REV. ANTHONY CORIGLIANO, CSS IS BACK AT OUR FATHER’S HOME

Fr. Anthony Mary Corigliano, CSS

The Reverend Anthony Mary Corigliano, C.S.S. (92)  died peacefully in his sleep on November 16, 2021, in Springfield, Massachusetts in his seventy-first year of Stigmatine religious life. He was the son of the late Giuseppe and Maria Grazia (nee Blasi) Corigliano.

Though born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 29, 1929, Father Anthony’s family relocated to Springfield, MA, where he attended Springfield public schools and then Cathedral High School. Feeling God’s call to dedicate his life in service to the Church he became a professed member of the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers on June 13, 1950. Then after completing his theological studies in Rome (Italy) he was ordained a priest there on May 8, 1955.

Father Anthony was blessed with an insightful mind and an understanding heart.

He shared these gifts throughout sixty-six years of priesthood in a range of ministries. He served as parochial vicar in three parishes during his first nine years as a priest (Sacred Heart of Jesus – Milford, MA; St. Ann – West Springfield, MA; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – White Plains, NY.) He was then tasked to help prepare candidates for the Stigmatine religious life and priesthood 1964-1970. (From this experience he would twice go to South Africa to facilitate international Stigmatine formation conferences in 1987 & 1993.)

It was during this period that he obtained a Master’s degree in psychology that would lead him into pastoral counseling. This was the ministry he most enjoyed and through which he had such a positive impact on the lives of those who sought his guidance. He exercised this ministry full time as a staff member at the Espousal Retreat House (Waltham, MA) and while in residence at Mt. Carmel Church (White Plains, NY.) from 1970 to 1980 and then again 1985 to 1988. Well into his 80’s, his gentle and compassionate personality would draw him to this ministry on a part-time basis no matter his other duties and responsibilities. He also found great joy and fulfillment, and developed enduring friendships, through his involvement with Worldwide Marriage Encounter.

Fr. Anthony Mary Corigliano, CSS

The Stigmatine community turned to Father Anthony to serve in various capacities, as a Provincial Councillor, as Provincial Superior (1980-1985), and as Province Treasurer (1988-2015.) Father Anthony’s calm, steady personality and good judgment were qualities his confreres relied upon to bring clarity to any situation. From 2001 until his death he was in residence at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, assisting as needed in several ministries for the parish and the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers. 

Father Anthony was always hard-working which he believed was his way to respond to God’s many blessings. He could not help but try to thank God by being as generous as possible with his time and ability. Many experienced Father Anthony as a kind and quiet person, which he certainly was. Those who knew him well also encountered a man of deep spirituality, dedication to serving the Lord as much as he could for as long as he could, and a generosity of spirit that allowed him to be available for ministry and service in whatever way the Spirit led.

Father Anthony was predeceased by his brothers Carmelo and Joseph Corigliano, as well as his sisters Mary (Corigliano) Hervieux and Grace (Corigliano) Irla. To cherish his memory are Father Anthony’s Stigmatine confreres and his nieces and nephews.

All are welcome to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 123 William Street, Springfield, MA on Monday, November 22, 2021, where Father Corigliano will lie in state from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. and to his funeral Mass which follows at 6:30 p.m.

Interment will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, in the Stigmatine plot at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cemetery, 110 Medway Road (Rte. 109), Milford, MA.

THE FIRST SOLEMN MASS OF THE JUST ORDAINED FR. ANTONIO LOPEZ, CSS

Fr. Antonio Lopez, CSS, ordained a Stigmatine Priest on June 2, 2021, presided his first solemn Mass on June 6, 2021, at Parrocchia Santa Croce (Holy Cross Parish), in Milano, Italy.

Source: YouTube:

Prima Messa p. Antonio Lopez 6 Giugno 10:30 – Parrocchia Santa Croce – Milano, Italia

(The First Mass of Fr. Antonio Lopez) – June 6, 2021 – 4:30 a.m. EDT – Holy Cross Parish – Milan, Italy)

PRIESTLY ORDINATION OF DEACON ANTONIO LOPEZ, CSS

On June 2, 2021, by the imposition of the hands of the Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, CSS, the American Antonio Lopez was ordained a Stigmatine Priest at San Fermo Maggiore Church, in Verona.

