May 14, 2026 • 37 mins
What was it like to be friends with possible future saint Archbishop Fulton Sheen? For this episode, we hear from Lo Anne Mayer, formerly of Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham Township, N.J., of the Diocese of Paterson, N.J.
Mayer struck up a friendship with the beloved, world-renowned Catholic radio and TV evangelist in 1974 after hearing him speak at Christ the King Church in the New Vernon neighborhood of Harding Township, N.J.
The two would speak a couple of times a week over the phone until he died in 1979. Archbishop Sheen sought out her views on particular topics to help make his talks more relevant to his audience.
Sheen baptized Lo Anne and her husband Raymond’s youngest child, Michael, at Corpus Christi in 1975.
She joins Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., and co-host Communications Director Jai Agnish to recount the stories of her close friendship with Archbishop Sheen. We also discuss some of Archbishop Sheen's other ties to the Diocese of Paterson.
Lo Anne, 85, now living in Manchester, N.J., heard the news on March 25 that Archbishop Sheen — now Venerable Fulton J. Sheen — is getting a step closer to sainthood. With joy, she plans to attend with her family the Mass of his beatification, where he will be designated as “blessed.” This will take place on Thursday, Sept. 24, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Show Notes:
"Beatification candidate Fulton Sheen forged strong ties in Paterson"
"Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, frequent visitor to Diocese, to be beatified"
Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation
Learn about Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, S.C.
Email questions and topic ideas to Bishop Kevin at beyond@patersondiocese.org.
Produced by Jai Agnish, Michael Wojcik, and Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney for the Diocese of Paterson. Engineered, edited, and theme song by Jai Agnish. Illustrations by Dennis Dalelio.
Beyond The Beacon on Instagram and Facebook. Bishop Kevin on Instagram. The Diocese of Paterson on Instagram, Facebook (English) / Facebook (Spanish).
Every three years, each Diocese in the USA has the graced opportunity to make a scheduled pilgrimage as one Diocesan family with their Bishop to the National Shrine in the nation's capital. 2026 is once again "our year!" Please note the two-day and one-day options: Oct. 16, Friday, and Oct. 17, Saturday. Visit the Diocese of Paterson website here to learn more!
On Coffee with Kupke, we have a cup of coffee and sit down with diocesan archivist, Monsignor Raymond Kupke Ph.D., to delve into the history of Catholicism in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J. Hosted by Father Paul Manning and Msgr. Kupke. Listen to Coffee with Kupke wherever you get your podcasts, or watch it on the St. Paul Inside the Walls YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@stpaulinsidethewalls.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Welcome to Beyond the Weekend with Bishop Kevin
Sweeney, a podcast at the Dietof Patterson, New Jersey.
Join us for conversations aboutour Catholic faith, and together
let's strive to live a life offaith, hope, and love.
Thank you for joining us.
I'm Jay Agnisch.
With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney.
Bishop Kevin, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
I'm good, Jay.
How about yourself?
Doing well.
So today.
Happy first anniversary to PopeLeo.
May 28th.
I'm sure everybody rememberswhere they were.
I uh had the privilege ofactually celebrating, as I
shared in my column, two massesthat day.
Um one in uh St.
Teresa's in Summit for severalsources, a wonderful pro-life
(00:47):
group, uh with Bishop EliasLorenzo, and then um
confirmation in St.
Peter the Apostle.
What better parish to haveconfirmation on the day that you
get a new Pope than at St.
Peter the Apostle, a uh firstpope?
So thank God for Pope Leo and wekeep him in our prayers.
Um and uh also the uh memorialfeast day of Blessed Miriam
(01:08):
Teresa Demjanovich.
Uh so blessed Miriam Teresa andPope Leo have com something in
common and uh the uh birthday ofuh Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who
we'll talk about later with uhwith our guest.
Um but um so um wonderful timeof year and uh a beautiful day
today.
Um and uh um we're lookingforward to a conversation uh
(01:29):
about soon to be beatified uhArchbishop.
SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
Bishop Fulton Sheen, right, with someone who was a
friend of his.
So yeah, pretty amazinginterview.
Can you tell me about MiriamTeresa Dev Janovich's local tie
to Patterson of Dyce?
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
Sister of Charity of Convent Station, who passed away
on May 8th, um 1927, so 99 yearsago.
And um we'll put a link to theuh website for her to get
information about her, but uh alater vocation, she was uh
helping at home, she wasworking, um, but felt this call.
(02:06):
Uh she actually, I think, grewup in actually the Newark
Archdiocese.
Uh she had a relationship withuh she was a family relation of
one of our priests, uh MonsignorDenkovich, I believe.
And um but and then entered thesister charity and uh um was
deeply spiritual and and aspiritual writer.
Um she actually um wrote retreattalks that a priest would give,
(02:28):
because in those days thepriests gave the retreats, um
they still do sometimes, but uhothers can give retreats as
well.
And um uh maybe similar to SaintTeresa's uh going back and
reading her diaries um led thesisters and others to see her
deep, deep spirituality and lovefor the Lord, and um and uh um
(02:50):
they opened the cause and Dr.
Mary uh Mazzarella are uh ofhappy memory who passed away j
um a few months ago um wasFather Pavel Tomchek, but Bishop
Saratelli were all part of umher cause and the which is still
going on uh uh but um she was umbeatified or named Ven Venerable
(03:14):
Um Blessed Mary and Teresa,yeah.
So beatified uh in the cathedralin uh of Sacred Heart in in
Newark.
Okay.
Um I want to say 2018 or 2019.
SPEAKER_00 (03:25):
Yeah, I remember this.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (03:26):
Right, right.
We had coverage in the beaconbefore I arrived here in
Patterson, but uh um so and manyof our priests have a strong
devotion to her, and we oftenmention her in the Eucharistic
prayer, which you can do oncesomebody is blessed, and uh so
um uh her cause goes on, and uhlike Archbishop Seen, we hope
both will uh get to uh becanonized as saints one of these
(03:47):
days.
SPEAKER_00 (03:47):
Okay, so Bishop, before we get to our guest
today, is there anything elsethat's been going on?
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
We had a wonderful event on uh Wednesday with uh
Coach Jay Wright, uh the formercoach of the Villanova Wildcats,
even though St.
John's alum.
Uh uh Father Patty O'Donovan,one of our priests, uh, is a
personal friend of Coach Wright.
SPEAKER_00 (04:06):
And my wife was asking, how did you get Coach
Wright?
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Yeah, yeah, Father Patty.
And uh John Camarata, theexecutive director in St.
Paul's Inside the Walls, andFather Paul Manning, our vicar
for evangelization and foreducation.
Uh uh, they really worked um uhwith the team there at um uh at
um at St.
Paul's and uh teamwork uh hasapplications between sports and
I think the spiritual life andour life as uh uh ministers of
(04:32):
the Lord, whether it be inParish or the Darkson level, and
Coach Wright gave thisphenomenal talk on work winning
and losing as a team and some ofthe challenges you face.
And uh wow, um, you know, I hadfollowed it kind of peripherally
um uh uh just a collegebasketball fan when they won
their championships.
But um we now have the NovaKnicks.
(04:52):
Uh three of his former players,uh uh Josh Hart, uh Jalen
Brunson, and Mikhail Bridges areleading the Knicks in their own.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They're up two games to none.
They play the Sixers tonight, uhhopefully the have a short
series to get on to the nextround, the Eastern Conference
Finals.
So uh but um a man of faith.
Uh um I I think some of it mightbe available.
(05:13):
Uh I think some was recorded.
So um he just gave a reallywonderful, and I I think there
were 250 or 300 people inattendance and uh wonderful
night.
Um so um uh great time of year,first communions and
confirmations, and um uhPentecost will be coming soon,
so um uh great time of year forthe vibrancy of the church, and
(05:37):
part of that is the uh the causeum of those who um live lives of
um uh exemplary holiness uh orheroic virtue um uh in the
process to name someonevenerable and blessed, and then
as a saint, and so uh as we prayfor Maria Saint uh Blessed Maria
Miriam Teresa's elevation, uh welook forward to now uh having a
(05:59):
chance to find out aboutArchbishop Sheen's uh upcoming
beatification.
SPEAKER_00 (06:04):
Okay.
So we will, you know, and I alsowanted to mention um the
broadcaster for the Yankees,Sterling, Oh, yeah, John
Sterling, yeah.
He was great.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
He was great.
He was listening to some of hisbroadcasts.
Uh Yankees win, yeah, yeah,yeah.
