Zinnia Hancock, a member of the Modern Language department of St. Bonaventure University brought her Spanish class to the mountain for an “Evening Away.”
She had assigned four chapters from a book on Don Quixiote to be read and interpreted for their meaning. The friars at Mt. Irenaeus were given a copy of the chapters. The instructor wanted to hear their understanding of Don Quixote’s experience in a cave from both her students and the friars. Many readers of the story understand Don Quixote’s experience to be a description of the Church’s teaching on purgatory. What an interesting evening we had!
Another evening away brought Tony Murphy of the SBU Philosophy department and his class to the mountain. After a delicious dinner, we went to the chapel to celebrate the Eucharist. The class and the friars reflected upon St. Bonaventure’s Journey of the Soul to God. We had a good evening.
A “Men’s Overnight” attracted 24 St. Bonaventure students for an interesting and informative discussion on the theme, “Exploring Manhood: The Joy of the Journey and the Games We Play.” There was a delicious fish dinner followed by a well-shared reflection in the chapel. Since it was a Friday in Lent, the group waited until after midnight to enjoy some steak sandwiches. Mass in the morning was followed by brunch which ended the overnight.
On Sunday, Dan Riley celebrated a memorial Mass for Tito Marra, an Olean resident who had been host, landlord and friend to John Scarzafava (of the class of 1983) when John was a student at St. Bonaventure.
A Mountain-on-the-Road trip to Rochester with three friars and four St. Bonaventure students took place at Nazareth College. A number of local St. Bonaventure alumni served as hosts for a prayerful evening.
Lou McCormick and the Mt. Irenaeus outreach committee will host an “Outreach Evening” at Holy Family Church in Machias, N.Y., on April 6. The theme for the evening of prayer will be “Prayer, Fasting and Alms Giving in a Modern World.”
This coming weekend, Dan Riley will go on one of the four trips of Mountain-on-the-Road, this time to Raleigh, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta. They will present a prayerful experience to St. Bonaventure alumni in the area.