Br. John’s remains will lie in repose in Mount St. Alphonsus Church, Limerick from 4.30pm to 7pm on Friday, 20th April, followed by Mass at 7.15pm.  Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 12 Noon, on Saturday, 21st April, followed by burial in the adjoining monastery cemetery.   Undertaker is John Thompson, 40 Thomas Street, Limerick (Tel:061-414967)

Biographical note

John was born in Bishop’s Island, Watergrass Hill, Co. Cork on the 23rd June 1923.  After finishing school he worked for some years on the family farm.  Then in 1943 he entered the Redemptorist Congregation and after his initial training he made his profession of vows as a Redemptorist Brother on 2nd February 1945.

After his profession in 1945 until 1949, except for a year in Cluain Mhuire, Galway he was a member of St. Joseph’s community, Dundalk.  He then moved to Clonard Monastery, Belfast for a year before heading back south to Limerick.  Six months of this year were spent in his Second Novitiate in preparation for his Perpetual Profession on 2nd February 1951.  He was then appointed to our retreat house in Ardglass, Co. Down which was to the scene of his labours for the next five years.  Incidentally one of our priests who ministers in Downpatrick wrote the other day to say, as Br. John was the last living Redemptorist to have worked in our Ardglass retreat house, that he is still remembered by quite a few people down that way.

Napoleon is famously remembered as saying that, “an army marches on its stomach” and this proverb applies too to religious communities.  Years ago it used be said about our retreat houses that no matter how ardent the preaching or committed the priests might be, the retreatants measured the success of the retreat by the quality of the meals.  For the greater part of his life Br. John’s work was connected to catering and here he played his part whether it was a retreat house or one of our communities. 

As will be noticed Br. John spent all of his life as a Redemptorist in Ireland.  After his term in Ardglass, in the 1956 appointments, he moved to our community in Esker, Athenry and here he was to spend five years as sacristan.  Here, as in his earlier years in Dundalk, he held the post of Novice Brother in addition to his other assignments.

One confrere has written to say: “He was the one who faithfully roused us from slumber-land every morning at 5.25am rain, hail or shine!  He was a great role model in any novitiate.  I don’t ever remember him showing anger.  He was a great novitiate brother.  On my home visits since, I always found him hospitable, and friendly.”

Until more recent times it was customary for Redemptorists to be moved at regular periods from one community to another and so in 1961 Br. John moved to Limerick and the newly constructed retreat house on the North Circular Road.  In 1966 he was recalled to Esker for a year returning to Limerick a year later.

The 1960s was a period of opening new buildings in the IrishProvince: 1960 St. Clement’s Retreat House, Belfast; 1961 in Limerick the move from temporary accommodation to the purpose built retreat house; 1962 community residence for St. Gerard’s community in north Belfast.  For over sixty years Mount St. Alphonsus, Limerick had been the residence of the provincial superior but in 1965 this was transferred to the newly built Liguori House in Dublin.  But the tour de force was the building of the new Marianella, Dublin as a house of studies for our senior students, opening in June 1968.  The staffing of this new entity called for reinforcements and among the Brothers assigned to Marianella was Br. John.

In 1970 at the start of a new triennium John packed his bags again to go west to Esker for three years.  As John lived a simple and frugal life packing his bags was an easy matter.  Actually one of the memories a grand-niece has of visits by John to her home was the smallness of his travel bag.

His penultimate appointment was to Clonard Monastery, Belfast from 1973-1979.  We remember of course that the early 1970s was a stressful time in Belfast.  At times John was easily startled and the story is told of an event during this time that scared the ‘living lights’ out of him.  On one occasion the superior received a telephone call from the Cistercian monks in Portglenone Abbey asking if Clonard could give a night’s accommodation to five monks.  It was only when the group arrived in the late evening that the Redemptorists realised that the monks were not Cistercians as they had presumed but Buddhist monks.  Even so they were welcomed and entertained, but by this time John had retired for the night.

Early next morning while going about his chores in the kitchen John suddenly sighted this saffron dressed apparition at the door.  The wonder is that he didn’t die of fright but he let out a merciless shriek and ran upstairs.  It took some time to calm him down again, and one would assume that the poor monk was probably shocked as well.

Incidentally this occurred on the same day that Pope John Paul I died, 28th September 1978.