The Stigmatine Congregation, his friends, and the Stigmatine Laity congratulate him and thank God for this wonderful gift!

“San Fermo Maggiore is a beautiful church in Verona, which still bears the scent of the passage of St. Gaspar Bertoni, the founder of the Stigmatines, and where the pulpit is indicated where he preached the popular mission with so much fruit in 1816. I prayed to be a good priest, happy, full of that joy I saw on the face of the first two Stigmatines I met in California, to whom my admiration and thanks go.
The path to the priesthood is like a path of falling in love that makes you feel a feeling of joy and fullness in wonderful growth. This is the message I would like to send to young people who are undecided in their choice of life”, stated the just ordained Fr. Antonio Lopez.

A few photos more:

Source: Il Missionario, July-August edition, pp. 24-26.

REV. JOSEPH HENCHEY, CSS IS BACK AT OUR FATHER’S HOME

Rev. Joseph Henchey, CSS

Rev. Joseph Charles Henchey, CSS, STD was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA, not far from Boston, on June 2, 1930.  He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata on January 6, 1946, and was ordained a Stigmatine Priest in Rome, Italy, on July 1, 1956.

Father Henchey received a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum, in Rome, in 1973.  He served in Rome teaching at the Pontifical University for over 20 years, and also as General Councilor of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata [1970-1976 and 1988-1990].

In 1996, the North American Episcopal Conference appointed Father Henchey to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, as an Assistant Spiritual Director.  Father Henchey held this position until 2002, when he was then appointed to the same position at Blessed Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, MA, for second career men, desiring to spend their last years as priests.

In the fall of 2006, he was appointed to Mundelein Seminary, nearby Chicago, IL, as the occupant of the Paluch Chair of Theology.  He held this position until 2009, when he was appointed as Professor of Theology and a Formation Director to the St. Joseph Seminary [Dunwoodie] in Yonkers, NY, a position that he held until March 2014.  He also served as a weekend presider at the Stigmatine Parish Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in White Plains, NY, from 2009 to 2012.

In the fall of 2015, Father Henchey returned to Mundelein Seminary, as Adjunct Spiritual Director, where he retired in 2019.

He also traveled widely giving retreats, courses, and lectures to priests, religious and the laity.

For all of his Stigmatine life, Father Henchey was a student of St. Gaspar Bertoni, the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata, and, in his honor,  in 2003 he created this website [www.st-bertoni.com].

Fr. Henchey was called back to our Father’s home on April 7, 2021, at age 90, leaving us his legacy of a huge collection of his writings and works, that will remain forever.

REV. GEOFFREY DEEKER, CSS IS BACK AT OUR FATHER’S HOME

Rev. Geoffrey Deeker, CSS [1933 – +2020]

Stigmatine

Birth: June 26, 1933

Profession: June 22, 1954

Ordination: June 4, 1960

Death: November 2, 2020

The Reverend Geoffrey John Deeker, C.S.S., in residence at Saint Joseph Church (Pittsfield, MA) was born to eternal life on Monday, November 2, 2020, in Dalton, Massachusetts. He was 86 years old, a member of the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers for 66 years, and in his 61st year of priesthood.

Father Geoff was born on June 26, 1933 in Somerville, Massachusetts, the only child to the late Geoffrey A. and Margaret M. (Coughlan) Deeker. After attending Boston College High School he began his journey to the priesthood on September 14, 1948 when he entered the Stigmatine community in Waltham, MA., and professed his first vows on June 22, 1954. His perpetual profession came five years later on June 22, 1959. After completing his theological studies at Catholic University (Washington, D.C.), he was ordained on June 4, 1960 at Saint Peter’s Church in Cambridge by Bishop Thomas Riley. From that day onward he ministered to the People of God with faith, integrity and perseverance.

A devoted member of the Stigmatine community, Father Geoff had an affable personality, quietly sensitive to the people whom he served. He ministered in several communities, always with humility and grace. He served as Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish (Pittsfield, MA,) Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish (Springfield, MA) and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish (Waltham, MA.) Father Geoff also generously made himself available to assist with Stigmatine community needs in developing vocations and organizing the liturgy for special occasions. He often volunteered to act as recording secretary for many Stigmatine Provincial Chapters and assemblies, a tedious yet necessary function.

