MY FAVORITE PRIEST

A missionary for all nations
By Mary Ann Mafrice

On his 50th anniversary as a Mission Procurator for the Capuchin-Franciscan Province of St. Augustine, this priest was awarded, in 1980, by Pope John Paul II the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (For the Church and Pontiff) Cross for providing financial support to the worldwide missions, especially in Puerto Rico and New Guinea. Ten years later, the National Catholic Development Conference (NCDC) awarded him the Distinguished Service Award for his assistance to NCDC for providing a unified voice for fund raisers for the Church missionary activities. His name is revered by thousands, young and old, rich and poor in the United States and throughout the world for the letters he wrote to them in their times of adversity and sickness. He was also a magnanimous benefactor to members of the Roman Curia. His personal friends in the Vatican included Achille Cardinal Silvestrini, the Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches; it was Cardinal Silvestrini who celebrated the funeral liturgy for this priest who passed away on September 17, 1992, the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi.

Who was the zealous, philanthropic and altruistic Capuchin? Perhaps, I can tell you more about his personal side, since I was his secretary for forty-two years. He was father Cecil Nally, born in Queen Shoals, West Virginia on January 24, 1903, one of twelve children. He attended St. Fidelis College in Victoria, Kansas, St. Fidelis Seminary in Herman, Pennsylvania and the Capuchin College in Washington, D.C.

I can still picture him in his worn-out brown Franciscan habit; he was faithful to his vow of Franciscan poverty, but bestowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Catholic foreign missions. He was ordained a priest on December 11, 1928. Seven months later, he was appointed as mission promoter in July 1929. He worked in a tiny office with only school children to assist him then. In 1933 he was assigned as the procurator and provincial director of the Seraphic Mass Association which offers Masses and sends stipends to mission priests all over the world. Today the mission office is housed in a modern air-conditioned two-story brick building, with a clerical staff of more than thirty, in Pittsburgh. Father Cecil, also spend his evenings when, away from his desk, sorting and packing the tons of donated clothes to be sent to impoverished third-world countries.

I recall him also as a competent and entertaining baby-sitter for his employees’ children; a basement room was filled with swings, hobby horses and toys. While watching the children at play, he busied himself by cutting off canceled stamps for the missions. He said, “Baby-sitting is a lot of fun; I have learned a lot about bottles and diapers. I love the children, especially when they lead me to the refrigerator for ice-cream.” He had a fantastic sense of humor and loved to tell stories of his youth. He told me once that on his way to the Capuchins, while still in his early teens, he almost didn’t get to his destination in Pittsburgh; no one was available to pick him up till the following morning. But God provided for him — a fellow rider, a traveling salesman on the same train, offered to share his meals and lodging at a hotel with this stranded teenager.

Father Cecil was not spared physical suffering; he had his sense of illnesses that required surgery and hospitalization. Not one to complain or dilly dally, he bounced back from each ailment like a true soldier of Christ, and in no time was back at his desk, as fervent and as intense as before. Eventually, a devastating cerebral stroke finally incapacitated him and hospitalized him for a period of two years. During this dark period of his life, many of his faithful followers as well as dignitaries from Rome came to visit him at the St. Francis Nursing Center.

It was one of the saddest days of my life when Father Cecil finally succumbed, at the age of 89, to his debilitating sickness; he was a second father to me. But this sorrow of mine was partially lifted on the day of his burial Mass; the uplifting funeral liturgy reminded me that the earth is only a temporary dwelling; Father Cecil was called to his celestial home by God and welcomed by Mary, the Mother of God and the myriad of angels and saints.

Father Cecil loved the Church and his vocation as a priest-purveyor for the missions to save souls. He often spoke of his joy when he heard from people in the mission fields; their gifts of woodcarvings and art objects from their native land are reminders of their gratitude to a dedicated priest and a loyal son of the Church.

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 “My Favorite Priest”
c/o Homiletic & Pastoral Review
50 S. Franklin Turnpike
Suite 1
Ramsey, N.J. 07446
If you have a good photo of the priest, please send that also. Enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope, if you wish to have your article returned
 ... Mary Ann Mafrice lives in Pittsburgh, PA.

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