In this Jubilee Year of the Priest, I will be praying for all priests, but I also I plan to remember in my prayers several priests who have touched my life and family in very special ways and are no longer with us. They are:

Rev. Bernard Tonnar, S.J. — 1912-1996
Fr. Tonnnar was a close friend of our family. He baptized me, was my math professor in college, and concelebrated at our wedding. He also baptized Isabel, heard Ria’s first confession, and gave her First Holy Communion.

Rev. Michael Alchediak, S.J. — ?-1994
I met Fr. Mike while still in college. He needed a designer for some Jesuit publications and I got the job. Fr. Mike was the main celebrant at our wedding, and was charitable enough to hear our confessions — and it had been a very long time — the day before our wedding. He set us on a good course.

Rev. Kevin D. Horrigan — ?-2004
In addition to his many other duties, Fr. Horrigan served as the first Spiritual Director of the St. Louis Catholic Homeschool Association. At a 2002 mothers’ meeting, Fr. Horrigan told us, “Homeschoolers are the future of the Church and from you will come the bulk of future vocations. This is precisely because you are imparting the faith to your children – that is your vocation!”

Rev. John H. Miller, C.S.C., S.T.D. — 1925-2006
Fr. Miller hired me to redesign the Social Justice Review website. I was hired based on the recommendation of a Carmelite sister, but mainly because I was a “New Orleans girl.” That was enough for him and we were instantly connected.

Rev. John Quilligan — ?-2008
We met Fr. Quilligan in 1995 when we were moving to St. Louis from New Orleans. He was the pastor at my Dad’s church – the one my Dad had never been to. There was a reason we met. Six months later when my Dad was dying, I called on Fr. Quilligan. It was Fr. Quiliigan who brought my Dad back to the Church, and just in the knick of time. We kept in touch with Christmas cards, and this year we found out Fr. Quilligan had passed away.

Another memorable quote from Fr. Horrigan on the 2002 Feast of All Souls:
It is a privilege as well as an obligation to remember and pray for those who have gone before us, those to whom we owe so much. If our prayers are efficacious, they are freed from Purgatory, they gain heaven and will intercede for us. This is a marvelous act of charity as well as an act of reparation for our sins. Do so daily and God will reward you a hundred-fold.

With that quote in mind, I ask you to join me during this Year of Priests in remembering and praying for our deceased priests:

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, N., to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchisedech, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

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