Paulo Kosaka, O.F.M. Cap. 25 Years of Priestly Ministry

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1 2009 Jubilee Series Celebrating our brotherhood Paulo R. Hara-Kosaka, the first son of Cecilia Hara & Manuel Borja-Kosaka was born on 02 June 1955 and was baptized the following day in Sacello BMV Lourdes in Ito-City, Japan. Paulo resided in Japan until the age of eight when in 1964 his family moved to the village of Talofofo, Guam. His immediate family would flourish to twelve having seven sisters and two brothers; lovingly nurtured in the shadows of their parish church of San Miguel. Paul began his education at Talofofo Elementary School, Talofofo [ ] and Saint Francis Elementary, Yona [ ]. Paulo recalls: As a nine year old skinny kid, I was invited to become an altar server by Capuchin Fulgence Petrie, then our parish priest. Although I was a complete nervous wreck my first time serving, I was quickly calmed by his smiling face and warm presence. Later, I had the opportunity of accompanying Fulgence on Fridays, distributing the Eucharist to the sick and poor in the village. It was a wonderful and moving experience. Paulo Kosaka, O.F.M. Cap. 25 Years of Priestly Ministry He attended Fr. Duenas Memorial High School as a seminarian from During those four years he fondly remembers his rectors: Capuchins James Gavin and Anthony Apuron. While back in my early teens, together with my father, I became involved in the Holy Name Society in our parish of San Miguel. I attended Holy Name Society rallies and other prayer gatherings on our Island. These reflections bring back happy memories of joys we ve shared. Paulo entered our novitiate program at Saint Francis Friary in Milton, MA on 31 August He was experienced as sincere and well-liked; spending a great deal of time in prayer and considered it an important aspect of our life. In preparation for his first profession he wrote: This total commitment of permanency is the seed of one s desire and call from God to live as a Capuchin daily, in growing within the framework of the evangelical counsels, the Rule and the Constitutions of our Order. I believe that vows are the means of consecrating oneself totally to God, giving us that freedom to address those obstacles which may prevent us from loving perfectly and bearing witness to Jesus in a very special way to the entire world. Paulo pronounced is first commitment with his classmates on 16 August 1977 at St. Pius X in Middletown, CT. Following his profession Paulo returned to Guam to pursue his undergraduate degree at the University of Guam. During his college years, he gleaned valuable ministerial experience assisting in several parishbased ministries, supervised by our Capuchin pastors. He ministered in religious education, parish outreach, liturgy development, youth programs and visitation of the sick in the parochial communities of Chalan Pago, Yona, Agat, Sinajaña and Agaña. [Below] Newly-Elected Vice Provincial Administration- January 2009 Paulo Kosaka, Joseph English and Felixberto Leon-Guerrero 35

2 In 1981, after his very successful course of study and ministerial development he was highly recommended to begin his theological studies at the Maryknoll School of Theology, residing with our friar community of Mary Immaculate in Garrison, NY. The following year [1982] Paulo participated in the Inter-provincial Solemn Profession Workshop sponsored by the Province of Our Lady of the Angels in Burlingame, CA. He pronounced his perpetual commitment on 22 August 1982 at the parish of St. Jude Thaddeus in Sinajaña. Following his profession, he returned to Garrison to complete his theological studies. He received the ministries of Lector and Acolyte and was awarded his Masters of Divinity on 11 April 1984 from the Maryknoll School of Theology. [Above] Ordination-21 November 1984: Auxiliary bishop Anthony Apuron, Archbishop Felixberto Flores, George Maddock and Paulo Kosaka [Below] Mass of Thanksgiving-22 November 1984: Raynold Thibodeau, Robert Phelps, Paulo, Agustin Gumataotao and Andrew Mannetta [Top right] Cecilia and Manuel Kosaka vest their son Paulo Fr. Paulo was ordained to the priesthood on 21 November 1985 by Archbishop Felixberto Flores in the Cathedral of Dulce Nombre de Maria. The following day [Thanksgiving] he celebrated his first mass at his home parish of San Miguel in Talofofo. Over the years Pablo faithfully served as pastor, youth minister, vocation promoter and religious educator in the many church communities of Guam, Saipan and Hawaii. In 2000, he was elected to vice provincial leadership as first councilor. On the occasion of this 25 th religious jubilee, provincial minister Bernard Smith wrote: Your faithfulness and dedication to the Church and the Order deserve to be commended and celebrated, not just personally, but for all of us and all of the people you have affected in your ministry. Thank you Paulo, for your joyful witness and willingness to serve the Vice Province in so many ways! During the Vice Provincial Chapter of Our Lady Star of the Sea, held at Saint Fidelis Friary in Agaña, Guam, from January 2009, our brother Paulo was once again elected to serve on the vice provincial council. 36 Pablo presently ministers at our newest parochial commitment as pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Kaneohe, Hawaii.

