Serving the Church in the Fall River Diocese

Since I came to Fall River in August of 1958, my life as a Dominican has varied considerably. For many years we continued to live as a Dominican community. We recited the Divine Office in choir, a bell was rung summoning us to the dining room twice a day, and we had Chapter meetings to discuss the affairs of the community. We even had the chapter of faults!

Then, in the sixties, vocations to the priesthood and the religious life began to decline throughout the western world. Our Provincial Council made it known that we would have to restrain our commitments, that religious who died in Fall River and Lewiston would not automatically be replaced; that we were to reserve our human resources for our Canadian houses. The French Dominicans came to New England, we were reminded, to respond to the needs of emigrants from Canada who spoke little or no English. Today, their descendants all understand and speak English, the common language. That explains why the Canadian Dominicans felt free not to replace the members of their Order in Fall River when they died and I am the last survivor of those Dominicans at Saint Anne.

When the dwindling community was no longer able to maintain the priory, the diocese came to our rescue and purchased the property. From then on, diocesan priests assigned to St. Anne's Parish occupied a part of the house.

I was asked recently how I felt as a Dominican deprived of a Dominican community as I had been accustomed to. I missed community life. Now I have a more limited community with a few diocesan priests. But living and working with diocesan priests was never a problem for me. I preserved my Dominican spirituality to serve the Church in the Fall River Diocese. I brought my gifts to the local church. I have always shared as much as I could of my life and ministry with the diocesan clergy and have been warmly accepted by them. I have of deliberate purpose attended their deanery meetings, served a few years on the Priests' Senate (Council) at Bishop Cronin's invitation, I even attended two priests' convocations and got to know a good number of diocesan priests personally. I felt good personal relationships would facilitate cooperation in the works of the apostolate.

I have nothing but praise for the diocesan priests I have been associated with. In recent years they have been especially kind and considerate for an "old man" with physical limitations. After the demise of our Dominican community we developed a new sort of community with the diocesan priests living with us, all serving the Church in Fall River.

A last visible presence of the Dominican Order at Saint Anne is that of two Dominican Sisters, who have worked with us for years: Sister Julie Pintal, receptionist at the rectory, and Sister Lorraine Beauchesne, secretary at the parish office.