UD Students Attend Synod in Rome
University of Dayton students will travel to Rome to interact with delegates of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, a key meeting shaping the future of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mason Hennessy, a theology and communication student with press access for the Oct. 12-19 trip, said he looks forward to learning from the discussions.
“I will have special access to the press gallery and general assemblies to absorb information and possibly interview delegates to get their perspective on this new and more synodal church,” he said.
The 11 UD students and three faculty are among a cohort of 150 people from across the U.S. making the pilgrimage. Students will meet Roman Catholic Church leaders, attend Pope Francis’ general audience, join communal prayers and participate in discussions and guided tours. They will also be part of a live question-and-answer session with Synod leaders Oct. 18. Campus Ministry will host a watch party on campus for the session.
“Through their participation in every stage of this global process young people have told us that they are not the Church’s future but rather ‘the now of the Church,’” said UD campus minister Kelly Adamson. “This pilgrimage is just one way to move from listening to young adults to acting with them.”
Pope Francis will open the second session of the Synod on Synodality, the last part of the “discernment” phase of the synodal process begun in 2021.
The Synod on Synodality is a three-year process of listening and dialogue beginning with a solemn opening in Rome on October 9 and 10, 2021 with each individual diocese and church celebrating the following week on October 17. The synodal process will conclude in 2024.
https://www.usccb.org/synod
Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission.”
In The News
Marianist World Day of Prayer
Marianist World Day of Prayer was observed on Oct. 13, 2024, this year 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 the 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 plans to launch in Fall 2024. 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 Winston Erevelles, Ph.D., St. Mary’s University President. “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 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 Chaminade University 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 their 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.
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
We have a problem. It’s a good problem, but a problem nonetheless. On yesterday’s retreat, we had crucifixes available on our free stuff table, and high school freshmen took all 15 of them, thus deleting our supply. So far this school year we have given away over 70 crucifxes on 6 youth retreats. If you can support this endeavor, there is a link with more info in the first comment. It’s so powerful that teens want to have crucifixes in their homes and in their rooms, isn’t it?
Post made on Sept. 30. https://www.facebook.com/mrccretreat/posts/pfbid02AZ8b23aDtiRBnc8qXr7BGdrGTZrjkFkapErN486bhYq7dGsNAJw6CmwB1z5GS59bl?rdid=g7ToifoUQOtvHszq
There are several ways you can support this mission:
Crucifixes can be dropped off at the retreat center (place them on the front porch if you come by after hours or if the front door is locked).
Crucifixes can be mailed directly to: The Marianist Retreat & Conference Center, PO Box 718, 4000 HWY 109, Eureka, MO 63025
You can purchase beautiful crucifixes for $10 each from EWTN and have them shipped to our retreat center directly.
You can make a donation via Venmo to @Paul-Masek – just be sure to put “crucifix” in the subject line and we will order them directly from EWTN.
By the way, any crucifixes ordered from EWTN (pictured above) are imported from the Holy Land, are made of olive wood from Jerusalem, and each one has a small piece of Bethlehem stone embedded in the cross beneath Jesus’ feet.
For more information about this project, contact Paul Masek, our program director: [email protected]
https://marianistretreat.com/blog/our-crucifix-crusade/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFtIEJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbVPKPmqXqwJwPZz5qBiwAKeRaqya34b-5ngowk2NcKMFsQg7MB6JYrlJw_aem_eFiEQ6NeKUsY8DS9NBXU-g
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. November 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. November 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, our 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, and educational workshops and lectures.
“Our Marianist mission and values of the university really focus on community,” said University President 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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