The year 1979 then, saw the end of John’s peregrinations as far as moving from community to community was concerned with his appointment to Mount St. Alphonsus.  Over the past thirty plus years in Limerick John became well known and loved by many people.  He was a familiar sight on the city streets where, every day until a few months ago, he would go for an afternoon walk.

A number of years ago a Redemptorist who had spent many years in India related how on one occasion he had to fill-in an official form and when it came to the question of his legal status he hesitated.  The official then said, “Holy man”, a recognised category in India.  This is a title one would have no hesitation in applying to Br. John, and he was so regarded by those who knew him.  He was gentle and considerate and gracious to visitors.

As mentioned he was a man of simple tastes but loved to play cards, to be precise, the game of bridge.  He had become so proficient he was regarded as a “master”.  A few years ago when Fr. Adrian Egan was appointed rector of Mount St. Alphonsus he occasionally played but not with John as his partner.  After some little while John remarked that Fr. Adrian may be the rector of Mount St. Alphonsus but where bridge is concerned “he is only a novice”.  If one could view the various perpetual trophies of the Bridge Club from about 1983 until last year John’s name appears regularly, sometimes for three or four years in succession.

Another interest from his school days was the game of rugby and even before the game gained the popularity it now enjoys John would follow the fortunes of Munster and Ireland with great attention.

John was an intelligent and “deep” man and though he was of a retiring disposition he surprised confreres on occasion when he delivered himself of the results of his reflection

In the church he loved to sing and was in no way self-conscious even if he was off-note.  Until a few years ago when he had become unsteady on his feet it was his great delight to assist as an extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

Over the past few years Br. John’s health had been deteriorating but he continued living an independent life.  At the beginning of this year (2012) he became unwell and was hospitalised for a week or so and after he was discharged from hospital he became resident in a nursing home as he required more care and attention.  Around this time he is remembered as saying “that he had had a long life and was not worried about it coming to a close.”

About ten days before his death he was again admitted to hospital and on Monday (16th April) his condition became critical.  Luckily his niece-in-law and a grand-niece had travelled from England to be with him before he died.

Br. John died peacefully at 3.10pm on Wednesday, 18th April in the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.  Fr. Adrian Egan and Br. Seamus Campion were with him as he breathed his last.  

STANLEY, Fr. Jim C.Ss.R. (Redemptorist Community, Marianella, Dublin 6) April 2, 2012,(suddenly), brother of the late Fr. Pat (Australia), deeply mourned by his Redemptorist Community, loving brothers and sisters Liam, Mary, Sean, Pearl,
Richard, Joseph, Noel, Sr. Teresa, Fr. Cathal, Sam, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews and their families, relatives and friends. Rest in peace.

Reposing in Fanagans Funeral Home, Aungier Street.

Removal to Marianella Chapel, 75   Orwell Road, Rathgar on Monday (April 9) for 5.30pm Mass.

Funeral on Tuesday (April 12) after 11 o’c. Mass in Marianella to Deansgrange
Cemetery. 

Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for him

An outline of the life of Fr. Jim Stanley, C.Ss.R.

Fr. Jim was a native of Woodford, Co. Galway was born in 1930, and in his thirtieth year he made his profession of vows as a Redemptorist.  Prior to joining the Redemptorist Congregation he worked in the family construction business.  When in his mid twenties he determined that his vocation was to be a priest and with this in mind he attended the apostolic school under the auspices of the Society of Jesus in Mungret, Co. Limerick.  During his sojourn in Mungret he became acquainted with the Redemptorists and decided that his call to serve God was with the sons of St. Alphonsus.

Following his profession in Esker, Athenry, he began his philosophical and theological in the Redemptorist Studentate, Cluain Mhuire, Galway.

Two years into his studies (1961) Jim was one of a group of our students chosen to go to the Philippines as the nucleus of the new, fledgling studentate in Cebu.  After many years of missionary activity in “the only Catholic nation in Asia” the Redemptorists had now taken decisive action to enlist young Filipinos in the spreading of the Good News of Jesus the Redeemer.  And these zealous young souls were chosen to impart to their equally keen Asian confreres the spiritual and apostolic spirit of the Redemptorists.

Three and a half years after arriving there Jim was ordained a priest in Cebu on 20th December 1964.  Over the next seven years Fr. Stanley was engaged in the preaching of missions in the Visayas (central part of the Philippines) and other Cebuano speaking areas.  However in 1971 due to health problems he returned to Ireland.

