Obituary Notice
This obituary notice has been digitally processed from a scanned archival document. Some words may be imperfectly rendered.
Br. Michael Slevin (1885-1948) wx. P. St. Anne's Retteat, : * Sutton, ST. HELENS. BROTHER MICHAEL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION In the brothers who have remained faithful to their vocation the province of St. Joseph has always possess-~ 6d a rich treasure, and the death of one of them cannot fail fo be felt as a heavy loss. It is, therefore, with a keen sense of such less that we chronicle the death of Brother Michael of, the Immaculate Concepticn, for cf him it can be $ruly said that he remained faithful to his vocation. Frem the day when, as Thomas Slevin, he left his native Dublin to enter the Congregation as a postulant at Carmarthen, he Was ever conscious of the high dignity of the life to which: God had called him, and to thé end he was a leyal and exem-~ plary Passionist laybrother. . Brother Michael was the first to receive ‘the habit at the newly~epened Novitiate at Enniskillen, the ceré- mony being performed in the reception room of the retreat, which was then used as a chapel. After his profession in 1910 he was sent to Sutton, and it was while stationed here that he received the tragic news of the death of his sister in Texas. ~ ‘As a “member of the réligicus congregation in charge of an orphanage, she had s-crificed her life in her efforts to save the childten during the ‘course cf a terrible fire. : The. death of Brother Mark. in 1914 left. the: pro- vince without an Artist-brother, and it was decided that Brother Michael should spend some years in studying at the. Belfast School of Art, se as te be able to take on the role hich Brother Mark. had filled for se long. The wisdom of the decision can be seen in thé work of decoration and restora- tion which he carried out in the various ‘tretreats of the province after his course w7s finished ~ especially at Ardoyne, ilount Argus, Ilkley., Harborne and’ Highgate. Though the par- ticular style he favoured is not to. éveryone' s. "taste, his expert skill.in it cannot be gainsaid. ‘Toe that skill he. joined a patient attention to the minutest details of his work a
Q3 end a true artist's care in the selection and mixing of his prints. . The last decorative work of any magnitude that Brother Michael carried out was at Highgate in 1925. '“Scon after this was finished he became one of the community st Herne Bay, and it was here that he spent the next twenty two yeers of his life. During much of that time he was the faithful nurse of the late Fr. Maliachy. At Herne Bay there was trot much scope for the exercise of his artistic gifts, but he will long be remembered by the parishioners for his tasteful setting each year of the Christmas crib.” In September, 1947, he was transferred to St. Anne's Retreat, Sutton. After so many years spent at Herne Bay, this complete change of atmosphere must have been e severe trizl to him, but he met mixkk it with resignation, and the exomple of religious observance thet he gave at Sutton was edifying in the extreme. .It was not long, however, before his health showed signs of breaking up, and efter a not very serious fall in the early prrt of May the condi- tion of his heart and lungs deteriorsted rapidly. He was moved to Providence Hospitel, St. Helens, but recovery was soon seen to be out of the question. The end came peace-= ey on the mcerning of the 9th of June. He was 64 years id, Brother Michael hes left the record of his activities on the walls of our churches and retrents, Even when that has frded there will remain in the hearts of his brethren the much more lasting record of his lovable charnc- ter, his simple but deep piety, his devotion to our Mother the Congregation, rnd his fidelity to the life which nt God's call he had embraced. R. qT. P. RECTOR, Cesccthan J the Moons Mat
Source: Obituary Notices, Provincial Archive, St Joseph's Province. Passionist Congregation.