A PublicAtion of the RedemPtoRist office foR

mission AdvAncement

volume 4, numbeR 2, summeR 2012

REDEMPTION

Still Our Perpetual HelpElton Letang, C.Ss.R./Courtesy

PROVINCIAL’S PREFACE

22

Plentiful Redemption © 2012

Plentiful Redemption is distributed quarterly to friends and collaborators of the Redemptorists. We aim to tell the story of God’s bountiful love and inspire our readers to partner with us to continue spreading the Good news to all people, especially to the poor and most spiritually abandoned.

Redemptorist Office forMission Advancement107 duke of Gloucester st.Annapolis, md 21401-2526

toll free: 877-876-7662redemptorists.net

editor:stephanie K. tracyeditor@redemptorists.net

director:Rev. daniel francis, c.ss.R.dfrancis@redemptorists.net

Father Peter Sousa retired recently as a colonel chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserves after 26 years of service.

“I was inspired to enter the Redemptorists by a Redemp-torist Army Chaplain, Father Thomas W. Lacey,” Father Sousa said. “I grew up in an Army family, and when we moved to the Panama Canal Zone in 1964, I met Father Lacey. He helped me discern my vocation.”

Father Sousa professed vows as a Redemptorist in 1971 and was ordained in 1978. He was commis-

sioned as a first lieutenant in the Army chaplain corps in May 1986. He went on

to serve at several posts in the United States includ-ing Erie, PA; Edison, NJ; Winston-Salem, NC; Ft. Totten, NY; Orlando and Patrick Air Force Base in Florida; and Ft. Story, Ft. Monroe and Ft. Eustis, all in Virginia. He also spent a year deployed as a hospi-tal chaplain with the 344th Combat Support Hospital

at Abu Ghraib Prison and Camp Bucca in Iraq in 2004.

Dear Friends,One of the greatest joys of every

Redemptorist is our devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. In 1866 Pope Pius IX entrusted the image of Our Mother of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists, not as a gift, but as a mission. He told them, “Make Our Mother of Perpetual Help known throughout the world.”

Redemptorists around the globe have been loyal to that task. From the moment she was given to us, love for and devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help has been a hallmark of what Redemptorists do.

We have made the image of Our Mother of Perpetual Help the single best-known image of Mary in the world. It can be

seen on the walls of churches and homes in bustling modern cities like New York and Paris and Tokyo. But it is also in back-water villages in poverty-ridden jungles in Congo and Brazil and Indonesia. This image of Mary is even held in high esteem by Muslims.

Mary is first of all a mother, the mother of Jesus and our mother. Is there, in any culture of the world, a person more important than a mother? It is from the loving hands of our mothers that we received life, were fed, clothed, cleaned, educated, formed and loved. What a beautiful name for Mary — “Mother of Perpetual Help.” From the rough wood of His Sacred and Sacrificial Cross, Jesus said: “Mother, behold your son,” as he gave her into the safekeeping of St. John. It has been the long-standing tradition of the Church that, at that very moment, Jesus also gave her to all of us to be our mother, too. And so for more than 2,000 years, Christians have clung to Mary as a mother who loves us, wants to bring us to Jesus, and wants us to be blessed.

I can remember in my six years as pas-tor of the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpet-ual Help in Brooklyn, NY, how so many people told me about the importance in their lives of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. How she was a mother for them — a mother of comfort, of strength, of com-passion and of love throughout the whole of their lives, but especially in the difficult moments and trying times. Some told me that even when they grew lax, or left the

practice of the faith, they had to return because of that one image — the image of Our Mother of Perpetual Help who was so much their mother, too.

Mary is a mother who leads us to Jesus, a mother who teaches us how to walk in faith and trust in God, a mother who helps us to do God’s will and to serve others. Her words daily guide us: “I am the hand-maid of the Lord. Do with my life as you wish.” She lived to praise God and to share in the joy of the Lord.

“My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” These are truly words to live by as she did, and have be-come one of the most recited and precious of prayers in the Church — the Magnificat — which has resounded through the centuries as the perfect model of obedi-ence out of love for God. Our Mother em-bodies the power of the freedom of the chil-dren of God, and the loving obedience that flows from that. Our Mother gives us by her example and her love the gift of grace to follow her.