He was one of a kind.
Uh 30 years without missing agame, incredible.
Wow, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
God rest John Sterling.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
Archbishop Fulton Sheen was a beloved,
world-renowned Catholic radioand TV evangelist in the United
States between the 1930s upuntil the late 1960s.
His Emmy Award-winningtelevision show, Life is Worth
Living, reached an audience ofmillions.
The Archbishop, who had aworldwide reputation as the 20th
(06:53):
century's greatestEnglish-speaking Catholic
televangelist, had close ties tothe Patterson Diocese.
He befriended Patterson bishops,preached at parishes in the
diocese, and kept in touch withfriends and family who lived in
the diocese.
Today we are speaking with oneof those friends, uh Loanne
Mayer, formerly of CorpusChristi Parish in Chatham
(07:14):
Township, New Jersey.
Mayor first heard Fulton Sheenspeak at Christ the King Church
in the New Vernon neighborhoodof Harding Township back in
1974.
They met briefly after the talkand would strike up a
friendship.
Fulton Sheen sought out her uhher and others' views on
particular topics to help makehis talks more relevant to his
audience.
(07:35):
Sheen baptized her and herhusband Raymond's youngest child
Michael at Corpus Christi in1975.
Sheen kept in touch with thefamily, and Loanne and he
actually spoke a couple times aweek up until he died in 1979.
So from 1974 to 1979.
And she was at Fulton Sheen'sfuneral.
(07:56):
Loan, 85, now living inManchester, New Jersey, heard
the news on March 25th thatArchbishop Sheen, now venerable
Fulton J.
Sheen, is getting a step closerto sainthood.
With joy, she plans to attendwith her family the mass of his
beatification, where he will bedesignated as blessed.
This will take place onThursday, September 24th in St.
Louis, Missouri.
(08:18):
Hello, Loanne.
SPEAKER_01 (08:20):
Hello.
SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
Hi, Loanne, Bishop Kevin.
SPEAKER_01 (08:24):
Hi there, I'm Bishop Kevin.
It's good to be on the on theradio with you.
SPEAKER_02 (08:29):
Thanks for your time.
So uh maybe we could begin.
We were talking just a littlebefore we came on the air.
Um uh the coldest Ash Wednesdayyou can remember, 1974.
Was that right?
SPEAKER_01 (08:42):
That's right.
Uh 1974, uh as I mentionedmentioned it to you, it was my
mother's parish at the time.
SPEAKER_02 (08:50):
Christ the King in New Vernon, right?
Uh um and so you were standingoutside in the cold because the
doors were locked, every waitingto get in.
You got in, you got into thelast uh pew, and um you
eventually were walking withyour mom and uh Father Korr and
Father Patch, who I believe weregreat friends, uh came up, came
up to the church from downstairswhere they had left a crowd, and
(09:13):
you bumped in to ArchbishopSheen.
Is that is that right literally.
Take us from there, please.
SPEAKER_01 (09:21):
Well, when I uh I I was really kind of stunned for a
moment because I didn't expectto see him, and the minute that
the rest of the people theremight be 25 people still left in
the church who saw him, therewas a big swarm around him.
So I just spoke for a second.
And I'm even to this day, Ican't tell you what I said.
I was just so surprised.
(09:42):
And then I backed out of thegroup and went back uh back to
get my coat.
And when I turned around to putmy hand in my coat, uh I found
this machine my coat.
SPEAKER_02 (09:56):
Oh wow, a gentleman.
SPEAKER_01 (09:57):
And uh he said to me, I I would like to have your
name, your address, and the nameof your children.
I'm going to send you somethingin the mail.
And of course, typical woman, Ihad a little pocketbook with
nothing in it but a hinge billat the time.
So I said, Well, I don't have apen.
And he said, I will wait whileyou get a pen.
(10:20):
And uh so I wrote everything upand I gave it to him, and he
said, Thank you, and he turnedaround and walked away with the
patch and the core.
SPEAKER_03 (10:28):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (10:29):
And uh it was very odd.
And I remember telling myhusband when I got home the
funniest thing happened, youknow.
And uh and then a couple, maybemaybe the following week, we got
a big box with uh books forchildren and a biblical of a
whole lot of powerful narrativesthat he said for the for the
(10:51):
family.
And uh I asked the children ifthey would write a a um a thank
you note, and the newspaper upthere at the time, the Mars Cow
Daily Record, had had a goodscene uh under the that
beautiful cross, and I noticedthat there were no nails.
First time I ever noticed it.
(11:12):
And so I wrote a little notesaying, I hope you looked up
while you were there, becausethere were no nails in your in
the cross that was hanging aboveyou.
Right and on my way, andexpecting anything more than
that.
And then uh maybe a week or tendays later he called, and we
talked for quite a long time.
(11:32):
In fact, I used to say my ha myphone was on the wall and I had
sticky notes all over the place.
You should read this, you shoulddo that.
And so I wrote it down, just putit all around the phone so that
I I would remember to do what hewas telling me to do.
So it it became uh um I wouldcall back doing suggestions, and
(11:55):
then he would call me back withmore suggestions and questions.
He would ask me things like um,what are your children learning
in school?
What kind of books do they have?
Uh what what grades are they in?
Um, what do you think of SaintJoseph?
Uh I really think a lot of thatwas just to give him more f food
(12:17):
for his own sermon.
SPEAKER_02 (12:18):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (12:19):
So he could be more relevant.
SPEAKER_02 (12:21):
And then uh he would come and baptize your I guess
you had a a a son after um whatwas that like?
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
I had a son, yeah, I'm uh seventy-five.
Michael was born in July ofseventy-five, and I called
Bishop Sheen from the hospitaland I said to them, Would you be
willing to come and baptizeMichael?
And um we had at the time we haraised two brothers.
My husband's two brothers wereBenedictines, so it's not like
(12:48):
we needed a priest to baptizethe children, but I thought what
a special thing it would be ifhe would come and baptize
Michael.
And he said, Yes, I'll be thereon September first.
And it turned out at the time Ithought it's so funny because he
didn't know that we namedMichael Michael Joseph, and he
picked the feast of St.
Joseph to baptize.
SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
Oh beautiful.
Beautiful.
Um, so um really wonderful.
Um and uh and then thatcontinued for uh he died in 79,
is that right?
SPEAKER_01 (13:20):
That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
So um go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (13:24):
I was gonna say he seemed to like this area.
Um uh I think it had to do withhis heart.
I didn't know, he nevermentioned that he was had a
heart condition.
But his uh his sister-in-law,uh, who I got to know fairly
well, told me that he had a veryserious heart condition when he
(13:45):
was in New York.
In fact, they said that when hehad hearts uh needed blood,
there was a line around the thethe whole block.
Wow, right and environment andordinary people who came to give
blood for him.
I think those of us who werenever mentioned it to me.
SPEAKER_02 (14:00):
Um I would have been uh four years old when uh in
that 1974 Ash Wednesday.
Uh so he was a little bit, Iwould say, before my time, but
certainly hearing about himgrowing up and having learned
now um uh his overwhelmingpopularity um at that time, huh?
The love of Catholics and othersum uh it is certainly the
(14:21):
popularity of his TV show, butum but great affection for him,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
Tremendous affection.
And it it it it seemed almostone of my sons said to me
looking back, he said, he had anaura of faith around him.
SPEAKER_03 (14:36):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
That you just wanted to you just wanted to stay
there, you know, even if he saidnothing.
SPEAKER_02 (14:42):
Um I don't not sure if you're familiar with um
Bishop Barron.
Some have compared him, uh hedoes this.
Um and uh one thing that BishopBarron always says is that when
he was uh in seminary formation,he was the rector of the
seminary in Chicago, that umsome of the seminarians uh
encouraged him to uh make surethey did a daily holy hour.
(15:03):
And then um he Bishop Barronthen speaks of uh how Archbishop
Sheen would encourage the dailyholy hour.
Um a couple of years ago when wewere doing the Eucharistic
revival, I think it was thefirst time I heard, he gave
about a 40-minute talk at aretreat about the importance of
the daily holy hour.
Um would you remember uh hisemphasis on that, or um in in
(15:27):
your memories uh in terms of uhwhat how he encouraged people to
live their faith, uh somethingthat might stand out to you in
your in your recollections?
SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Well, I know two parts of that.
I know that he never missed adaily uh holy hour in the world.
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
Right, fifty-four years.
SPEAKER_01 (15:42):
Except once.
Once he said when he was inParis he fell asleep during his
holy hour.
