OBITUARY : FATHER LOUIS (SHERWOOD) C.P. (d. 28th April 1929, aged 73 years.) On the 8th March, the Province of St. Patrick joined in felicitating the Rev. Fr. Louis on that rare occasion, which falls to the lot of so few of our Religious, viz., the celebration of his Golden Sacerdotal Jubilee. It was, indeed, a memorable day. In the presence of a crowded congregation, Solemn High Mass was offered, the jubilarian being the celebrant. Immediately after the Mass, the blessing of the Holy Father was imparted to all. Congratulations poured in, wishing Fr. Louis “ad multos annos”. But alas, God’s ways are wonderful. Having obtained permission to take a little rest in our Retreat, Mount Argus, Dublin, he no sooner arrived there than that internal ailment, which he had borne with silent heroic patience, seriously developed. Although receiving every care and attention from the Physician and the Community of Mount Argus, he manifested his desire to return to Holy Cross, and his wish was complied with. On the advice of our Medical attendant, Fr. Louis entered a private nursing home. Upon examination it was found that an operation was necessary, which, however, could not be effected for some days. In the meantime, a preliminary one took place which was extremely painful; afterwards the physician asked the patient if he felt much pain, the reply was: “Yes, but I thought of the Sufferings of Our Blessed Saviour, and I bore all patiently for His sake”. On the day appointed Fr. Louis, having received the rites of Holy Church and with perfect resignation to God’s Holy Will, went through that dread ordeal. The operation was found to be more serious than was anticipated and for three days following little hope was entertained of his recovery. However, to the delight of all he rallied and seemed to gain greater strength daily, but on the evening of the feast of St. Mark, 23rd April 1929, complications set in, and despite the careful attention of the Physicians and of the Nursing Staff, he began to sink slowly. The Religious watched by his bedside until the morning of the 27th April, the eve of the Feast of our Holy Founder, when at 8.45 a.m. he passed quietly away in the presence of the Very Rev. Fr. Sebastian, Provincial, conscious to the end. Office and Solemn Requiem Mass took place on Monday 29th April, the celebrant being Very Rev. Father Provincial, in the presence of the Religious of this and of the other Retreats of the Province, and of over thirty secular priests with the Very Rev. Canon Crolly, Vicar Capitular, presiding. Fr. Loius of St. Joseph, known in the world as Louis Sherwood, was born in Rathmines, Dublin on August 20th 1855. At the age of sixteen years he entered the Passionist Noviciate and made his Religious Profession on October 31st. 1872. Having completed his studies he was ordained on March 8th, 1879. In the first Chapter of our Rule and Constitutions we read “The Religious ought in the first place to provide for their own eternal salvation in the manner prescribed in the Constitutions; then they should devote themselves with diligence to the offices of charity towards their neighbour, which two objects should never be absent from their mind and heart”. Thus is epitomised the life of the deceased. An exemplary religious, a man of deep, simple faith, a man of prayer; he laboured not merely to fulfil the essentials, but even the smallest points of Rule. He aimed at nothing extraordinary, nor were his attempts of a spasmodic nature, rather, following in the footsteps of St. Gabriel of the Addolorata he endeavoured to advance in religious perfection by the exact observance of the smallest point of Rule. It is unnecessary to speak of his intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Mass, the Sacred Passion, and our Blessed Lady. His zeal for his own personal sanctification did not in the smallest way diminish his all consuming desire for the salvation of souls; nay, rather intensified it. For some years after his ordination Fr. Louis was placed on the Missionary Staff with remarkable results, however, not been of a robust constitution, his Superiors appointed him to the various offices of the Sacred Ministry incumbent upon the Religious of our different Retreats. Whether in London, Dublin, Harbourne, Sutton, Glasgow, Herne bay or Belfast, his activity knew no bounds. It was, indeed, edifying to his brethren with whom he spent the last years of his Religious Life, to find one who had already reached the allotted span, so fervent, so active and so desirous of taking part in the work of the Confessional, the Pulpit and the Sacred Ceremonies of the Church. As he lived, so he died. Death had no terrors for him. It was a peaceful transition from this vale of tears to the enjoyment of the good things which God had prepared for those who love and serve Him. R.I.P. Kevin of the Sacred Heart. Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of Rev. Fr. Louis (Sherwood), C.P. (8th March 1929) Passionists of the Province of St. Patrick have been able to enter into the spirit of this year of jubilees by celebrating the Sacerdotal Golden Jubilee of one of their brethren, Fr. Louis Sherwood, a member of the Community of Holy Cross Retreat, Ardoyne, Belfast. The fiftieth anniversary of his ordination, the 8th of March, was fittingly commemorated by a Solemn High Mass of thanksgiving sung by the aged Jubilarian himself, assisted by the Rev. Fr. Marcellus as Deacon and Rev. Fr. Henry as Subdeacon. Rev. Fr. Mark acted as Master of Ceremonies The “Missa de Angelis” was beautifully rendered by the children of Holy Cross Girls’ School, under the conductorship of Miss O’Donoghue, head mistress; while Miss McConville presided at the organ. A very edifying feature of the celebration was the large number of the congregation who approached the Holy Table. All the children of the various schools were present to offer their Holy Communions for the Jubilarian. At the conclusion of the Mass, the Very Rev. Fr. Kevin, Rector, announced that the very Rev. Fr. Sebastian, Provincial, had obtained from His Holiness the Papal Blessing for Fr. Louis with the power to grant it to all who took part in the celebrations. The imparting of the Apostolic Benediction by Father Louis brought the impressive solemnities to a close. Fifty years of priesthood on earth is a privilege granted to few. To stand at the altar between God and men. to carry the vessels of the Lord; to labour in the vineyard of the Lord, for so long a period is, indeed, an enviable record, and the priest who attains it is worthy of heartfelt congratulations. But the record is still more laudable when, in all sincerity, we can say of the Jubilarian: Behold a great priest who during his long years has fully pleased God. A great priest, indeed, Fr. Louis has been during half-a-century in the Sacred Ministry. Great according to the highest standard of priestly greatness. As his brethren can testify, he maintains in the fiftieth year of his priesthood the fervour of the young Levite on whose hands the sacred oil of ordination has scarcely dried. The source of his perennial fervour must be attributed chiefly to his especial devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He evidently learned early that as Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself linked so closely to their institution the Sacraments of the Altar and the Priesthood so he who would “stir up the grace of God which is in him by the imposition of hands” must especially cherish the Sacrament of the Altar; that if a priest is to be really ” another Christ ” he must continually draw close to his original Divine Model. Thus has our aged Jubilarian, for so many years, concentrated his energy first and foremost on the interior priestly life. Consequently, the ways of men the transitory fashion of this world have held a very subordinate place in his life: except in so far as they have reference to the spiritual life and the Kingdom of God he has shown no interest in them. He has ever realised that ” no man being a soldier to God entangleth himself with secular businesses that he may please Him to whom he had engaged himself.” On the other hand, Fr. Louis has spent his long life in studies necessary for the efficient exercise of a priest’s active ministry. The sacred science of Theology, dogmatic and moral; the Sacred Scriptures; the works of the Fathers, current spiritual literature: in all these spheres he has ever evinced a lively interest acting, no doubt, on the advice of St. Paul: ” Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Faith.” Naturally, as good diffuses itself, such an interior priestly life has ever overflowed and expressed itself in an efficacious active ministry For fifty years Fr. Louis has laboured unselfishly in various parts of Ireland, England and Scotland, for the salvation of immortal souls. Stationed at different times in the Passionist Retreats at Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, London, Herne Bay, St. Helens, Birmingham, he has ever shown himself a priest after the pattern of the Good Shepherd. Besides a scrupulous devotion to the primary ministry of the Holy Sacrifice, preaching and this confessional, he has ever exhibited a very edifying solicitude for the weak and suffering. In the less pretentious work of the priest in a sense, the true test of priestly holiness he has excelled. His kindness to the sick, his visits of comfort to hospitals and jails, his persistence in seeking out and relaiming the careless, his sympathy and practical charity towards the poor: these are but a few examples of characteristic zeal in the service of the Master. Now in his seventy-fourth year and still active, may the readers of “The Cross” show their appreciation of this holy Passionist priest by asking God to spare him for many more years to labour so zealously in the vineyard of the Lord. MICHAEL PALMER, C.P. (ex. “The Cross” April 1929, Vol XIX, p. 421)