Deceased Friars

Pius Abrahams, OFM

Pius Abrahams

1926 –

1926 – 1984

Fr. Pius Abrahams, OFM, was born on Aug. 20, 1926 in Jamaica, N.Y. He graduated from St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y., and entered the novitiate at St. Bonaventure Friary, Paterson, N.J., in 1946. He professed temporary vows one year later, made his solemn profession in 1950 and was ordained in 1952.

After ministering for three years at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York City, Fr. Pius volunteered for missionary work in Bolivia. He served there from 1957 to 1959 before returning to the United States to minister in the Bronx and Denver. In 1961, he suffered an emotional trauma which affected the rest of his life, but also made him a man with deep sensitivity to the sufferings of others.

He taught Spanish at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary, and assisted Fr. Boniface Hanley, OFM, with the Provincial Annals at St. Francis College in Rye Beach, N.H., and Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y. Fr. Pius served as the Province’s necrologist.

For two years, he ministered as chaplain of John F. Kennedy Hospital in Edison, N.J., before moving to St. Anthony Shrine in Boston. During his final years of life, Fr. Pius had a ministry on the streets of Boston — to the alcoholics, the mentally ill, and the people living in subway tunnels. He visited the sick in hospitals and the lonely in nursing homes.

He died on Oct. 30, 1984 at the Marian Manor Nursing Home in Boston. Fr. Pius was 58 years old, a professed friar for 37 years and a priest for 32 years.

Each of us should be called a lesser brother, a Friar Minor. Each one of us should wash the feet of the others.”

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Pius Abrahams, OFM

Pius Abrahams

1926 –

1926 – 1984

Fr. Pius Abrahams, OFM, was born on Aug. 20, 1926 in Jamaica, N.Y. He graduated from St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y., and entered the novitiate at St. Bonaventure Friary, Paterson, N.J., in 1946. He professed temporary vows one year later, made his solemn profession in 1950 and was ordained in 1952.

After ministering for three years at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York City, Fr. Pius volunteered for missionary work in Bolivia. He served there from 1957 to 1959 before returning to the United States to minister in the Bronx and Denver. In 1961, he suffered an emotional trauma which affected the rest of his life, but also made him a man with deep sensitivity to the sufferings of others.

He taught Spanish at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary, and assisted Fr. Boniface Hanley, OFM, with the Provincial Annals at St. Francis College in Rye Beach, N.H., and Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y. Fr. Pius served as the Province’s necrologist.

For two years, he ministered as chaplain of John F. Kennedy Hospital in Edison, N.J., before moving to St. Anthony Shrine in Boston. During his final years of life, Fr. Pius had a ministry on the streets of Boston — to the alcoholics, the mentally ill, and the people living in subway tunnels. He visited the sick in hospitals and the lonely in nursing homes.

He died on Oct. 30, 1984 at the Marian Manor Nursing Home in Boston. Fr. Pius was 58 years old, a professed friar for 37 years and a priest for 32 years.