Sister Frances B (Bernard) O’Connor, C.S.C. (1929—Living)

The fourth of ten children, Sister Frances was born in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from high school in 1947 and was drawn toward the Sisters of the Holy Cross because of their ministries in the foreign missions. Shortly after making final vows, she went to Bangladesh to begin a twenty-year ministry in teaching and serving as superior for five years. During the General Chapter of 1973 she was elected to the General Council, and in 1984 she was elected Superior General. As Superior General she considered one of her primary responsibilities to ensure, support and embody the charism of Holy Cross in all of the Community’s sponsored institutions. She was well aware that she was serving Holy Cross sisters in a time of transition and change. Her prophetic vision of the changes she foresaw in religious life and the consequences appear in many of her writings and addresses. She acknowledges the consistent movement of the Spirit toward renewal in the Church and that the Congregation advance the critical choice of renewal. In 1989 she accepted a position as Guest Scholar at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame where she began an international research study asking Catholic women their opinions of their place in the Catholic Church. This work has taken her to three continents interviewing women as well as theologians. She has raised the consciousness of women regarding their own oppression in both the Church and society. From 1994-2010 she was a Hesburgh Scholar giving lectures at Notre Dame alumni clubs throughout the country. She continues to teach a seminar at Holy Cross College in South Bend, Indiana for retired adults. Throughout her 70 plus years as a Sister of the Holy Cross, Frances has been a citizen of the international community, engaged in writings and presentations based upon the charism and teachings of Jesus. She is the author of several books, and she is the recipient of many awards including the Women’s Ordination Conference Award for Prophetic Figures in 1993, the YWCA President’s Award for significant contributions to the advancement of women in 1991, the Saint Mary’s College Alumnae Achievement Award in 1992 and in 2000 the Sagamore of Wabash Award for her inspired leadership. In 2005 she was invited to give a major presentation on Religion, Education and the Role of Government in the Oxford Round Table, Oxford University which was published by Oxford University Press.

Father Gerardo Whelan, C.S.C. (1927-2003)

Gerry Wheladn CSC.jpeg He distinguished himself as an educator in Chile between 1955-2003. During this time he worked as director of discipline, teacher and principal of Saint George School in Santiago. He designed an educational experiment that became widely known. Born in Detroit, Michigan he was the oldest of four brothers whom he had to take care of when both parents died in their 50s. He completed high school at Catholic Central in Detroit, graduating in June 1946. He studied at the University of Notre Dame where he entered Holy Cross and was ordained in 1955. That same year he arrived in Chile and was assigned as director of discipline at Saint George School. In 1967 he obtained a master’s degree in education from the University of Chicago and returned to Chile in August 1969 where he became principal of Saint George until September of 1973 when the military junta led by the dictator Augusto Pinochet overthrew the socialist government of President Salvador Allende establishing a military dictatorship in Chile. The Congregation of Holy Cross was forced to leave St. Geroge. Whelan then worked at the Center for Research and Development of Education until 1990 and, at the same time, was pastor of San Roque parish in Peñalolén . In 1992 he was able to return to Saint George where he served as a teacher of theology and director of studies until 2003 when he died of cancer. Between 1992-2003 he received the Order of Merit for Teaching and was nominated for a national education award. A year after his death, the Gerardo Whelan Development Center located in Peñalolén was born. His educational experiment was designed to be more flexible than the one imposed by the Ministry of Education of Chile. It was based on the truth that students are human beings, Christians and Chileans, who needed to develop as fully integrated persons and so to be later fully integrated into the national and international political reality. According to Whelan the students must feel restless and dissatisfied with the progress of the system which would be a true sign of progress. If people were not happy with what they were doing, it was motivated by a spirit of self-improvement. Whelan was memorialized in the film Machuca by director Andrés Wood. It details the turbulent history of social changes in several Chilean Catholic schools in the early 1970s. The film tells the story of Gonzalo Infante and Pedro Machuca, two 11-year-old children living in Santiago in 1973 in totally different realities. While Gonzalo lives in an upper class neighborhood, Machuca lives among an “illegal population.” They are separated by a line that Father McEnroe, director of the school based on Father Gerardo, wants to tear down so the school can accept poor children. Machuca is based on the ex-student Amante Eledín Parraguez who became an university professor and poet. (Information taken from “The Crusade of the True Machuca”, a testimony of Amante Eledín Parraguez in an article originally published in the blog section of El Mercurio and reproduced on the portal Luis Emilio Recabarren, 04.20.2011; accessed 19/02/2019; and Hidalgo, Patricio. Act of Faith. Testimonies of the life of Gerardo Whelan in Chile, Santiago, 2010)

