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ISSUE# 43
February 1998
THE MARIST FAMILY INSTITUTE OF SPIRITUALITY
From Vincent Poisella ('58)
The planning committee for the Marist Family Institute of Spirituality
enthusiastically invites canonical Marists, ex-Marists and their wives, and all
who wish to share in an expression ofMarist Spirituality, to Marist College on
July 9, 10, 11, and 12, 1998.
Theme: "There is a variety of gifts, but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts
of services to be done, but always to the same lord ... " (1 Cor. 12: 4-7, 11)
Invited presenters include Paul Ambrose, Luke Driscoll, Leonard Voegtle, David
Kammer, Larry Keogh, Gene Zirkel, Barney Sheridan, Bob Grady, Owen
Lafferty. The program extends from Thursday, July 9 at 5 pm to Sunday, July 12
at 1 pm. Participants may join in throughout the weekend.
The cost of full participation, including meals and lodging, is $200 a person.
Partial participation costs will be prorated on an individual basis.This cost barely
covers expenses.
Anyone interested in joining us in July should send a $25 deposit to Vincent
Poisella, 24 Brooklyn Mountain Road, Hopatcong, New Jersey, 07843, by May
1st. Those interested, but feel they cannot make commitment at this time but
would like a schedule and particulars to be mailed to them, should call Vince at
973-398-5477. All previous participants of the last three years will receive a
mailing by the end of March.
LET US COME TOGETHER, PRAY TOGETHER,BE TOGETHER!
FROM PETE SEDLEMEIR ('61): After the last Marists All arrived, I told my
wife Margaret that it's about time I write again, but what to write about? In an
earlier issue I wrote that I work with "at risk" public middle/high school
youngsters. A student who had been fighting battles on many fronts spoke to me
recently about wanting to drop out of school because "school doesn't teach you
anything." I started talking about what's behind the Molloy motto "Non scholae
sod vitae." We explored life lessons that his school was attempting to teach. I
don't know if anyone ever spoke to him like that before, but apparently this was
the first time he was ready to hear and act on it.
I tell this story because it underscores the message that is frequently brought up
in these pages, namely, that the spirit of Champagnat lives on, not only in the
lives of those who remain with the congregation but also in the lives of those
who found God calling them to different ways of service.
Working to make God's love known to those who are the least favored by society
is being rediscovered by the Church. To Champagnat, social justice was not just
a term but a natural extension of love of God. In their involvements all Marists
have God, the presence of God. And Marists have a "can do" attitude and
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competency resulting from the various tasks assigned and completed during
training, tasks that ranged through physical, intellectual, and spiritual endeavors.
Even weeding with Brother Felician taught me something. In Marists, others see
something "unique." The testimony of those who contribute to Marists All
confirms this. (2 Pearson Road, Preston Hollow, New York, 12469; 518-239-
6282)
FROM BR. LEONARD VOEGTLE ('50): As some of you already know, I lead a
"double life," spending three weeks living at Marist in Bayonne while working
in the tribunal of the archdiocese of Newark and then spending three following
weeks "archiving" in Esopus. The location of the archives for the two United
States provinces is the former sacristy area next to the main chapel in Esopus.
With the guidance of Br. Dennis Sennett, an Atonement friar from Graymoor and
a master archivist who has helped some 200 religious institutes around the
world. I've created a filing system specifically geared to our Marist archival
needs and compatible with a standard archival computer program which we
already have.
I've gone through the hundred or so boxes sent from the provincial offices in
Pelham and Bayonne, and I've separated the books from the documents. The
books are in newly-created bookcases, sorted according to general category:
official institute publications (Bulletin de l'Institut, Circulars, FMS Message),
official province publications (Bulletin of Studies mainly), Marist books
(Constitutions, Common Rules, office books, music books: Liber, American
Catholic Hymnal), books relating to the Founder and to individual Brothers,
books by Marist Brothers, school yearbooks.
Documents, I've roughly sorted into categories of province administration and of
schools/communities. We also have all the records from the formation centers,
beginning with the entering juniors in 1906 ... Brother Henry Charles and his
gang!
