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Salvian Nardocci

  • AR 1
  • Persoon
  • 19/10/1822

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.

Ignatius Spencer

  • AR 2
  • Persoon
  • 21-12-1799

Fr. Ignatius is dead! Our Congregation has lost an excellent subject on earth, but has gained, as we trust, a saint in heaven. It is very difficult to do justice in a short space to the life of such a great servant of God; it would take volumes. Still, something must be said if only to render to the memory of the deceased the tribute of our veneration.

 Fr. Ignatius of St. Paul, born the Hon. George Spencer, was the link, so to say, between the death and resurrection of the Catholic Church in England. It was he who threw the first stone that made Protestantism begin to crumble, and it was he who was to be the corner-stone of the Catholic Church which is now rising from its ruins.

As a youth he received the sort of education that is usually given to the English aristocracy. He went first to Eton, and from there to Cambridge, where, at the age of 22, he received the Orders which the English call "sacred" and became a minister in the Anglican church. A brilliant career lay before the young minister. Noble birth, influential friends, his own personal gifts and virtues - all pointed to a high position in the Anglican hierarchy.

The Truth, however, which had already begun to enlighten his mind, was to bring to naught all such expectations. With the help of God's grace he began to see the life of a minister and a preacher of the Gospel in a very different light from that of his countrymen. The sacredness of his vocation, he felt, was not compatible with pomp or wealth or the bonds of matrimony. And so he resolved to lead a celibate life and to adopt a life-style which seemed to him more in conformity with the demands of the Gospel, even though at this time he still considered the Catholic Church to be wrong on these very issues.

There were a number of other things, too, which made him feel ill at ease in his present position. To clear his mind once for all of the many doubts that plagued him, he decided to make an earnest study of other religious systems - a study to which he gave himself with a methodical thoroughness all his own. It was all to no avail. But in the end a ray of that "light which enlightens every man" dispelled all doubts from his mind and made him clearly understand that the true Church of Christ was the catholic Church, and that outside her there is no salvation. For a heart as generous and honest as his, that was enough, and he decided to become a Catholic there and then. He was received into the Church in February, 1830. Far from ever regretting the step he had so courageously taken, he never ceased to thank God for the great grace he had received, and it was his constant endeavour to ensure that all his countrymen should share the same favour.

Shortly after becoming a Catholic he went, on the advice of his bishop, to the English College in Rome to study for the priesthood. It was surely by a special dispensation of Divine Providence that he was ordained on 28th May, 1832, the feast of St. Augustine, the Apostle of England, in the church of St. Gregory - the very place where that Pope had commissioned St. Augustine to preach the Gospel in England. He said his first Mass on the feast of St. Bede according to the Benedictine calendar. Fr. Ignatius never tired of telling that story to his brethren, and he had already written to Fr. Dominic about it, full of gratitude to the Lord for such a privilege.

After his ordination he returned to England where he generously gave himself and all he possessed to whatever work was given him to do. For 15 years he was a model priest in the Birmingham diocese, undertaking whatever duty was assigned to him by his Bishop. He built churches, founded missions and generously contributed to the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in that diocese. Because of his outstanding merits, a special "office" was created for him in Oscott College. It had to be abandoned later on for want of anybody capable of following in the footsteps of Fr. Ignatius.

In 1846 he made a retreat at a house of the Jesuit Fathers. After it, to the surprise of everyone, including himself, he discovered he had a vocation to the Passionist Congregation. He wrote immediately to Fr. Dominic, who was then Superior of the Order in England, and he received the holy habit at his hands on 5th June, 1847. He was professed the following year, taking the name Ignatius as a gesture of gratitude to the Author of the Spiritual Exercises, through which, under God, he had received his vocation.

His profession marked the beginning of a new life - not in the sense that his former life, especially since he had became a Catholic, needed any kind of reform, but in the sense that, whereas his work until then had been limited to a comparatively small number of people and places, from now on the whole of England as well as Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy would become his mission field.

In speaking of the virtues of Fr. Ignatius it is hard to know where to begin. The love of God and zeal for His glory had so taken possession of his heart that he could scarcely think of anything else. The constant subject of his conversation was how to overcome heresy and combat sin. Any other subject left him uninterested, to the point that he would often drop off to sleep in the midst of such conversations. He would gladly have travelled the whole world over to set all men's hearts on fire with the love of God that burned so brightly in his own. His prudence and the obedience which he had vowed put a brake on his zeal, but his fervour, far from growing less, only increased the more because, as he used to say, what one does under obedience is not only more pleasing to God, but more efficacious for saving souls.