May the Mother of Perpetual Help be Our Mother of Perpetual Help, and may we try to love her as Jesus loved his dear mother!

Sincerely in Jesus and Mary, the Mother of Perpetual Help,

Very Rev. Kevin Moley, C.Ss.R.

Redemptorist chaplain retires from U.S. Army

Fr. P

eter

Sou

sa, C

.Ss.R

./Cou

rtes

y

http://redemptorists.netmailto:editor%40redemptorists.net?subject=mailto:dfrancis%40redemptorists.net?subject=

3

ADVANCING THE MISSION

When Redemptorists preach, especial

ly at retreats and on missions,

we often end with a reflection on and

devotion to Mary, Our Mother of

Perpetual Help. Recently I read from R

edemptorist Father Kevin O’Shea

something I hadn’t thought of before:

the first prayer we hear from the

Blessed Mother (“Let it be done to me

according to your will”) is nearly

Jesus’ final prayer (“Not my will but yo

urs be done”). From Mary’s lap and

her lips, Jesus learned to pray and let g

o.

As I travel around, meeting donors an

d preaching parish missions, I hear

a lot of people learning how to let go: a

daughter who succumbs to ovarian

cancer; a grandson who leaves the Ch

urch in a huff; older people who learn

to let go of physical health

and mental sharpness; younger people

who let go of the “dream house” and ne

ed to live with their parents

for a few more years. I know of a coupl

e from Pennsylvania who let go of exten

ded vacations because they

care for her ailing mother, and there’s a

man who let go of a priestly vocation

to care for his sick parents

for many years.

And the gift of Mary is that she shows

us great hope. Not only did she belie

ve the promise that God

would be with her — she became pre

gnant with it, gestated it, gave it her o

wn flesh, gave it reality, and

then nursed a fragile new life into a stro

ng adult man-God who breathed forgive

ness on a distracted world.

In that, Mary needs more imitation and

less admiration.

We at ROMA are so grateful to you for y

our gifts to help support our ministries.

This newsletter is one of

our major ways of reaching people wit

h the news of plentiful redemption as w

e are bringing it to life in the

Baltimore Province. Thank you for you

r prayers and continuing support and G

od bless you!

Rev. Daniel Francis, C.Ss.R. P.S. I’ll be part of a team of Redemp-torists preaching a special tridu-um of Masses in honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help June 25-27 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. For more information, visit our website at redemptorists.net. If you’re in the area, please join us!

http://www.redemptorists.net

4

By Rev. Matthew Allman, C.Ss.R.It took the six Redemptorist pioneers

to America over two months to travel between the ports of Trieste, Italy on the Adriatic Sea and New York on the Atlantic. It would take nearly three weeks more for them to journey inland to Cin-cinnati, where they were traveling on the invitation of Bishop Edward Fenwick and his vicar general, Father Frederick Résé. Nowadays one could drive a car between the Big Apple and the Queen City in less than 12 hours, but in 1832 the trip was a little more complicated.

The pioneering fathers and broth-ers travelled up the Hudson River to Albany, NY, then took the Erie Canal to Buffalo, sailed on Lake Erie to Cleve-land, journeyed down the Ohio Canal to Chillicothe, OH and finally took anoth-er river trip down the Ohio River from Portsmouth to Cincinnati. When at last they arrived in Cincinnati, the Redemp-torists might have been ready for a little rest and stability, but those commodities would be in short supply!

Bishop Fenwick was out of town mak-ing pastoral visits, so Father Résé greeted the missionaries. Their time together was brief. The majority of the men quickly set out for Detroit to see the bishop, while

at the request of Father Résé, Father Francis Tschenhens and Brother James Kohler stayed behind in Cincinnati. The idea was that Father Tschenhens would help minister to the German speakers in the area, while Brother James would put his culinary skills to work, training new cooks for the diocesan seminary.

The band of missionaries divided itself once again while on the way to Detroit. As they traveled up the Miami Canal and along what the superior of the Ameri-can mission, Father Simon Saenderl, described as “the worst road I have ever seen, through a country that is well nigh wilderness,” the Redemptorists ran into more pockets of German settlers. At Father Résé’s request, again two more of the missionaries delayed their trip toward the bishop so as to minister to the immigrants. Father Francis Haetscher and Brother Aloysius Schuh were the ones who stayed behind. As they worked in the towns of Tiffin and Norwalk, Ohio, Father Haetscher became the first man to preach a Redemptorist parish mission outside of Europe.

