Thursday, July 23, 2009

Obituary: Fr Linus Ryan, O.Carm, RIP

Born in 1928 in Kildare, he entered the Carmelite Order and was professed in 1947.

He studied at University College Dublin and in Rome where he was ordained priest in 1953.

Throughout his 62 years as a Carmelite, Fr Linus served the Order in various offices including teacher in Terenure College, Bursar of Whitefriar Street, Dublin, Prior of White Abbey, Kildare, and Prior Provincial of the Irish Province for seven years.

It was as the driving force behind the 2001 visit of the relics of St Therése of Lisieux, that Fr Linus became most widely known.

A lifelong devotee of St Therése, he was instrumental in the triumphant 78-day visit of the relics, accompanying the 'Theresemobile' on each leg of the trip, armed with three mobile phones as official spokesman for the event, often described as ''the greatest mass movement of the Irish people''.

He received a Person of the Year award later in 2001 in recognition of his efforts during the visit.

Despite failing health, Fr Linus continued to work tirelessly on the causes of Louis and Zelie Martin - the parents of St Thérése - and of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. For this work he was honoured in 2009 by the Administrator of the Basilica in Lisieux.

Described by Fr Chris O'Donnell during his funeral Mass last Monday as a priest whose life was marked by ''loyalty'' to friends both inside and outside the Carmelite Order, to the end, Fr Linus ''had a deep love of, and respect for, the institutional Church''.

Ar Dheis Dé go raibh hAnam dílis.
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