But he said the good Lord saidit counts.
SPEAKER_02 (15:52):
And that's how the apostles did their first one in
the Garden of Cassembly.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
Oh but but I do know that um the holy hour was
something towards the end of hislife, he gave a lot of retreats
for priests almost exclusively.
And uh he had very strongconcerns about priesthood.
SPEAKER_02 (16:13):
Right, oh right.
I you could hear it in that talkof that time, kind of between
the lines, uh, and and about thechurch and maybe some of the
changes, uh and certainly aboutthe society.
Um and uh um but him saying s asI mean his voice, his um way of
speaking, his use of words, um,he would say it's the one thing
that Jesus asked specifically,can you not spend one hour with
(16:37):
me?
SPEAKER_01 (16:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:39):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
Yeah, yeah.
Was it something else?
SPEAKER_02 (16:45):
Right, right, right, right.
I know Jay has some questions aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (16:48):
Loan, so when I was getting ready for the episode, I
you know, I was looking back atsome of his television
broadcasts and radio broadcasts,and it really struck me like he
he really comes from kind oflike a different time in
society, right?
Where you mentioned newspapers,like uh there used to be
religious sections innewspapers, like they some of
(17:10):
them still have them, right?
And he was invited to be on asecular radio station, I
believe, right?
To to give a talk during at thetime radio stations were looking
for Christian or Catholiccontent on their secular radio
stations and and then alsotelevision stations.
And I feel like that's reallyshifted over the years, but it
was kind of a different era.
(17:30):
Can you can you put yourselfback there in in that time of
when you'd watch him ontelevision or hear him on the
radio?
Did you watch his televisionshow?
SPEAKER_01 (18:21):
Uh did I watch it?
Yes, of course I did.
We were required to.
We had to write a report when Iwas in school, you had to write
a report about what he said.
SPEAKER_02 (18:29):
Did you go to school, um Catholic school?
SPEAKER_01 (18:33):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (18:34):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
Several.
SPEAKER_02 (18:36):
Five to be five different my folks who are and
so um, you know, we're coming upto the 250th anniversary of uh
our independence of our nation,and uh I think Archbishop Sheen
was also uh a a good example ofum living our faith as as as
good citizens as well.
I think he was very patriotic aswell.
(18:57):
Would you say that?
SPEAKER_01 (19:01):
He was what?
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Very patriotic?
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
Oh my gosh, yes.
He went with uh Spellman to uh,you know, they went on all those
tours around the Far East andThe propagation of the faith,
the propagation of the faith,the missions, right?
Right.
The missions and he also went uhwith uh Cardinal Spellman on
this tremendous tour of the FarEast, where they stopped at all
(19:26):
the different places where thesoldiers were in the city.
Right, the military.
Yes, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_02 (19:30):
Yes, uh visiting the soldiers, right, you're right,
yes, yes, yes.
Yeah.
Um and maybe a little bit aboutyour those those phone calls and
some of your personalconversations.
Um uh obviously he liked torecommend books and reading and
uh was interested in yourchildren.
Other things that stood out interms of uh um uh those phone
(19:52):
calls and conversations?
SPEAKER_01 (19:55):
Well, you know, it's been 40 years.
Um the exact conversations, Ican't remember.
The main gist of theconversations was he made me be
aware of the fact that therewere books that that that were
worth living.
You know, life is worth living,uh books um that he recommended
on the TV.
There were so many Catholicbooks that he recommended that I
(20:16):
read.
And having five children underseven at the time, eight, I
guess.
I didn't do much reading, but heuh he did encourage me to go
back and do some of the reading.
And I know um the life of Christwas the one that was at the top
of the list and it reallychanged me.
In that we did.
It was a it is an incrediblebook.
(20:36):
In fact, I saw it when I sawwhen uh Cardinal Dolan was
leaving his post uh right beforethat he went to the Holy Land
and he said he was only takingtwo things, the Bible and the
life of Christ.
SPEAKER_02 (20:48):
Wow, wow.
Um by our uh was that the Lifeof Christ by Arch Archbishop
Sheen?
SPEAKER_01 (20:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:54):
Right.
And um uh in the talk he giveson the holy hour, he recommends
a scripture scholar namedBarclay, and he repeats it a few
times saying, read Barkley, readBarclay.
Um uh not easy to do.
Right.
Um uh boy, um well, um I wasgonna ask about um his holiness
(21:17):
and um the cause for his um uhplease God eventual beatif um uh
he's gonna be beatified inSeptember.
And uh canonization, please God.
Um uh um what what would youstood out say stood out in terms
of your knowledge of him, interms of his um his own personal
(21:38):
holiness and and his example?
SPEAKER_01 (21:40):
Well, as as uh my son uh that I mentioned
mentioned, he had an aura offaith about him.
He could translate anything intoan example of how that would
affect your faith, good or bad.
SPEAKER_03 (21:51):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (21:52):
And it's just he was in fact one of the the memories
I have after I I wanted him togo to the caramel.
SPEAKER_03 (22:01):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
And at the time I was pestering him about that.
He was not enthusiastic.
There was a lot of things goingon with the nuns.
SPEAKER_02 (22:09):
Oh, yes, yes.
There was a difficult time.
Yes, I've heard.
SPEAKER_01 (22:15):
Yeah, well, I was I pestered and pestered, and he
finally said, Okay, okay, I'llgo.
So I went I drove him in to um Iwent to New York and got him and
brought him home, but I wasputting him at the time so it
was for the day that herequested.
And um, but he I still rememberwe got to the door with Mother
(22:35):
Primaris, who was there andalive at that time.
He knocks on the door.
door and he said um here I ambishop came to give you a
retreat and she said well youjust go in the chapel and we'll
go into the other I don't knowwhat they call it.
Yeah behind the grill behind thegrill you can Yeah.
And he said no no no no he saidI would like to come in and give
(22:58):
it to you.
She three times she told him no.
SPEAKER_03 (23:01):
Oh boy.
SPEAKER_01 (23:02):
And he finally looked at me and he said Where
did you find these people?
I don't know.
I don't know but he said I am abishop I have the right to break
closer open the door and so shedid.
SPEAKER_02 (23:14):
Um you know what uh he also had a great sense of
humor didn't he?
SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
Yes he had a wonderful sense of humor and
laughed heartily heartily yesyes but but just to just to
follow up with that littlelittle part I told you I came
back later in the day um I hadto lie down for the afternoon
and I came back and I s I talkedto him and I I said well I was
gonna take him to our house fordinner and he said you know
(23:41):
Loanne he said I really thankyou.
He said this is a very holyplace.
Oh beautiful beautiful beautifuluh he got past the rough start
um uh the sisters will be happyto know that um and and it is
it's a beautiful place Icelebrate mass there uh when I
can and um and yes uh yeah hestruck up a relationship with
(24:03):
with those sisters right afterthat I don't know if he followed
up on a relationship at all Inever asked him a lot of things
happened around that time and Ihe was getting so many requests
um to go places and he was hisheart was giving him trouble at
that time and I didn't realizethat's one of the reasons he
stayed in the Morris town areabecause he uh when we had
(24:27):
Michael was baptized and he wassitting on the porch one of my
husband's friends is a uh uh orwas a uh congressman and he said
to the uh to the congressman hesaid no one has ever asked me to
uh speak at the prayer breakfastthe congressional prayer
breakfast I would really like todo that and um Matthew made
(24:48):
arrangements for that to happenbut he had to go with his
because he was that frail.
SPEAKER_00 (24:55):
Well and how did how did you gr reconcile his his
fame with your conversations oror your interactions with him
and your family?
SPEAKER_01 (25:05):
Well I'll give you an example I I he did I he
didn't get the feeling that hewas conscious of it.
Maybe he was but I never got thefeeling that he was conscious of
it.
It was like I invited him tocome to dinner after doing the
the the retreat of the nuns forthe caramel and and he came back
(25:26):
and I don't know where my brainwas but I asked the children to
sit with him while I fixeddinner.
And all of a sudden there wasthis quiet and I went back into
the living room where thechildren were uh with him and
they were all sitting around himlike one was two were on the
floor one was sitting on theside of the of the uh chair one
(25:49):
was standing in front of him andthey were acting so to him that
I actually walked to the end ofthe ch of the house it was a
pretty big house got a cameracame back took a picture and
that was the first they noticedme.
Wow wow and he was just speakingto them uh softly answering
(26:09):
their questions talking aboutthings that they would be
interested in and that's what Iloved he could talk to paupers
and kings uh PhDs and littlepeople children he never made
you feel like there was anydifference between you and him
ever.