In August of 1832, finally, Father Saenderl and his companion, Brother Wenceslaus Witopil, reached Detroit and met Bishop Fenwick. The bishop

was greatly relieved to see the missionar-ies and he quickly offered them a foun-dation about four miles outside of the main settlement in Detroit. There the Redemptorists could have a broken-down house, a wood-frame church, a garden, and 400 acres of uncleared land. Father Saenderl was tempted by the offer, but in the end refused it, since he knew the Redemptorists could not afford to buy the property and clear the land to make it useful. Instead, Father Saenderl and Brother Wenceslaus travelled to Green Bay in Wisconsin, and attempted to set up a viable Redemptorist founda-tion in that humble settlement of a few hundred souls. Wisconsin had not seen a resident priest in more than 100 years, and the Redemptorists’ attempt to estab-lish themselves there would be fraught with difficulty. We’ll hear more about in the next issue of Plentiful Redemption.

Fr. Allman directs heritage preserva-tion projects for the Baltimore Province and is associate pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Church/Shrine of St. John Neu-mann in Philadelphia, PA. He recently completed a master’s in Church history and library and information science from Catholic University of America. He professed vows as a Redemptorist in 1994 and was ordained in 2000.

Into the wilderness and down to work

Stac

y R

ausc

h/Ill

ustr

atio

n

Ti�n Norwalk

Cleveland

Bu�alo Albany

New York City

Detroit

CincinnatiChillicothe

Portsmouth

Green Bay

Ohio

Wisconsin

Michigan

New York

Lake Erie

LakeMichigan

Redemptorist pioneers travel from New York to Wisconsin in 1832.

**Map not to scale

NEWS & NOTES

On the Webif you would like to send a note of congratulations and prayers to one of our jubilarians, we invite you to write to us at jubilees@redemptorists.net. We will be happy to forward your message.

Redemptorist JubilariansThese priests and brothers are celebrating significant anniversaries of their

profession as Redemptorists and/or their ordination to the priesthood. Please join us in thanking God for the gift of their ministry and pray for their continued faithfulness in service to God’s people.

Professed as Redemptorists

70 YearsRev. James Lundy, C.Ss.R.Rev. Raymond McCarthy, C.Ss.R.

60 YearsRev. Russell Abata, C.Ss.R.Rev. Robert Cheesman, C.Ss.R.Rev. Robert Lennon, C.Ss.R.Rev. Thomas Loftus, C.Ss.R.Very Rev. Charles Vermeulen, C.Ss.R.

50 YearsRev. Thomas Barrett, C.Ss.R.Very Rev. Arthur Gildea, C.Ss.R.Rev. John Harrison, C.Ss.R.Rev. Kevin Milton, C.Ss.R.Rev. Donald Miniscalco, C.Ss.R.Very Rev. Gerard Szymkowiak, C.Ss.R.

40 YearsVery Rev. Michael Sergi, C.Ss.R.Brother Christopher Walsh, C.Ss.R.

25 YearsRev. Edmund Faliskie, C.Ss.R.Rev. Kevin MacDonald, C.Ss.R.

Ordained to the Priesthood

65 YearsRev. Philip Cabasino, C.Ss.R.Rev. James Lundy, C.Ss.R.Rev. Raymond McCarthy, C.Ss.R.

50 YearsRev. Carlyle Blake, C.Ss.R.Rev. Clement Jolly, C.Ss.R.Rev. John McGowan, C.Ss.R.Rev. Paul Miller, C.Ss.R.Very Rev. Francis O’Rourke, C.Ss.R.Rev. Francis Poux, C.Ss.R.Very Rev. Thomas Travers, C.Ss.R.

40 YearsRev. Eugene Daigle, C.Ss.R.Rev. Charles Donovan, C.Ss.R.Rev. James Gilmour, C.Ss.R.Rev. Francis Skelly, C.Ss.R.Rev. Thomas Sullivan, C.Ss.R.Rev. Mark Wise, C.Ss.R.