Because of the poverty of the Congregation and the special needs of the Province, the Superiors were often obliged to ask Fr. Ignatius to travel to many places all over the country to raise money. Not only did he always undertake such a difficult task with prompt obedience, but he would take advantage of it to give greater scope to his zeal in the way we shall now describe.

We have already said how he had set his mind on bringing back his own people to the Catholic Church. He in no way disapproved of the ordinary means of making converts such as preaching, etc., but he held that the most efficacious way was to pray, and to pray through the intercession of her of whom the Church sings: "Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, for thou alone hast overcome all heresies in the whole world." So it was that Fr. Ignatius took advantage of the travels he undertook under obedience in many countries of Europe to ask of all prayers for the conversion of England. In order to encourage people to pray for this intention, he asked and obtained the blessing of the Pope, who went so far as to grant indulgences to the recitation of three Hail Marys together with the invocation "Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us." He took this as the sign of approval of his unique mission. There is no telling how much this devotion spread, and is still spreading, throughout a great part of Europe, or what benefits may be hoped for as a result. It is a fact that from the time when Fr. Ignatius started this devotion, initiated what we may call a campaign of prayer, so many converts have been received in England, so many churches and schools have been built, so many convents and monasteries founded, that it would seem that England is no longer what it was 30 years ago. All this is surely the fruit of the prayers said and the prayers asked for by Fr. Ignatius.

To zeal for the glory of God and the conversion of his country, Fr. Ignatius added a great love of the Regular Observance. So great was his zeal for the Observance that his Superiors often had to moderate it. It often happened that, coming home at night tired and weary after a whole day's work in the confessional or in conducting spiritual exercises, he would have got up for Matins at all costs if his Superiors or his confessor had not forbidden him to do so. Generous as he was himself, he could not understand how a religious, or even a Catholic in the world, could commit even one deliberate fault however small. He used to say that he did not like to hear people say - a thing you hear even from the lips of religious occasionally - "I should be quite happy if I get to Purgatory." His maxim was that we must not be content with mediocrity when it is so easy to reach perfection.

His trust in Divine Providence and his acceptance of God's Will were boundless. Whatever happened to anyone, he wanted it to be seen as a gift from God's hand and as such something to be grateful for. "Thank God for everything" was a phrase that was constantly on his lips. One day he was walking along a dark and lonely road and fell to thinking how easy it would be for an enemy to kill him with just one shot. When asked what he would do in such a case, his answer was: "I should hope to have at least one moment to thank our Lord for the bullet that hit me."

So profound was his humility that he seemed to have forgotten his noble origins altogether and the esteem in which he was held by people of all walks of life. Kind and affable towards everybody, he took special pleasure in dealing with the poor and the ignorant and with little children. He was never heard to complain. For him everything was good. Even the worst prepared food, the oldest and most patched clothing were to him like the finest gifts.

He held successively a number of offices in the Congregation. First he was Master of Novices. Then Fr. Dominic, before he died, appointed him his successor as Superior in England. Then for three years he was Rector of our house in London, after which he was elected Provincial Consultor - an office he held for nine years, i.e. until 1863 when in the chapter held that year he was elected Rector of St. Anne's Retreat, Sutton, near Liverpool.

He had often expressed the wish to die like St. Francis Xavier or like Fr. Dominic, alone and abandoned by all. Through an extraordinary combination of circumstances, or rather by a special dispensation of Divine Providence, his wish was granted. He was preaching in Scotland one of his "Little Missions" - not so "little" judged by the results they produced. These lasted for three days, with two sermons a day and confessions which he heard during all the time that remained between saying Mass and taking his brief rest. (He had already given 245 such missions since 1857 in England, Ireland and Scotland.)