Bro. Flavian Laplante C.S.C. (1907-1981)

6a176-BrotherFlavianLaplanteCSC Servant of God Br. Flavian Laplante, C.S.C. was born on July 27, 1907 in Quebec, Canada. After meeting the Holy Cross brothers at school, he entered the Congregation at the age of 16. After working several years in Notre Dame College in Quebec as a teacher and dorm supervisor, Flavian was assigned to the Congregation’s mission in East Bengal in 1932 and arrived in Chittagong in East Bengal on December 1. He remained in Chittagong and in 1943-44 when a severe famine hit the land he helped tend to the hungry and sick. Following the end of World War II, Flavian worked out a program so that many fishermen could receive new boats because theirs had been commandeered during the war. He led them in resistance against pirates and participated in rescue missions. Flavian’s main plan, however, was to organize the fisherman into cooperatives in which they could help each other. At the same time, Flavian began constructing an orphanage at Diang. He dedicated the rest of his life to ministering in Diang and among the fishermen of the nearby region. He renamed the settlement there Miriam Ashram or the “Marian Hermitage”. On December 24, 1976 Flavian retired to the life of a hermit in his personal ashram 1,500 feet from the brothers’ residence in Diang. On October 1, 1978, he had a statue of Our Lady installed on the property, and the following year, on February 11, he organized a day of prayer and feast in honor of Mary. Over 800 pilgrims came that day, and this celebration continues as a major pilgrimage in Bangladesh to this day. After completing 49 years of service to the poor in Bangladesh, he died there on June 19, 1981. Flavian was declared a Servant of God on February 13, 2009.

February 23, 2019

In the Voice of Moreau: We use the word “crucial” to describe the most important part of a story or a lesson or an explanation, but do we realize that this word literally means “like the Cross.” In the same way that “crucial” things are the point, we can say that the Cross is the ultimate point of life – a horizontal and a vertical beam, symbolically encapsulating all of reality, converging in a single point where our Lord’s Sacred Heart pumps blood for the life of the world. Beyond the historical crucifixion of Jesus, the Cross continues to be the point in a mystical form that we catch glimpses of during peak spiritual and emotional moments in our lives. See how people from all sorts of religious traditions and cultural backgrounds are naturally attracted to the Cross. They marvel at it, wondering what it could mean, but at the same time their gaze and attention reveal the correspondence of this “crucial” symbol with something deep in their souls. The Cross is the point of it all, and our hearts will be restless until they are joined with our Lord’s. Let us therefore meet him at this “crucial” juncture and find peace. Ave Crux, Spes Unica!

Holy Cross Educator’s Response: The most essential time, the crux, the crucial moment of each class period for CSC educators is placing Christ crucified somewhere within the minutes of instruction. It takes conscientious commitment to think Ave Crux Spes Unica as each class is designed. For veteran educators as well as newbies, this methodology needs to be preceded by a time of prayerful reflection. What is the focal point of this lesson on poetic scansion or chemical reaction or discussion of an economic theory? When is the opportune time to suggest to students that their educational life is made up of more than well placed semicolons, memorized algorithms and theorems, the correct declension of verbs, or the accurate identification of cells? Among the countless factoids that might guarantee success in living a civil citizenship, where does the CSC educator create the peak spiritual moment and how? Starting each class with a prayer that invokes Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom, is a great beginning. Christ Redeemer, grant us eyes of insight and a courageous heart to bring together our human struggle tempered by your desire to love us unconditionally. Amen. The class is now focused to work with the reality of reading and writing or math and science or historical investigation and so forth. The teacher’s role is to inform minds and to frequently refocus students upon the crucial truth. Christ crucified is the only way to heaven because all reality is crucified with Him. Embrace the Cross and be loved into eternal life. Ave Crux Spes Unica!