25 YearsVery Rev. Paul Borowski, C.Ss.R.Rev. Blas Cáceres, C.Ss.R.Rev. John Collins, C.Ss.R.

5

mailto:jubilees%40redemptorists.net?subject=Congratulations%20jubilarians

76

By Stephanie K. TracyShe’s peered down from mantel-

pieces, peeked over the edge of dressers, and popped up around hallway corners for generations. That mysterious lady shrouded in blue, bathed in gold, with those eyes that feel like they can see right through you.

The icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is one of the most recognizable images of Mary in the world, and the Redemptorists have been making her known under this title since 1866 when Pope Pius IX entrusted her to their care. The weekly perpetual novena services, still offered in most Redemptorist parishes today, have introduced generations to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Catherine Conry, a lifelong resi-dent of Brooklyn, NY, has lived near the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help for 59 years. Since moving into the neighborhood as a new bride, she’s faithfully attended the weekly Perpetual Help novena. Her mother first handed on her devotion to Mary, and Catherine’s devotion only continued to grow once she started her own family.

“I grew up with it. I had seven children and the children would come with me; that was the only way I could get there! But it really taught them a great deal, and my faith keeps me coming,” Catherine said. “I have faith that she’s always come through and she always will.”

When Catherine first began attending the novena in Brooklyn, there were four or more services every Wednesday. Thou-sands flocked to the cavernous church to recite the prayers, sing the familiar hymns to Our Lady, and listen to a Redemptorist preach a powerful reflection on Mary.

As neighborhoods and churches have

changed, the crowds may have dwindled, but the Redemptorists continue to reach thousands of people thanks to television, the Internet, and more recently through mobile phones.

Boston’s Basilica of Our Lady of Perpet-ual Help, better known as Mission Church, was also a hub of Perpetual Help devotion from the 1940s well into the 1980s. Thou-sands of people came on foot and on the trolley to pray and listen to some legend-ary Redemptorist preachers — Fathers Joe Manton and Joe Adamec, among others. Since 1984, the Mission Church novena has

been broadcast on Boston’s CatholicTV. Since 2008, the novena homilies have been offered online via YouTube and since 2009 they’ve also appeared on the Redemptorists’ website, redemptorists.net.

The Wednesday novena at Mission Church has also seen a resurgence. Since the devotion was renewed in 2009, atten-dance at the main afternoon service has jumped 200 percent — from 75 people to more than 200. The evening service draws about 60 people now compared to 14.

“We’re discovering that people really want to experience the sacred,” said Father

Still our perpetual helpRedemptorists continue to bring people to Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Philip Dabney, the Redemptorist who has overseen the Mission Church novena since 2009. “Our people are really hungering for God. Many knew the novena growing up. A good num-ber are poor. We have a lot of Haitians and Africans — Perpetual Help is really big in their culture. They’re really in need and they come because they’ve experienced that need and Our Lady as the one who has helped them.”

In an effort to reach the hungering members of the younger generation, the Redemptorists released a novena app for the iPhone/iPad in February 2011. Available in English and Span-ish, the first-of-its-kind app includes nine daily prayers adapted for a mod-ern audience. In the first year, the app has been downloaded almost 900 times worldwide.

Joseph Schellings admits to never being “a big novena guy.” He began attend-ing the novena at Mission Church when he started his second career teaching architecture. The prayers, and especially the preaching, have kept him coming for the last 10 years. The icon’s story — of a Mother comfort-ing her frightened Child — helped him relate to this unique image of Mary. Jo-seph said he com-pares it to the Gospel story of the wedding at Cana when Mary asked Jesus to provide more wine for the wed-ding feast.

“Having watched men relate to their moth-ers, that story has always seemed very real to me,” he said. “It taught me if you really want something from Jesus you’d better tell Mary, ‘Hey, would you get that for me?’”

Fran Ostrander was introduced to the image of Perpetual Help by her parents. She found the image’s Byzantine style hard to relate to, and never really liked it. That is, until she learned the story sur-

rounding her father’s sudden death.“My dad worked in Manhattan and

he’d go to (the Redemptorists’) Most Holy Redeemer Church on Third Street a lot. He

was deaf and mute, and one evening he was robbed on the train home, and he died. All his possessions had been taken except a little picture of Perpetual Help in his shirt pocket,” Fran said. “After I heard that story, knowing that he’d kept her with him like that, I had to start liking Our Lady of Perpetual Help!”