On Friday, 30th September, he had finished one of these missions in a place called Coatbridge, and had been hearing confessions until midnight. At 6 o'clock on the Saturday morning he went back into the confessional until 7.30, when he said Mass. He then got ready to go to Leith where he intended to start another mission that same day. When he got to Carstairs he found the train was not leaving for two hours. Not to waste time, he decided to pay a visit to an old friend of his, named Mr. Monteith, who lived in the vicinity. But it was here that death awaited him. He had a sudden heart attack and dropped dead about 100 yards from his friend's house, without anybody seeing him or being able to help him. His whole life, however, had been one long preparation for death, and so we have every ground for hope that the Lord has already crowned him with the glory that was waiting for him.

Fr. Ignatius of the Child Jesus, the Provincial, received word of the death by telegram. With some of the religious he went at once to the place where the servant of God had died. When the necessary arrangements had been made, the remains were taken on the following Monday to our monastery at Sutton where the Solemn Requiem was celebrated on 6th October. The funeral was attended by a large number of people, clerical and lay, as well as by the community of Sutton and religious from other houses of the Province. The Solemn Requiem was celebrated by the Provincial, and after it the Bishop of Birmingham, Dr. Ullathorne, preached the panegyric to the large and very attentive congregation that had assembled for the occasion. After the Mass, the Bishop together will all the priests present and a large concourse of people accompanied the body to its final resting place. Inside the tomb the following inscription was placed:

  "The mortal remains of Father Ignatius of St. Paul, of the Congregation of the Passion and of the noble family of Spencer. He was at first an Anglican minister; then, having been converted to the Catholic Church, was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in the year 1832. With admirable constancy of mind he laboured for more than 30 years for the conversion of his country. He was numbered among the sons of the Passion in the year 1847, and throughout his life gave an example of all the virtues to his brethren. He journeyed throughout England, Ireland and Scotland, and even in Italy, Germany and France, exhorting the people to their own sanctification and forming them, as it were, into a sacred army to pour forth prayers for the conversion of England. He was engaged in this most gratifying work in Scotland when, on 1st. October, 1864, having offered the Sacrifice of the Mass, he was on his way to visit a friend he had long been acquainted with (Mr. Robert Monteith). He died suddenly at his friend's door, being assisted by God whose glory he had ever sought, and by the angels whose purity he had imitated. His life came to an end in the 65th year of his age. May he rest in peace."

(translated from the Italian)

[ The Italian version of the above obituary notice was discovered recently in the library of Scala Sancta Retreat, Rome. A photostat copy was sent to us (December, 1976) by Fr. Frederico, Postulator General. Signed: Ignatius C.P. (St. Joseph's Province.)]

Alphonsus O' Neill

  • AR 3
  • Persoon
  • 11-10-1830 - 06-10-1899

Scarcely ever in the History of the Anglo-Hibernian Province has an event had to be chronicled which called forth such sentiments of universal regret as the death of Father Alphonsus O'Neill. Though some days have passed since he was laid to rest, it yet seems hardly possible to realize that he is no longer with us. So conspicuous and so prominent was his personality in the Province for over forty years, so intimately was he identified with every good work and undertaking of the Congregation during those years, and so successful in carrying them to a happy issue, that to be all at once bereft of his wise counsel, his eloquent voice, and his strong influence, amounts to little less than a calamity. We can console ourselves however with the reflection that our loss is his gain.

Fr. Alphonsus was born in Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone, on the 11th of October 1830. His early life was spent in commercial pursuits, but never to the exclusion of works of charity and benevolence, in the fulfilment of which he recognised the Christian precept: "Do good, one to another". In those early days he associated himself with the S. Vincent de Paul Society in Belfast, and though years have elapsed since then there are still living some who can testify to the fidelity and devotedness with which he served God in the person of his poor.

It cannot therefore be a matter of surprise that such a start in life would eventually lead to the cloister, and consequently, his fellow-workers in the cause of charity, though they expressed their regret, yet could not withhold their approbation, when in the June of 1852, he made known to them that he had decided on becoming a Passionist. In that year he went to our Novitiate in Broadway, and after his profession, which he made on 13th July 1853, he was sent to Rome to begin his studies for the priesthood. He remained in Rome over four years, and had the happiness of being raised to the priesthood towards the end of 1856 by a Passionist Bishop, Mgr. Joseph Malajoni, who had been for a number of years Bishop in Bulgaria, but who at this time was living retired in our Retreat of Monte Argentaro.

