Pilgrimage of Listening Proves Lifechanging
“Lifechanging. That is the word I heard most often from University of Dayton students who were in Rome during the Synod on Synodality,” said UD Campus Minister Kelly Adamson.
Earlier this month, 11 UD students and three faculty members were among more than 120 college youth from across the U.S. who participated in Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality in Rome. They met with Roman Catholic Church leaders, attended Pope Francis’ general audience, and participated in communal prayers and a live question-and-answer session.
“The fact that UD Campus Ministry chose students from all different majors, ethnicities, and life paths to go on this pilgrimage, I think, exemplifies the idea of synodality within the Marianists. One of the main charisms of the Marianists is that everybody has an equal place at the roundtable. What could be more synodal than that,” stated Mason Hennessy, a UD theology and communication student.
Each university invited to attend was asked to bring a symbol of the school’s spirituality. UD representatives brought a model of a Marianist round table, signifying inclusion and deep listening. Inside that table were the names of UD community members they held in prayer and those praying for them. “As we encountered members of other universities, delegates, Marianists, and others in Rome, we added their signatures to our circle of prayer. Our Marianist and synodal round table continue to expand,” explained Adamson.
They also brought other Marianist symbols to accompany them on their journey, including replica dolls of Marianist Founders Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous, and Venerable Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon taking pictures with the poppets around Vatican City.
The pilgrimage proved to highlight the path the Church is taking from just listening to young adults to acting with them, realizing they are not the Church’s future but rather the “now” of the Church. It was a vital topic of the Society of Mary’s General Chapter meetings in Rome this summer, where a Letter to the Young was composed, in part stating, “We want to create a culture of encounter where we discover together who we are and where we are going.” A video based on this letter will be released soon, stay tuned!
The UD students toured where those meetings took place, visiting the Marianist Generalate while in Rome and meeting with members of the General Council. “The Marianist Generalate was full of love and hospitality. From the moment I stepped in the doors, I felt the warmth of smiles and laughter gleaming at me. Afterward, we all agreed that the same feeling of homeyness we feel at UD was identical to the one we felt eating dinner at the Generalate,” said Hennessy.
He went on to say, “My experience was one of feeling listened to. My biggest takeaway from this pilgrimage is that our Church is one of encountering and experiencing the faith in a way that cannot be taught.”
The findings from the three-year Synod on Synodality process were finalized and voted on on Oct. 26, 2024. It was the first time in history that non-bishops, including lay women and men from more than 110 countries, had voting rights on what was recommended to the Pope, which may suggest doctrinal changes. Pope Francis will ultimately decide what will come of the recommendations and how to proceed. Click here to view more pictures.
In The News
Marianist World Day of Prayer
This year, Marianist World Day of Prayer was observed on Oct. 13, 2024, and highlighted the National Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Africa, Mother of All Graces. Located in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast, this shrine is a place of prayer, spirituality, and pilgrimage – welcoming 4,000 pilgrims a week. The brothers in that community place particular emphasis on welcoming pilgrims as part of the Pastoral Care program.
During the 1970s, Lay Marianist affiliates in St. Louis, MO, began a prayerful gathering on the Sunday closest to Oct. 12, the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar. The Provincial at the time, Fr. Quentin Hakenewerth, invited the whole Province of St. Louis to join in prayer. When Fr. Quentin was elected General Assistant for Religious Life in Rome in 1981, he invited the worldwide Marianist Family to share in the annual gathering. Fr. Jose Maria Arnaiz, elected General Assistant for Religious Life in 1991, extended the annual day of prayer by identifying a specific Marian shrine each year. Click here to read more.
Ribbon Cutting Unveils Cutting-Edge Innovation Center
St. Mary’s University and its School of Science, Engineering, and Technology officially opened its new $20-million Blank Sheppard Innovation Center.
The 30,000-square-foot facility, which broke ground in the fall of 2022, will support Advanced Manufacturing research and instruction. It features laboratories, including Robotics and Smart Manufacturing, Data Science and Machine Learning, Engineering Design, and classrooms. The Center will also house labs and classrooms dedicated to the new Nursing Program, which St. Mary’s University launched this fall. The School of Science, Engineering, and Technology plans to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing
“So many partners — our St. Mary’s University family, donors, area officials and more — created the momentum to bring the vision of the Blank Sheppard Innovation Center to reality,” said St. Mary’s University President Dr. Winston Erevelles. “This incredible new facility represents one of the tenets of a Marianist education: to educate for adaptation and change.”