I've begun a sorting of literally thousands of photographs, some of them from the
early years of the United States province. There are also thousands of slides I've
not even touched yet, plus a number of audio cassettes and video tapes of
interviews with our "elder statesmen."
I've begun establishing the personnel file, with a folder for every brother who
has been a member of the U.S. provinces since 1911. There are three sections:
the living, the deceased, and those who have withdrawn. These folders are
locked in file cabinets upstairs with the stacks. This reminds me: contrary to
long-standing rumor, there is no "black book" containing all the negative things
superiors supposedly wrote about us through the years. For that matter, there's
none in Rome either, believe me:
What remains to be done? Number each document, photo, book according to our
filing system. Each document is placed in a numbered folder and the folders are
placed in numbered boxes on the shelves in the stacks. Once enough material has
been catalogued and stored, I must begin to enter everything into the computer
program.
While doing all of that, I answer occasional requests for information: the
Philippine province getting ready to celebrate their golden jubilee next year ...
children of former brothers wanting to learn more about their fathers' life as a
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Marist ... people doing their family tree and discover a Marist Brother on one of
the branches, etc.
I can't finish this without thanking the brothers and former brothers who have
already given me documents, letters, photos, and artifacts. Sometimes people ask
whether this or that is archival material. I would much rather sort through it all
myself than to hear those very dreaded words, "Oh, I came across some old stuff,
but I figured it wasn't worth much, so I threw it out." Agghhh! as Charlie Brown
would say! (1241 Kennedy Boulevard, Bayonne, New Jersey, 07002; 201-437-
4115) (P.O. Box 197, Esopus, New York, 12429; 914-384-6625)
FROM RICHARD JAMBOR: ('50): Gus, your beautiful and most sensible note
in the latest Marists All deserves a prize. For what it's worth, when I left the
congregation over here in Japan, I was treated so kindly, in true Marist spirit.
Ed Lyons used to say that one should not name people when thanking, lest you
leave someone out. Well, let me try anyway! First, there was John LaRoche who
listened to me so patiently and without judgment. Then there was Ramon, the
director at the time; he was and still is a REAL friend. In fact, the whole
community in Kumamoto helped me. Pat Tyrell was in the second novitiate at
the time, but afterwards he never referred to my leaving in the many occasions
when we met.
Up to Kobe I went, where Gus Landry went with me on long walks, dispelling
my anxiety. Walter kept me laughing. Matty Callahan hired me and put up with
me. I often wonder where I would have been except for the Brothers. Would I
have even gone to college? Would I have ended up as cannon fodder in Korea?
Can I ever forget the forebearance of Kieran Brennan and Pat Magee who
gambled and let me have a year off to study?
One more thing: I have had opportunities to visit the monks, especially Molloy
when my old friend Danny Sullivan was still alive. I stopped over in New York
and Hugh Andrew and Bill Lavigne, two classmates, were so kind in meeting me
at JFK and putting me up for the night. The next day they took me to Molloy
where the Brothers went out of their way to make me feel at home ... just as
Vinnie Doughty always did while he was here in Japan and as the other monks
still do at Sunday Mass in their chapel in Kobe. Yes, I have been truly blessed by
having been permitted to spend some part of my life with men whose example
still challenges me every day.
And Gus, you and Dave deserve so much credit for the work you are doing in
bringing all the Marist family together. Yes, Michael O'Shea is right, "There
really are no ex-monks" (14-2, 4-chome, Utakikiyan, Tarumi-ku, KOBE, JAPAN
655; rick@shoin.ac.jp)
FROM JACK RYAN ('60): Not even a gathering of the John Berchmans
Memorial Notre Dame Fan Club was enough to help the Irish in their 20-17 loss
to USC on October 18th. Nevertheless, a little planning resulted in a great
weekend. George Howard, our Notre Dame psychology professor, provided the
hospitality. Joe Maura got the award for coming the longest distance. Jack
Meehan was in from Long Island, and Jack Ryan from Grosse Point, Michigan.
John Reynolds drove down from Flint, where he has been on the Powers
Catholic faculty since '70. John's son Johnny, a Michigan State junior,
accompanied his dad.
