Showing 277 results

Baptismal name: James Ruth
Religious name: Fr. Carthage Ruth OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 6 Mar. 1923
Place of birth: Enniscorthy, County Wexford (Diocese of Ferns)
Name of father: William Ruth
Name of mother: Margaret Ruth (née Dobbs)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1941
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1942
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1945
Date of ordination (as priest): 16 June 1949
Educational attainments: BA (1945)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), in February 1950. Later, he undertook missionary work in the Archdiocese of Cape Town in South Africa. Returned to Ireland in 1971.
Date of death: 26 Dec. 2010
Place of death: Bon Secours convalescence home, Mount Desert, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

Baptismal name: John (Patrick) Ryan
Religious name: Br. Pacificus Ryan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 27 Aug. 1876
Place of birth: Loughane, County Cork
Name of father: John Ryan
Name of mother: Catherine Ryan (née Cronin)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 2 July 1894
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1895
Date of final profession: 31 Jan. 1903
Ministries: A newspaper report on the golden jubilee of Br. Pacificus Ryan OFM Cap. in 1944 read: ‘Born in Cork, Brother Pacificus is a member of a well-known Cork family, and has several relatives in the city and county. During his long life in the Capuchin Order, he served in Kilkenny, and for a long number of years in Dublin, returning to Rochestown over twenty years ago. He served there in the capacity of sacristan and is a very popular and highly respected figure. He is looked upon as an authority on the Rubrics and Church ceremonies’.
Date of death: 1 July 1950
Place of death: South Infirmary, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

The Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, whose official title is "sacra congregatio christiano nomini propagando" is the department of the pontifical administration charged with the spread of Catholicism and with the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in non-Catholic countries. The intrinsic importance of its duties and the extraordinary extent of its authority and of the territory under its jurisdiction have caused the cardinal prefect of Propaganda to be known as the "red pope".

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12456a.htm

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13136a.htm

Sixtus V first erected by a Brief of 17 May, 1586, and afterwards, by the Constitution "Immensa", confirmed, a congregation "super consultationibus regularium" distinct from the congregation "super consultationibus episcoporum et aliorum prælatorum" mentioned in the same Constitution. In 1601 these two congregations were already combined in the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, to which, in course of time, were united three other congregations whose functions were closely related. These three were: the Congregation on the State of Religious (super statu regularium), created by Innocent X on 15 August, 1652, for the reformation of regulars in Italy, and suppressed by Innocent XII on 4 August, 1698; the Congregation on Regular Discipline (super disciplina regulari), instituted by Innocent XII on 18 July, 1695, for the reformation of regulars not only in Italy but throughout the whole world; the Congregation on the State of the Regular Orders (super statu regularium ordinum), created by Pius IX on 17 June, 1847. The last-named and the one on regular discipline were suppressed by Pius X, by the Motu Proprio of 26 May, 1906, which united these congregations with that of Bishops and Regulars. The new Constitution of Pius X abolishes the Congregation of Regulars and Bishops and transfers that part of its business which concerns bishops to the Congregation of the Council, and that part of it which concerns regulars to a congregation (oongregatio negotiis religiosorum sodalium præposita) created by the new Constitution, and which by common usage sanctioned by the legend on the official seal of the congregation, has received the name of Congregatio of Religious.

This body has the usual organization of the Roman Congregations. It is formed of several cardinals, who are chosen by the pope, and one of whom is the prefect of the congregation; these cardinals are assisted by a secretary and a sub-secretary, who are the major officials of the congregation, and by several minor officials. In regard to the latter it is to be noted that, as the amount of its business necessitates a division of the congregation into three parts (as in the case of the Congregation of the Sacraments), the highest dignitaries among the minor officials are the three assistants who are placed over the three sections. One of these sections has to deal with matters relating to religious orders; another, with the business of religious congregations or associations of men, of whatever nature those associations may be; the third, with business relating to congregations of women. This congregation also has a college of consultors.

The Constitution of Pius X clearly defines the competency of this congregation, which is to pass judgment upon all matters relating to religious persons of either sex, whether bound by solemn or by simple vows, or to those persons who, although they be not religious in the canonical sense of the word, live as religious — such as the oblates of certain communities of men or of women, who, without being bound by vows, live a common life under an approved rule. The third orders, consisting of seculars, are also under this congregation. It decides in litigations between members of religious orders, or between religious and bishops, and it is the competent tribunal in eases which have to be dealt with in the way of discipline (in via disciplinari) where a religious appears either as plaintiff or as defendant. Hence it is to be inferred, and indeed is expressly stated in the Constitution, that causes which have to be dealt with in the judicial way must be referred to the Rota, the rights of the Holy Office being always safeguarded. Finally, all common law dispensations to regulars pertain to this congregation, excepting dispensation from the Eucharistic fast, which, as said above, pertains to the Congregation of the Sacraments. The Congregatio of Religious is alone competent to approve new religions institutes and their constitutions, as well as to modify institutes already approved, and these being matters of grave importance, the full congregation deals with them.

Father Salvian (Nardiocci) of the Seven Dolour.

Father Salvian of the VII Dolours, in seculo- Vincenzo Nardocci, was born in Carbognanq, diocese of Viterbo, Italy, on the I9th October I822.

Hia mother died when he was quite a child, and his father married again. The second wife was no exception to the general rule of stepmothers. The little Vincenzo was very harshly treated until he received a benifice when ten years of age and was partially emancipated from her control. He was enabled to study for the secular priesthood, but his thoughts were bent on a religious life.

When little more than 18 years of age, on April I6th 1841, he took the habit of our Congregation, and was professed on the I7th April of the following year.
In 1849 several young members of our Congregation were ordained in Sts. John and, Paul's, Rome. Of these four volunteered for the English Province. Frs, Salvian, Evarist, Raymund and Bernardine. Fr. Salvian was ordained too weak and delicate for a trying mission like England; but the then General, Fr. Anthony of St. James, prophesied that he would outlive his companions. Such indeed was the case.

He arrived in England on September 2Ist 1849. He was shortly afterwards made Vice-Master of Novices. In 1850 he was appointed Master of Devices and he fulfilled this office for more than 12 years. In I86j he was made Rector of Broadway and-in 1866 he became Rector of St. Anne's, Sutton.

In 1869 he came to the Retreat of St. Paul of the Cross, Dublin, and remained there with the exception of one year (from 1878 to 1879 when he discharged the duties of Rector of Sutton for a second time) until his death on the I7th of September 1896. Father Salvian was of slight build and seemingly of poor health; yet he was strong enough to keep the observance until his declining years, and was seldom subject to any infirmity.

As Master of Novices he was unrivalled. He was so gentle and withal, so firm that no one could resist his influence.

As Rector, he found money-matters and other annoyances belonging to the office too much for him, and always felt unhappy in such a position.

During his latter years his life was calm and full of good works. He was not a great orator or much of a missioner. His voice and strength did not suffice for these labours.
He was a most efficient confessor. Nearly all the religious went to confession to him. "The priests of Dublin looked upon him as their spiritual father, and the aity confided all their sorrows to his sympathetic keeping. He was universally loved and revered whilst a member of this community.

Within the last two years his memory began to fail, and in some degree his intellect. Such an affliction naturally deprived him of that geniality of character for which he had been all his life so remarkable.

His last illness was not a very long one. He seemed rather to waste away than to be hurried by any disease to the grave.

Numbers bewailed his loss; and one of his penitents, a secular priest, asked for the privilege of singing his Requiem Mass at his funeral.

Thus passed away calmly and without pain on the I7th of September (1896) the last of the pioneers who founded this Province.

Sebastian Keens C.P. Obituary by Fr. Dominic O'Neill C.P. 1891

The Province of St. Joseph has sustained a severe loss by the death of the Rev. Fattier Sebastian of the Blessed Sacrament, This zealous son of St Paul of the Cross, known in the world as Sebastian Keener lived 41 years in the Congregation and died on the anniversary of his birth on the 28th of September (1891) having been bom on the same date 1831.

The place of his birth was London and his parents were pious Catholics, his father having been converted from Protestantism in early youth. He entered the Congregation in 1849 and was the last novice accepted by the V. Rev. Fr. Dominic of the Mother of God. Having made his profession on the 14th February I850, tie years of his studies were marked by his love of the Holy Observance, and when in due time he was promoted to the Holy Order of the Priesthood, he was chosen Vice Master of Novices.

In 1858 he was sent by his superiors to St. Paul's Retreat, Mount Argus, Dublin, anc to this Retreat he remained attached until the time of his death, except from 1869 until 1872 during which interval he was Rector of St Joseph's Retreat Highgate, London.

It was thus at Mount Argus that the greater part of his Priestly life was spent, and here it was that he displayed that wonderful zeal for God's glory which so distinguished him. During the 30 years that he was connected with Mount Argus he was truly indefatigable in his labours. Frequently engaged on Missions in Ireland, England and Scotland his preaching drew thousands of poor sinners to the Sacraments, and every mission given by him was blessed by God with marvellous results. Without having much of the gift of eloquence property so called he spoke from the heart in his sermons and seldom failed to touch the hearts of his audience. In the duties of the confessional he laboured with unwearied assiduity, and never I seemed to rest while sinners were to be attended to in the Sacred Tribunal.

This is true of him not only on missions but i t was his daily life in the Retreat of Saint Paul.

He had a rare gift of attracting souls from the vanities of the world and placing them in the secure sanctuary of the Religious State, One of the greatest services he rendered to our Province was the number of pious and talented subjects who through his means entered the Congregation. Of these two were made Provincials, several Rectors and some of our most valued missioners were attracted to our institute under his direction. With the same zeal he led a great number of his female penitents to enter the Religious State, and it would be impossible to form an idea of the numbers who are now in convents in both hemispheres. The Sisters of the Passion gratefully acknowledge that their numerous convents in England and Ireland are filled with holy and zealous Religious who under God owe their vocation to his burning zeal.

Besides this wonderful life of zeal for God's glory and the sanctification of souls in the intervals between his missionary and spiritual labours he was for 30 years the zealous questor for the temporal wants of the community. To his exertions we are principally indebted for the spacious Retreat of St. Paul Mount Argus and its universally admired church. The words of the Psalmist can with truth be applied to him, "I have loved, O Lord, the zeal of Thy house and the place where Thy Glory dwelleth."

In his religious life he was remarkable for childlike simplicity of character. His obedience to his superiors was prompt and cheerful. His charity for his brethren was very great especially when any of the community were sick he would seek to procure for them whatever would alleviate their sufferings or tend to their comfort and he always gave great edification by speaking in praise of his brethren in the presence of seculars, thus-increasing the respect of all for his Mother the Congregation.

He was unremitting in his exertions to promote devotion to our Lord's Sacred Passion and this not only in sermons and in the confessional and through the Confraternity of the Passion attached to our church, but he established the Confraternity on missions wherever he could and invested great numbers with the Black Scapular of the Passion in all parts. Great also was his devotion to the Dolours of the Blessed Virgin and to the Divine Sacrament of the Attar. He wrote and published several volumes on our Lady's Dolours, The Manual of a Happy Death, Our Lord's Passion, The Blessed Sacrament, and Saint Michael which have passed through several editions. In this wa y did his zeal inspire him to labour for souls where his voice could not reach and took means that even after death he should yet speak to the hearts of many of God and the salvation of their souls.

His life of unremitting toil could but tell on his naturally strong constitution. For some time past his brethren could observe a great change in him and on Sunday morning the 30th August while in the confessional as was his custom at that time he felt suddenly unwell. He passed out to prepare to offer the Holy Sacrifice and while thus engaged he had suddenly a stroke of apoplexy. The medical attendant was soon with him. and for some time he seemed daily to improve having recovered the use of his right hand and side which were paralyzed. But on the 21st September he received a second stroke which paralyzed his left side and rendered him completely unconscious. In this state he remained with slight intervals of consciousness until the morning of the 28th September his 60th birthday when he calmly breathed his last fortified by the Sacraments of Holy Church. The day of his death was the eve of the feast of Si Michael to whom he had a special devotion. The colossal statue of St. Michael which now adorns the front of St. Paul's Church is due'to his exertions.

His obsequies were attended by about 80 priests secular and regular. The Most Rev. Dr. Woodlock, Bishop of Ardagh, presided at the Office, and the Requiem Mass was sung by the V. Rev. Fr. Gregory, Provincial of the Anglo-Hibernian Province. The vast numbers of the laity whom the spacious church could not contain attested to the esteem and respect in which tile good Father was held by the people in whose midst he had laboured so long and so faithfully.

We have no doubt that God has prepared as the reward of his laborious life a bright crown of eternal glory, but as he had to pass before the Judgement Seat of Him Who has declared "Ego justifies judicabo* I beg of your Reverence to have the usual suffrages offered for the repose of his soul.
Signed "Dominic of the Imm. Heart of Mary, Rector"/

Henry Shaw was born in Dungarvan in County Waterford on 18 May 1915. He joined the Capuchin Order in November 1933 and took Nessan as his religious name. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1943. As a postgraduate student in University College Cork, he completed a thesis titled ‘The Life and Times of Fr. Theobald Mathew’ for an MA degree in 1939. He retained a life-long interest in the subject and accumulated many documentary sources, publications and notes pertaining to Fr. Mathew and his nineteenth-century campaign against intemperance. Most of his priestly ministry was spent in County Cork and he was a teacher for many years in the Seraphic College in Rochestown. For a brief period in the 1940s he worked as a missionary in Aden which was, as part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, under the care of the Capuchin friars. On his return to Ireland, Fr. Nessan resumed his priestly duties in Cork. As an avid supporter of Gaelic games, he held several senior administrative positions with various clubs associated with ‘Cumann Lúthchleas Gael’ in Cork. Fr. Nessan edited a collection of essays on the history of the Irish Capuchins in the twentieth century (titled ‘The Irish Capuchins / Record of a Century’) which was published in 1985. The last sixteen years of his life were spent as parish priest in Gurranabraher, a residential suburb on the north-western side of Cork city. He died on 13 July 1997 and was buried in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Capuchin Friary in County Cork.

Baptismal name: Henry Shaw
Religious name: Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 18 May 1915
Place of birth: Dungarvan, County Waterford
Name of father: Herbert Shaw (Baker)
Name of mother: Mary Anne Shaw (née Curran)
Date of parents’ marriage: 16 Oct. 1913
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 7 Nov. 1933
Date of first profession: 8 Nov. 1934
Date of solemn profession: 8 Nov. 1937
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1943
Educational attainments: BA, 1937; MA, 2nd class hons., 1939; Higher Diploma in Education
Date of death: 13 July 1997
Place of death: Bons Secours Hospital, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

Francis Bernard Sheehan was born in Cork on 31 March 1873. His early studies were in Saints Peter and Paul school, the Christian Brothers’ school, the Presentations Brothers’ school, and finally at the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork. He was received into the Capuchin Order on 2 February 1889. After the usual philosophical and theological studies, he was ordained in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, in July 1896. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to the Kilkenny Friary where acted as a lector in philosophy. In November 1902 Fr. Luke volunteered for missionary work as a chaplain in Arabia where the Capuchin friars had established a Vicariate. He was soon appointed Pro-vicar Apostolic. He was charged with chaplaincy duties at British military and naval stations in Aden and did much visitation work in the interior of the country. While stationed in Aden he was taken ill with fever and was forced to return to Ireland to recuperate. Before he had fully recovered the priest who replaced him succumbed to the harsh climatic conditions prevailing in that part of the world. Fr. Luke immediately offered to return to Arabia, and he remained there until 1908. As Aden was then governed as part of British India, Fr. Luke also frequently visited India to conduct missions for troops, chiefly around Bombay (now Mumbai). He returned to Ireland in 1908. In 1910 he accompanied Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. on a journey to eastern Oregon to establish a new Capuchin mission in this territory. Fr. Dowling was appointed a Provincial Definitor (councillor) later in 1910 leaving Fr. Luke to work alone in Oregon until the arrival of Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. He worked diligently in establishing parish communities in Hermiston and later in Bend on the Deschutes River in Oregon. The first church Bend was an old schoolhouse purchased in 1912 for $75. Fr. Luke later invited a group of nuns of the Order of St. Joseph to establish a hospital in the locality. With a growing population, a larger church was needed in Bend, and the foundation stone for the present-day St. Francis of Assisi Church was laid on 25 January 1920. It was built by E. P. Brosterhous at the cost of $55,000 and was officially opened and dedicated in the same year. St. Francis Catholic School in Bend (with an initial enrolment of 140) was opened in 1936. Fr. Luke served as a priest in Bend for twenty-seven years. He died in Hood River, Oregon, on 11 February 1937. His obituary in the ‘Bend Bulletin’ noted that ‘women cried and men who had known Father Sheehan since he came here in the early days were unable to control their sobs as the requiem mass was celebrated. Every available bit of space in the huge church, erected years ago through the efforts of Father Sheehan, was occupied as parishioners, churchmen and close friends of other faiths came to pay their respects to the priest who played such an important part in the religious and civic life of Bend. Occupying a pew in the crowded church were six members of the Protestant clergy of Bend’. Father Luke was buried beneath a Celtic Cross gravestone in Bend’s Pilot Butte Cemetery. For images of his memorial in Pilot Pilot Butte Cemetery in Bend, Oregon, see https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12540403/luke-sheehan

Baptismal name: Francis Bernard Sheehan
Religious name: Fr. Luke Sheehan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 31 Mar. 1873
Place of birth: Cork
Name of father: John Sheehan
Name of mother: Catherine Sheehan (née Sullivan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 2 Feb. 1889
Date of first profession: 4 Feb. 1890
Date of final profession: 18 Oct. 1894
Date of ordination (as priest): 2 July 1896
Missionary assignments: Ministered in Aden from 1902-08; Travelled to Oregan, United States, in 1910
Leadership positions: Custos, 1913-6; 1919-22
Date of death: 11 Feb. 1937
Place of death: Hood River, Oregon (while on supply from Bend, Oregon)
Place of burial: Bend, Oregon

Born: 20 July 1843 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, County Kerry
Entered: 10 February 1868, South Monastery, Cork
Reception: [?August] 1868
Professed: 27 August 1870
Died: 20 April 1905, Mount St Joseph, Cork
Interred: Blessed Edmund Rice Cemetery, Mount St Joseph, Cork