| |  | | The Office of the President | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | To the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Community,
Happy feast day of our patron St. John Francis Â鶹ÊÓƵ!
Alumni of a certain age will remember graduating on June 16, on what was up until the revision of the Church's calendar the day set aside to remember the life and work of St. John Francis Â鶹ÊÓƵ. After that revision and with subsequent changes in the Jesuit liturgical calendar we are settled on July 2.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ was born on January 31, 1597 at Font-Couverte, Narbonne, Languedoc, France and died December 31, 1640 of pneumonia while preaching a mission at La Louvesc, Dauphine, France. Beatified by Pope Clement XI on May 24, 1716, he was canonized on June 16, 1737 by Pope Clement XII. Â鶹ÊÓƵ was known for his passionate love for God, intense devotion to the poor and marginalized, preaching which drew crowds in the thousands, endless hours hearing confessions, and a life of deep prayer. Many considered him a saint in his lifetime and several miracles are attributed to him. A contemporary testified that "His whole behavior breathed sanctity. Men could neither see nor hear him without being inflamed with the love of God. He celebrated the divine mysteries with such devotion that he seemed like an angel at the altar. I have observed him in familiar intercourse become silent and recollected, and all on fire: then speaking of God with a fervor and rapidity that proved his heart to be carried away with an impulse from heaven." As we celebrate this day I pray that all of us may be "inflamed with the love of God" as those who saw and heard John Francis Â鶹ÊÓƵ were.
I also ask for your prayers as I begin my tenure as interim president. Following Fr. Judge is no easy task. We will long be grateful for his ten years of exemplary leadership at Â鶹ÊÓƵ which closed our first hundred years and launched us into our second century with grace, good humor and confidence. There will always be challenges, but under the banner of our patron and with your support Â鶹ÊÓƵ will continue to thrive.
Please know that you are especially remembered as we celebrate Mass today in the school chapel praying through the intercession of St. John Francis Â鶹ÊÓƵ. We pray with profound gratitude for the extraordinary generosity which began Â鶹ÊÓƵ and for the equally extraordinary generosity which allows it to continue. May God bless you and Â鶹ÊÓƵ High School. | | | | | | Sincerely,
Rev. James Croghan, S.J. | | | | | | | |