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John said it has been a tough year for him football-wise. He starts his weekend
Friday night rooting for Powers, a perennial powerhouse, off to a 1-6 start this
season. John says that between the troubles of Powers on Friday and Notre
Dame on Saturday, he is starting to feel like Job on his heap of troubles.
Joe Maura took a brief respite from his work with the homeless in Miami to
scout the New York city area for a field goal kicker in hopes of getting the Irish
some help in their kicking game. Joe said Declan had good length but was
consistently wide left, while Kevin O'Neill was invariably off to the right!
Jack Meehan's son Sean and Jack Ryan's daughter Maureen, both in the Notre
Dame class of 1999, discovered the common Marist heritage that their dads
shared back in their freshman year at Notre Dame. On Friday night George
Howard invited Maureen and Jack Ryan Jr., Notre Dame class of 2001, to bring
their friends to his Granger, Indiana, home for dinner. George whipped up a great
spaghetti dinner for large numbers, and the Ryan kids surprised their mom Elane
with a birthday cake for her fiftieth birthday. The spaghetti got Joe Maura
reminiscing about his cooking days in Esopus. It's worth a call to Joe in Miami
to get him to tell the story of cooking spaghetti for 180 at the Prep.
Sean Meehan entertained the Saturday tail gate group with his bagpipes and his
dad Jack related stories of how the Meehan family had at least four family
members in the first bagpipe band up Fifth Avenue in the New York St. Patrick's
Day parade. If we had known of Jack's talents, we would have had some real,
real pazzazzzz for the Army-Navy games back in our Esopus days.
Jack Ryan offered the group a tour of any Michigan foundry and they promised
to buy their next vibratory conveyor or wire resin belt from him.
It was a great time under the sunny South Bend skies, lots of great stories from
the past, and we all agreed that none of us had aged at all since our days on the
Hudson. (P.S. You're doing a great job; we all appreciate it! P.P.S. I am looking
for a copy of Ed Cashin's book The King's Ranger - to buy or even to borrow; it
seems to have sold out everywhere. 1238 Berkshire Road, Grosse Pointe,
Michigan, 48230; 313-882-3085)
FROM BR. RENE ROY ('60): As I enter my Junior Year in Rwanda, it seems
more than ever that the sands of time are flowing more and more like an
avalanche. So were my eleven cyclonic weeks in the States, and thus have
passed the ensuing weeks since my return. The home visit made me feel loved
and welcomed and immensely aware of the coast to coast support system that is
behind us.
The image of a spider and its web comes to mind. The web was extended to
Seattle where five Rotary Clubs pledged to finance a new well and water system
for our school. In San Francisco individuals asked how they could help. In the
windy city of Chicago friends are working on scholarships and host families for
Rwandan students. In Marbelhead churches of several denominations are raising
money to help our poor or orphaned pay their tuition. We have not turned away
one student who gave proof of inability to pay tuition; we will be able to help
even more as the:orphan fund expands. Near Charleston an extension of the kind
people of Wheeling has adopted us. Long time members of the web continue
their support through the Marist Development Office, through school mission
funds, and through direct personal donations. I feel like a good, non-poisonous,
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spider who is an instrument unleashing enormous generosity and tying it to the
web whose center is Rwanda.
While at home I went on a mad, mad shopping spree; to my web I tied sales
personnel and check-out personnel. Dermot was involved in the job of shopping
from Day One, as were my own brothers. Contact members were on hand to help
pack some 50 boxes and a ton of goods. A trucking company trans ported the
whole kit and kaboodle to JFK for free. SwissAir/Sabena offered a reduced
cargo rate. Other contacts were made for free shipment of medicine, books, and
humanitarian aid. Here in Rwanda several new friends greased us through the
red tape and obtained a duty exemption for us, saving hundreds, if not thousands
of dollars,
We now have the necessary things to run a school. I am privileged to be
commissioned SPIDER WEB, bridge between the generosity of so many at
home and the needs of so many here in Rwanda. I feel humbled at the ready
response of this army of supporters. Knowing that the bridge will continue long
after I have left this area makes me the happiest. (Freres Maristes, B.P. 80,
Gitarama, Rwanda, Africa)
FROM GREGORY BALLERIINO ('57):Your persistance in locating my new
address merits the Sherlock Holmes Pipe Award. Thank you for the
investigation. The Marist experience is indelible, never to be forgotten; in the
jargon of yesterday, a peak experience. Congratulations for the inspiration, the
dedication, and the love given to nourish the "other" Marist community.