3 2009 Jubilee Series Celebrating our brotherhood Michael J. Marigliano celebrates twenty five years of Presbyterial Ministry Michael J. Marigliano was born in Brooklyn, New York on 15 November 1955 to Gerald and Mary Thomassen-Marigliano. He was the second child and the first son, of nine siblings, two brothers and six sisters. Michael attended the Capuchin s St. Michael Elementary School in Brooklyn s East New York section from 1961 to 1969 and then St. Mary High School in Garrison, New York from 1969 to In 1971 he transferred to Most Holy Trinity High School in Brooklyn where the following year, due to financial woes, the school was closed. Michael graduated from Christ the King High School, Middle Village, NY in Michael tells us: My experience of this life of a Capuchin friar stretches far back into my youth. As a young child and then a teenager living in the East New York section of Brooklyn, the friars were a constant presence in the neighborhood and as guests in my home. East New York was a troubled place harboring more than its fair share of tension, violence, crime and heartbreak. In that one place a place of frequent fear and loyalties drawn far too narrowly the friars witnessed a different space a space of reconciliation and peace, possibility and trust. They enfleshed a gracious world where the margins are tended with care and reverence, an unimaginably wide world bearing in its heart a loving mystery that alone is worthy of our loyalties, that alone can birth true healing. Michael tells us, I learned from the friars to seek that wider world, to search out its heart, to dare welcome its mystery. And so on 31 August 1978 Michael was invested into the Capuchin Order at St. Lawrence in Milton, Massachusetts. Upon entering the Order he wrote: Thus ends the beginning, the middle and the end are yet to come. Michael pronounced his first profession on 16 August In 1980 he graduated from Pace University, with a BA in Social Sciences. He continued his studies at St. Anselm College in Manchester NH and Maryknoll School of Theology in Ossining, New York. He was perpetually professed on 18 September 1982 and awarded a Masters of Divinity in Michael was ordained to the presbyterate by John J. Connor, DD, Archbishop of New York on 02 June 1984 at Saint Patrick Cathedral in New York. His first assignment was as an assistant at St. John the Baptist in New York City and then as associate pastor at Sacred Heart in Yonkers, New York. For the next four years Michael was stationed in Garrison, New York. He served as vocation minister and novitiate staff member at St. Francis, Garrison, NY [1985 to 1987], then post novitiate director at Mary Immaculate, also in Garrison, returning to St. Francis Friary as vocation minister in In 1989 Michael began his eleven year ministry as Director of novices where he served the Capuchin Provinces of St. Mary and St. Joseph, at the newly established coprovincial novitiate located in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin. During this period he attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and earned a doctorate in Systematic Theology in Michael returned from the Mid-West to serve as the Provincial Communications Director from 2000 to In 2005 stationed at Our Lady of Sorrows, New York City, he began his ministry in the preaching apostolate and currently serves as co-coordinator of the province s preaching ministry initiatives. 37

