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Some 28 Massachusetts priests and deacons from Franklin and Hampshire counties met for their bimonthly meeting Monday on the site of the newest Catholic institution in the vicariate: Thomas Aquinas College, New England.

“It was a wonderful evening,” says Rev. Msgr. Ronald G. Yargeau, episcopal vicar of the Franklin and Hampshire deaneries. “We were received with great kindness and graciousness, and we were able to interact a bit with the students and join them for the Rosary. I think we were all duly impressed.”

The group had sought to begin its meeting with a campus tour, but that plan was scuttled due to unexpectedly heavy rains. Instead, its members gathered in Palmer Hall with Vice President Paul J. O’Reilly, who spoke about the history of the century-old campus and how the College came to acquire it. From there the priests and deacons set off for Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel, where College Chaplain Rev. Greg Markey discussed the renovations that have been made to the building and those still to come.

“There are a lot of challenges in being a diocesan priest today, and I personally enjoyed seeing my brother priests feeling appreciated,” says Fr. Markey. “It is important for the College to be integrated with the local parishes, and there is no better way to do that than by strengthening the bonds with the local clergy.”

The members of the two deaneries next found their way to the dining commons in Gould Hall, where they enjoyed dinner with the College’s students. “The dinner was extraordinary,” says Jim Link, the College’s director of East Coast development. “We had asked our kitchen crew and the student workers to prepare an extra-special meal, and they went out of their way. They put out tablecloths and cloth napkins, and they decorated the room with pumpkins and straw bales. It was a great, festive occasion.”

The priests and deacons remained in Gould Hall after dinner for their vicariate meeting. They then concluded their visit by praying the Rosary — on this, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary — with the College’s students in the Chapel.

“I think Thomas Aquinas, from his heavenly vantage point, is thrilled that there is such a college — with two campuses — named in his honor,” says Msgr. Yargeau. “I do I believe that all of the priests and deacons, in going forth from here, will certainly do their very best to be vehicles of communicating the goodness and wonder of Thomas Aquinas College. Our visit was wonderful in every way.”

Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019
  • Vicariate Meeting on New England Campus 2019