NEW YORK — Some notable August events that took place around Holy Name Province are listed below.
One Year Ago
Aug. 17, 2008 — The Province welcomed three men to the Holy Name postulancy at a service at St. Anthony Shrine, Boston. In June of this year,Scott Carey, OFM, Gerald Hopeck, OFM, and Michael Reyes, OFM, began the novitiate program in Wilmington, Del.
Five Years Ago
Aug. 29, 2004 — Cardinal Edward Egan was principal celebrant and homilist at a Mass observing the 150th anniversary of St. Mary’s Church in Obernburg, N.Y., where John Richardson, OFM, was pastor at the time. A banquet following the Mass was attended by more than 250 people. The Province has been a presence in the Sullivan County parish since 1892, first served byFidelis Kircher, OFM, and Conrad Wald, OFM.
20 Years Ago
Aug. 3, 1989 — The Provincial Council approved the Franciscan Center, the Province’s first urban ministry center, in Greensboro, N.C., directed by Louis Canino, OFM. Similar centers were later established by Holy Name Province in Hartford, Conn., and New York City’s Upper West Side.
40 Years Ago
Aug. 15, 1969 — While visiting Cap de Madeleine, Canada’s national shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary, John Sullivan, OFM, witnessed a miracle. Claudette Larochelle, who suffered from muscular dystrophy, regained the ability to walk. John wrote of his eye-witness account: “Larochelle was in the act of getting out of her (wheel) chair. Hurriedly and excitedly, she came to the altar rail, eyes sparkling … as she looked up at Our Lady’s Statue. … She bent over the altar rail in prayer, face in hands. Some 75 minutes later, she walked down the aisle to the door.”
45 Years Ago
Aug. 4, 1964 — Friars from St. Francis College in Rye Beach, N.H., upheld an ancient tradition of visiting the Dominicans of Dover, Mass., to celebrate the feast of St. Dominic on Aug. 8. The feast included Mass celebrated by Reginald Redlon, OFM, with Boniface Hanley, OFM, as deacon. The sermon, given by Pius Abrahams, OFM, focused on the friendship between Francis and Dominic. Following Mass, some clerics played water polo and volleyball while others went swimming or canoeing.
Shown in the photo above is Claudette Larochelle being escorted by a knight of Malta after her ability to walk was restored at the Cap de Madeleine Shrine in August 1969.
— Compiled by Rebecca Doel