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STM The Magazine of The Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University Fall 2022 p 3 100th Anniversary Concert p 6 Voices from the Decades p 17 From Catholic Club to More HouseSTM MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTORS Design: Cadwell Art Direction Primary Photography: Robert A. Lisak Mission Statement Saint Thomas More Chapel & Center serves the Catholic community at Yale by: · Creating a vibrant and welcoming community through worship and service · Cultivating informed faith and spirituality · Engaging in reflective discourse on faith and culture · Advancing the Church’s mission of promoting social justice · Participating in the global Church’s life and witness About the Cover STM’s crucifix is surrounded by vivid visuals, created by projection designer Camilla Tassi '22 M.F.A. Tassi’s digitally rendered images accompanied the music during STM’s 100th Anniversary Concert. They focused on and framed the crucifix, shedding new light on the familiar symbol of both sacrifice and salvation. STAY IN TOUCH WITH STM Download the STM Yale App. Editors: Robin McShane is the Director of Communications at STM. Sarah Woodford '10 M.Div. is a graduate of Yale Divinity School and STM’s Library Director. Associate Editor: Julia Chin GRD '27 Writers: Julia Chin GRD '27 is a Ph.D. student in English Literature and the Associate Editor for STM Magazine. Deirdre Flanagan '23 is a senior in Branford College and a member of STM’s Undergraduate Council. Stephen McNulty '25 is a sophomore in Pauli Murray College and a member of STM’s Undergraduate Council. Maria Mendoza '23 is a senior in Ezra Stiles College and a member of STM’s Latino Ministry. JP Mikhaiel is a hospital resident specializing in Neurology and a member of the STM Community. Joe Vale '63 is a senior advisor to the investment manager of Parkview International, after leading the firm for over twenty-seven years. He is a member of STM’s Board of Trustees.STM MAGAZINE FALL 2022 In This Issue 268 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06511-4714 Phone: 203-777-5537 Fax: 203-777-0144 stmchapel@yale.edu Follow us online: stm.yale.edu STM Magazine is published twice a year for our alums, parents and friends. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the entire STM community. 1 FROM THE CHAPLAIN 3 100TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT 6 VOICES FROM THE DECADES 9 THOMAS E. GOLDEN, JR. FELLOWSHIP IN FAITH & SCIENCE 13 IN GRATITUDE 17 100 YEARS: FROM CATHOLIC CLUB TO MORE HOUSE 23 THE BLACK CATHOLIC HISTORY MONTH LECTURE Features 11 FAITH IN THE REAL WORLD 22 THREE QUESTIONS 25 OPEN BOOK 27 POP! CULTURE In October of 1922, Father T. Lawrason Riggs '10 began his ministry as Yale’s first officially appointed Catholic Chaplain. This year, as STM celebrates one hundred years of Catholic chaplaincy, STM Magazine likewise focuses on the centennial. The Fall/Winter issue shines a light on our storied history, and the Spring/Summer issue looks forward to our present and future. The subsequent pages tell the story of how Fr. Riggs '10, visionary and Yale alum, transformed the modest Catholic Club of 1922 into Yale’s Catholic Chaplaincy as we know it today. As witnesses of this history, alums from the 1930s-1970s have written about their experiences firsthand. This issue also gives you a glimpse into the first of our 2022 anniversary celebrations – our 100th Anniversary Concert. As always in our Fall/Winter issue, we want to thank our generous donors, whose names are included in the following pages. Your partnership in our ministry is what allows us to both make a difference for current Catholic students at Yale and continue to serve as a university chaplaincy presence for the next hundred years. Happy Reading, Robin & Sarah from the editors Letter Photograph by Robin J. McShane Photograph by Robin J. McShaneDear Friends, On Sunday, October 9, STM hosted a concert, titled “Faith, Hope and Charity” after a quote from our patron saint, St. Thomas More. This evening of music, song and prayer coincided with Family Weekend and celebrated one hundred years of Catholic Chaplaincy at Yale. At one of the rehearsals a few days before the concert, a sophomore history and philosophy major at Pauli Murray College pulled me aside. Last semester, he had taken a history class called “Yale and America” with Professor Jay Gitlin '71 '74 Mus.M. '02 Ph.D. and written his final class paper on our first Chaplain, Father T. Lawrason Riggs '10. He asked me if I knew the significance of October 9. I didn’t. “According to Fr. Riggs’s diary,” he said, “October 9, 1922, was his first official meeting of Yale’s Catholic Club. Afterwards, he went to a Ukrainian music concert to celebrate.” Later in the evening, I checked with Sarah Woodford '10 M.Div., our archivist and Director of the Vincent Library, to see if this was true. It was. One hundred and twenty-five students had gathered for an evening of prayer and instruction, which Fr. Riggs had followed with attending a concert. Exactly one hundred years after Fr. Riggs’s first Catholic Club meeting, here we were doing it all over again. Our concert would feature hymns in several different languages, including Ukrainian. One of the meaningful things about celebrating one hundred years of Catholic chaplaincy is that we have a whole year to intentionally look back and notice the echoes of ministry at Yale that still create patterns of faith, hope and charity in the work that we do today. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that our Chapel—under Fr. Riggs’s tenure—was dedicated on October 9, 1938, after being postponed due to the Great New England Hurricane. During a silent prayer of thanksgiving after Holy Communion on Sunday, October 9, 2022, I felt that Fr. Riggs, in some way from his place on the other side of eternity, had a hand in the planning of this day. Here I was, praying with the students and their families, faculty, staff, alums and friends who gathered in person—along with those from around the world who joined us via livestream. Descendants of the Catholic Club Fr. Riggs established, all of us gathered together in our Chapel that morning “for prayer and instruction.” Later that day, we would also attend a concert, yet another layer of our history that strengthens this local manifestation of the Body of Christ at Yale. 1. FROM THE Chaplain’s Desk Fr. Ryan M. Lerner Chaplain Photograph by Robin J. McShane As you enter STM’s Chapel and look up at our crucifix, created by Giuseppe Maraniello, a dove flies from Christ’s left hand. You’ll see the dove is part of our Anniversary logo. The dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, moves through the number 100, as the spirit has moved through our ministry at Yale these past one hundred years. The beak of the dove faces forward and upward, implying that the Spirit will accompany us and our work at Yale well into the future. About Our Logo Photograph by Robin J. McShane2. #MyCatholicYale Assistant Chaplain David Rivera, Kieran Malandain '26 and Emma Ventresca '26 sip sparkling cider during STM’s first-ever Starry Night undergrad semi-formal. Photograph by Grace Carroll100th Anniversary Concert: Faith, Hope & Charity Julia Chin GRD '27 3. “We wanted it to be celebratory as well as prayerful and reverent.” – Julian Revie '02 n the evening of October 9, the space in the Chapel swelled with song, scripture and spectacle. Saint Thomas More’s 100th Anniversary Concert began exactly a century after Father Riggs noted in his diary the “First meeting of the Catholic Club (an epoch in my life!) at 7:00” on October 9, 1922. Director of Music, Karolina Wojteczko '20 Mus.M., opened the concert with these remarks and elicited some laughter in recalling the first Catholic Chaplain’s subsequent words: “Wonderful singing, though rather too much of the same sort of thing.” STM’s centennial celebration, however, was anything but “the same sort of thing.” Wojteczko and Julian Revie ‘02 sought to create an unforgettable musical experience, affectionately referring to what they called “the vision.” The concept was born out of “the desire to present something new and different that would be uniquely suited to STM,” Revie explained. “We wanted it to be celebratory as well as prayerful and reverent.” Inspiration struck early when it was mentioned that Father Bob Beloin (STM Chaplain, 1994-2018) had included a quote from St. Thomas More’s Last Prayer in his email signature line: “Give me, good Lord, a full faith, a firm hope and a fervent charity.” Centered around these themes of faith, hope and charity, the musical program later expanded to include text from scripture as well as the dramatic read of the Last Prayer by Michael Lo Piano '22 Ph.D. Yale students and alumni were highlighted as both readers and writers of devotional literature, as passages from STM’s forthcoming prayer book, Ever Ancient, Ever New, were offered between Biblical and choral verses. 4. 