Like many people, Catherine brings special intentions with her to the novena in Brook-lyn. She prayed for her daughter-in-law when she was diagnosed with can-cer. The disease was in remission for a few months, but since the cancer returned, she’s back on the prayer list.

“We don’t give up, and (my daughter-in-law) doesn’t either,” Cath-erine said.

Others, like Betty Galvin who’s attended the novena at Mission Church since she was in high school, keep coming because

Perpetual Help is part of the fabric of their prayer lives.

“It probably keeps me on an even keel with dealing with some of the problems you have in your life,” she said.

Stephanie K. Tracy is the communica-tions manager for the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province.

On the webour annual novena begins June 18 on redemptorists.net.

more personal stories of prayers answered through the intercession of our mother of Perpetual help.

visit redemptorists.net/newsletter.cfm for a slideshow of pictures from Perpetual help novena services in boston and new York.

Perpetual help novena app

Fr. R

icha

rd B

enne

tt, C

SsR

/Cou

rtes

y

http://redemptorists.nethttp://redemptorists.net/newsletter.cfm

orphans (above) at house of hope in thailand. Women (below) participating in a program with the Redemptorists’ mavambo trust in Zimbabwe.

Courtesy | Sarnelli House, Thailand

Courtesy | Redemptorists London Province

students (above) at Yenakart Preschool, one of 22 preschools operated by Redemptorist ministries throughout the slums of bangkok, thailand. homes (left) in lageado, campo Grande, brazil, where the Redemptorists serve a parish.Courtesy | Redemptorists Campo Grande Province

Ian Taylor | Courtesy

8

By Elizabeth Góral-Makowski“I’m glad you asked. The Redemptorists are 5,300 strong and

serve in 76 countries.” No matter how many times I answer the question, “So, how

many Redemptorists are there?,” I have an overwhelming sense of joy. Each day, our Redemptorist priests and brothers bring to life the missionary commission of Jesus — “Go, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19a). They carry the gospel message to

people in places most of us can only imagine, as well as to people who are close by. They are reminders of God’s bountiful love and forgive-ness for all people, especially to those living on the margins of society, especially, the lost and forgotten.

Redemptorists have always been called to be present to all God’s people particularly,

in places where there is political, religious, and economic strife. St. Alphonsus and his early followers felt this, as did St. Clement Mary Hofbauer who brought the Redemptorists into Northern Europe and laid the foundations for sending them to the Americas. Today, in places like Zimbabwe, Haiti, Colombia and Vietnam, the Redemptorists and their associates are a vital presence. They advocate for and uphold the dignity of each and every person.

The commitment and dedication of these men knows no bounds. They minister to young people suffering from abuse,

neglect and addiction. They are a prophetic voice preaching peace and justice in areas torn by gangs and other violence. In Colombia, they live in ramshackle shacks alongside the poor they serve.

These examples are not simply snapshots of faraway places. The same thing is taking place right outside our own back-yards. The Redemptorists are there, preaching the Good News of God’s plentiful redemption for all people.

But, we know that no one person, no one religious order can do it alone. The Redemptorists have a worldwide Solidarity Fund to which provinces that are able donate so the Gospel message continues to grow and be fostered. The Redemptorists also rely on the prayers and on the generosity of friends and benefactors. It is this collaborative effort that ensures God’s Word is present and available for all.

Please consider supporting the Redemptorists and their worldwide missionary efforts today. Please use the enclosed envelope or go to redemptorists.net and donate safely and securely online. Write or type “Solidarity Fund” or “SF” on the memo line to ensure your donation helps support our world-wide missionary efforts.

May Our Redeemer bless you as you partner with the Redemptorists to “make disciples of all nations.”

Elizabeth Góral-Makowski is director of development for the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province.

Making disciples of all nations

On the Webdonate safely and securely online at redemptorists.net.

http://redemptorists.net

VOCATION VOICE

9

By Rev. Richard Bennett, C.Ss.R.Like many people, I can be a nervous fidget. Think for a

moment, how many times you’ve witnessed a friend or a teacher twirl their hair with their finger. Perhaps your boss or colleague plays with his or her pen. Some folks chew gum, some grind their teeth, still others bite their nails.