Sister Stella Maris Kunihira, CSC (1957-2017)

i am uganda “I am Kunihira” which means a woman of hope. Sister Stella Maris was born at Katumba village near Fort Portal, Uganda. She was the first born with three siblings to follow. She was so proud of her father, Modesto Katalebabo, who was the head catechist in Virika Parish. Teaching was always sister’s love. After completing primary school at Kinyamasika Primary School in 1979, she joined the first level of teacher education at Kinyamasika Teacher Training College completing Grade III level in 1987. As she was teaching at Kinyamasika Primary School, she took the big step to join the Sisters of the Holy Cross in September 1988. She also studied as a private candidate for secondary education with the assistance of her dear friend Sister Leonella, CSC, and Brother Jim Nichols, CSC. She often talked too about her prison ministry at Katojo Prison outside Fort Portal and how she and Sister Elizabeth Tusiime would assist the women prisoners who lived in very poor conditions. After professing her first vows in September 1992, she continued her many years of education ministry. While she was teacher/headmistress at St. Andrew’s Primary School, she was also able to receive her Grade V diploma from Kaliro Teacher Training College. Even though the living conditions were very challenging, Stella persevered. In 2003, Sister Stella Maris was privileged to receive a scholarship to Saint Mary’s College in the United States. She first attended Holy Cross College for two years and then graduated in 2008 from Saint Mary’s College with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. After returning to Uganda, she served as headmistress at Moreau Primary School in Kirinda, Kyenjojo District for one year. She had the desire to work with older students which brought her back to Jinja where she served at Holy Cross Lake View school as librarian and English teacher. When she left Lake View, Brother Ben Mugisa, CSC, invited her to assist him in coordinating the Holy Cross schools in Jinja. She was filled with joy in being able to share her teaching experience and love with Holy Cross teachers. Besides teaching, Sister Stella Maris had other congregational responsibilities, such as vocation director, director of the temporary professed sisters and Area of Africa councilor/secretary. Sister Brenda Cousins, General Leadership Councilor, said about Sister Stella Maris that she was “a person who gave steady, humble service to God’s people and said, ‘yes’ to whatever God called her to in the Congregation.” (Information taken from a eulogy by Sister Mary Lou Wahler, CSC)

Archbishop Theotonius A. Ganguly C.S.C. (1920-1977)

Theotonius was born in Hashnabad, which is in present-day Bangladesh, on Feb. 18, 1920. After being educated by the Brothers of Holy Cross at Holy Cross High School in Bandura, Theotonius attended St. Albert’s Seminary in Ranchi, Bihard, India. He was ordained a diocesan priest in the Dhaka Archdiocese on June 6, 1946. In 1947, Father Ganguly went to the University of Notre Dame to earn a master’s degree and doctorate. He graduated with his Doctorate in Philosophy in 1951, making him the first Bengali Christian to receive a doctorate. He decided to enter Holy Cross and professed First Vows on August 16, 1952. Upon returning to Bangladesh, Ganguly began teaching at Notre Dame College. He was made the school’s Dean of Studies in 1954 and Assistant Principal in 1958. On March 21, 1960, Ganguly was appointed Principal. On September 3 of the same year, Pope Saint John XXIII nominated Fr. Ganguly as Auxiliary Bishop to Archbishop Lawrence L. Graner, C.S.C. in the Archdiocese of Dhaka. He was ordained a bishop on October 7, 1960, becoming the first Bengali bishop. On July 6, 1965, he was appointed Graner’s co-adjutor, and when the archbishop retired November 23, 1967, Ganguly became the Archbishop of Dhaka. Ganguly was known for the way he respected the dignity of every person. He had a truly religious spirit and a gentlemanly character. His gentle, yet strong persona helped him shepherd the Archdiocese through the trying time of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. A heart attack caused his sudden death on Sept. 2, 1977. Archbishop Ganguly’s Cause for Sainthood was opened by the Archdiocese of Dhaka in September 2006, thereby declaring Ganguly a Servant of God. (Congregation of Holy Cross 2019)

