On his 33rd birthday, as a newly ordained Jesuit, Father John Anthony Hardon, promised our Lord to devote every minute to him; he kept this pledge until he “went home” on December 30, 2000, at age 86.

His priestly ministry knew no restrictions of person, time and place. A spiritual director to sisters, priests, would-be priests and laity, he was their kindly confessor and confidant. For decades, he was an advisor to popes and bishops, yet he was obedient to them. He was my spiritual mentor for over ten years; I joined long lines at yearly meetings in Chicago to seek his counsel. On August 30, 1998, the day that a Filipino nun and I saw him in Detroit, he found time to advise a poor, black woman he had previously converted to the Catholic Faith. The world beyond the Americas was also his mission territory.

On January 15, 1993, five of us left with Father Hardon, Moscow-bound, for his retreat to the Missionaries of Charity Sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In Russia, we felt the destitution of the indigent wards, sheltered and cared for by the cheerful sisters who were also “mothers” to the abandoned, love-starved autistic children. We shared cold floors, unsavory food and the unpotable water; we cleaned rooms, bathed and fed the “poorest of the poor.” On January 20, 1993, we assembled at St. Louis Church with a handful of worshippers, recalling Mary’s promise at Fatima to “convert Russia.” Later, we met with Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow, with Father assuring him of aid. A frightening incident occurred when, one early dawn (1-22-93), two muscular, drunk Muscovites broke into the convent where Father Hardon and his two male companions were sleeping, and demanded to see the sisters. However, they fled before the police arrived, at the sight of this stooped, frail 78-year-old priest, proving that holiness can disperse the forces of evil.

On January 25 we left the city of Moscow — bleak, icy, turbulent, impoverished; we arrived January 26 in Warsaw — Catholic, friendlier, and thriving. Here, in Poland, in order to meet with Josef Cardinal Glemp, Father braved the wintry winds and the snowy streets. However, he did not come with us for our pilgrimage to Our Lady of Czestochowa (1-28-93); for him, God’s will was to continue his retreat to about 70 European postulants and novices.

Father’s six-day retreat was a real “treat.” I jotted down some notes from this wise and learned priest’s talks which were prophetic and replete with pearls of divine wisdom. Here are a few excerpts:

“Our Century is sex-mad . . . Unchastity produces a homicidal society, and will not respect the rights of others.”

“Never before in the history of the Roman Catholic Church has there been such a need for consecrated religious. . . . The Church is only as strong as its consecrated religious and priests.

Christ is present on earth in the Blessed Sacrament. . . . The Eucharist is Incarnate Truth living in the Sacred Host. . . . The Eucharist is Christ with a human nature.”

We left Warsaw in the early morning of February 1. At the airport, he found a priest who was to be his confessor for the day; like many a saint, he confessed daily to render his soul pure and crystal-clear for Christ to enter in. In Rome, we met with Cardinals Sanchez and Trujillo, discussing the family and catechism. Father Hardon’s love for the Church included devotion to the Blessed Mother and fidelity to the Magisterium and the Vicar of Christ. Coming home, we arrived at the JFK airport at 2:55 PM on February 5. In the two-hour stopover, he said Mass and heard the confessions of a black couple from the West Indies. He was toiling unceasingly to save souls!

We last met with him in May 2000 in Detroit. Despite the ravages of his excruciating illness, he never refused anyone. He even offered to contribute to my writing project. I knew time was not on my side. In heart-wrenching and pain-filled but reverent motions, he celebrated Mass for us. We also shared his meals at St. Joseph’s and at a restaurant where he dined heartily, perhaps in order to conserve his health as “there is so much to do, and so little time to do it!” My fondest memory of him is his intense passion and zealous, uncompromising devotion to the Holy Eucharist, which he calls, the presence of “Christ on earth.” He spent hours kneeling before the Real Presence, adoring Jesus while writing his books. The Face of Christ he perhaps saw at Benediction or at the Consecration at daily Mass, he now sees face-to-face in Heaven from where he greets us with his customary, “God bless you!” 

You are invited to contribute to this series by sending in an account of a priest whom you admire. Articles should not exceed 800 words. The best of these will be printed. Send to
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... Dr. Luz G. Gabriel, M.D., lives in Pittsburgh, Pa . — Editor

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