Ding Dong Merrily… on high?
Donated by a metal yard when we were searching for a bell for the chapel, the too large Immaculate Heart of Mary Bell has sat silent but not forgotten in
St. Don Bosco Workshop for many years. It wasn’t that it was unwanted…but since the over 3,000 pound, solid bronze bell could never fit in the small cupola above the chapel, and for lack of any other place to put it, it has kept its silence.
But in the Fall of 2005, a cement base was poured on which to mount the bell on the convent grounds along the road to the cemetery. Meanwhile, other preparations were being made by IHM alumnus, Luke Austin, who put his woodworking skills to the test making an 8’ mahogany wheel, and Mr. John Vasil who refinished the metal mounts for the bell.
On December 17, with everything in place, the bell was lifted by a crane, thanks to Matthew Conboy, and lowered into the mounts. Brother Thomas Augustine and Luke Austin were there to help secure the bell and bolt everything into place. It rang for the first time in years that afternoon. And on Christmas morning, Brother Thomas Augustine tolled the angelus from the hilltop near St. Elizabeths Convent, and its lovely sound was heard echoing through the valley of Still River.
May They Rest in Peace…
Virginia Gillin
Virginia Gillin, Third Order member, died on November 17 2005. Virginia, who was a widow, married Robert Gillin, a widower. Her wedding package included his four daughters who at the time of their marriage ranged from seven to twelve years of age. It wasn’t an easy job for her to mother four young girls who had been motherless for almost four years. She did a wonderful job, nevertheless, and won the love and affection of her new family.
When the Gillin family moved from Chicago in 1975, the girls attended school at Saint Benedict Center. The fullness of the Catholic Faith so lovingly and simply taught at the Center, converted Virginia from Lutheranism and she was received into the Church by Father Thomas Feeney, Father Leonard Feeney’s brother. After that, the oldest daughter, Sister Mary Elizabeth, entered as a Slave of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Saint Benedict Center in 1976. Virginia was very faithful in her attendance at Mass, lectures, and all functions at the Center. She was devoted, gentle, and always giving.
Virginia will be greatly missed by her family and all who knew her. Please pray for the repose of her soul.
“Pop” Lombardi
Religious and friends of Saint Benedict Center mourned the recent loss of Anthony J. Lombardi, Sr. who died on February 6, 2006, at the age of 88. Anthony, the father of Brother Matthew, MICM, was a founding member of the Third Order of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a daily communicant at the chapel.
Anthony lived and worked most of his life in New York and New Jersey, until he and his wife Rita moved in 1982, to Massachusetts to be near Saint Benedict Center when he retired. Mr. Lombardi always cherished his long friendship with Father Leonard Feeney, Founder of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. While reminiscing he liked to tell how Father Feeney would call him on the telephone every June 13 to wish him a “happy St. Anthony’s day.” Mr. Lombardi was an avid reader of religious books and could relate beautiful details about the lives of the saints. He collected a substantial catholic library which he donated to the Center.
Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel was filled with relatives and friends for his Requiem Mass on February 10. Often described as “a real gentleman,” Anthony’s kind and cheerful presence will be sorely missed at the Center.