Brother Columba (John), O’Neill C.S.C. (1847-1922)

John O’Neill entered the Novitiate, July 9, 1874. After his novitiate he was assigned to the college shoe shop, though he had offered himself for the Bengal Missions or Molokai. Over the nearly 50 years of his life as Brother Columba, he received much acclaim through his devotion to the Sacred Heart and was known by many as the “Divine Healer” and as the “Miracle Man of Notre Dame”. He distributed Sacred Heart badges throughout the Midwest and never claimed any credit for cures which may have occurred. Upon his death in 1922, thousands recalled the humble devotedness of the shoe maker Brother Columba O’Neill.

February 16, 2019

In the Voice of Moreau: You have heard it said that zeal is the burning flame of desire to make God known, loved and served. I tell you that the Cross is that burning flame of desire. In a moment of sheer grace, the Cross descends into our souls from on high. It is the glorious and mystical theophany that Moses encountered while tending his flock, “Oh how you burn, but are not consumed!” (Ex 3:2). As disciples of Jesus, we too are called to interiorize the burning bush, the tree of life, the resurrectional Cross of Christ, into our hearts and minds. See how Moses, now beaming with desire for God’s will, traded his safe and peaceful lifestyle in the countryside for a showdown with the pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world. When we have given our consent to this raging fire, our souls become animated by powerful waves of zeal and the world around us is set ablaze with divine love. Our Lord exhorts us: Do not be afraid! Indeed, let us take up his Cross and make the one true God known, loved and served by the dazzling and glorious light of our spiritual conversions. Ave Crux, Spes Unica!

Holy Cross Educator’s Response: “True zeal must be fostered and constantly refined in humble, faithful imitation of Christ crucified, seeking to second the design of divine providence, and striving for greater union in the Body of Christ” (Grove and Gawrych. Basil Moreau: Essential Writings, 2014: 53). For CSC educators it is the virtue of zeal that powers the ardent desire to impart the knowledge of salvation to students. This desire drives the design of every component of the school’s curriculum and each class syllabus. Blessed Moreau emphasizes that “Teachers animated by such a spirit [by zeal] do not simply follow what is generally accepted in the profession but have a thousand little ways to encourage progress in even the weakest and least-talented students and challenge all students to their highest performance” (Christian Education). For many years Moreau scholars have stressed that the founder was an insightful and progressive early 19th century educational thinker. If the above quote is read in the light of current educational thinking, Moreau is promoting differentiated instruction. This mode of instruction has been gaining more and more devotees since the early 1950s. Zealous teachers embrace it because of the skills-diversity that exists within a classroom of 25 students. Educators who either deny or cannot see that such a learning community exists within the individual classroom, do this to the detriment of their students and their families. Parents who pay tuition and taxes for a Catholic education that guarantees differentiated instruction are not receiving the services paid for if educators are not zealous. Blessed Moreau clearly and in strong terms asserts what can happen in a school when teachers do not possess the insight nor the courage to zealously address skills-diversity. “Without this virtue of zeal among teachers in a school, everything changes. Everything falls apart. There is ignorance, disorder, bad conduct, and the true corruption of young people—these are what families experience through faint-heartedness and indifference of teachers without zeal. They [teachers] are put in the midst of young people and cause the ruin of a great number of them. Thus, the virtue of zeal is necessary for a Christian teacher” (Christian Education). Ave Crux Spes Unica!