Shortly after his return to these countries, Fr. Alphonsus was appointed Vice Master of novices, but the evidences he gave of successful missionary work, left him very little time to fulfil his duties as Vice Master. From this time till the close of his earthly career, it might be said that the history of his life was identical with the history of the Province. He threw himself heart and soul into every good work which had for its object the wellbeing of the Congregation, and in doing so he knew no fatigue, no personal inconvenience: enough for him that souls were longing for the bread of life, or that their surroundings were such as to place in jeopardy their eternal welfare. It may be truly said that his missionary career was a most successful one. His style was marked with great earnestness and sincerity. He frequently took the part of principal preacher on Missions, but the part in which he was most at home was the Meditations on the Passion of our Lord. The moving and winning words in which he told the sufferings of his Divine Master never failed to draw souls to a greater love of the Crucified, and to a more lively compassion with Him in his sorrows. The Passion was his favourite subject - indeed it might be said to be the theme of his life's preaching.

Though he was frequently employed in preaching charity sermons, whilst he never failed to address himself directly to the cause which he was called upon to advocate, invariably did he embody in his discourse some reference which showed the character of the Passionist.

During his life he filled with care and diligence every office of trust in the Province. He was successively Rector of St. Joseph's, Highgate, S. Paul's, Dublin and S. Ann's, Sutton, and in the Chapter of 1878, he was chosen Provincial, the duties of which he discharged till ‘81. Subsequently when the higher Superiors accepted a new foundation in the far distant Australia, he was appointed Superior of the little band of missionaries who volunteered to preach the Passion under the Southern Cross. For six years he laboured with his usual zeal and energy in those colonies, giving Missions and Retreats and otherwise attending to the various duties with which he was entrusted. After his return to Ireland, he took up his residence in Mt. Argus, where notwithstanding the inroad that years of unbroken labour had made on his constitution, he shared with his younger brethren the several duties peculiar to the Retreat. Indeed it was little more than a week before his lamented death when he occupied the pulpit in St. Paul's, and though it could easily be seen that he was in failing health, there was also evidence that much of the old fire of by-gone days still lived within him.

Apart from his work for the Congregation, of which he was a faithful member, his time and talents were always at the disposal of anyone outside the order who required his service. This was particularly remarkable in the interest which he took in the Sisters of the Most Holy Cross and Passion. They began life as Sisters of the Holy Family, whose object was to afford instruction and shelter to homeless girls in the large manufacturing towns in England. Later on they took the name of Sisters of the Cross and Passion. Fr. Alphonsus arranged their Rule, got first a pro tem. approval from Rome, and eventually got the Holy See to sanction them in perpetuum.

His last illness was little more than a few hours. A few days before the end came he accompanied an invalid to the North and seemed even then to be in his ordinary good health. After his return to Dublin, on Wednesday the 4th, he complained of weakness and overwork, and on the morning of the 5th, he was attacked with violent haemorrhage. The doctor was called in immediately and at once pronounced his case serious. There were frequent returns of the haemorrhage during the day, and after receiving all the last rites of the church, being perfectly conscious to the end, he calmly slept away at two o'clock on the morning of the sixth of October.

The funeral obsequies took place on Monday the 9th in the presence of a large gathering of clergy and laity, after which the remains were consigned to their last resting place in the little cemetery attached to the Retreat.

It seemed providential that notwithstanding his sojourn in many lands, his mortal remains should repose in the Mount Argus he loved so well and served so long. Green as the grassy sward which each succeeding Spring will renew on his quiet grave be the remembrance of his many virtues and his bright example in the hearts of those who knew and loved him. R.I.P.

Fr. ALPHONSUS of the Blessed Virgin Mary (O'Neill) 6th October, 1899.

The ‘Irish News' (Belfast) on the 20th May 1960 carried an article: "TWO DISTINGUISHED PASSIONISTS OF YESTER-YEAR", the story of two brothers from Co. Tyrone who became Passionists: Frs. DOMINIC and ALPHONSUS O'Neill.

They were the sons of a mixed marriage. When their son Edward was born, the mother met the priest with a torrent of abuse and threats of violence, so the child was baptised secretly. That was Fr. Dominic. (Ironically, he was to be clothed a Passionist on July 12th 1852, 22 years later). The Dad compromised, and it was agreed sons would be baptised Catholics, the daughters Protestants. There was only one daughter Mary Ann. She refused to go to church with her mother, and went off to Mass with her brothers. Later, she was to become a Sister of Mercy, in Birmingham, as Sister Alphonsus of the Passion.