4. (continued on page 5) Pictured above left: Michael Lo Piano performs a dramatic read of the Last Prayer by St. Thomas More. Pictured above right: Karolina Wojteczko and Julian Revie take a bow after the concert. Picture at left: Mattias Lundberg directs the Yale University Church Choir. “Getting to surprise the audience at the concert with rays of light during the initial choir entrance is a pretty magical thing for me.” – Camilla Tassi '22 M.F.A. Photograph by Kerry Robinson5. Amongst the weaving of song and spoken word, the Chapel’s crucifix remained at the heart of the vision. Projection designer Camilla Tassi '22 M.F.A. stunned the audience with gorgeous visuals that arced around the crucifix, offering new perspectives on the poignant symbol. At different points during the concert, the crucifix was held aloft by the palm of God, surrounded by grape leaves and blanketed in shadows. Tassi’s artistry proved especially breathtaking in the grand entrance, when sunbeams burst forth from the clouds, accompanied by a jubilant brass fanfare and choral rendition of Hubert Parry’s “I Was Glad.” “Getting to surprise the audience at the concert with rays of light during the initial choir entrance is a pretty magical thing for me,” Tassi admitted. She likened running her projections live to “playing a musical instrument,” as she adjusted the duration of the animations in time with a score of musicians: Revie on the organ, the STM Choir, the Amo Brass Quintet and the Yale University Church Choir directed by Mattias Lundberg GRD '23. (continued from page 4) 100th Anniversary Concert The night ended in a moment of spiritual communion, as the audience joined current STM Chaplain Father Ryan Lerner in a reading of his prayer of thanksgiving for the past one hundred years of Catholic chaplaincy at Yale. Sunbeams graced the crucifix once more as the familiar tune of “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” rang out from the choir, leaving the Chapel to contemplate the presence of St. Thomas More’s much desired faith, hope and charity at Yale University. Top left: Projection designer Camilla Tassi stunned the audience with gorgeous visuals that arced around the crucifix. Bottom left: STM Chaplain Father Ryan Lerner reads his prayer of thanksgiving for the past one hundred years of Catholic chaplaincy at Yale. Above: Camilla Tassi sits in the choir loft as she creates the visuals arching the crucifix. Photograph by Dewey Forbesguido Guido Calabresi: Class of 1953, Yale Law School Class of 1958 Current Chaplain: Father Edwin O’Brien '31; Father James Healey '49; Father Richard Russell I graduated from Yale College in '53 and went to Oxford. . . . [During that time], I started believing in God. That had also happened to my mother. I started looking around, and I thought about being a Quaker. But I talk too much. Just no way. I mean there's something very attractive [about the Quaker Movement], but not enough for me. For the first time [at STM] I'd found a Catholic place that was at the same intellectual level as I was. And that's not necessarily good, but it is very helpful to kids, at that point to feel: “Okay, this is the same.” Father Healy then left, and that was a turning moment for many things in the Church, about that time. And then, a piece of great luck. A guy who had been Assistant Chaplain, Dick Russell, stayed on. He was not a great preacher, but a fantastic Chaplain. Because he was extraordinarily smart and there wasn't a defensive bone in his body. A person of very deep faith and open to everything and anything that was going on. In a way, this is interesting because he was before Vatican II. But he just was that kind of a person and he responded intellectually and he understood immediately what was needed . . . And that every time a student or anyone else had doubts or argued, instead of anathema—fine: talking, discussing. It was that that I think really changed the whole tone. Yale was changing, and there were more Catholic faculty. There were more Catholic students. Catholic students were not afraid to say that they were Catholic. Voices from the Decades: STM Alums Share Their Stories STM Magazine Editors From the first semester in the fall of 1922, STM’s Chaplains and their staff have been there for countless Catholic students, helping them strengthen and shape their faith during their time at Yale. Some of our alums have shared their recollections of Yale and STM with us through STM’s Oral History Project. Here are some of their stories, spanning the 1930s-1970s. (continued on page 7) 4. 6.Next >