SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE
Remarks at Commencement
Father Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B.
President
17 May 2008

Your Excellency Bishop Joseph,
Abbot Matthew,
Distinguished Honorary Degree Recipients,
Members of the Graduating Class of Two Thousand and Eight,
Parents and families,
my Benedictine confreres and sister,
Chair of the Board and Trustees of Saint Anselm , faculty, and staff,
guests and friends:

I welcome you to Saint Anselm College's 115th Commencement Exercises – and what a glorious day it is!

To our honorary degree recipients, I extend a special welcome and the thanks of the entire Saint Anselm College Community for honoring us with your presence. Certainly all of you have distinguished yourselves in your careers and in service to your communities. And most importantly, you have distinguished yourselves in the way you have chosen to live your lives. For all of this, we are very grateful.

In a very special way, I welcome our Commencement speaker, Helen Aguirre Ferré, and I thank her for accepting our invitation to be here today. She is a living example of a faith-filled life, of a virtuous citizen and woman with high professional standards and accomplishments.

To the parents and families of the class of 2008, my greetings and congratulations! We at Saint Anselm realize that the success of our graduates is in large part due to their own good work and choices combined with the guidance and expertise of our faculty. That said, however, we also realize that the sacrifices and support of family and friends contribute immeasurably to the accomplishment we celebrate today. Members of the Class of 2008, please stand up, turn around, and applaud with me your families and friends.

Earlier this month we experienced a profound change here at Saint Anselm. After 80 years of remarkable and unrepeatable service to the College and the Abbey, the three remaining Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc, accompanied by their Mother General and some sisters from Canada, left the college to return to their order’s motherhouse in Quebec. The presence of the Sisters of Saint Joan of Arc has been a constant blessing to our College, so it was with sadness that we bade farewell to Sister Laurette Moreau, Sister Pauline Marcoux, and Sister Monique Tanguay.

The Sisters in their work and prayer were part of the strength and character of our College, ever faithful witnesses to the Lord and His goodness. Now, as they continue their devotion to us through their prayer in Canada, we too shall be ever grateful and ever mindful of them in our own prayer. They shall remain, even at a distance, a part of Saint Anselm College.

Annually I take a moment at Commencement to recognize those members of our College Community who will be retiring this summer. Today I offer congratulations for a job well done and our thanks to eleven members of our faculty who for decades have advanced the academic mission of our College. Their work will leave a permanent mark on the history of Saint Anselm College, and so we wish a long and happy retirement filled with God’s abundant blessings to:

Professor Denise Askin and Father Thomas Kass of the English Department

Professors Mary Cunningham and Valerie McKeon of the Nursing Department

Professor Paul Damour of the Chemistry Department

Professors Peter Lindstrom and Donald Stancl of the Mathematics Department

Professor James McGhee of the Theology Department

Professors Anthony Moses and David St. Cyr of the Economics and Business Department

and Sister Christopher Weber of the Education Department

Also today, we bid farewell to someone who is retiring from the Directorship our Health Services Department, my Saint Anselm classmate, Dr. Connie Richards. She has, for more than three decades carefully tended to the health and well-being of so many in our community. May she also enjoy the blessings of a well-deserved retirement.

Finally, among our retirees this year is a woman who for more than a quarter century has served our College so well. Often quietly, behind the scenes, Cathy Strausbaugh has tended to the endless details of the Dean’s Office and the preparations for great events like this one. May her retirement be filled with God’s finest blessings.

Many of you already know that the person who has led all our solemn processions, including today’s, is Dr. Marie George, the Executive Vice President of the College. She will be leaving our College this month to work in another part of the Lord’s vineyard as the new President of Cabrini College near Philadelphia. The expertise and grace she brought to our College is truly remarkable and has helped us grow and prosper in so many areas. We have all benefited from her work and her witnees, and now that she is finally getting to participate in outdoor commencement: Marie, consider this glorious ceremony on the quad our farewell gift!

Dear Members of the Class of 2008, it is a pleasure for me to offer you a few final thoughts from what will soon be your alma mater.

Just about a month ago the media was completely taken with the visit our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to the United States. The build-up to his visit included all manner of speculation about what he would be like, what he would say, and what he would or would not do while he was here. For the most part, I believe, he stunned the commentators by his gentle manner, his warm expressions, and his powerful message of hope in a world that so much needs to hear that message.

One of his stops was a visit with Catholic educators, the presidents of our Catholic colleges and universities and the superintendents of Catholic schools from around the country. That meeting, too, was full of encouragement for the work we do, full of hope for the future, and an affirmation of what each one of you is completing today.

Of the many wonderful things that the Holy Father said at that meeting, one in particular struck me as particularly appropriate for what we celebrate today on this campus. In speaking of every young person’s right to an education in faith, he said that such an education “nurtures the soul of a nation.” Nurtures the soul of a nation.

From the moment you arrived on this campus, we have spoken of the great Catholic and Benedictine tradition of liberal arts education that is meant to nurture first of all your own soul, by helping you to understand the life-long task of seeking the truth. We have, though our core curriculum especially, called you think about the most profound questions of life, to think about who you really are in the context of your place in the world and your place in the plan of God. We have asked you think deeply about what it means to be truly human and to live your life consciously choosing to the right thing, to have concern for your sisters and brothers around you, and to be attentive to the needs of every human person, especially the weak and the poor. It is this kind of education, combined with the specific knowledge of your chosen major, that we believe sets you apart. It is what has hopefully nurtured your own soul so that you can now take on the work of which the Holy Father spoke.

We are so blessed to be living in a democratic society that has recognized the God-given rights of believers, in a society where we can have a positive influence that is founded on our belief in the fundamental dignity of every human person.

What will it mean, then, for you to “nurture the soul of a nation?” First of all, it will mean that you must remain committed to the search for ultimate Truth, that you must keep your minds and hearts attentive to that Truth in all the decision-making that you are about to face. What kind spouse will you be, how will you use your gifts and talents, what kind of parent will you be, what kind of leader in nursing or in politics, or in business or law, or in the media or education or what ever career you choose? In whatever you do, if you marginalize God and the Truth, you cannot fulfill your obligation to nurture the soul of a nation.

It means that you must be attentive to your responsibility to be that virtuous citizen who is knowledgeable and creative and courageous enough to become part of the public dialogue, to be that faithful citizen who is concerned for the common good, and is strong voice in the public square for true and enduring values.

Members of the Class of 2008, you have examples all around you of lives well lived. Do not be timid in your pursuit of the Good. Do not be satisfied with a false freedom. Take the learning and principles you have acquired here and live your lives well. Look for God’s truth and beauty and goodness everywhere in your lives; respect and love one another, and never fear to sacrifice for the good of another…it will bring you greater reward than you can possibly imagine.

Today I salute your accomplishments and offer the congratulations of the entire College community. I will truly miss the many of you that I have gotten to know well and will pray for all of you that the grace of God who loves you in Christ will sustain and support you all the days of your lives.

God love you all!