Brothers' Food for Thought

About forty Maryknollers and employees gathered in the Asia room over lunch to hear Br. John Blazo and Br. Alex Walsh speak of the charism and history of the Auxiliary Brothers of St. Michael, i.e. the Maryknoll Brothers. This was the second Food for Thought program held in conjunction with our Centenary celebration, the first being last January 24 on the Fathers.

John ran down a quick history of how the Brothers slowly developed from being strictly auxiliaries whose sole job was to help the "real" missioners (the priests) do their mission work to being missioners in their own right.

Brothers cooked, cleaned, did carpentry, physical plant and electrical work at various Maryknoll facilities around the country. Br. Alex Walsh, who celebrated his 50th anniversary last Sunday, took hotel management courses which soon made him an invaluable asset both here and in Latin America where bookkeeping and dietician planning were in great demand.

The growing prospects for World War II saw a suspension of Brother applicants, since they were (and are) technically not religious but rather a group of celibate laymen. Vatican II saw another moratorium of Brother candidates for about three years as the Society wanted to re-examin the Brothers' role in light of the changes following the Council.

Alex proudly pointed to the Amanacer program for street boys in Bolivia which the Brothers built up from scratch and successfully helped many youth to get an education and turn their lives around. Br. Dave McKenna and Br. Al Patrick were both instrumental in making Amanacer a success.

In the Q & A that followed, Ms. Marge Gaughan, managing editor of MARYKNOLL magazine, shared her story of interviewing Br. Gene Caspar, who worked in the Philippines. He said he got involved in peace and justice work after he noticed there were far too many children dying there due to poverty.

Fr. Dan Dolan paid tribute to the many Brothers whose service over the years built and maintained countless buildings here and overseas, even in China, thus saving the Society millions and making our mission work possible.

Ms. Linda Guerra from Treasury expressed gratitude for the many Brothers, such as Br. Don Miriani and Br. Adrian Mazuchowski, who have helped with our finances over the years.

Br. Kevin Dargan, who now works in our library, is Maryknoll's answer to Google, at least when Society history is concerned. He has compiled two volumes of research on the Maryknoll Brothers. Most recently, he has decorated our dining room with archival photographs of Maryknollers around the world over the years to commemorate our Centenary.

Fr. Dennis Moorman, formerly our vocation director, reports an upswing in inquiries into the Brothers by young men hoping to be missioners.

(I hope to upload pix shortly---the hard way. The problem still hasn't been fixed.)

A Brother comes home

The remains of Br. Thomas McCann, the first Maryknoll Brother, who passed away in 1922 and had been buried in Los Angeles, will be re-interred at Maryknoll, N.Y. on Friday, June 18th, following a special Mass.

A place of honor will be afforded Brother Thomas under the Celtic Cross at the entrance to the upper cemetery. The cross once stood atop the Old Farmhouse that served as the Brothers Formation House back in the day. Br. Thomas joined the Auxiliary Brothers of St. Michael in 1912 and later worked at the Japanese mission in Los Angeles.

This translation and re-internment of Brother Thomas's earthly remains mark the unofficial countdown to the centenary celebration for the Maryknoll Brothers as well as the culmination of efforts going back several years.

"We didn't want to move the body here just for the sake of moving it," says Brother Kevin Dargan who has eagerly followed the process over the years. "There is precedence." Father Price's body was brought back from Hong Kong after the completion of the seminary building, Kevin said, and Mother Mary Joseph's body was moved from her original grave here at the Fathers and Brothers cemetery across the street to the Sisters once their cemetery was created.

Speaking of the Maryknoll Sisters, several shared stories of the old days when Br. Thomas would pull up to the loading stone (that huge, flat piece of granite behind the Price Building used to assist riders in getting in and out of horse-drawn carriages) to transport Sisters to and from the convent and Ossining.

Superior General Father Ed Dougherty will be the main celebrant at the special Mass with Br. Kevin Dargan reading the biography and Br. Wayne Fitzpatrick offering what would normally be called a homily if he were a priest but must be called a reflection because he is not. Brothers will also act as honorary pall bearers.  The difference between an honorary pall bearer and an ordinary pall bearer is that too many declined to volunteer if any heavy lifting was involved.

With this, we unofficially declare our Centenary celebration open!           

MK Brothers festivities

A GRAND TIME was had by all at the Mass of St. Michael, followed by a happy hour and steak dinner. Kudos to Br. Kevin, whose efforts paid off as 11 Brothers and most of the resident community attended. (Note from Larry Liturgy: "What's with processing in with the Sacramentary? You'd think by now we'd have the rubrics down."

Aside from that faux pas, things went smoothly if musically sparingly with just an opening hymn (Amazing Grace) and closing with the updated Maryknoll hymn, sung á capella as Judy, our organist, was a no-show. Apparently a last minute scramble to find the version of the MK hymn with a verse about the Brothers proved futile.

There are only 53 Brothers left, an endangered species indeed.

Feast of St. Michael the Archangel

CONGRATULATIONS to the Maryknoll Brothers on this, the feast day of their patron saint. Highlight of the day will be a community Mass at 4:15 in the main chapel, followed by preprandials in the Third Floor rec room and beer & wine at supper.

Out-going regional, Fr. Clyde Philips will be the celebrant with Br. John Blazo and Fr. Mike Duggan doing the readings.

Officially known as the Auxiliary Brothers of St. Michael, the Maryknoll Brothers' charisms are community and hospitality, and luckily not leading the heavenly hosts in cosmic combat against the forces of evil, a.k.a Birthers, Teabaggers and other Rightwing Wingnuts of the G.O.P. But I digress.

Adding suspense is whether the fabled relic of St. Michael will once again make an appearance as in days of old when a new guy was asked to bear it in solemn procession. According to Br. Kevin Dargan, who single-handedly restored this feast's solemnity to its former glory and successfully fended off a funeral and electric maintenance to keep the celebration on track, three curmudgeons vehemently objected to bringing back the relic last year. If I can get him to name names, they will appear in a future update.