About

Objectives And Philosophy

Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary was an educational institution of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Its purpose was to prepare candidates for the priesthood and the religious life in that Congregation and worthy young men for the role of leadership in the Christian community. This specific purpose governed the selection and training of the faculty, the admission of students, the design of the curriculum, and the program of guidance designed to develop the qualities of mind and heart required for the priesthood, the religious life, and Christian leadership.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary was a college preparatory high school. This academic institution received full accreditation by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in December, 1965. The four year’s of training at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary was designed to prepare the candidate for high learning leading to the attainment of his goal. Candidates for the priesthood in the Congregation continued their study at Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois. From there, they would go to Sacred Heart Monastery, Hales Corners, Wisconsin, for four years of formal training in theology.

Location

Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary – Bellefontaine was located at:
91 Kemble Street, Lenox, Massachusetts 01240

Located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts

Present Day

The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus closed the Seminary in 1979. In November of 1981, Marin Isenberg, a Boston investor, bought the Kemble Street property for just over $1 million hoping to create the unusual combination of a resort and alcohol rehabilitation center for high-level industry executives. Isenberg invested more than a half million dollars to restore the majesty and lavishness to Giraud Foster’s late 19th-century “summer cottage”. The property is now a health resort known as Canyon Ranch of the Berkshires.