These quirky, nervous habits seem to be rather common. No matter what the behavior, it seems to happen without think-ing. This fact hit home with me during a recent conversation with a friend. She was talking about some observations she’d made about some unique Redemptorist habits.

Have you ever noticed your reaction when someone points out something in your character or personality? Typically, our first reaction is, “No, that’s not true!” But once we honestly reflect a little … there may be more truth in our friend’s statement than we were first willing to admit!

My friend noticed, time and time again, that Redemptorists have a habit of playing with the rosary beads that are part of our religious habit. Of course, I thought she meant that she often saw us praying with our rosary beads.

True. She had indeed seen our men praying the rosary. But we also seem to have a habit of fid-dling with those rosary beads, too.

We hold them in one hand while preaching a sermon dur-ing a parish mission. They run between our fingers while gathered in a circle, laughing and tell-ing stories with fellow Redemptorist priests and brothers. We grab for those beads while speaking to a group of retreatants, or while addressing an assembly of high school students. Count-less times she’s watched us reaching for them while seated at a parish reception, or upon returning to our bench after Commu-nion. She was starting to get on my nerves! On the other hand, it was about this time when I began to realize, “That’s exactly what I do!”

Since I was a little boy, the soft, gentle assurances from my

mother always made everything turn out alright. “It will work out. Don’t worry,” my mother would say. For us Redemptorists, our common “rosary twitch” may serve as a subtle reminder from Our Blessed Mother that “everything is going to be OK.”

Men who are looking at religious life today routinely ask me, “What makes the Redemptorists distinct from other orders?” I tell them that it’s very difficult to want to be a Redemptorist and not have a deep love for and devotion to Mary.

From the time St. Alphonsus entrusted the congregation to her protection until the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was given to us in 1866 by Pope Pius IX, Redemptorists have always held Mary in high-est esteem. It was a small image of that same icon, leaning up against my grandmother’s per-fume bottle, that gave me the little push I needed to enter the Redemptorist seminary in 1987.

We Redemptorists bring Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, with us wherever we go. Each of us has known the power of her prayers and presence in our own lives, and has seen the effect of her intercession in the lives of thousands of people. The man who returns to confes-sion after 40 years. The woman struggling to know she is loved by an all-loving God. The grand-mother who’s spent years pray-ing that her grandchildren will return to the Church. The addict who’s finally gotten clean. The young mother worried

about how she’ll feed her family if she loses her job. All of these souls, those to whom we Redemptorists are closest, have found strength and a friend in Mary. Thanks to her, they’ve come to know that “everything will be OK.”

Throughout my life, I have fiddled with those beads, time and time again, and felt that same assurance. Like Mary, we are called to be prophets of hope to those who feel most aban-doned. Sometimes we proclaim that message with words. And sometimes we just reach for our beads.

Fr. Bennett is vocations director for the Baltimore Province.

Habits of the heart

Prayer requestPlease keep these Redemptorists in your prayers this summer:Deacon Kevin Bellot, C.Ss.R., who will be ordained to the priesthood August 8, 2012 in dominica.Elton Letang, C.Ss.R., who will profess his final vows as a Redemptorist August 7, 2012, also in Dominica.

ROM

A

“Let us not lose the beautiful

crown which I see prepared for

everyone who lives in observance

and dies in the Congregation.”

(St. Alphonsus Liguori)

THE BEAUTIFUL CROWN

1010

Rev. John Barry, C.Ss.R.Born: October 31, 1921Professed: August 2, 1942Ordained: June 20, 1948Died: February 18, 2012

Rev. Thomas Maceda, C.Ss.R.Born: June 1, 1937Professed: August 2, 1958Ordained: June 23, 1963Died: March 13, 2012

Rev. Edwin Foley, C.Ss.R.Born: March 5, 1921Professed: August 2, 1942Ordained: June 22, 1947Died: April 20, 2012

For complete obituaries, please visit redemptorists.net/departed.cfm.

Father John Gerard Barry died February 18 while receiving pallia-tive care close to his religious com-munity in New Smyrna Beach, FL. He was 90.

