At 6:30 a.m. daily, before much of the city is awake, a diverse group of men kneel in quiet prayer. It's in English on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and in Spanish on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

They've come to San Antonio's Assumption Seminary from 16 Catholic dioceses to explore what they believe is a call from God to spend the rest of their lives in service as Catholic priests.

"I never thought that (discerning a vocation to priesthood) would be so difficult," said Miguel Fuentes, 18, who applied to the seminary last summer, fresh out of Central Catholic High School.

He's the youngest of 84 seminarians enrolled at seminary this semester. Fuentes is also one of 34 men who came to Assumption for the first time this year — its largest entering class in 36 years. No other U.S. Catholic seminary has had such a huge jump, Assumption officials say.

The way each man spends his time at the seminary is governed by routine.

After breakfast together in the cafeteria, Fuentes and other college-level seminarians face a short commute to attend classes at St. Mary's or Our Lady of the Lake universities.

(Bob Owen/Express-News) A seminarian watches the ordination service of Edwin Vigil and Edvin Rodriguez as deacons in the Catholic Church at San Fernando Cathedral in December.

Theology students face a 20-minute commute across town from Assumption Seminary on San Antonio's West Side to Oblate School of Theology on the North Side. A few take a shorter commute to St. Mary's or Our Lady of the Lake University.

Back for lunch at noon, they depart again in groups for afternoon classes. Evening prayer at 5:45 p.m. and supper at 6:30 p.m. don't mark the end of the day's labors. Homework and academic projects occupy their evenings.

Weekends provide opportunities to relax, and some play soccer or basketball. Archbishop José Gomez sometimes joins them.

At 18, Fuentes is the exception in this crowd rather than the rule. Most Assumption students are middle-aged. They've tasted both success and failure in secular society and are seeking a deeper purpose for their lives.

"These guys come here with their eyes open," said Assumption rector Father Larry Christian. "They're well aware of the challenges the church faces in today's society, because we're right in the middle of the city. We don't hide anything from them."

Candidates don't come already programmed for the priesthood. And despite popular perception, the seminary isn't merely a "priest factory."

It's a "formation center," providing an environment in which young men can develop their spiritual lives while learning pastoral and human skills. Christian said the seminary's first mission is the pastoral care of the candidates' souls.

"When they first come here, we assume that they've been called to the seminary. We then see if they're called to the priesthood," he said.

Discernment involves the 10-member formation faculty as well as the candidates themselves. That means looking at each man in his individual circumstances and helping him to grow in virtue and holiness.

"It also means listening to the Holy Spirit speak within each man's heart," Christian said.

Formation involves helping each student individually to develop maturity in his prayer, worship and personal life. The faculty tracks each student's progress in developing the skills to work cooperatively with priests and non-priests, live the celibate lifestyle, manage time and cope with myriad challenges of daily priestly life.

Edwin Vigil, a deacon since Dec. 2 who is preparing for priestly ordination in May, said the example of good priests inspired him to live a life of service and commitment to the people of God. The seminary has given him the inner tools to follow their example.

"The formation program has helped me acknowledge and accept that God has been calling me to the priestly life since I was very young. It's also prepared me to point people to Jesus Christ," Vigil said.

Not all seminarians will be ordained. Some may be called simply to spend time in the seminary before returning to the secular world, Christian said. Many former seminarians have used what they learned at Assumption to become successful public servants in the community.

But getting into Assumption is anything but easy. Christian said it may be easier to be accepted into the FBI than to the seminary.

"With an increasingly severe shortage of priests, you'd think the temptation would be to lower the standards," he said. "But we've raised them. The admission process is very tight."

Interviews with vocation directors and bishops are just the beginning.

The physical examination — which is necessary in anticipation of a physically demanding life as a priest — "looked at everything they could possibly look at," said first-year seminarian John Nolan.

"It was so rigorous that I felt like an astronaut preparing for a space flight."

Criminal background and military discharge record checks are mandatory. Applicants from other countries have their immigration documentation thoroughly examined.

Two days' worth of intense psychological probing measures the candidate's aptitude for relationships and collaborating with other priests, religious and laity and flags possible relationship problems.

"I had to answer 600 questions and write my own detailed autobiography. It taught me a lot I didn't know about myself," Nolan said.

Sexual abuse scandals across the nation have prompted tougher screening standards for potential applicants. Dioceses are told not to suggest candidates with even a hint of sexual problems.

"There is no fail-safe test that determines whether an applicant is a sexual abuser," Christian said. "But we look for abnormal behavior patterns, such as narcissism or a lack of normal and healthy peer relationships. We also conduct celibacy workshops twice a year for the students."

Accepted candidates don't all enter the seminary at the same academic level. Ordination requires a four-year college degree plus a five-year theology program that includes a yearlong pastoral internship in a parish in the student's home diocese.

Some candidates are still earning college degrees; others have degrees but need undergraduate philosophy to study graduate-level theology. Most Assumption men are in various stages of theology study.

"The seminary staff and faculty have bent over backwards to accompany us in our transition into seminary life. They've laid at our feet every tool necessary to be successful here," Nolan said.

Seminarians become like brothers, relying on each other for emotional support, navigating the ins and outs of seminary requirements and coping with a relentlessly demanding schedule.

Third-year theology student Clay Hunt, who came to Assumption last fall from a religious order in Corpus Christi, said that fourth-year theology student Ray McDaniel guided him through the volumes of reference books in the library.

"Ray helped me to find Scripture commentaries for class assignments and taught me the correct style for citing them in my written work," he said.

Such assistance is an important part of the process that molds seminarians into a spiritual brotherhood that will mature in future years as they work together in priestly ministry.