I wish to respond to issues publicly expressed by LaPietra and Sheridan in issue
#40. Regarding financial predictability: Marists All is member supported. I
support what I value. I value Marists All. Here's my check. It's so simple! I
suggest sending the newsletter by e-mail. Those without e-mail would continue
to get the news letter by snail-mail. If we develop a Marists All web site, those
surfing could read the document on screen or download it. What a wealth of
talent and experience we have, careers from a to z, Could those talented people
not share some of their experience? We could use the internet and the web site to
establish a chat line by which anyone could log on, ask questions, and invite
responses. I volunteer to help. Thank you, Richard.
In response to Barney Sheridan, I see two issues, one pertaining to perceived
values and the other to image. Almost all of those who write seem to perceive
value in their time with the Marist Brothers.
Over and over we read: "This is how much I value the Marist Brothers." I don't
recall, however, anyone saying how the Marists valued those who were and are
members. If my value was perceived but never acknowledged, there may remain
a sense of years lost, and with it a feeling of sadness and in some cases hurt and
pam.
There was an early vocation brochure (late 50's) entitled, "The Image of a
Brother." The image, indeed, is what we all attempted to live. To become an
"image" meant letting go of many personality traits and conveniences. We gave
up our birth name to become "Brother ZYX" We gave up our street clothes to
wear a black cassock. We sublimated our personality development to take on the
image. The collective image indeed did have enormous presence and power,
especially to the outside world. The image was sacred and protected, no matter
what kind of a personality was under the cassock. For some, personality co-
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existed very well with the image. For others, the struggle for emergence and
development of personality ignited the divorce from the image. Each one of us
played out this very scene. There is no judgment. No right. No wrong.
You say: "Could we have lived so close and not known each other's pain?" How
could we possibly get close enough to reveal emotional pain? Remember the
novitiate saying: "Rarely one, never two, always three," or something like that.
At this time it is understandable that we speak of a common hunger to stay in
touch, We have a second chance now to "be there for each other." Much love and
respect to my distant fellow travelers, And thank you, Barney.
An update of my career since my last contribution to this newsletter nine years
ago: VP Air Cleaning Systems, analyzing and solving indoor air polution
problems; project manager setting up laser cartridge manufacturing plants
(recently returned from nine months on-site in Prague, additional months in
Germany, Bulgaria, and Switzerland); M.A. in psychology: developed twenty­
four 10-week seminars using altered states group therapy; produced and directed
music section for international conference at the University of California at
Irvine. Daughter Celeste, now 24, has dynamic career at Nike. (1058 Camden
Dr., Placentia, Ca. 92870; 714-998--7473; gregu@pacbell,net)
FROM RICH STANULWICH ('66): Though I've never met Francis X. "Barney"
Sheridan, I feel deeply indebted to him for his letter in the August issue of
Marists All. It was late summer of 1965 when my parents took me to Grand
Central Station. My mother was crying so much that a gentleman at the station's
famous balcony thought she was going to jump to commit suicide. She was just
feeling it so difficult to say good-bye and let her son go. For my part, I quickly
felt part of the family atmosphere after arriving at Tyngsboro with two new
friends, Joe and Tony. I was never much of a scholar, but our teachers were very
kind and concerned about us. There were Brothers David, John Malich, John
Francis (a great English teacher and fellow accordianist), Giles, and Leo
Camille.
The older, retired Brothers were a joy. We had a pretty large class and most ofus
enjoyed our lives together. We had opportunities for privacy, prayer, and
meditation. The chapel was a special place to be with our God many times a day.
(I do remember, however, upsetting Father Leo Staves with some serious boo­
boo's during high Mass.)
Our work on the farm was a blessing from God. Feeding, milking, and cleaning
up after the cows was some experience. One can't forget, too, cleaning the
chicken coop, picking potatoes, and gathering hay.