St. Mary’s University was also recently ranked number one in U.S. News & World Report as the Best Value in the West. The 2025 ranking also highlights the university’s excellence in social mobility and serving veterans. Click here to read more.
Catholic Bioethics
Chaminade University of Honolulu (CUH) hosted a Marianist Lecture Series featuring a presentation by a professor known for her work in the fields of bioethics, ethics, medicine, and theology.
Therese Lysaught, PhD, is a tenured professor at Loyola University Chicago, teaching in the Stritch School of Medicine’s Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Care Leadership, as well as the university’s Institute of Pastoral Studies.
Her lecture, titled “Catholic Bioethics: Catholic Social Tradition and Human Flourishing,” was held in the Mystical Rose Oratory at CUH and focused on how Catholic social tradition “can help expand how we think about the moral dimensions of illness, health, and medicine and their ethical implications.”
Click here if you’d like to listen to a recording of the lecture.
Tidings For You
Did you know that in its inaugural volume last fall, the Marian Library’s updated newsletter, Tidings, won a national public relations award?
In its newest publication, the Marian Library celebrates the 25th anniversary of one of its most popular — and largest — sculptures, introduces you to some of the new items added to its collections, reflects on a special day with Catholic educators, and provides a by-the-numbers look at the past year’s successes. Click here to read Tidings: An Annual Communiqué from the Marian Library.
Click here if you would like to sign up to receive the annual Tidings.
Also, mark your calendars for Sunday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m.! The Marian Library is co-sponsoring a musical performance by The Marian Consort in the Roger Glass Center for the Arts. The concert will be perfectly in tune with the Christmas exhibit Joy to the World!, which will feature nativities and artwork accompanied by beloved Christmas music from around the world. Visit go.udayton.edu/christmas-exhibit for updated information.
Marianist Ministries in Action
Crucifix Crusade
It’s a problem, albeit a good problem. The Marianist Retreat & Conference Center (MRCC), located in Eureka, MO, ran out of crucifixes.
MRCC offers a table of free stuff, including stickers, prayer cards, and, oh yes, crucifixes this year.
“Teens flock to our free stuff table, which is a sign that they’ve experienced some kind of spark or fire in their hearts during their retreat experience with the MORE Team,” reported MRCC Program Director Paul Masek.
Masek says he’s stopped keeping track, but just since initiating the project in early August, they’ve given away more than 150 crucifixes. Having depleted its supply, they took to social media asking for donations. “It’s been amazing; crucifixes keep arriving here almost every day, some from anonymous sources,” said Masek.
He said the endeavor means the world to him personally. He has had many powerful prayer experiences simply staring at the crucifix, knowing Jesus thought his life was worthy of dying for – a message he believes many teens need to hear. “I don’t know for sure why so few teens seem to own a crucifix, but one thing I do know for certain is that if we can get crucifixes to as many young people as possible, we are helping them to more deeply understand the great love God has for them.”
That sense of worth, great love, and sacrifice symbolized in the crucifix
is one many youth want to share.
“On a retreat, a young man took a crucifix and then sheepishly asked if he could take an additional one because he wanted to give one to his girlfriend. We think that is absolutely amazing; what a beautiful thing to do for someone you care about,” exclaimed Masek.
Click here or use the QR Code to discover ways you can help in this Crucifix Crusade.
A Marianist Moment
A Review of Our Marianist Saints
As we approach November again, the Church spends time to reflect on the men and women who have gone before us in faith. Nov. 1 recognizes the official Communion of Saints, and we are invited to see particular saints for whom we may have an affinity as role models in our lives. We are also called to remember the unofficial saints who have impacted our lives because of the holiness that they demonstrated. Nov. 2 is the day when we honor the men and women that we personally have known before they died and pray for them since they were important people in our lives. Because of my role as the promoter of the Marianist Saints, I have become more aware of these individuals, and remembering them has become a part of my prayer life.
An important resource in this endeavor has been Daniel Ellsberg’s “Blessed Among Us” short articles in the monthly Give Us This Day missalette published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN. He gives snippets of saints’ lives, official and unofficial, for us to reflect upon six days each week for the month. Examples have been Saint Luke, St. Teresa of Avila, Blessed Carlo Acutis, Amos the Prophet, Thomas Keating, and Maura O’Halloran. It has been fascinating to see how holiness has been enacted in the lives of men and women who we may have never been aware of in the world. Click here to read more.