4 2009 Jubilee Series Celebrating our brotherhood Bruce Quinn Celebrates Sixty Years of Religious Life Priest, missionary, care-giver, and brother: A Journey of Faithfulness Arthur Joseph Quinn, one of three sons of Arthur Aloysius and Margaret Rose Doran-Quinn was born in Panama, formally known as Ancón Balboa, Canal Zone on 10 April He was baptized the same day at St. Mary Mission also in Balboa. Arthur began his first five years of elementary education at St. Mary s Academy in Colon, Panama [ ]. The Quinn family moved to Astoria, New York where he continued his education at St. Joseph School from It was during this time that Arthur felt he was called to serve God in the ministry of priesthood. Arthur enrolled at our Glenclyffe High School in Garrison, New York which he attended from Following his graduation, Arthur entered the Capuchin Franciscan novitiate of St. Felix in Huntington, Indiana and was invested on 31 August 1949 receiving the religious name Bruce. His novice master Elmer a Bloomer speaks of frater Bruce as youthful, energetic, sociable, kind, prayerful and ever-willing in his observance of religious discipline Frater Bruce pronounced his first vows at St. Felix on 01 September Following first profession frater Bruce returned to the Garrison property and resided at Mary Immaculate Friary for the next seven years where he completed his education in philosophy and theological studies. Father Bruce was ordained on 22 June 1957, along with John Anoia, Douglas Smith, Cullan Steffan, Louis Chiusano, Donan Hickey, LaSalle Parsons, Richard Donaldson, Joseph Testagrossa, and Darius DeVito by New York Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Francis Flannelly, titular bishop of Metelis, at Sacred Heart Church, Yonkers, New York. After ordination, Father Bruce ministered with the Capuchins in many diverse assignments. He first served as an assistant at Our Lady of Sorrows in the lower east side of Manhattan [ ]. Father Bruce then began his missionary career, serving the people of Yemen, Arabia [ ] and later returned to Our Lady of Sorrows as vicar and assistant pastor from where he continued advanced studies of Arabic at New York University in Manhattan [1968]. He ministered in the Central American mission in Honduras from , where he was instrumental in the establishment of Casa Maria. He returned to the United States where he served as associate pastor of St. John the Baptist in Manhattan from It was also during these years in Manhattan that he studied psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City from Photos right taken in the School Year Bottom: Seniors attending a dinner at St. John in NYC sponsored by the Capuchin Auxiliary-[clockwise] Thomas Douglas Smith, Joseph Knute Kenlon, Herman Graff, Joseph Darius DeVito, Michael Louis Chiusano, Joseph Peyovich, Vincent Cantwell, and Arthur Bruce Quinn

5 Above: Honduras-circa 1970; Bruce circa 1955, circa 1965; Below: 2005; Province s Silver Jubilee Celebration at St. Pius X- pictured are Cosmas Niedhammer, Paschal Rywalski [minister general], Bruce and Peter McCall in background [1977]. Bottom: Bruce circa 1978; Bruce circa Continued from previous page Following a short assignment as Catholic chaplain at North Shore Hospital in Manhasset [1976], Fr. Bruce served as a chapel assistant at St. Francis Chapel, serving the working population of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts [ ]. On 02 June 1979, at the age of forty-eight, Fr. Bruce received a nursing degree from Springfield Technical College at the Commencement Exercises in West Springfield. He also served the province as novice master and formation director for our brother George Tucker from at St. Francis in Springfield. For the next twenty years Fr. Bruce would minister as chaplain, nurse, caregiver and administrator residing with the friar communities of our Lourdes Residence in Stamford, CT [ and ], St. Francis Chapel in Springfield, MA [ ] and St. Pius X in Middletown, Connecticut [ ] where he ministered at Middlesex Memorial Hospital. Father Bruce continues to reside at St. Pius X as a beloved senior friar, offering his example and prayerful presence to the friar community as well as the parochial community of St. Pius X. 39

