauley, Coady Owens, Matthew Andrzejewski and Christian DeCarlo, plus a seminarian for a Wisconsin diocese. 

   Since 2008, Bradford has led three expeditions with vocations directors and seminarians from the Lafayette diocese.

   “These men have consistently set the bar for their dedication to the five pillars of Wilderness Outreach: worship, work, asceticism, leadership and brotherhood,” he said.