SPEAKER_02 (26:25):
And and he was always a priest, right?
I mean like a parish priestvisiting a family right uh
interested in the Lord andinterested in people and uh not
putting on heirs but um but justum trying to be the priest he
was called to be right to toshare the life of our Lord.
SPEAKER_01 (26:41):
Yes, exactly.
He came from a I think a prettylarge family in Peoria um most
of them never came left Peoria.
He was he was uh ordained inPeoria um but he really loved
New York very very much and hewanted to be buried in New York
and he was buried in New Yorkuntil they uh the bishop of uh
(27:04):
Peoria made arrangements for himto go to Peoria but it was uh
and hopefully that's all yeahall in God's plan right uh and
uh the great thing I hope so Iwasn't happy about it but that
he's gonna be beatified is agreat thing right so uh uh yes
oh listen I uh this is what Ilived for for forty years I
(27:24):
can't I knew it could happen butI didn't think it would happen
in my lifetime because thechurch often moves very slowly.
SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
I've I've um I've gotten to know the the current
bishop of Peoria Bishop LouisTilka he uh yes he was ordained
in 2020 the same year that I wasand we get together when the
bishops meet and uh for the youknow since 2020 since he's he
started um he's been uh reallyworking to try to get the
(27:53):
movement uh and thank god uh youknow I'm sure with others uh but
um that it that uh I remember Isaw him oh uh maybe in November
and I said how's it going withuh Bishop Sheen's case it's
gonna be good news it's gonna beactually I want to say what
might have been in um February6th we were in New York for the
uh installation of the newArchbishop uh Archbishop Hicks
(28:14):
and uh bishop Bishop Tilke wassaying to me any day now any day
now so he's very very happy thatit's been a moved along.
SPEAKER_01 (28:24):
Well here let me give one I think you you need to
give a lot of credit to the newuh head of the propagation of
the faith too senior Hanley okayhe uh the way I understand it
when he became uh uh head of thepropagation of the faith he
looked over the you know thebackground of everything that
(28:45):
happened and he said to me thisis ridiculous he has to be
canonized we're gonna make thathappen great and he really uh
has been uh at the forefront ofmaking that happen so quickly
great that I can't believe it.
SPEAKER_02 (28:58):
Monsignor Roger Landry know is it is that it's
that's him.
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Right, right right uh Jay has some information I
think I believe so yes rightthere and people think so highly
of him yes yes um uh good forhim thank god thank god it all
happened um I think Jay has someinformation he wants to yeah I
just want to tie a couple of uhthings together so there's a
little more on his background Ithink might be helpful for
(29:24):
listeners and viewers ArchbishopSheen was born in May 8th 1895
in Al Paso's birthday yes firstanniversary yes yes thank you
bishop for schedule around andhappy first anniversary to Pope
Leo uh huh yes and it's also thefeast day of blessed Miriam
(29:46):
Teresa Domjanovich another oneon the course to canonization uh
a sister of charity of uh SaintElizabeth of uh Convent Station
so keep her in prayer as well sookay so full of Jean his family
moved to Peoria and he grew upin the parish of the Cathedral
of St.
Mary where he was an altarserver so an altar boy he or was
(30:06):
ordained a priest at 24 in thecathedral in 1919.
He served as a professor ofphilosophy and religion at the
Catholic University of Americabefore becoming a popular radio
personality in the 30s.
So he was a professor while hewas drive my understanding is
driving up to New York to be onthe radio DC to New York.
He was appointed auxiliarybishop of New York in 1951 where
(30:30):
he remained until hisappointment as Bishop of
Rochester, New York in 66.
He retired in 69, moved back toNew York City until his death in
1979 at the age of 84.
SPEAKER_02 (30:43):
My brother-in-law's mother Claire Shanahan is a big
big fan uh she gave me a set ofdiscs um uh uh on on Bishop
Sheen's talks and uh two of mynieces, so her two
granddaughters went to CatholicUniversity and she was so happy
they were in Catholic Universitybecause Archbishop Sheen had
been a a professor there.
SPEAKER_01 (31:03):
Yes.
There's another littleinteresting story around that
you might find uh way I heard itanyway, is that he uh he was
after he uh graduated uh from umand became a priest they sent
him uh no yes they sent him toEurope and he was uh he was for
(31:23):
uh uh he was really uhastoundingly did well at his
studies there and then when theycame home the bishop that was I
don't remember who the bishopwas sent him off to a small poor
parish just so that he he keepshis humility.
SPEAKER_02 (31:40):
Right, right right yeah um and uh he was ready to
do what whatever you knowobedience right whatever was
asked of him uh God bless youexactly yeah um exactly but um
such a mind such greatintelligence and given to the
service of the church uh so umwe see how God can work you
might also want to know that heis his given name at birth
apparently was Peter.
SPEAKER_03 (32:01):
Is that right?
SPEAKER_01 (32:03):
Wow yeah yeah uh he uh uh the way I heard him say it
is that he cried so much when hewas a child that his pa his
mother didn't know what to dowith him so she gave him to his
to the Fultons who were thegrandparents and the
grandparents brought him up andso he changed it to Fulton.
SPEAKER_02 (32:21):
Wow officially God works in mysterious ways you
bet.
SPEAKER_00 (32:26):
Right, right.
So you know Fulton Sheen Loanneand you probably know this has
other connections to the dioceseas well.
In fact he was he was friendswith Bishop James McNulty who
was the third bishop ofPatterson and his classmate at
Louvain University in Belgiumactually and uh I'm gonna have a
couple links in the show notesto this article that I'm
(32:47):
referencing right now that uhMike Mike Wochek, our beacon
managing editor uh Oh noactually this is Catholic News
Agency.
Mike reached out to you for anarticle uh on you and your
connections with with FultonSheen.
But um were you aware of any ofthese other connections or no
not yet.
SPEAKER_01 (33:06):
Yeah there's a great focus on this to be honest with
you is that I wanted the peopleof the Mars County area
particularly to be aware of thefact that he was going to be uh
beatified because there's verylittle notif as far as I've seen
very little uh information beingshared yet.
I don't think they even have thetickets yet.
(33:27):
Um because I know we're gettingours through some people who do
know but basically what I'msaying is that they the idea of
knowing about it would at leastallow them to watch it's going
to be um uh on the EWP andthey're going to film the actual
uh uh mass and I think for thepeople who are older like myself
(33:50):
uh they might prefer to watch iton T V.
SPEAKER_03 (33:54):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
And uh I know it's gonna be at two PM their time.
I don't know what that would bewherever there anybody is but I
think just being a part of thethe prayers that are being
raised over this beatificationum is a very important aspect of
it because people felt felt likehe was a part of their lives.
SPEAKER_03 (34:14):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (34:14):
Yeah I think uh I think that that's important for
them to know that there's a waythat they could watch without
having to go there although Rayand I are going to go.
SPEAKER_02 (34:23):
That's great.
I'm I'm hoping please God tomaybe be able to be there myself
so uh if we uh if we're boththere we'll have to connect and
uh who knows we may end up witha group from the diocese and um
uh as you say um we want to leteveryone in the Morris County
area know and uh here um withJay and throughout the diocese
(34:43):
we're gonna do our best to leteveryone in Passaic Morris and
Sussex counties the threecounties of our diocese know uh
about the upcoming and uhbeatification and the plans and
um and especially uh you knowthe the the lives of the saints
can have such an impact on ourown lives and uh and and
Archbishop Sheen is such awonderful example of uh a life
(35:04):
of holiness and prayer and lovefor the church and living the
faith.
Um so but uh having knownsomeone uh or hearing from
someone who has known a saint uhas you please god he'll get that
he'll be canonized one day buteven a uh soon to be blessed um
Archbishop Sheen uh Loenn thankyou so much for sharing your
(35:25):
personal um recollections and uhconnections uh which with
Archbishop Sheen and I thinkyou've accomplished your goal
reminding us of his connectionswith Morris County in our
diocese.
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Yeah oh I'm so glad it works out that way and thank
you for taking the time to doit.
It's from my point of view itreally is very important that
the people get the opportunityat least to watch it on T V.
And uh a lot of us are older whoactually knew him but there are
a lot of young people who areaffected like my children are
are more your age and they theyremember everything.
(35:59):
They don't remember being in hisapartment.
They remember everything.
And now with the so it justbrings back good good good
memories.