6 2009 Jubilee Series Celebrating our brotherhood Peter Von Essen Celebrates Sixty Years of Religious Life A Journey of Wonder and Gratitude Andrew Von Essen was born to Anthony and Sophie Chimielewski-Von Essen on the 16 September He was baptized on the 27 September 1931 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, New York. Andrew grew up with three brothers Edward, Henry and Allen and one sister Mary Ann. Edward would later be known as Father Pacificus who entered the Graymoor friars of Garrison and would spend his ministerial years serving the people of Japan. Andrew attended Blessed Sacrament Elementary School on Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn [ ] and St. Thomas the Apostle in Woodhaven, NY [ ]. He studied at Saint John Atonement Seminary in Garrison [1945-Feb 1948] and then transferred to St. Francis Preparatory School in Brooklyn where he studied from February 1948 to June Andrew entered the English Capuchin novitiate of Our Lady of the Angels in Milton, MA and was invested on 03 October 1949 receiving the name Peter. He pronounced his first vows into the hand of Father Edwin of London on 07 October Following first profession Peter began his philosophical studies as a member of the English province until In April, 1952 [two months after the split of the province] Peter wrote to the newly-appointed minister provincial Adrian Holzmeister asking permission to be a member of the newlyestablished Province of St. Mary. His proposal was accepted and continued his final year of philosophy at Mary Immaculate Friary in Garrison [ ]. He pronounced solemn vows into the hands of Adrian Holzmeister at Mary Immaculate on 07 October 1953 witnessed by his brother Pacificus Von Essen, SA and Fr. Maynard Harvey, O.F.M. Cap. Peter continued his third year of theological studies at Mary Immaculate Friary. He was unable to be ordained with his classmates Lee Friel, Jeremiah Cassidy, Zachary Grant and Dacian Dee on 23 June 1956 because of the canonical age requirement. Following his 25th birthday, Peter was ordained to the priesthood on 22 September In late summer of 1957 Peter along with Jeremiah Cassidy left for the Ryukyus Mission. Most of Peter s ministry in Japan was spent in the Catholic Mission in Ishigaki City, Yaeyama. It was there that Peter established the first parochial school. In 1981 Peter assumed the responsibilities of Second Councilor. He was elected Superior Regular in 1982 and served in that position until Peter presently ministers in a retreat center the Garden of Prayer Ministry residing at the St. Mary Brothers House in Setagayaku, Tokyo, Japan. A Journey of Wonder the fact God picked one as incapable as me and the realization that people gave me more than I have given to them. A Journey of Gratitude I humbly offer my deep appreciation to God and to our fraternity for helping me persevere this far on my journey with the feeling that my ministry was blessed. 40

7 Donald Philip Wesnofske was born to Henry and Tessi Sackowsky-Wesnofske on 25 May 1941 in New Hyde Park, New York. Donald, along with his sister Barbara and his brother Robert were nurtured and raised in the Polish tradition as members of St. Hedwig parish in Floral Park, NY. Donald attended St. Hedwig Elementary School [ ] and Glenclyffe High School [ ]. He entered the Capuchin novitiate of St. Lawrence on 31 August 1959 receiving the name Matthias. Following simple profession on the 01 September 1960 he began his philosophical studies at St. Anthony Friary in Hudson, New Hampshire graduating with a BA in He pronounced perpetual profession on 01 September Matthias attended our Capuchin Theological Seminary from receiving his Masters of Theology. He was ordained by Bishop Joseph M. Pernicone on Saturday, 11 November 1967 at Sacred Heart Church in Yonkers, NY. The following day, Matthias celebrated his first mass at the Church of St. Patrick in Smithtown, New York. Following ordination, Matthias was assigned to the fraternity of St. John the Baptist in Manhattan where he assisted in the parish setting and also began his lengthy service in ministry to the Deaf community. During his first year, under the direction of his Diocesan Director Fr. Cribben, Matthias assisted in the Deaf Apostolate as teacher and catechist in two schools as well as offering retreats, missions, and other speaking engagements for the Deaf. Matthias was also instrumental in organizing a teenage auxiliary who worked in Day Camps during the summer months and assisted the Deaf Apostolate in various programs throughout the year. Musings on Fifty Years of Religious Life Matthias Wesnofske, O.F.M. Cap. What does being faithful to the Capuchin Way of Life mean to me today? When we made our first profession so many years ago, our novice master, Father Donatus Goetz gave each of us a holy picture. On the back of the picture he wrote the date and the words: Wishing you every blessing and grace in your Capuchin way of life. Semper Fidelis. Please pray for Fr. Donatus, O.F.M.Cap. I still have that holy picture and I keep it in my breviary. Many times during the past fifty years, I have asked myself, what does that mean Semper Fidelis? I sometimes berate myself for failures in not always being faithful. Then again, in 1959 there were twenty nine who entered the cleric novitiate in Milton, MA and the brother novitiate in Middletown, CT. Of the twenty nine, four have died as Capuchins, five remained Capuchins, one is a diocesan priest, and numerous others are married or have pursued other vocations or careers. Are the few who have remained as Capuchins the Always Faithful Ones, those who kept their hands on the plow and didn t turn back? Could being faithful just mean sticking with it for 50 years? When I graduated from grammar school, there were 26 in my class. One classmate is a diocesan priest on Long Island, and another is a Sister, who this year is celebrating her golden jubilee as a Felician Sister. She asked me to preach at her 50 th Jubilee Mass in Enfield, Connecticut in May. I really have not kept up with her over the years, but I know that she is now the Novice Mistress for the combined novitiates of the American Provinces. I was thinking of preaching on being faithful for 50 years. But what does it mean to be always faithful? Faithful to what, [or maybe better] to whom? 41

