Spring Wolf Run Fundraiser for the Seminarians of Zaitzkofen

Eleanor van Kroonenburg

The seminarians are hungry. The water is cold. Seven hardy souls from St Anne’s Chapel, Leicester, are braving the spring Wolf Run in order to raise funds for the Zaitzkofen seminarians’ meat and potatoes.

Taking place shortly after Easter, the Wolf Run is a gruelling ten-kilometre odyssey across arduous terrain — woods, obstacles, lakes and fields. Hypothermia is a possibility, mud from head to foot a certainty.

The men are already training hard (well, some of them are) and can talk about nothing else after Sunday Mass, much to the chagrin of their womenfolk.

‘This is such a great opportunity to raise the profile of the seminary and to raise money at the same time,’ enthuses one of the runners, ‘and of course to raise a pint afterwards down t’pub.’

Others, having been swept along in the initial enthusiasm of signing up, are now becoming a little more circumspect. ‘Just how cold is the water? Mud ALL OVER?? Do I have to run ALL OF IT???’

Nobody has asked the women what they think, but this correspondent understands that they are not looking forward to dealing with the laundry afterwards.

Please give generously, so that our runners’ valiant efforts to support the seminarians, who are our future priests (and who are always hungry), be not in vain.

Fundraising is open now at: www.gofundme.com/f/st-annes-chapel-wolf-run

Dig deep into your pockets! Offer a prayer for the seminarians and donate a pound (or two, or several) for their potatoes. Remember the brave runners as they shiver on the starting line in the gentle, soul-sapping drizzle of an English spring day. And spare a thought for the women, who will be preparing picnics, minding the children, and looking with despair at piles of muddy, stinking clothes.

Introibo ad altare Dei — ‘I will go unto the altar of God’.

Please help our seminarians reach the altar as God’s anointed priests. The future of our faith and families depends upon it.