Reflections on West Springfield & My Life as a Passionist
by Richard F. Leary, C.P.
With this contribution by Fr. Richard F. Leary, C.P., the Passionist Heritage Newsletter continues its feature of individual Passionists sharing their reflections on their life and ministry. We encourage Passionists throughout the world to write about their experience in the Congregation. Please send any contribution to the Historical Archives in Union City, NJ.
—Editor
I regret that I can't be present for the "ritual closing" of Our Mother of Sorrows Monastery. It's like being unable to attend the funeral of a beloved friend.
Funerals are of great importance in rural Jamaican culture. A funeral is the social event of the week. Nearly everybody attends, and nobody leaves the burial place until the last shovelful of earth has been deposited. Hymns are being sung all during the burial, like "Shall We Gather By The River," "No Grave Gonna Hold This Body Down, and "Precious Memories."
Here are some of my precious memories of Our Mother of Sorrows Monastery. I first saw it in early July 1938 when I came there as a postulant. I was the first to arrive and was brought out to greet the novices. Several of my classmates entered the refectory halfway through supper and were embarrassed. Next morning Father Cassian Sullivan, the outgoing Master of Novices, assembled us after mass and said: "Now we go down for coffee and bread. But on Sunday we have coffee and cake." How we lived for Sunday mornings!
The Provincial Chapter was in session there, so new superiors were elected. Father Berchmans Lanagan was the new Novice Master. I had met him when I was in high school, and he came to preach a mission at our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Burlington, VT; assisting were Fathers Leonard Gownley and Herbert Young. Father John Joseph Endler, of St. Ann's Novena Fame, was the outgoing Rector, and Father Adelbert Poletti succeeded him. They were completely different personalities. At Sunday Mass ("the fisherman's Mass") Father John Joseph Endler announced the change: "Father Adelbert Poletti is the new superior, and he will make himself known in due time." Indeed, he did! Soon after the chapel was closed to the public on Sundays and Holy Days by order of Bishop O'Leary. This was a cruel blow to the people of the area. It appears the chapel was closed because of the complaints from local pastors that we were drawing their people away from their parishes.
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