The Very Reverend G. Gregory Gay, CM, blesses the cornerstone for the new Perryville residence.

A Very Special Visit and Blessing

The Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission, the Very Reverend G. Gregory Gay, CM, visited the Midwest Province September 2-6, 2005. His travels included arriving first in Chicago where he visited the confreres and seminarians at Perboyre Mission House, and presided at Mass for the members of the house and visitors. The next morning, Fr. Gay gave a keynote address to the National Meeting of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, gathered that week in Chicago.

Next, he traveled to St. Louis and the Saint-Lazare Residence where he visited with the confreres of the house and celebrated morning Mass. In the afternoon, Fr. Gay celebrated Mass and had dinner with members of the Daughters of Charity in the St. Louis area.

That evening, Provincial, Father Jim Swift, CM, took Fr. Gay to St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville. The next day, he celebrated morning Mass with the confreres of the house, immediately followed by a very special opportunity: the blessing of the cornerstone for the new Perryville residence.  After breakfast, Fr. Gay visited the confreres on the skilled nursing floor.  Assistant Provincial, Father Ray Van Dorpe, CM, shared, “It was wonderful to have Fr. Gay visit St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville, the first home of the Vincentians in the United States. This was the first time he had ever been able to visit Perryville!”

Fr. Gay ended his visit in St. Louis with meetings, a Labor Day barbeque with all the Vincentians of St. Louis and the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers at the Saint-Lazare Residence. (Stopping off on his way for a quick look at the Old Cathedral of St. Louis, he inspected the bronze plaque on the outside of the building which noted the presence of the early Vincen­tians in that area.) Fr. Gay ended his visit with another celebration of morning Mass and breakfast with confreres at the Saint-Lazare Residence before a tour of the Pro­vincial Office in Earth City to meet staff, and then departing for Rome.

“We were delighted to have Fr. Gay visit some of the houses of the Midwest Province in Sep­tember and happy to have him meet so many of the confreres informally, as well as the young people of this year’s Gateway Vincentian Volunteers,” Fr. Ray concluded.

Father Gregory Gay, CM, and Province Superior Father Jim Swift, CM, in Perryville