May History of Holy Name Province

HNP Communications Features

Notable events that took place in the month of May through the years include the following:

One Year Ago
May 30, 2018 – Holy Name Province and five other U.S. provinces of the Franciscan Order voted to recommend the formation of one new province. The results of the vote, although conducted separately at six locations, were announced simultaneously to the six provinces at their meetings across the country. 

Five Years Ago
May 7, 2014 – Fintan Duffy, OFM, 92, died at Holy Name Friary in Ringwood, N.J. During his first decade as a friar, Fintan worked on the farm and in the kitchen at St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y. .He went on to serve his entire ministerial life as a caretaker of property and performed maintenance and repairs while serving at Christ the King Seminary and St. Bonaventure University, both in Allegany, N.Y.; the House of Prayer in Lafayette, N.J.; Siena , College in Loudonville, N.Y., and St. Anthony, Friary in Butler, N.J.

May 26, 2014 – Vianney Devlin, OFM, 84, died at Holy Name Friary in Ringwood. Vianney taught Latin and English at St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary. He later earned his doctorate at the University of London and taught at Siena College.

10 Years Ago
May 16, 2009 – Four friars – Linh Hoang, OFM, Hugh Macsherry, OFM, Stephen Mimnaugh, OFM, and Harry Monaco, OFM – were ordained to the priesthood at St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street in New York City. The ordination Mass was especially significant because the friars were “second-career” priests, each experiencing a “life shift,” the phrase made popular in a Province ad campaign promoting religious vocation to men receiving the calling later in life.

15 Years Ago
May 6, 2004 – The relocation of the friar community from St. Francis of Assisi Friary on 31st Street to interim lodgings at a local hotel and two Manhattan parishes was completed. The move was necessitated by the construction of the new friary, which opened in May 2007.

May 16, 2004 – Dominic Monti, OFM, was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by St. Bonaventure University, where he had served as interim president from 2003 to 2004.

20 Years Ago
May 8, 1999 – Roberto Gonzalez, OFM, was formally installed as archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In recent years, he has spoken about Puerto Rico’s financial challenges and the damage caused to the island by Hurricane Maria, which slammed the Caribbean in September 2017.

May 15, 1999 – Todd Carpenter, OFM, James Sabak, OFM and Brian Smail, OFM, were ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany at St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City. This year, the three friars are commemorating their 25th anniversary since making their first. profession, and will be honored on June 27 along with other jubilarians at a special Mass at the church on West 31st Street.

30 Years Ago
May 13, 1989 – Siena College’s old friary was named Hines Hall in honor of retiring president Hugh Hines, OFM. The following week, on May 21, Siena presented Hugh with an honorary degree. Hugh currently lives in Boston.

May 26, 1989 – Theophane Larkin, OFM, died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 56. The former novice master spent his later life alternating between Christ the King Seminary in Allegany, N.Y., and St. John Lateran in Rome, where he served as a confessor and guardian of the community. His service as a chaplain during World War II earned him four battle stars and the rank of captain.

40 Years Ago
May 15, 1978 – Martin Bednar, OFM, was appointed general visitor of the Immaculate Conception Province’s missions in Central America. Alban McGuire, OFM, was appointed general visitor of the Byzantine Custody of St. Mary of the Angels.

 45 Years Ago
May 12, 1974 – Kenneth Malone, OFM, died in Boston at the age of 52. Among his years in education ministry, he served as a professor of romantic English literature and s spiritual director for the students at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany. Kenneth later transferred to St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, where he performed pastoral ministry and served as procurator for of the friary, often doing the laundry, cooking meals and cleaning the rooms for those who were ill or had suffered a death in the family. 

50 Years Ago
May 8, 1969 – Michael Hunt, OFM, died at the age of 38 in a car accident about a mile south of Scranton, Pa., as he was driving from Philadelphia to Buffalo, N.Y. Michael worked in parishes in Little Falls, N.J., and Buffalo, where he was appointed assistant Secular Franciscan commissary and also served as a regional youth director in the Buffalo area. He also worked with high school and college fraternities of the Secular Franciscans and was renowned for his ministry with Home-School Association, local bowling leagues, and the American Legion.

— Compiled by Jim McIntosh and Jocelyn Thomas.

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