Winter Updates from St. Alphonsus Villa
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February 2, 2023For three days in early November, we welcomed to the villa Fr. Bob Lennon’s niece and her daughter. They were able to stay at our guest house. About 30 years ago, when the guest house property became available for purchase, the Redemptorists had the foresight to purchase it. This guest house on the Indian River has been used by the families of a number of the Villa residents over the years.
In late November, one of our confreres, Fr. Eddie Gray, passed into eternity. Fr. Gray spent over 60 years ministering in parishes in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, and more recently, Florida. Even with the dementia he suffered with, he was always ready to smile and have a laugh with one of the confreres or the staff. We celebrated his life at our parish of Sacred Heart New Smyrna Beach where he ministered with great care for over ten years. May our loving Lord grant him rest and peace!
As the liturgical seasons of the Church come and go, we are blessed to have Br. Leonard Samuel (Br. Sammy) supervise our Villa sacristy and chapel. We always know what church season we are celebrating, because of the great effort Br. Sammy puts into fixing the chapel appropriately.
The green pine trees for the Advent Christmas season are the result of his nurturing the trees through the year. We can do that in Florida. With the capture of our two Ukrainian confreres by Russian forces, Br. Sammy obtained pictures of them, and we keep them in mind at our common prayer.
We are looking forward to receiving Fr. John ‘Champ’ Hennessy into our community after the first of the year. In addition to ministering for some years in Boston, ‘Champ’ has spent almost 65 years in Brazil.