8 Realizing the importance of this ministry describing it as Love made visible and his interest in becoming a more effective minister, Matthias requested to begin fulltime studies majoring in education of the deaf. In 1969, while residing with the friars of the Province of St. Augustine, Matthias began his studies at Gallaudet College in Washington, DC. He received his graduate degree in After graduation he served as guardian of the friar community of St. Anne in Smithtown, NY and taught at the Cleary School in Lake Ronkonkoma, NY. After the Chapter of 1978, Matthias was asked to serve in religious formation. He ministered as the assistant director of novices at both St. Lawrence in Milton and Saint Francis in Garrison, NY while also serving as fraternity vicar and in vocation recruitment. It was during these years that he continued his education in Franciscan spirituality at St. Bonaventure University and was also certified as a spiritual director. St. Francis-Garrison-Novitiate Class of [front] Paul Borja, Carmine Marotta, David Cronin, Paul Minchak [director], Warren Smithbower [retreat master], Paul Steffan [provincial minister], Matthias Wesnofske [asst. director], Gerald Keppel & Stanley Fortuna. [Back] Paul Norman, Gennaro Rocco, Timothy McCaffrey, Scott Duffy, Isidro Ogumoro [hidden], Robert Lombardo, Joseph English, Kevin Burke, Kenneth Osborn, Timothy McSweeney, Ramon Frias, George Dash, Louis Massanet & James Keating. In 1981, Matthias returned to St. Anne in Smithtown, NY as fraternity vicar and ministered at Smithtown Hospital and St. James Nursing Home as Catholic chaplain. In 1987 he was appointed guardian of the friar community of Our Lady of Sorrows and ministered as a parochial vicar until For the third time, Matthias returned to St. Anne as guardian and was also the provincial spiritual assistant of the Secular Franciscans. For the last eighteen years, residing at St. John the Baptist Friary in Manhattan, Matthias has generously offered his time and spiritual assistance to the Secular Franciscan fraternities. Bishop John McGann, Diocese of Rockville Centre with Matthias Wesnofske The retreat we made before our investiture in 1959 was given by Warren Smithbower. He introduced us to names, people, which at the time were unfamiliar; Bernardo, Leo, Ruffino, Giles, Juniper, the names of the first followers of St. Francis. They were the names of individuals, who were presented as people worthy of imitation, models of what it meant to be a Franciscan, the ones who were always faithful, Today, 50 years later, at evening prayer, we read the necrology, biographies of those members of the Province who have died, most of whom I knew, men who were faithful to the end in living their commitment as Capuchin friars, the faithful ones. When we were novices, Pope John XXIII called for an ecumenical council. As novices we received little reading material from outside, but we did receive The Sunday Visitor. Each week that year, there was an article in The Sunday Visitor written by our own Thaddeus MacVicar, giving the history of each of the previous Councils of the Church. It was an exciting and hopeful time. By the time we made Solemn Profession, there was a new Pope and the Council was in full swing. In a few more years, being Always faithful to a Capuchin way of life seemed to have changed. What was the Capuchin way of life now? We had new Constitutions. The Manual was gone. We still heard the voice crying in the night, we still were saying Here I am Lord, I come to do your will, but things had changed. What was the Capuchin way of life now? I frequently talk with Jim Atkins, former Capuchin and now a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal. We sometimes get into discussions about the Capuchin way of life. Which one of us is Always faithful to the Capuchin way of life? St. Bonaventure wrote that desiring makes the heart grow deep. I guess being faithful for fifty years is basically wanting, desiring, to be faithful, and struggling with the question, What does being faithful to the Capuchin way of life mean to me today? Matthias Wesnofske, O.F.M.Cap. 42

9 Back cover: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow traditional All rights reserved. Music reprinted with permission: GIA Publications, Inc. Chicago, IL under OneLicense.net #A

10 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. From all that dwell below the skies; Let the Creator s praise arise! Let the Redeemer s name be sung; Through every land by every tongue.