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Family and followers hope to canonize Springfield priest |
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Passionist Brother. Terrence Scanlon, CP assists Bishop Timothy McDonnell in the blessing of the memorial to Father Theodore Foley at Sacred Heart Church in Springfield.
Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs
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By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
SPRINGFIELD The late Father Theodore Foley's cousin Maureen Hanigan remembered him as someone who made strangers immediately comfortable. His former secretary, Father Dominic Papa CP, described him as a very kind and patient man.
The Springfield native may eventually have another description: saint.
Bishop Timothy McDonnell of the Springfield Diocese blessed a memorial area to Foley at the Sacred Heart Church - Foley's parish as a boy - on Tuesday as part of the local effort to see Foley canonized.
Foley was a member of the Passionists order and was serving as the Superior General of the Passionists at the Vatican when he died in 1974. In January 2007, the Vatican accepted the order's request to consider Foley's cause as a possible saint.
Foley is the first person from Western Massachusetts to have been honored in this way.
Papa said that Foley "lived a very holy life, a very prayful life." Vatican authorities confirmed Foley's piety by examining his writings, Papa explained.
"Now," Papa said, "we wait for a miracle."
One confirmed miracle must be attributed to Foley in order so he could be beatified, while another must happen in order to be canonized, Papa said. The miracles are most often a medical occurrence that can be scientifically confirmed.
The memorial area dedicated to Foley has cards with a special prayer that asks God to fulfill a request with Foley's intercession.
Foley, the son of Irish immigrants, was born in Springfield in 1913 and lived on Brookline Avenue in the North End. He attended Sacred Heart Church and the Sacred Heart Schools. He was attending Cathedral High School when, at the age of 14, he decided to enter the Passionists.
He wrote in an autobiographical sketch, "The strongest influences leading to my choice of the Passionists were the 'The Life of St. Gabriel,' read when I was about 14 years-old and the opening of a Passionist monastery in my native city. I was attracted to the priesthood prior to this."
After ordination, Foley served as a teacher in the community, a spiritual director and local superior. In 1958, he was elected general consultor of the worldwide Passionist community with headquarters in Rome. In 1964, he was elected superior general of the Passionists, a position he had until his death. It was the quality of his leadership of the order that led to the consideration for sainthood.
Foley was buried in West Springfield at the Passionist monastery but was re-interred in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Springfield when the property was sold.
Hanigan said her reaction as well as other family members to the news was "awesome, of course."
"It was something we always knew, [that] he was a very special person," she said.
She said that Foley's security in his faith allowed him to love simple everyday activities.
"He loved baseball. He loved a good meal," she recalled with a smile.
When he visited the area, he would often come to Hanigan's father's house in Sturbridge and go fishing.
Also noting his sense of humor, she said, "Nothing says a saint can't be joyful."
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