SPEAKER_02 (36:06):
The the internet does have some good things
because so many of his talks areavailable on YouTube and so many
of our young Catholics are goingto listen to Archbishop Sheen.
So I think it's gonna bring arevival for him as well.
I I I I I agree with you that hecan have that impact on current
and future generations as well.
So so thank you very much andwe'll keep in contact uh between
(36:26):
now and September and uh we'llwe'll look forward to it.
SPEAKER_01 (36:30):
I look forward to meeting you Bishop Kevin God
bless you.
SPEAKER_02 (36:33):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (36:34):
Jay is going to just say a final word thank you so
much Loyan yeah if you couldjust humor me I'm gonna take us
out.
So we we won't sing happybirthday to him but we'll uh
wish him a happy birthday inheaven is uh here on his
birthday so uh uh here we that'sthe best gift of all isn't it
exactly exactly uh thanks againLoan and here's Jay Okay and
(36:55):
thank you all for joining usplease subscribe comment and
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Bishop Kevin's Instagram andbeyond the beacon on social
media read the bishop's weeklycolumn on beaconnj.org get in
touch if you have a question forthe bishop or a podcast topic
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SPEAKER_02 (37:15):
Thanks Luann thanks everybody God bless you God
bless you both thank you bye
Welcome to Beyond the Weekend with Bishop Kevin
Sweeney, a podcast at the Dietof Patterson, New Jersey.
Join us for conversations aboutour Catholic faith, and together
let's strive to live a life offaith, hope, and love.
Thank you for joining us.
I'm Jay Agnisch.
With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney.
Bishop Kevin, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
I'm good, Jay.
How about yourself?
Doing well.
So today.
Happy first anniversary to PopeLeo.
May 28th.
I'm sure everybody rememberswhere they were.
I uh had the privilege ofactually celebrating, as I
shared in my column, two massesthat day.
Um one in uh St.
Teresa's in Summit for severalsources, a wonderful pro-life
(00:47):
group, uh with Bishop EliasLorenzo, and then um
confirmation in St.
Peter the Apostle.
What better parish to haveconfirmation on the day that you
get a new Pope than at St.
Peter the Apostle, a uh firstpope?
So thank God for Pope Leo and wekeep him in our prayers.
Um and uh also the uh memorialfeast day of Blessed Miriam
(01:08):
Teresa Demjanovich.
Uh so blessed Miriam Teresa andPope Leo have com something in
common and uh the uh birthday ofuh Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who
we'll talk about later with uhwith our guest.
Um but um so um wonderful timeof year and uh a beautiful day
today.
Um and uh um we're lookingforward to a conversation uh
(01:29):
about soon to be beatified uhArchbishop.
SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
Bishop Fulton Sheen, right, with someone who was a
friend of his.
So yeah, pretty amazinginterview.
Can you tell me about MiriamTeresa Dev Janovich's local tie
to Patterson of Dyce?
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
Sister of Charity of Convent Station, who passed away
on May 8th, um 1927, so 99 yearsago.
And um we'll put a link to theuh website for her to get
information about her, but uh alater vocation, she was uh
helping at home, she wasworking, um, but felt this call.
(02:06):
Uh she actually, I think, grewup in actually the Newark
Archdiocese.
Uh she had a relationship withuh she was a family relation of
one of our priests, uh MonsignorDenkovich, I believe.
And um but and then entered thesister charity and uh um was
deeply spiritual and and aspiritual writer.
Um she actually um wrote retreattalks that a priest would give,
(02:28):
because in those days thepriests gave the retreats, um
they still do sometimes, but uhothers can give retreats as
well.
And um uh maybe similar to SaintTeresa's uh going back and
reading her diaries um led thesisters and others to see her
deep, deep spirituality and lovefor the Lord, and um and uh um
(02:50):
they opened the cause and Dr.
Mary uh Mazzarella are uh ofhappy memory who passed away j
um a few months ago um wasFather Pavel Tomchek, but Bishop
Saratelli were all part of umher cause and the which is still
going on uh uh but um she was umbeatified or named Ven Venerable
(03:14):
Um Blessed Mary and Teresa,yeah.
So beatified uh in the cathedralin uh of Sacred Heart in in
Newark.
Okay.
Um I want to say 2018 or 2019.
SPEAKER_00 (03:25):
Yeah, I remember this.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (03:26):
Right, right.
We had coverage in the beaconbefore I arrived here in
Patterson, but uh um so and manyof our priests have a strong
devotion to her, and we oftenmention her in the Eucharistic
prayer, which you can do oncesomebody is blessed, and uh so
um uh her cause goes on, and uhlike Archbishop Seen, we hope
both will uh get to uh becanonized as saints one of these
(03:47):
days.
SPEAKER_00 (03:47):
Okay, so Bishop, before we get to our guest
today, is there anything elsethat's been going on?
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
We had a wonderful event on uh Wednesday with uh
Coach Jay Wright, uh the formercoach of the Villanova Wildcats,
even though St.
John's alum.
Uh uh Father Patty O'Donovan,one of our priests, uh, is a
personal friend of Coach Wright.
SPEAKER_00 (04:06):
And my wife was asking, how did you get Coach
Wright?
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Yeah, yeah, Father Patty.
And uh John Camarata, theexecutive director in St.
Paul's Inside the Walls, andFather Paul Manning, our vicar
for evangelization and foreducation.
Uh uh, they really worked um uhwith the team there at um uh at
um at St.
Paul's and uh teamwork uh hasapplications between sports and
I think the spiritual life andour life as uh uh ministers of
(04:32):
the Lord, whether it be inParish or the Darkson level, and
Coach Wright gave thisphenomenal talk on work winning
and losing as a team and some ofthe challenges you face.
And uh wow, um, you know, I hadfollowed it kind of peripherally
um uh uh just a collegebasketball fan when they won
their championships.
But um we now have the NovaKnicks.
(04:52):
Uh three of his former players,uh uh Josh Hart, uh Jalen
Brunson, and Mikhail Bridges areleading the Knicks in their own.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They're up two games to none.
They play the Sixers tonight, uhhopefully the have a short
series to get on to the nextround, the Eastern Conference
Finals.
So uh but um a man of faith.
Uh um I I think some of it mightbe available.
(05:13):
Uh I think some was recorded.
So um he just gave a reallywonderful, and I I think there
were 250 or 300 people inattendance and uh wonderful
night.
Um so um uh great time of year,first communions and
confirmations, and um uhPentecost will be coming soon,
so um uh great time of year forthe vibrancy of the church, and
(05:37):
part of that is the uh the causeum of those who um live lives of
um uh exemplary holiness uh orheroic virtue um uh in the
process to name someonevenerable and blessed, and then
as a saint, and so uh as we prayfor Maria Saint uh Blessed Maria
Miriam Teresa's elevation, uh welook forward to now uh having a
(05:59):
chance to find out aboutArchbishop Sheen's uh upcoming
beatification.
SPEAKER_00 (06:04):
Okay.
So we will, you know, and I alsowanted to mention um the
broadcaster for the Yankees,Sterling, Oh, yeah, John
Sterling, yeah.
He was great.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
He was great.
He was listening to some of hisbroadcasts.
Uh Yankees win, yeah, yeah,yeah.
He was one of a kind.
Uh 30 years without missing agame, incredible.
Wow, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
God rest John Sterling.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
Archbishop Fulton Sheen was a beloved,
world-renowned Catholic radioand TV evangelist in the United
States between the 1930s upuntil the late 1960s.
His Emmy Award-winningtelevision show, Life is Worth
Living, reached an audience ofmillions.
The Archbishop, who had aworldwide reputation as the 20th
(06:53):
century's greatestEnglish-speaking Catholic
televangelist, had close ties tothe Patterson Diocese.
He befriended Patterson bishops,preached at parishes in the
diocese, and kept in touch withfriends and family who lived in
the diocese.
Today we are speaking with oneof those friends, uh Loanne
Mayer, formerly of CorpusChristi Parish in Chatham
(07:14):
Township, New Jersey.
Mayor first heard Fulton Sheenspeak at Christ the King Church
in the New Vernon neighborhoodof Harding Township back in
1974.
They met briefly after the talkand would strike up a
friendship.
Fulton Sheen sought out her uhher and others' views on
particular topics to help makehis talks more relevant to his
audience.
(07:35):
Sheen baptized her and herhusband Raymond's youngest child
Michael at Corpus Christi in1975.
Sheen kept in touch with thefamily, and Loanne and he
actually spoke a couple times aweek up until he died in 1979.