Over the next few years after his recuperation, besides preaching parish missions, especially in the Dublin and south Leinster areas he had the added responsibility of Redemptorist Vocations Director.

During the year October 1973-September 1974 he had assignment, that of overseeing the building of the chapel at Marianella (Dublin).  He had a few headaches with this project.  At the early stage of construction during a very stormy night some of the partially build walls were blown but undaunted the work proceeded.  One could say that this intrepid spirit was a characteristic of Fr. Jim.  Further, when the work was nearing completion, it became apparent that the finish of the ceiling as had been designed was ugly and an eyesore.  So Fr. Stanley, together with one of our students who had been a joiner before becoming a Redemptorist and a couple of other men inserted the beautiful timber ceiling that graces this chapel.

In 1975 his appointment as rector of our house in Esker, Co. Galway ushered in a period of fifteen years during twelve of which he held post of responsibility within our province.  His reappointment as rector of Esker in 1978 was followed in 1981 as Director of Cluain Mhuire, Galway, 1984-1987 rector of St. Clement’s Retreat House, Belfast.  It had generally been accepted that his brief was to begin the process of closing the retreat house.  Whatever about that Jim saw it differently and proceeded to build an additional and necessary meeting room together with connecting passages, thus eliminating the need of having to brave the elements in inclement weather when going from one part of the building to the other.

In the appointments of 1987 Jim was again assigned to the Dublin parish mission team and three years later was named rector of Marianella.  During his rectorship (1990-1993) he introduced the weekly perpetual novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help in our Dublin chapel.

This period was followed by a sabbatical in the U.S.A., a year of theological renewal.  On returning to Ireland he was back in Esker and preaching missions and solemn novenas.

In the late 1990s and the early years of the new millennium he was president of the National Council of Priests of Ireland, then a term as Director of Vocations Ireland, a subsidiary of CORI (Conference of Religious of Ireland).  These roles did not cause him to neglect his mission and novena work.

Between 2003 and 2007 he was a parish chaplain in Cherry Orchard Parish, West Dublin, a parish for which the Redemptorists had assumed responsibility.  Over the past four years Fr. Jim had continued his work in the vineyard of the Lord in the posts of part-time chaplain in Mount Carmel Hospital, Dublin and in other institutions as well as playing his part in the life and work of the community.

Fr. Jim enjoyed life and played the odd game of golf, also keeping up his interests in other sports especially in the fortunes of the hurling and football teams of his native Galway.  He had a fondness for puns, sometimes to the irritation of his confreres and he was also noted for his jokes even if they were of the slap-stick variety.

In the recent past one could see that his health was failing but even so he doggedly kept going, even on Sunday morning, the day before he died he honoured the commitments he had of celebrating Masses in two hospitals in the Leixlip area (outskirts of Dublin).  Still, it was a great shock for our community, his family, friends and the Irish Redemptorists when the news broke that he had died suddenly.  It is a reminder to us of the words of Jesus himself: “Watch therefore, for you do not know not the day nor the hour” Matt. 25.13

Above we mentioned that he had responsibility for the building of the chapel in Marianella but evidently he felt that the project was incomplete.  Looking back one can wonder if, earlier this year, he had a premonition of his approaching death.  Anyway just before the beginning of Lent he came to his confrere who has responsibility for the chapel with a proposal to put a little indicator under each of the fourteen images, e.g. 3. Jesus falls the first time.  He reasoned that as the images were of an abstract nature many people had difficulty in deciphering the representations.  As there was no problem with his suggestion within a day or two the indicators were in place.  For this writer, anyway, these little plaques will always be a reminder of Fr. Jim. 

Fr. Sean died suddenly and unexpectedly on the 7th February surround by his Redemptorist brothers.  His death leaves a huge void in Mount Saint Alphonsus.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

Fr Sean Lawlor Interview

Dr. Ken Newell, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, refers to this booklet as “a major contribution to the new season of reconciliation that is defrosting the divisions that have scarred our Island and pushed believers apart”.

The booklet only costs €2 and is available from the monastery shop, or by writing to The Secretary, Mount St. Alphonsus, South Circular Road, Limerick, or email the author at johnjoriordain@yahoo.ie

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