From the Archives
Memory Lane Provides History and Health Benefits
The Marianists have 175 years of history in the United States, which means 175 years of documents, photographs, blueprints and buildings, artwork and members. Keeping track of all these items, researching them, and correctly identifying them is a monumental task. Who better to help recollect than those of an older generation?
That is why the National Archives of the Marrianist Province of the United States recruited members of the Marianist Residence Community in San Antonio to help identify some of the countless photos in its collection.
The trip down memory lane, with the brothers adding anecdotes and life stories to the pictures, also provided health benefits to the assistants.
According to Psychology Today, nostalgia is a social-cognitive-
emotional experience that can motivate us to reconnect with and enhance our appreciation of loved ones in our present. Research also shows that reminiscence therapy, or storytelling, is a form of therapy that can improve quality of life and life satisfaction and help alleviate symptoms of depression in older adults.
The Marianist Province Archives is indeed a “place of memory” where the life of the Province in the United States, within the larger body of the Society of Mary, is documented.
If you’d like to see images from the archives, visit and “like” this Facebook page.
Pray With Us
Please join us in prayer for these members of the Marianist Family.
Bro. Kevin Whelan, 83, died on Sept. 27, 2024, in Cupertino, CA, with 65 years of religious profession.
Brother Kevin was a beloved teacher, guidance counselor, vocational mentor, social worker, and driver’s education instructor who devoted his professional career to shaping young lives, and who cherished the opportunity to help people embrace a path of salvation in Christ. Brother Kevin took to heart the motto he chose upon taking first vows – “Duc in altum” (Launch out into the deep) – joyfully accepting every assignment he was offered as a Marianist, even those he found
personally challenging.
Click here to read his full obituary.
Click here to see pictures of Bro. Kevin through the years.
Good to Know
Marian Consecration
Earlier this month, six students in the current Marianist Lay Community in San Antonio, TX, made their Marian Consecration at St. Mary’s University. They were joined by a student in an earlier MLC who was not able to make her consecration with her MLC. In addition, Paul Pruski, an Aspirant, and Julie Sanchez of the Stella Maris MLC, who are helping form the group, also made their consecration. In the photo, the students are holding their signed consecration forms.
Seen in picture Back Row: Arlene Chaidez, Paul Pruski, Nick Urbina, Ulisis Rodriguez, Brianna Valadez, and Fr. John Thompson; Front row: Bro. Dan Klco, Julie Sanchez, Anne Steck, Esmeralda Lopez, and Emily Do
Silverswords Gather for Aloha ‘Āina Event
Vice President for Mission and Rector of Chaminade University of Honolulu Bro. Ed Brink proudly shared information about students, faculty, and staff gathering on Indigenous Peoples Day for a special Aloha ‘Āina Kalaepōhaku event. It celebrated the Hawaiian value of mālama ʻāina with community service projects, hands-on activities, educational workshops, and lectures.
“Our Marianist mission and values of the university really focus on community,” said University President Dr. Lynn Babington.
As part of the daylong event on campus, supported by a grant from Kamehameha Schools Kaiāulu, participants planted native flora and weeded community gardens on Chaminade’s campus. A group of students also ventured to Cromwell’s Beach to conduct invasive limu removal.
Check It Out Now – Funk Soul Students
University of Dayton (UD) students won the collegiate equivalent of an Emmy award for their documentary about Dayton’s funk music scene. Funk: The Sound of Dayton won in the non-fiction long-form category of the 2024 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Student Production Awards, Ohio Valley Chapter. The film explores the origins of funk in Dayton and its cultural impact.
“It’s about the music — the fusion of jazz and blues and rock — but the real story is about the people and the history they built around that type of style,” said Brayden Chayer, ’24, who is credited as a writer, audio editor, and production manager for the film. “It was really great to be recognized for highlighting the voices of people in the community who still live here and had such an important impact,” Chayer said. Read more on UD’s website.
Check Out More Marianist News
Via Latina from the General Administration of the Society of Mary
Sharing Our Marianist Stories podcast from North American Center for Marianist Studies
Justice Jottings from the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative
AMU Newsletter from the Association of Marianist Universities
Region Update #85 from the Marianist Region of India
FatherSide Chats is a web video series featuring Fr. Gene Contadino. Discover new episodes every Tuesday about a variety of topics. Click the graphic to view episodes. Click here to read more.
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