We had a small band, Ed, Joe, Vinny; at times Brother John Francis joined us.
We weren't good, but we were loud! And we played a lot of football, basketball,
and handball. One of the best athletes was Kenny Davis. Kenny was a big guy
physically, but he could play any sport with the best of them. Recently Kenny
died of cancer; I said a few prayers at his casket for all of us, his Marist family.
And I was able to share some of the old stories with his wife and his son.
Though I was at Tyngsboro for only one year, I've always carried a sadness for
never having said thank-you to all the wonderful Brothers who taught and helped
me to grow as a person. Also I felt a little cheated that I couldn't say good-bye to
my many fine classmates. In those days you weren't supposed to tell anyone you
were leaving. You were up early and then gone. When I got some of my clothes
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through the mail a week or so later, there were notes among my clothing from
some of the fellows. Thanks, guys!
My experience at the novitiate, I'm sure, helped me in more ways than even I
know. Thanks to Blessed Marcellin Champagnat. Thanks be to God! (150
Wilson Street, Beacon, New York, 12508)
FROM RON PASQUARIELLO ('57): I have wanted to contribute to Marists All
for the past few years; the proposed new form prods me. I am enclosing a
chapter from my latest book, Jesus and the Message of Love. I've published six
others. The latest book presents the gospel message in a fictional framework.
The controlling ideas of the book: (1) When God decides to become human, it is
Jesus that he or she become. If we want to find out what God is like, we have to
look to the historical Jesus, to what he did, how he lived, as well as what he said.
(2) The most important part of Jesus' message is not what we have to do to be
loving, but that God loves us. (3) To say God is love is to say that God only
exists in relationship, because love is relational. We have to see this relationship,
however, in terms of the universe(s), not just in terms of human beings.
Meanwhile, I'm healthy, happy, living in the-San Francisco Bay area, with fond
memories ofmy Marist days. The very best to all, (13849 Green Valley Road,
Forestville, Ca. 95436-9708; ron@crystalway.com)
FROM BILL COWIE ('60): I just finished reading a couple of recent issues of
Marists All. I enjoy each issue thoroughly. Thank you for your reflections on the
Mass; it meant a lot to me. I promise to make a written contribution in the not­
too-distant future. In Christ. (27 Stinson Road, Andover, Ma. 01810)
FROM BR. JULIAN ROY ('48): This is the golden jubilee year of the group of
1948. Fifty years, not a very big number by today's standards, yet in 1948 it
seemed like an astronomical number, 1,892,160,000 heartbeats away! Gus Nolan
was part of the group, as was Sean O'Shea who mentioned Br. Henry Charles in
the last issue of Marists All. All of this stirs me to share a few memories of
yesteryear.
My first experience of a golden jubilee celebration was on December 8, 1947,
our postulant year. It was that of Br. Adolph Armand of the novitiate faculty and
of Br. Legontianus of the Esopus juniorate faculty. The celebration was held in
the new Marian College gym, Br. Francis Xavier's first major building project.
Late the night before the festivities BFX had just completed the rough wooden
flooring of the gym.
Earlier the groups of '47 and '48 had shoveled many truck loads of gravel for the
base of the cement floor. It had been a contest: could we load more trucks than
the previous day in our one hour "recreation" period? Sweaty and tired the 70
novices and postulants would then gather for rosary in the tiny chapel/ oratory
with the "odor of sanctity" permeating the atmosphere.
It was an impressive jubilee ceremony. Liturgy, singing, and music were
provided by the Marian College choir and orchestra under the able direction of
Br. Adrian August. A scholastic narrated a short biography of each of the
jubilarians; their accomplishments were outstanding and inspiring.
Our golden jubilee that had seemed eons away in 1948 has so quickly arrived.
We were 36 young men taking the habit on that hot, humid July 26th in 1948.
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There were 31 who made first vows the following year. Five years later 21
professed final vows. Today we are eight living, while four others have gained
their eternal reward: Brothers Denis Damian, Paul Jones, John Malachy, and Joe
Marchesseault.
We were the largest and last group to complete the entire year of novitiate in the
old building at the southern end of the Poughkeepsie property. That small
structure housed the 70 ofus in cramped quarters with limited lavatory facilities.
