Connolly, Father Bernard

1932, March 6

Date of Birth: 1891, August 23

Issy
May 2, 1932

Fathers and Dear Confreres:

Last March 6th, the Sulpician Province of the United States was sadly smitten by the death of one of its own. It was a still young confrere, Father Connolly, whom – almost without warning – God had called to Himself. In a special way his death saddened the minor seminary of St. Charles where he fulfilled for ten years a much-appreciated ministry and where he was very much loved. His students in the United States and all our confreres will find comfort in recalling the essential traits of his makeup, quite appealing, and the highlights of his life.

Bernard Patrick Connolly was born on August 23, 1891, in Fall River, Massachusetts. His was a very religious family. One of his brothers, younger than he, would follow him on the road to priesthood. After receiving his doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Louvain, he would become – and still is – Professor of Ascetical Theology and of History of Philosophy at the Seminary of St. Paul.

While still a boy, Bernard Connolly entered the grade school of his parish in Fall River. From there he went to Providence to continue his studies at the Christian Brothers’ school. He stayed through first year high. He always had a deep gratitude for his Providence teachers and always showed them respect and affection. In 1912, he entered the minor seminary of St. Charles in Baltimore. From the beginning he was among the first in his class, and proved to be one of the best students in every sense of the word. “He had the innocence and the openness of a child.” Correct in his speech, pure in his heart, sure in his vocation, he seemed perfectly happy, for he had found what he came to look for. He applied himself to his work, and even more to his prayers. He was highly thought of and liked by his teachers and his fellow-students. One of his former teachers remembers that his innocence, his piety, and his fervor called to mind the words of the psalm: Quis ascendet in montem Domini …?  Innocens manifus et mundo corde. [Who shall go up to the Lord’s mountain?  The innocent of hands and the clean of heart.] 

“What he was at St. Charles, he remained at St. Mary’s in Baltiomre and at the Sulpician Seminary in Washington.”

On August 15, 1919, Father Bernard Connolly received priesthood in the Cathedral at Fall River to the satisfaction and joy of all who were present.

As a priest, how was he going to spend his life?  No doubt Father Connolly had dreamed of parochial ministry. During his vacations, the pastoral care, the zeal, the work, the apostolic success of his pastor – today Bishop and Apostolic Administrator of Fall River – had impressed him, edified him, and was such as to attract him. In a parish, Father Connolly would have wonderfully displayed all the qualities of nature and grace which were his. And it is likely that our future confrere had more than once dreamed that his life as a priest would be spent in his own diocese, not far from his widowed mother for whom he had a child’s love.

But he heard a more clamorous call, and there passed before his eyes a vision which captured his heart. He would use up his life outside his diocese, far from his mother. That life would be hidden in God with Christ. He would dedicate his life to forming other priests. To that end he would joyfully consent to leaving his family, depriving himself – in a sense – of the freedom and the satisfactions inherent in parochial ministry. To be a Sulpician, to remain all his life as a seminarian, can seem pretty monotonous, boring and drab. For Father Connolly, Sulpician life was full of interest and attractiveness. He loved aspirants to the priesthood, and he wanted to dedicate himself to them entirely.

And so, as the 1919 school year started, he returned to St. Charles where he worked for two years before beginning his Solitude. He made that during the 1921-1922 school year.

At the beginning of the next school year, Father Connolly again took up all his duties at the minor seminary. After being appointed to teach Latin, English, and History, he taught mainly Greek and Mathematics. In 1924, he was named Secretary of the Council and he was to remain so until he died.

“Whether teaching Greek, English, or Mathematics; whether hearing confessions or directing penitents; whether joining students in recreation or accompanying them on long walks, Father Connolly knew precisely that he was dealing with future priests. He was quite adept in making them happy and in helping them in every way to prepare for priesthood.” Involving himself in all the details of our vocation was not a burden for him but a fine occasion of doing good for our students and a signal privilege of being able to contribute to their formation.

The fact is that Father Connolly was Sulpician through and through. He lived in the highest degree of our great devotions. The worship of the Blessed Sacrament loomed large in his life. During Solitude he had often meditated on Father Olier’s words in the Pietas Seminarii: “Christum ad hoc vivere in Eucharistiae sacramento, ut memoriam faciat mirablium suorum, ut  haec omnia det in escam, vitamque propriam et virtutem largiatur”  [Christ lives in the Eucharist for this: to constitute a memorial of his works, to give all those things as food, and to share His own life and virtue.]  So he often visited Our Lord in the Tabernacle in the course of the day after greeting Him in the morning. He never failed to be at morning prayers. And when, in May, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was not given at St. Charles, he went to attend It in the chapel of the Dominican Sisters. On Holy Thursdays he loved to take a group of students with him to visit several churches to adore Our Lord on the altar of Reposition. And since he knew the date of the Forty Hours Devotion in the different parishes of the area, he made use of that knowledge to lead his students to those churches on walk-days.