J.M.J.
Nicholas Gilroy: Viva
Christo Rey by Father Stephen Gemme and Deacon George O’Connor Middle-town, Delaware, 2019.
Paperback. 177 pages.
This present work, composed of twenty-two
short chapters, is the second book in the Nicholas Gilroy Series. Nicholas Gilroy: Viva Christo Rey follows the inaugural
volume, Nicholas Gilroy: Our Lady and the Guardian. Both are available on Amazon (www.amazon.com).
Young Nicholas is a seminarian who returns
for his second year in Saint Peter’s High School Seminary in Baltimore. He is a
devout, studious and athletic sophomore, and he seeks to be a good example to his
fellow seminarians, 140 in all, including his close friends, Jose, Luke and
Adam Marshall, who is a former gang member.
Father Stephen Reynolds, the Seminary’s respected
Vice Rector, is the instructor of a course about the Sacraments. Nicholas has
eagerly awaited this class. The information imparted is very useful and
absolutely necessary for the future of these seminarians. Father Reynolds
concludes the first class by leading his students in the “Renunciation of Sin
and Profession of Faith,” a liturgical text that comes from the Mass on Easter
Sunday.
The Rector of the Seminary, Father David
Kelly, introduces the seminarians to the first three-day Retreat of the
academic year. Father Reynolds then offers a powerful meditation, presenting
the seminarians with the figure of Saint Jose Sanchez del Rio, a fifteen
year-old martyr during the Cristero War in Mexico. The Retreat ends with the
Mass celebrated by Cardinal Daniel Patrick Murphy, the Archbishop of Baltimore,
and a sumptuous banquet.
After the delicious meal, Father Reynolds
informs Nicholas and Jose that they are invited to accompany him to Saint Juan
Diego High School Seminary in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for a student
exchange program during the current school year. Although the boys are not
obliged to accept, they unhesitatingly agree.
Having arrived in Mexico, the trio, met by
Father Enrique Ramirez, the Rector of Saint Juan Diego High School Seminary, go
to their new place. They are aware that they are in the land visited by Our Blessed
Lady in 1531 during the famous apparitions to Saint Juan Diego.
Nicholas
and Jose concur to perform some apostolic work at the Home of the Holy Family,
an orphanage for about one hundred boys, ages one to seventeen, which is
operated by the Missionaries of Charity, the Religious Institute founded by
Mother M. Teresa of Kolkata. The two seminarians meet Javier Santiago, a senior
at Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy, which is a private Catholic high school in San
Miguel de Allende. Hailing from a wealthy family, Javier confides in Nicholas
and Jose that he longs to become a priest.
When not receiving
the Sacraments, praying, studying or playing soccer, Nicholas, Jose and Javier
work at the Home of the Holy Family and quickly become soccer coaches for the
orphaned boys.
On December
12th, Father Reynolds, Nicholas and Jose, chauffeured by Pablo, the
caretaker of the Home of the Holy Family, make the three-hour trip to the
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to attend Mass there on the
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The devotion of the Mexican people on this
special day is particularly palpable.
Although
Christmas Day is different for Nicholas because he is apart from his family, he
is grateful for the opportunity to attend, with Jose, the Christmas Mass
celebrated by Father Reynolds in the Home of the Holy Family. And during the
Christmas recess at the Seminary, Father Reynolds encourages the two boys to
begin a Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, complete with daily Eucharistic
Adoration, the recitation of the Holy Rosary and the Benediction of the Most
Blessed Sacrament. The trio, along with Miguel, an orphan at the Home of the
Holy Family, visit the home of Javier on January 6th, the Feast of Los Reyes Magos—the Three Kings. Mr. and
Mrs. Santiago and their four children heartily welcome Father Reynolds,
Nicholas and Jose. But Mr. Santiago forthrightly expresses his desire to Father
Reynolds: his son, Javier, must not become a priest.
Candlemas
Day, February 2nd, dawns. Mr. Santiago arranges a soccer match
between the boys of the Home of the Holy Family and the students of Saint
Sebastian High School in San Miguel de Allende, followed by a tamales party.
Father
Reynolds schedules a pilgrimage for the spring break, with Pablo as the guide,
for Nicholas, Jose and Javier to the Shrine of San Jose Sanchez del Rio in
Saint James the Apostle Church in Sahuayo. The boys even walk to the town’s Cemetery
where Saint Jose was martyred.
The final
four chapters of Nicholas Gilroy: Viva Christo Rey are filled with
excitement and intrigue. Perhaps it would be best for this reviewer to stop
here so to allow each reader the thrill of the last thirty-three pages. (And
Chapter 1 has its share of mystery that will also engage the reader.)
Father
Gemme and Deacon O’Connor weave a well-crafted story that is sure to edify. The
two authors liberally sprinkle the text with helpful references to Catholic
theology and spirituality. Let us hope that there will be a third volume.
Nicholas
Gilroy is a pious, idealistic young man who is not unlike seminarians
throughout the decades. We pray for many more of them.
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