Following his ordination, Father Barry studied classical languages at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and began his priestly ministry at the Redemptorists’ high school seminary, St. Mary’s in North East, PA. After teaching for seven years he was transferred to the Vice-Province of Richmond where he served in several cities including Opa Locka and Tampa, FL; and Newport News, Roanoke, and Hampton, VA.

Father Barry also served as

superior of the Vice-Province of Richmond from 1975-81. He then returned to the Baltimore Prov-ince for three years to provide spiritual direction at the retreat house in Tobyhanna, PA. For the rest of his priesthood, he served in the Vice-Province in Newnan, Griffin and Fort Oglethorpe, GA; Hil-ton Head, SC; and in Orlando and New Smyrna Beach, FL.

Father Edward Gray, another co-administrator with Father Barry, said, “It goes without saying that the people loved him; they know; people can tell when they meet a person of depth and that was certainly Father John — a man of spiritual depth.”

Father Thomas Gregory Maceda died March 13 at the St. John Neumann Residence at Stella Maris in Timonium, MD. He was 74.

He began his missionary career by learn-ing Spanish and serving for eight years in Caguas and Guayama, Puerto Rico; Las Ma-tas de Farfán in the Dominican Republic; and also in Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Is-lands. In 1972 Father Maceda was transferred to North East, PA and for the next 12 years served as a history professor at St. Mary’s High School Seminary.

In 1984 he was appointed for four years as the pastor of Presentation Parish in Port Ewen, NY. Other assignments included Most Holy Redeemer in Manhattan and St. Ceci-lia in East Harlem, NY. His final assignment

lasted more than 18 years in his home parish, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn.

“When I was a deacon and preparing my first homily in Spanish, I was extremely ner-vous,” said Father Frank Mulvaney. “Father Tom sensed my anxiety and gave me my first grammar — a concrete, very practical book that really helped me. I think this is one of the reasons we younger confreres looked up to him. We knew he was working with some of the most abandoned groups in the city, doing counseling with marginalized folks — the kind of work that St. Alphonsus would do. He was a sincere, honest, holy priest, and the people really loved him.”

Father Edwin Gerard Foley died April 20 at the St. John Neumann Residence at Stella Maris in Timonium, MD. He was 91.

He served as a missionary for more than 12 years in cities in Puerto Rico which included Guayama, San Juan, Caguas, and Mayaguez, and as a personal assistant to Bishop Thomas Reilly, C.Ss.R. in the Dominican Republic.

His assignments in the United States includ-ed Tampa, FL; Annapolis, MD; Buffalo, NY; at Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of Fatima, and St. Michael’s in Baltimore; and at Most Holy Redeemer in New York City. He served as superior of the Redemptorist community in Lima, OH, assistant at the novitiate in Ilches-

ter, MD, and retreat director at the Notre Dame Retreat House in Canandaigua, NY.

“Some people could look at his tremen-dously varied career and wonder why he moved around so much,” remarks his former superior, Father Arthur Gildea. “Father Ed was the type of priest that superiors could call upon to move at a moment’s notice in order to bring tranquility and stability to his new assignment. They knew his positive and cheerful presence would always have a calm-ing effect on those around him. He was a gen-tleman who said yes whenever he was asked to serve.”

http://redemptorists.net/departed.cfm

“IN THE FOOTSTEPS” OF ALPHONSUS

11

By Rev. Philip Dabney, C.Ss.R.Dr. Una Cadegan is an assistant pro-

fessor of history at the University of Day-ton. She says she has always taken Mary seriously. One of 35 grandchildren, she was singled out for attention by her Irish grandmother. Cadegan does not know why, but she received a rosary from the grandmother every time a visiting rela-tive returned from Ireland.

She says that devotion to Mary “is part of the fabric of everything as far back as I can remember.” She always keeps a rosary in her purse. Her mother pinned a small Miraculous Medal on her diaper — a pin Cadegan counts among her child-hood treasures.

I can identify with Una Cadegan’s remark that Mary has always been part of the fabric of her life. In so many ways, that happened to me. As a young boy in a family of nine, I can remember us kneeling before the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and praying the rosary for the safety of my father, a Navy captain, during his many ventures at sea.

