Four honored in Garrison with mass and reception
The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement at Graymoor in Garrison recently held a mass and reception to honor four friars who have each provided 60 years of service to the order.
Father Timothy MacDonald
Father Tim is the guardian and administrator at the Paul Wattson Friary in Toronto and serves as chair of the General Chapter Preparatory Committee.
Born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, MacDonald became associated with the Friars in 1958 when he entered the college program of the Friars at Montour Falls, New York. He professed first vows in 1960 and final vows in 1963 and was ordained in 1967. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Pius X Seminary, a master’s in ecumenics, world religions and mission from Boston University and a doctorate in religious studies from Marquette University.
Father Tim has ministered in parishes in Canada, Virginia and Texas as well as at the Chapel of Our Savior in Brockton, Massachusetts. He was director of the Christian Unity Center at Graymoor from 1973 to 1977.
In 1986, MacDonald was appointed rector of Chiesa di Sant’Onofrio al Gianicolo in Rome and procurator general to the Holy See. He returned to Canada in 1990 to serve as ecumenical director the Archdiocese of Halifax and in 1994 for the Archdiocese of Toronto. In 1999, he became pastor of the Church of the Atonement, now Our Lady of the Atonement Church, in Windsor, Ontario. He was the vicar general from 2009 to 2014.
Brother Gerard Hand
Brother Gerard Hand was born in West New York, New Jersey. He entered the Friars of the Atonement in 1958 and professed his first vows in 1961 and made his final vows in 1966.
Brother Gerard served in the culinary departments of the St. Joseph Novitiate in Saranac Lake from 1961 to 1967 and St. John Seminary in Montour Falls from 1967 to 1969. He then moved to Washington, D.C., to work in the culinary department of the Atonement Seminary from 1969 to 1985.
Hand moved to London and served at Catholic Central Library from 1985 to 1987. He was appointed guardian/director of the Catholic Central Library and held that position from 1987 to 1992. He also served as administrator of the London Friary until 2008, when he retired to the Friars’ house at Waverly Place in New York City.
Brother Daniel Houde
Brother Daniel Houde was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, and joined the community in 1958. He made his first vows in 1961 and final vows in 1966.
Houde worked in general services at Our Lady of the Atonement Novitiate in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, from 1961 to 1966. He was appointed general services director for St. Paul Friary at Graymoor in 1967 and served in that role until 1970. From 1970 to 1973, he worked in general maintenance at the Chapel of Our Savior in Brockton, Massachusetts.
In 1973, Brother Daniel joined the staff at St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation Center in Saranac Lake and worked there until 1977. He returned to Graymoor in 1977, working as a service coordinator and in the print shop until 1987. Following a brief sabbatical, he was assigned to parochial ministry at St. John Fisher Parish in Rochester, England, from 1998 to 2003.
Brother Daniel returned to Graymoor in 2003 and resides at St. Paul Friary, where he serves as part-time guest master in the Graymoor Bookstore.
Brother Louis Marek
Brother Louis Marek was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He joined the Friars in 1958, made his first vows in 1961 and professed final vows in 1966. He is the vicar/administrator at the Chapel of Our Savior in Brockton, Massachusetts since 1993.
From 1961 to 1967, Brother Louis was a business teacher at the Brother’s Trade School and secretary to the guardian at Our Lady of the Atonement Novitiate in Cumberland. He served as secretary to the guardian at St. Paul Friary at Graymoor from 1967 to 1968 before attending Providence College, where in 1973 he earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies.
From 1973 to 1974, he was assigned to parochial ministry at the Parish of the Atonement in Windsor, Ontario. He was CCD Director at St. James Parish in Medford, Massachusetts, and attended Boston College, graduating in 1978 with a master’s degree in systematic theology.
He taught religious studies at Malden Catholic High School from 1978 to 1983 before returning to Graymoor in 1984 to serve as business manager and pilgrimage director. He was administrator at the Atonement Seminary in Washington, D.C., from 1986 to 1990 and served as secretary general for the Friars from 1990 to 1992.