The early years were stirring ones. Daniel O'Connell won a lawsuit preventing his fellow Catholics from being evicted from a quarry, where the church in which the young O'Neills were altar boys was situated in Stewartstown.

It was also the period when the Oxford Movement was having its effects on the Hon. George Spencer and the Hon. Charles Pakenham among many others. The future Fr. Alphonsus was to meet up with both in Broadway. A fellow novice was Cfr. (later Brother) LAWRENCE Carr, who later would be the 1st Passionist Brother in Australia, while Alphonsus was Superior of the founding and pioneer party of CPs.

When he said he wanted to be a priest, his mother told a friend that it was the greatest cross of her life: his first Mass was offered for, and brought about, the conversion of his mother.

One page cannot cover his work as a Passionist. He was known as ‘the Silver-tongued Orator' (another Chrysologus!). He did his studies in John and Paul's, was ordained at Monte Argentaro by a Passionist Bishop, Mgr. Mulajoni.

Fr. Alphonsus was later to be a Vice-Master of novices, a Rector, a Consultor, a Provincial, ... and a great Missioner. He was the Founder of the present Australian Province, in that he led the first band of priests and a brother from St. Joseph's Province there; he returned later to the home Province. So (to quote the I.N. article) ‘afar from the townland of St. Patrick's Bell this great Passionist of yesteryear sleeps his last sleep in the peaceful cemetery beside Mount Argus'.

Sources: Fr. Salvian Nardocci's ‘Register'
Fr. Salvian Nardocci's ‘Annals' Vol. 1, pp. 161, 287,361.
‘Irish News' (Belfast) 1960.05.20 (In our archives).

https://passionistarchives.ie/index.php/alphonsus-o-neill/

Pius Devine

  • AR 4
  • Persoon
  • 06-01-1838 - 28-04-1912

In the retreat of our Province dedicated to him, the festival of St Paul of the Cross has been, in two successive years, marked by a death of a son who had served his Congregation through many and devoted years. Last year Father Gregory of St Joseph, this year Father Pius of the Holy Ghost was called to his reward, at Mount Argus, on the Saints Festival.

Father Pius of the Holy Ghost - in the world James Devine - was at Aclare, Co. Sligo, on the festival of the Epiphany, 1838. He made his classical studies at the seminary of his native diocese, Achonry, and then went to Maynooth where, after four years study, he received Minor Orders. But it pleased Almighty God to bestow upon him the grace of a vocation to the religious life; and soon two things turned his thoughts to the Congregation of the Passion, one was a retreat given at Maynooth by Father Vincent Grotti, the founder of Mount Argus, and the other the chance perusal of the life of Father Paul Mary Packenham, its first Rector, who had died soon after the arduous labours of a mission given by us in Rathmines Parish Church. Father Pius entered the Novitiate in the autumn of 1858 and was professed on September 29th of the following year. In 1861 he was ordained priest at St Joseph's, Highgate; and immediately commenced that career of Professor of Theology which he was to pursue so successfully through many years. When, in November, 1867 all the students of the Province were gathered in Dublin, under the presidency of Father Ignatius Paoli, afterwards Archbishop of Bucharest, Father Pius was truly his "right hand," and a guiding spirit in raising our ecclesiastical studies to a very high level. This purpose he was able still more to further by his directorship of the Retreat from 1869 to 1872. During his term of office he was sent as the Visitor - General to our houses in the United States, a high responsibility, successfully discharged. As Rector of Mount Argus, he had felt keenly the inadequacy of the brick chapel first erected, though the old family mansion had been adapted to form one structure with it, and now he generously volunteered to cross again the Atlantic to raise funds for the erection of a suitable church. For this he lectured in many cities of the United States, and afterwards begged in Chile, and, crossing the Andes on a mule by the old Pioneer Road to lessen expense, also in the Argentine Republic. On his return home, he was elected, in 1875, Rector of Holy Cross, Belfast, where he commenced the building of the present monastery. At the close of this term of office, he returned to the work most congenial to him, teaching, which, interspersed with missions, and retreats to religious communities, engaged his gifted and active spirit as long as health remained. For it pleased Divine Providence to lay upon him during the last 10 years of his life a trial most heavy, because the crucifixion of his strongest characteristic, the cross of inactivity. Stealthily but surely gout seized upon his strong frame with relentless grip, crippling him so that he could no longer say Mass, and painfully affecting his memory. To his nature, inactivity and helplessness were bitter indeed, and through these years many hours silent and lonely shrunk but did not quell his cheerful spirit. These were the crown of his work, and the purifying of his love for God; in him "patients" had "it's perfect work." The end came without pain, and was in perfect peace. He had received the last sacraments on April 26th, festival of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and on the 29th, comforted by the presence of his brother, Father Arthur, and in full possession of his senses, he calmly resigned his soul to his Maker.

Father Pius's gifts were great and many, and had received from earliest years effective training. His knowledge of the classics was that of the old school, delighting to fit occasion with apt quotation. He spoke several modern languages: in Gaelic he was a foremost scholar and authority, it was the tongue of his childhood and that in which his last earthly prayers were breathed to God. In the sacred sciences he had the large and accurate knowledge that comes with years of teaching. His outlook on all things was broad; on all men was kindly. To his ready pen we owe several works of great interest, notably the "Life of Father Ignatius Spencer," "Eutropia," or instructions for converts, and the "Life of St Paul of the Cross." He had been present in the great basilica at the canonisation of St Paul not as a spectator, but with the assistant clergy as a torch - bearer, and his description not only is of a thing seen in the glow of faith, but rises to a high order of literary excellence.

 His early years in the Congregation were spent with the first fathers of our Province, men who had much and hard work to do and who, as true leaders, did it thoughtless of themselves, and reliant upon God: he had their spirit: his going is the breaking of a link with the past: a past that cannot altogether fade from our vision, for their memories are happily with us, while themselves and their reward are with God.

(CROSS, Vol. III, p.77f.)

https://passionistarchives.ie/index.php/fr-pius-devine/

Sebastian Keens

  • AR 5
  • Persoon
  • 28-09-1831 - 28-9-1891

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"/

Daniel Mageean

  • BISDM
  • Persoon
  • 1882-1962

Bishop Daniel Mageean D.D. 6 May 1882 – 17 January 1962 was an Irish Roman Catholic Prelate and until 1962 he held the title Lord Bishop of Down and Connor.

Daniel Mageean was born in the townland of Darragh Cross in the parish of Saintfield, Co. Down and received secondary education at St Malachy's College and St Patrick's College, Maynooth. He was ordained priest in 1906.

His older sister Mary (McCall) became the first President of the Apostolic Work in 1924 indicating the faith and commitment of his wider family where there were others vocations to religious life. While his mother was a sister of the late Dr Richard Marner, who served as President of St. Malachy's College from 1866 – 1876 and then Parish Priest of Kilkeel until his death in 1906.

His first pastoral appointment was a summer curacy in Glenavy parish in July 1907 and on 1 September that year he was transferred to St Malachy's College where he taught both English Literature and Latin and served as Dean of Discipline.

In 1919 Fr Mageean he appointed Junior Dean at St Patrick's College, Maynooth becoming Senior Dean in 1925.

On 31 May 1929 he was nominated Bishop of Down and Connor and received episcopal consecration in St Patrick's Church, Belfast on 25 August 1929.

In the 1930s he was a champion of Catholic rights especially after the anti-Catholic riots of 1935. He claimed that almost 400 Catholic families, totally nearly 1600 people had been driven from their homes. Dr. Mageean succeeded in getting the anti-Catholic nature of much of Northern Ireland life raised in the House of Commons at Westminster but his efforts came to naught and he resigned himself to a long period of sterility as prime ecclesiastical leader of demoralised Northern Irish Catholics.

A flavour of the struggles Bishop Mageean faced are considered in Jonathan Bardon's magisterial work on this history of Ulster. Bishop Mageean often used his Lenten Pastoral letter to address issues of wider social and political concern e.g. his 1938 letter on Partition and the persecution of Catholics in Northern Ireland.

He died on 17 January 1962 and was succeeded by the Bishop of Clonfert, William Philbin.

The Mageean Cup awarded annually to the winners of the Ulster Colleges' Senior Hurling Championship is named after him

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