However, I must admit, I wasn’t attracted to the image of Perpetual Help. She seemed stiff and lifeless. I was drawn more to the graceful white por-celain statue of Mary on my mother’s bedroom bureau or the painting of the Assumption that hung in our parish church in Norfolk, VA. When I was 13, my family moved to Annapolis, MD. On the first Sunday in August, we walked into St. Mary’s Church, a Redemptorist parish, and I saw a huge icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help gazing down at me from the side altar.

Suddenly this “strange portrait in a plain and ancient style of calm restraint” took on “a humanness and friendliness” that gained my heart; it was a piece of home in a foreign land. I began to visit her shrine regularly, and a year later

I boarded a bus in Baltimore to begin my life with the Redemptorists and to acquire a deeper devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Today, I am a parish priest at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston. Every day, I see men and women who have enormous devotion to Mary visit our famous shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. They are normal, ordinary people who live complicated lives rooted in a faith that gives them strength. It is their love of Mary that helps them to be good people and to deal with their sufferings.

Whenever I stand with them or kneel

beside them in silent prayer before the icon, I experience that “humanness and friendliness” that first gained my own heart many years ago. Alfred McBride writes: “The maternal warmth of Mary is the easiest and most non-threatening road back to the spirituality we seek. In this modern spiritual wasteland, Mary is a spring of fresh water. In this flattened landscape that tries to shut out all vestige of heaven, Mary is the ‘gate of heaven’ that opens us to God.”

Fr. Dabney is associate pastor of the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Mission Church) in Boston.

A friendly face in a foreign land

ROM

A

Stay connected between editions:redemptorists.net

facebook.com/RedemptoristsBaltimoretwitter.com/redemptorists

youtube.com/BaltRedemptorists

http://www.facebook.com/RedemptoristsBaltimorehttp://redemptorists.net/http://twitter.com/#!/redemptoristshttp://www.youtube.com/BaltRedemptorists

nonPRofit

us PostAGe

PAID

lutheRville, md

PeRmit # 171

The RedemptoristsOF THE BALTIMORE PROVINCERedemptorist Office for Mission Advancement107 Duke of Gloucester St.Annapolis, MD 21401-2526redemptorists.net

MINI MEDITATION

By Rev. Andrew Costello, C.Ss.R.As mom handed her daughter a rosary

as a gift after returning from her trip of a lifetime — to Rome mind you — her mom added, “It was blessed by the pope!”

So her daughter was devastated when she lost the rosary, especially because her mom had died a year earlier. “Well, thank God, Mom got to Rome before she died.”

She searched everywhere — everywhere — for the lost rosary.

She asked everyone at home and in church if they found a rosary.

She said 10,000 prayers to St. Anthony. They didn’t work.

She said 2,000 prayers to St. Gertrude. Someone said St. Gertrude was as good as St. Anthony. That didn’t work either.

She went to the Our Lady of Perpet-ual Help picture in her church. “Help, Mary, help!” she prayed. “It’s your beads. It’s your mysteries. Why can’t I find my rosary? Better our rosary.”

It was now 7 years later. She went to

Martelli’s Funeral Home. She signed the book in the back. She took Jane’s memorial card. She gave condolences and sympathy to Jane’s children, know-

ing that two were divorced and the other had given up on God years and years ago.

She turned and knelt down at the cas-ket. Her eyes were closed as she said her prayers and thought her thoughts. “Now it’s over Jane. Now it’s over. Now you have peace with the Lord. Now you’re back with Jack again, celebrating the Eternal Wedding Banquet of heaven. Enjoy. Enjoy!”

She wiped her tears as she opened her eyes. There, in Jane’s fingers, was her rosary! She knew it because the third decade had an odd-colored bead — the one she put on when her rosary broke closing her car door once. She reached down and touched that bead and said a “Hail Mary” for her mom and for Jane and Jane’s kids. “Help them, Mary. Help us all!”

As she walked toward her car, she felt great gratitude.

To read more of Fr. Andy’s work and some homilies, visit his blog at http://reflectbay.blogspot.com.

Lost and foundLu

is Pe

dros

a/iS

tock

Phot

o.co

m

http://redemptorists.net/http://reflectbay.blogspot.comhttp://reflectbay.blogspot.com

page 6

page 6 button: fb 2: redemptorists website 2: twitter 2: twitter 3: