The funeral Mass of my novice master

The funeral Mass and burial of Anthony Morris took place in Sligo yesterday.

The provincial of the Irish Dominicans, John Harris was the president of the assembly and approximately 15 priests, Dominicans and diocesan, concelebrated.

The provincial in his nine-minute talk after the Gospel hit the right note and caught the man who was Anthony Seamus Morris.

It’s strange going back to somewhere you left 34 years earlier. You meet people, their faces changed and you wonder are they who they are, and likewise they wonder are you whom they might think you are.

The interior of the Dominican church had been altered and from my perspective not for the better.

Following the burial there was a meal in a nearby hotel to which the family and Anthony's Dominican confreres were graciously invited.

It was a most pleasant experience. I found myself in the company of three fellow Dominicans and Anthony’s nephew, Shea, called after his uncle, and his wife Celette, who is Canadian Irish.

Like at all funerals there were moments of nostalgia, jokes too and then each person recalling how they remembered the man.

The consensus was that Anthony was the kindest of men, gentle too, loved his family and was a keen Sligo Rovers supporter.

Just as I knew nothing about his family, it would seem he seldom if ever discussed his Dominican world with his family.

But there was a howl of laughter when I recalled the incident back in the late 1960s when he told two of his novices that it was not appropriate for them to be seen eating ice cream in public.

It turns out Anthony loved his ice cream, indeed was a guzzler of sweets.

I can never imagine Anthony eating ice cream or having a sweet tooth.

I was laughing, and back thinking of that day when he told us not to do what he did but rather do what he said.

Anthony was a fine man. There was an inspiring honesty about him and you knew with certainty that he never sneered or laughed at you behind your back.

There are seven of Anthony’s novices still in the Order and two were present in Sligo yesterday.

It was a privilege to attend his funeral Mass and to meet his family.

A moment in time.