We have the distinct honor, also, of being Br. Henry Charles' last group. He
didn't make it through our novice year, resigning in January because of health.
He was replaced by Louis Omer (founder of the Philippine mission) who had
just completed his two terms as provincial.
Personally, it has been a rewarding life. We experienced the great changes
brought about by Vatican II and the political socioeconomic waves that swept the
decades. My assignments included Wheeling, the Mount, Lourdes, Pine Ridge
Reservation, Brownsville, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, and two months in
Katmandu, Nepal, working as a science education consultant to the Nepali
government under contract with USAID. I am still an active amateur radio
operator contacting other operators all over the world. I've spent the last 17 years
in Chicago, 15 as an administrative assistant. I retired two years ago and find
myself more busy than before. God bless the editors, contributors, and the
readers of Marists All. ( 4300 West 115th St., Chicago,11. 60655-4306;
lroyc4kiwi.dep.anl.gov)
FROM BR. DENIS HEM ('64): One message in a recent Marists All suggested
that we speak not only of the "ole days" but also of the present. So here is a word
or two regarding three Brothers in Wheeling, John McDonagh ('59), Dave
Cooney ('62), and Denis Hever ('64). Two ofus, John and Denis, are working as
chaplains in two different health care facilities. Dave is working at Catholic
Charities Neighborhood Center in conjunction with Marist Sister Constance
Dodd. This year we accepted two young people from the Marist Volunteer
Program, Melissa and Dan. So now our community consists of lay and vowed
members with co-ed living. Life certainly has changed, hasn't it? This situation is
not unique to Wheeling; it is happening in other houses of the provinces.
In 1996 the three ofus were asked to "refound" a Wheeling Marist community.
The Brothers had staffed Central Catholic High School from 1933 to 1972, and
they had continued in Wheeling until 1988. For so many of the alumni and
alumnae the Brothers will not really be here until they are teaching as a group in
some Catholic school, so deep were the people's experiences with the Brothers,
experiences they would like to see resumed.
As I write this letter, I am struggling with the idea of inclusion which was voiced
in the latest copy of Marists All. How to have various elements of the Marist
family work together? Even as Priests, Sisters, Brothers, and Volunteers are
trying to create a better Marist presence in Wheeling, I hear "how can the present
members of the Marist community and the past members be more "organic."
(Thank you, John Wilcox!)
I don't fully know. My belief is that a question which is raised often, if it reflects
searching that is going on in others, will begin to take shape through efforts
made by each person and through efforts made working together. We must
continue to ask the questions and continue to respond. Thank you so much.
(Marist Community, 49 36th Street, Wheeling, Wv. 26003; 304-232-3618)
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DECEASED:
Bishop Francis Lambert, brother of Br. Chanel Lambert ('41) and an uncle of Br.
William Chanel ('57), died October 29th of a massive stroke at the age of 76.
After 49 years in the missions of Vanuatu (New Hebrides) Bishop Lambert had
returned to establish himself in retirement near his family in Florida just a month
earlier. The bishop was ordained a Marist Father in 1946, went to the missions in
1948, and was made bishop of a series of islands in the South Pacific in 1977.
We have word that Tim Murphy ('32) died in Milford, Pa., on October 4th at the
age of 81. He is another person we did not have on our mailing list.
We have discovered that Conrad Piotrowski ('65) is deceased. The last copy of
our newsletter was returned with that statement.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The last issue ofMarists All arrived in most locations around
November 6th. Since Thanksgiving correspondence to us has almost dried up.
We really need you to contribute to our pages. Articles for the May issue must be
in as soon as possible, May 1st at the latest. We expect the present issue to cost
us around $300. Since November we have received $140. Of course, we are
most grateful for all your help, past and most recent.
GUS NOLAN and Liz are spending February and March in New Smyrna Beach,
Florida. You may write to them at P.O. Box 1558, New Smyrna Beach, FL
32170.
Write to DAVID KAMMER at 476 La Playa, Edgewater, Florida, 32141. Thanks
to Br. Richard Rancourt for dealing with the printing and mailing of this issue
from Marist College.
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