February 9, 2019

In the Voice of Moreau: Anyone who has ever lived knows the dangers of a codependent relationship. As human beings we find such consolation and comfort in the presence of the other – a boyfriend or girlfriend, a best friend, a spouse, a religious superior, a parent, a boss – but how easy it is to become emotionally and spiritually lost in that person at the expense of our first and truest identity as children of God. The moment we choose to lean on the other is the moment that, albeit inadvertently, we reject the Lord. Look therefore to the Cross. Notice how our Mother and the Beloved Disciple stand specifically at the foot of the crucified Christ as the icon of authentic human relationships. Yes they are together, and yes they have become partners, but only because the Cross serves as the principle of their shared life! They offer themselves together with Jesus to our Father who art in heaven. Let us therefore put an end to these fear-based, codependent behaviors and tendencies that society has normalized. Let us instead cultivate relationships that actually endure the test of time. Let us finally meet our beloved at the foot of the Beloved. Ave Crux Spes Unica!

Holy Cross Educator’s Response: Blessed Moreau is very clear about detailing the pitfalls when teachers build codependent relationships with students. “Relationships with young people are always difficult. Sometimes those who deal with young people attach themselves too closely to the young and end up giving themselves over strictly to human affections. Finding among their students young people who are frank and open, who are moving towards accomplishing good things, who respond well to the care they are providing, some teachers forget the place of God in the relationship between teacher and student. Learning this often surprises teachers, since it is easily hidden by enthusiasm, kindness, and even duty. Teachers who experience close relationships with their students become totally occupied with them: every place they go the students come to mind; no matter what they do, they think of the students. Teachers like these often enter into unhealthy relationships of all kinds with their students, often without realizing what is happening. Christian educators really need a call from God in order to deal with what they face in working with young people” (Christian Education). CSC educators need to pray for and cultivate the virtue of vigilance. Moreau writes that “[v]igilant teachers forget nothing of what they ought to do and do not become distracted from what they ought to be thinking about, seeing, hearing, or doing. Let your watchfulness and attention be calm, without over-concern, without agitation or trouble, without greater constraint or affectation. But also avoid the opposite, which involves carelessness, distraction, unwillingness to act, and tardiness….” (Christian Education). Ave Crux Spes Unica!

February 2, 2019

In the Voice of Moreau: “Stay in your lane!” is a phrase that has been gaining popularity over the past few weeks and months. It is something that one person says to another who is trying to pry into their affairs or meddle in their business. While you and I might feel offended if a close friend or a spouse spoke these words to us, they would take on a deep spiritual meaning if we imagined them sounding forth from the lips of our Lord, beckoning us from his most holy Cross. The world, the flesh and the evil one looking for ways to lead us off track and the Christ sternly warning us to say “No!” – this is the drama that is constantly unfolding in our souls whether we know it or not! How easy it is to get confused in a culture that has become a web of social media posts, political ideologies and violent confrontations. How quick the senses are to be drawn to the shiny bait that is being set before us on a daily basis. May our hearts never, ever veer from the voice of the Lord. Let us have the courage to stay in the one and only lane which leads to Life. Ave Crux Spes Unica!

Holy Cross Educator’s Response: With a sense of urgency, Blessed Moreau encourages his educators: “Hurry then; take up this work of resurrection, never forgetting that the special end of [education] is before all, to sanctify youth. It is by this that you will contribute to prepare the world for better times than ours; for these students who now attend…school are the parents of the future, the parents of future generations, each one of whom bears within themself [sic] a family” (Christian Education). The work of resurrection for CSC educators is assisting students not only to avoid the pitfalls of the “shiny bait” that is alluring for all citizens of this world. It is preparing parents as the first teachers of their children for each successive generation. Thomas á Kempis speaks as Christ when he commands: “Follow me. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no Living”. Both Moreau and Kempis affirm that the works and events of secular citizenship must be viewed through the lens of the resurrectional Cross of Christ. Responsible educators know that students travel two lanes as they work their way toward eternal happiness. An authentic CSC education is imbued with Hope. Hope that enduring the travails of this life leads to the bliss of heavenly citizenship. Ave Crux Spes Unica!