Until its closure in 2008, Father Deeker was the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he had served for twenty one years. He remained in the Berkshires, however, residing at Saint Joseph’s Church, assisting several local parishes with pastoral ministry, until declining health prevented him from doing what he most loved and enjoyed and had been his vocation for more than sixty years.

Father Geoff will always be remembered for his kindness and gentle nature, and of course, for the enthusiasm he had for whatever he was involved in at the moment. As a young priest he was an avid and stylish bowler and for a while was a devoted scout chaplain. After a stint as chaplain to the Civil Air Patrol, he fell in love with all things aeronautical. But the most enduring memory of Father Geoff was his abiding and lively interest in the liturgical life of the Church. He understood and cherished every aspect of Catholic liturgy and ritual. The liturgy, for Father Geoff, was not simply an historical experience. Father Geoff saw the liturgy as a beautiful and vibrant way to bring a person into the presence of God. He was convinced this was relevant in every age and for every person of any age.

In addition to his parents, Father Deeker is reunited in Heaven with his Stigmatine confreres who preceded him and many friends and parishioners he loved and served as a priest.

Father Deeker’s Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, November 9, 2020, in Saint Joseph’s Church, 414 North Street, Pittsfield, MA, at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will be available in the church on Sunday, November 8, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and Monday, November 9 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Committal will take place Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Sacred Heart Cemetery, 109 Medway Road, Milford, Massachusetts.

Requiescat in Pace!

Rev. Robert White, CSS

Superior Provincial

DIACONAL ORDINATION OF BRO. ANTONIO LOPEZ, CSS

Brother Antonio Lopez, CSS, along with six others, was ordained a transitional deacon on Friday, June 8, 2019, by Cardinal Seán O’Malley, in a ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in Boston, MA.

The newly ordained [left to right]: Deacons Erick Gonzalez, Daniel Zinger, Matthew Norwood, Antonio B. Lopez, Joseph Hubbard, Paul Kallal, and Fernando J. Vivas are pictured with Cardinal O’Malley following the Mass. Pilot photo/ Gregory L. Tracy

In his homily, Cardinal O’Malley talked about the concept of servanthood and its importance in the role of the deacon. He pointed to the description in the liturgy’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, in which the apostles selected seven men “of good repute, filled with the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith” to be the first deacons.

He said the seven being ordained that day were joining the line of the original seven deacons ordained by the apostles.

“The diaconate is an extraordinary expression of Christ’s servanthood. Its origins are in apostolic times, and the first duties of the deacons were to wait on tables, to care for widows, orphans, and the sick. Theirs was a humble task-directed first at the basic physical needs of the people, but very soon we see the role of the deacon expanded to preaching and baptizing, caring for people’s spiritual as well as their physical needs,” Cardinal O’Malley said.

He said that they must do their work “out of love for Jesus and love for his people.”

“If we love Jesus, we will love the Church and the people that he died for,” Cardinal O’Malley said.

After the homily, the candidates for the diaconate each promised respect and obedience to their bishop and, in the case of the men being ordained for religious communities, to their superiors. To show humility and submission to God, the men lay prostrate before the altar while the assembly sang the Litany of Saints.

Each ordinand received a stole and dalmatic, the vestments that signify the office of the diaconate and the deacon’s role in celebrating the Eucharist. They also received the Book of the Gospels, with the instruction to “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”

Source:

The Pilot, American oldest Catholic newspaper, on Friday 14th of June 2019, Boston, MA. By Jacqueline Tetrault, Pilot Staff. Local.

http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=185265

THE JUST-ELECTED GOVERNMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF THE HOLY CROSS IN BRAZIL

Seated [L-R]: Fr. Jordélio Siles Ledo [Superior Provincial] and Fr. Gilberto Dias Nunes, Provincial Vicar. Standing [L-R]: Fr. Valmir Cassim da Silva [2nd Councillor], Fr. J. Tadeu A. Lima [4th Councillor] and Fr. Elízio Pereira da Anunciação Filho [3rd Councillor].

Pleading to God to pour forth upon us all the blessings necessary for the good accomplishment of the mission of the new Council, we address all a fraternal greeting.

Fr. José Tadeu Aguiar Lima, CSS
Secretary of the Provincial Chapter
Corumbataí, SP, May 18, 2018.