So from 1974 to 1979.
And she was at Fulton Sheen'sfuneral.
(07:56):
Loan, 85, now living inManchester, New Jersey, heard
the news on March 25th thatArchbishop Sheen, now venerable
Fulton J.
Sheen, is getting a step closerto sainthood.
With joy, she plans to attendwith her family the mass of his
beatification, where he will bedesignated as blessed.
This will take place onThursday, September 24th in St.
Louis, Missouri.
(08:18):
Hello, Loanne.
SPEAKER_01 (08:20):
Hello.
SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
Hi, Loanne, Bishop Kevin.
SPEAKER_01 (08:24):
Hi there, I'm Bishop Kevin.
It's good to be on the on theradio with you.
SPEAKER_02 (08:29):
Thanks for your time.
So uh maybe we could begin.
We were talking just a littlebefore we came on the air.
Um uh the coldest Ash Wednesdayyou can remember, 1974.
Was that right?
SPEAKER_01 (08:42):
That's right.
Uh 1974, uh as I mentionedmentioned it to you, it was my
mother's parish at the time.
SPEAKER_02 (08:50):
Christ the King in New Vernon, right?
Uh um and so you were standingoutside in the cold because the
doors were locked, every waitingto get in.
You got in, you got into thelast uh pew, and um you
eventually were walking withyour mom and uh Father Korr and
Father Patch, who I believe weregreat friends, uh came up, came
up to the church from downstairswhere they had left a crowd, and
(09:13):
you bumped in to ArchbishopSheen.
Is that is that right literally.
Take us from there, please.
SPEAKER_01 (09:21):
Well, when I uh I I was really kind of stunned for a
moment because I didn't expectto see him, and the minute that
the rest of the people theremight be 25 people still left in
the church who saw him, therewas a big swarm around him.
So I just spoke for a second.
And I'm even to this day, Ican't tell you what I said.
I was just so surprised.
(09:42):
And then I backed out of thegroup and went back uh back to
get my coat.
And when I turned around to putmy hand in my coat, uh I found
this machine my coat.
SPEAKER_02 (09:56):
Oh wow, a gentleman.
SPEAKER_01 (09:57):
And uh he said to me, I I would like to have your
name, your address, and the nameof your children.
I'm going to send you somethingin the mail.
And of course, typical woman, Ihad a little pocketbook with
nothing in it but a hinge billat the time.
So I said, Well, I don't have apen.
And he said, I will wait whileyou get a pen.
(10:20):
And uh so I wrote everything upand I gave it to him, and he
said, Thank you, and he turnedaround and walked away with the
patch and the core.
SPEAKER_03 (10:28):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (10:29):
And uh it was very odd.
And I remember telling myhusband when I got home the
funniest thing happened, youknow.
And uh and then a couple, maybemaybe the following week, we got
a big box with uh books forchildren and a biblical of a
whole lot of powerful narrativesthat he said for the for the
(10:51):
family.
And uh I asked the children ifthey would write a a um a thank
you note, and the newspaper upthere at the time, the Mars Cow
Daily Record, had had a goodscene uh under the that
beautiful cross, and I noticedthat there were no nails.
First time I ever noticed it.
(11:12):
And so I wrote a little notesaying, I hope you looked up
while you were there, becausethere were no nails in your in
the cross that was hanging aboveyou.
Right and on my way, andexpecting anything more than
that.
And then uh maybe a week or tendays later he called, and we
talked for quite a long time.
(11:32):
In fact, I used to say my ha myphone was on the wall and I had
sticky notes all over the place.
You should read this, you shoulddo that.
And so I wrote it down, just putit all around the phone so that
I I would remember to do what hewas telling me to do.
So it it became uh um I wouldcall back doing suggestions, and
(11:55):
then he would call me back withmore suggestions and questions.
He would ask me things like um,what are your children learning
in school?
What kind of books do they have?
Uh what what grades are they in?
Um, what do you think of SaintJoseph?
Uh I really think a lot of thatwas just to give him more f food
(12:17):
for his own sermon.
SPEAKER_02 (12:18):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (12:19):
So he could be more relevant.
SPEAKER_02 (12:21):
And then uh he would come and baptize your I guess
you had a a a son after um whatwas that like?
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
I had a son, yeah, I'm uh seventy-five.
Michael was born in July ofseventy-five, and I called
Bishop Sheen from the hospitaland I said to them, Would you be
willing to come and baptizeMichael?
And um we had at the time we haraised two brothers.
My husband's two brothers wereBenedictines, so it's not like
(12:48):
we needed a priest to baptizethe children, but I thought what
a special thing it would be ifhe would come and baptize
Michael.
And he said, Yes, I'll be thereon September first.
And it turned out at the time Ithought it's so funny because he
didn't know that we namedMichael Michael Joseph, and he
picked the feast of St.
Joseph to baptize.
SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
Oh beautiful.
Beautiful.
Um, so um really wonderful.
Um and uh and then thatcontinued for uh he died in 79,
is that right?
SPEAKER_01 (13:20):
That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
So um go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (13:24):
I was gonna say he seemed to like this area.
Um uh I think it had to do withhis heart.
I didn't know, he nevermentioned that he was had a
heart condition.
But his uh his sister-in-law,uh, who I got to know fairly
well, told me that he had a veryserious heart condition when he
(13:45):
was in New York.
In fact, they said that when hehad hearts uh needed blood,
there was a line around the thethe whole block.
Wow, right and environment andordinary people who came to give
blood for him.
I think those of us who werenever mentioned it to me.
SPEAKER_02 (14:00):
Um I would have been uh four years old when uh in
that 1974 Ash Wednesday.
Uh so he was a little bit, Iwould say, before my time, but
certainly hearing about himgrowing up and having learned
now um uh his overwhelmingpopularity um at that time, huh?
The love of Catholics and othersum uh it is certainly the
(14:21):
popularity of his TV show, butum but great affection for him,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
Tremendous affection.
And it it it it seemed almostone of my sons said to me
looking back, he said, he had anaura of faith around him.
SPEAKER_03 (14:36):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
That you just wanted to you just wanted to stay
there, you know, even if he saidnothing.
SPEAKER_02 (14:42):
Um I don't not sure if you're familiar with um
Bishop Barron.
Some have compared him, uh hedoes this.
Um and uh one thing that BishopBarron always says is that when
he was uh in seminary formation,he was the rector of the
seminary in Chicago, that umsome of the seminarians uh
encouraged him to uh make surethey did a daily holy hour.
(15:03):
And then um he Bishop Barronthen speaks of uh how Archbishop
Sheen would encourage the dailyholy hour.
Um a couple of years ago when wewere doing the Eucharistic
revival, I think it was thefirst time I heard, he gave
about a 40-minute talk at aretreat about the importance of
the daily holy hour.
Um would you remember uh hisemphasis on that, or um in in
(15:27):
your memories uh in terms of uhwhat how he encouraged people to
live their faith, uh somethingthat might stand out to you in
your in your recollections?
SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Well, I know two parts of that.
I know that he never missed adaily uh holy hour in the world.
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
Right, fifty-four years.
SPEAKER_01 (15:42):
Except once.
Once he said when he was inParis he fell asleep during his
holy hour.
But he said the good Lord saidit counts.
SPEAKER_02 (15:52):
And that's how the apostles did their first one in
the Garden of Cassembly.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
Oh but but I do know that um the holy hour was
something towards the end of hislife, he gave a lot of retreats
for priests almost exclusively.
And uh he had very strongconcerns about priesthood.
SPEAKER_02 (16:13):
Right, oh right.
I you could hear it in that talkof that time, kind of between
the lines, uh, and and about thechurch and maybe some of the
changes, uh and certainly aboutthe society.
Um and uh um but him saying s asI mean his voice, his um way of
speaking, his use of words, um,he would say it's the one thing
that Jesus asked specifically,can you not spend one hour with
(16:37):
me?
SPEAKER_01 (16:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:39):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
Yeah, yeah.
Was it something else?
SPEAKER_02 (16:45):
Right, right, right, right.
I know Jay has some questions aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (16:48):
Loan, so when I was getting ready for the episode, I
you know, I was looking back atsome of his television
broadcasts and radio broadcasts,and it really struck me like he
he really comes from kind oflike a different time in
society, right?
Where you mentioned newspapers,like uh there used to be
religious sections innewspapers, like they some of
(17:10):
them still have them, right?
And he was invited to be on asecular radio station, I
believe, right?
To to give a talk during at thetime radio stations were looking
for Christian or Catholiccontent on their secular radio
stations and and then alsotelevision stations.
And I feel like that's reallyshifted over the years, but it
was kind of a different era.
(17:30):
Can you can you put yourselfback there in in that time of
when you'd watch him ontelevision or hear him on the
radio?
Did you watch his televisionshow?
SPEAKER_01 (18:21):
Uh did I watch it?
Yes, of course I did.
We were required to.
We had to write a report when Iwas in school, you had to write
a report about what he said.
SPEAKER_02 (18:29):
Did you go to school, um Catholic school?
SPEAKER_01 (18:33):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (18:34):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
Several.
SPEAKER_02 (18:36):
Five to be five different my folks who are and
so um, you know, we're coming upto the 250th anniversary of uh
our independence of our nation,and uh I think Archbishop Sheen
was also uh a a good example ofum living our faith as as as
good citizens as well.
I think he was very patriotic aswell.
(18:57):
Would you say that?
SPEAKER_01 (19:01):
He was what?
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Very patriotic?
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
Oh my gosh, yes.
He went with uh Spellman to uh,you know, they went on all those
tours around the Far East andThe propagation of the faith,
the propagation of the faith,the missions, right?
Right.
The missions and he also went uhwith uh Cardinal Spellman on
this tremendous tour of the FarEast, where they stopped at all
(19:26):
the different places where thesoldiers were in the city.
Right, the military.
Yes, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_02 (19:30):
Yes, uh visiting the soldiers, right, you're right,
yes, yes, yes.
Yeah.
Um and maybe a little bit aboutyour those those phone calls and
some of your personalconversations.
Um uh obviously he liked torecommend books and reading and
uh was interested in yourchildren.
Other things that stood out interms of uh um uh those phone
(19:52):
calls and conversations?
SPEAKER_01 (19:55):
Well, you know, it's been 40 years.
Um the exact conversations, Ican't remember.
The main gist of theconversations was he made me be
aware of the fact that therewere books that that that were
worth living.
You know, life is worth living,uh books um that he recommended
on the TV.
There were so many Catholicbooks that he recommended that I
(20:16):
read.
And having five children underseven at the time, eight, I
guess.
I didn't do much reading, but heuh he did encourage me to go
back and do some of the reading.
And I know um the life of Christwas the one that was at the top
of the list and it reallychanged me.
In that we did.
It was a it is an incrediblebook.
(20:36):
In fact, I saw it when I sawwhen uh Cardinal Dolan was
leaving his post uh right beforethat he went to the Holy Land
and he said he was only takingtwo things, the Bible and the
life of Christ.
SPEAKER_02 (20:48):
Wow, wow.
Um by our uh was that the Lifeof Christ by Arch Archbishop
Sheen?
SPEAKER_01 (20:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:54):
Right.
And um uh in the talk he giveson the holy hour, he recommends
a scripture scholar namedBarclay, and he repeats it a few
times saying, read Barkley, readBarclay.
Um uh not easy to do.
Right.
Um uh boy, um well, um I wasgonna ask about um his holiness
(21:17):
and um the cause for his um uhplease God eventual beatif um uh
he's gonna be beatified inSeptember.
And uh canonization, please God.
Um uh um what what would youstood out say stood out in terms
of your knowledge of him, interms of his um his own personal
(21:38):
holiness and and his example?
SPEAKER_01 (21:40):
Well, as as uh my son uh that I mentioned
mentioned, he had an aura offaith about him.
He could translate anything intoan example of how that would
affect your faith, good or bad.
SPEAKER_03 (21:51):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (21:52):
And it's just he was in fact one of the the memories
I have after I I wanted him togo to the caramel.
SPEAKER_03 (22:01):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
And at the time I was pestering him about that.
He was not enthusiastic.
There was a lot of things goingon with the nuns.
SPEAKER_02 (22:09):
Oh, yes, yes.
There was a difficult time.
Yes, I've heard.
SPEAKER_01 (22:15):
Yeah, well, I was I pestered and pestered, and he
finally said, Okay, okay, I'llgo.
So I went I drove him in to um Iwent to New York and got him and
brought him home, but I wasputting him at the time so it
was for the day that herequested.
And um, but he I still rememberwe got to the door with Mother
(22:35):
Primaris, who was there andalive at that time.
He knocks on the door.
door and he said um here I ambishop came to give you a
retreat and she said well youjust go in the chapel and we'll
go into the other I don't knowwhat they call it.
Yeah behind the grill behind thegrill you can Yeah.
And he said no no no no he saidI would like to come in and give
(22:58):
it to you.
She three times she told him no.
SPEAKER_03 (23:01):
Oh boy.
SPEAKER_01 (23:02):
And he finally looked at me and he said Where
did you find these people?
I don't know.
I don't know but he said I am abishop I have the right to break
closer open the door and so shedid.
SPEAKER_02 (23:14):
Um you know what uh he also had a great sense of
humor didn't he?
SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
Yes he had a wonderful sense of humor and
laughed heartily heartily yesyes but but just to just to
follow up with that littlelittle part I told you I came
back later in the day um I hadto lie down for the afternoon
and I came back and I s I talkedto him and I I said well I was
gonna take him to our house fordinner and he said you know
(23:41):
Loanne he said I really thankyou.
He said this is a very holyplace.
Oh beautiful beautiful beautifuluh he got past the rough start
um uh the sisters will be happyto know that um and and it is
it's a beautiful place Icelebrate mass there uh when I
can and um and yes uh yeah hestruck up a relationship with
(24:03):
with those sisters right afterthat I don't know if he followed
up on a relationship at all Inever asked him a lot of things
happened around that time and Ihe was getting so many requests
um to go places and he was hisheart was giving him trouble at
that time and I didn't realizethat's one of the reasons he
stayed in the Morris town areabecause he uh when we had
(24:27):
Michael was baptized and he wassitting on the porch one of my
husband's friends is a uh uh orwas a uh congressman and he said
to the uh to the congressman hesaid no one has ever asked me to
uh speak at the prayer breakfastthe congressional prayer
breakfast I would really like todo that and um Matthew made
(24:48):
arrangements for that to happenbut he had to go with his
because he was that frail.
SPEAKER_00 (24:55):
Well and how did how did you gr reconcile his his
fame with your conversations oror your interactions with him
and your family?
SPEAKER_01 (25:05):
Well I'll give you an example I I he did I he
didn't get the feeling that hewas conscious of it.
Maybe he was but I never got thefeeling that he was conscious of
it.
It was like I invited him tocome to dinner after doing the
the the retreat of the nuns forthe caramel and and he came back
(25:26):
and I don't know where my brainwas but I asked the children to
sit with him while I fixeddinner.
And all of a sudden there wasthis quiet and I went back into
the living room where thechildren were uh with him and
they were all sitting around himlike one was two were on the
floor one was sitting on theside of the of the uh chair one
(25:49):
was standing in front of him andthey were acting so to him that
I actually walked to the end ofthe ch of the house it was a
pretty big house got a cameracame back took a picture and
that was the first they noticedme.
Wow wow and he was just speakingto them uh softly answering
(26:09):
their questions talking aboutthings that they would be
interested in and that's what Iloved he could talk to paupers
and kings uh PhDs and littlepeople children he never made
you feel like there was anydifference between you and him
ever.
SPEAKER_02 (26:25):
And and he was always a priest, right?
I mean like a parish priestvisiting a family right uh
interested in the Lord andinterested in people and uh not
putting on heirs but um but justum trying to be the priest he
was called to be right to toshare the life of our Lord.
SPEAKER_01 (26:41):
Yes, exactly.
He came from a I think a prettylarge family in Peoria um most
of them never came left Peoria.
He was he was uh ordained inPeoria um but he really loved
New York very very much and hewanted to be buried in New York
and he was buried in New Yorkuntil they uh the bishop of uh
(27:04):
Peoria made arrangements for himto go to Peoria but it was uh
and hopefully that's all yeahall in God's plan right uh and
uh the great thing I hope so Iwasn't happy about it but that
he's gonna be beatified is agreat thing right so uh uh yes
oh listen I uh this is what Ilived for for forty years I
(27:24):
can't I knew it could happen butI didn't think it would happen
in my lifetime because thechurch often moves very slowly.
SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
I've I've um I've gotten to know the the current
bishop of Peoria Bishop LouisTilka he uh yes he was ordained
in 2020 the same year that I wasand we get together when the
bishops meet and uh for the youknow since 2020 since he's he
started um he's been uh reallyworking to try to get the
(27:53):
movement uh and thank god uh youknow I'm sure with others uh but
um that it that uh I remember Isaw him oh uh maybe in November
and I said how's it going withuh Bishop Sheen's case it's
gonna be good news it's gonna beactually I want to say what
might have been in um February6th we were in New York for the
uh installation of the newArchbishop uh Archbishop Hicks
(28:14):
and uh bishop Bishop Tilke wassaying to me any day now any day
now so he's very very happy thatit's been a moved along.
SPEAKER_01 (28:24):
Well here let me give one I think you you need to
give a lot of credit to the newuh head of the propagation of
the faith too senior Hanley okayhe uh the way I understand it
when he became uh uh head of thepropagation of the faith he
looked over the you know thebackground of everything that
(28:45):
happened and he said to me thisis ridiculous he has to be
canonized we're gonna make thathappen great and he really uh
has been uh at the forefront ofmaking that happen so quickly
great that I can't believe it.
SPEAKER_02 (28:58):
Monsignor Roger Landry know is it is that it's
that's him.
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Right, right right uh Jay has some information I
think I believe so yes rightthere and people think so highly
of him yes yes um uh good forhim thank god thank god it all
happened um I think Jay has someinformation he wants to yeah I
just want to tie a couple of uhthings together so there's a
little more on his background Ithink might be helpful for
(29:24):
listeners and viewers ArchbishopSheen was born in May 8th 1895
in Al Paso's birthday yes firstanniversary yes yes thank you
bishop for schedule around andhappy first anniversary to Pope
Leo uh huh yes and it's also thefeast day of blessed Miriam
(29:46):
Teresa Domjanovich another oneon the course to canonization uh
a sister of charity of uh SaintElizabeth of uh Convent Station
so keep her in prayer as well sookay so full of Jean his family
moved to Peoria and he grew upin the parish of the Cathedral
of St.
Mary where he was an altarserver so an altar boy he or was
(30:06):
ordained a priest at 24 in thecathedral in 1919.
He served as a professor ofphilosophy and religion at the
Catholic University of Americabefore becoming a popular radio
personality in the 30s.
So he was a professor while hewas drive my understanding is
driving up to New York to be onthe radio DC to New York.
He was appointed auxiliarybishop of New York in 1951 where
(30:30):
he remained until hisappointment as Bishop of
Rochester, New York in 66.
He retired in 69, moved back toNew York City until his death in
1979 at the age of 84.
SPEAKER_02 (30:43):
My brother-in-law's mother Claire Shanahan is a big
big fan uh she gave me a set ofdiscs um uh uh on on Bishop
Sheen's talks and uh two of mynieces, so her two
granddaughters went to CatholicUniversity and she was so happy
they were in Catholic Universitybecause Archbishop Sheen had
been a a professor there.
SPEAKER_01 (31:03):
Yes.
There's another littleinteresting story around that
you might find uh way I heard itanyway, is that he uh he was
after he uh graduated uh from umand became a priest they sent
him uh no yes they sent him toEurope and he was uh he was for
(31:23):
uh uh he was really uhastoundingly did well at his
studies there and then when theycame home the bishop that was I
don't remember who the bishopwas sent him off to a small poor
parish just so that he he keepshis humility.
SPEAKER_02 (31:40):
Right, right right yeah um and uh he was ready to
do what whatever you knowobedience right whatever was
asked of him uh God bless youexactly yeah um exactly but um
such a mind such greatintelligence and given to the
service of the church uh so umwe see how God can work you
might also want to know that heis his given name at birth
apparently was Peter.
SPEAKER_03 (32:01):
Is that right?
SPEAKER_01 (32:03):
Wow yeah yeah uh he uh uh the way I heard him say it
is that he cried so much when hewas a child that his pa his
mother didn't know what to dowith him so she gave him to his
to the Fultons who were thegrandparents and the
grandparents brought him up andso he changed it to Fulton.
SPEAKER_02 (32:21):
Wow officially God works in mysterious ways you
bet.
SPEAKER_00 (32:26):
Right, right.
So you know Fulton Sheen Loanneand you probably know this has
other connections to the dioceseas well.
In fact he was he was friendswith Bishop James McNulty who
was the third bishop ofPatterson and his classmate at
Louvain University in Belgiumactually and uh I'm gonna have a
couple links in the show notesto this article that I'm
(32:47):
referencing right now that uhMike Mike Wochek, our beacon
managing editor uh Oh noactually this is Catholic News
Agency.
Mike reached out to you for anarticle uh on you and your
connections with with FultonSheen.
But um were you aware of any ofthese other connections or no
not yet.
SPEAKER_01 (33:06):
Yeah there's a great focus on this to be honest with
you is that I wanted the peopleof the Mars County area
particularly to be aware of thefact that he was going to be uh
beatified because there's verylittle notif as far as I've seen
very little uh information beingshared yet.
I don't think they even have thetickets yet.
(33:27):
Um because I know we're gettingours through some people who do
know but basically what I'msaying is that they the idea of
knowing about it would at leastallow them to watch it's going
to be um uh on the EWP andthey're going to film the actual
uh uh mass and I think for thepeople who are older like myself
(33:50):
uh they might prefer to watch iton T V.
SPEAKER_03 (33:54):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
And uh I know it's gonna be at two PM their time.
I don't know what that would bewherever there anybody is but I
think just being a part of thethe prayers that are being
raised over this beatificationum is a very important aspect of
it because people felt felt likehe was a part of their lives.
SPEAKER_03 (34:14):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (34:14):
Yeah I think uh I think that that's important for
them to know that there's a waythat they could watch without
having to go there although Rayand I are going to go.
SPEAKER_02 (34:23):
That's great.
I'm I'm hoping please God tomaybe be able to be there myself
so uh if we uh if we're boththere we'll have to connect and
uh who knows we may end up witha group from the diocese and um
uh as you say um we want to leteveryone in the Morris County
area know and uh here um withJay and throughout the diocese
(34:43):
we're gonna do our best to leteveryone in Passaic Morris and
Sussex counties the threecounties of our diocese know uh
about the upcoming and uhbeatification and the plans and
um and especially uh you knowthe the the lives of the saints
can have such an impact on ourown lives and uh and and
Archbishop Sheen is such awonderful example of uh a life
(35:04):
of holiness and prayer and lovefor the church and living the
faith.
Um so but uh having knownsomeone uh or hearing from
someone who has known a saint uhas you please god he'll get that
he'll be canonized one day buteven a uh soon to be blessed um
Archbishop Sheen uh Loenn thankyou so much for sharing your
(35:25):
personal um recollections and uhconnections uh which with
Archbishop Sheen and I thinkyou've accomplished your goal
reminding us of his connectionswith Morris County in our
diocese.
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Yeah oh I'm so glad it works out that way and thank
you for taking the time to doit.
It's from my point of view itreally is very important that
the people get the opportunityat least to watch it on T V.
And uh a lot of us are older whoactually knew him but there are
a lot of young people who areaffected like my children are
are more your age and they theyremember everything.
(35:59):
They don't remember being in hisapartment.
They remember everything.
And now with the so it justbrings back good good good
memories.
SPEAKER_02 (36:06):
The the internet does have some good things
because so many of his talks areavailable on YouTube and so many
of our young Catholics are goingto listen to Archbishop Sheen.
So I think it's gonna bring arevival for him as well.
I I I I I agree with you that hecan have that impact on current
and future generations as well.
So so thank you very much andwe'll keep in contact uh between
(36:26):
now and September and uh we'llwe'll look forward to it.
SPEAKER_01 (36:30):
I look forward to meeting you Bishop Kevin God
bless you.
SPEAKER_02 (36:33):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (36:34):
Jay is going to just say a final word thank you so
much Loyan yeah if you couldjust humor me I'm gonna take us
out.
So we we won't sing happybirthday to him but we'll uh
wish him a happy birthday inheaven is uh here on his
birthday so uh uh here we that'sthe best gift of all isn't it
exactly exactly uh thanks againLoan and here's Jay Okay and
(36:55):
thank you all for joining usplease subscribe comment and
leave a positive rating get toknow us better by following
Bishop Kevin's Instagram andbeyond the beacon on social
media read the bishop's weeklycolumn on beaconnj.org get in
touch if you have a question forthe bishop or a podcast topic
idea and discover our otherpodcasts see you next time.
SPEAKER_02 (37:15):
Thanks Luann thanks everybody God bless you God
bless you both thank you bye
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