People
The Community of Our Lady of the Valley Over the Decades
Note: due to the age and quality of the digitized images, some of these names may not be entirely accurate. Additionally, the names listed fluctuate between ordained names and legal names.
Image from the Our Lady of the Valley Memorial Scrapbook, assembled by Fr. Joseph Conaghan and Fr. Michael Holland:
Fr. Michael Holland, O.C.S.O, “Memorial Scrapbook Page 66,” Monastery of Our Lady of the Valley Archival Collection, https://cumberlibdigital.omeka.net/items/show/180.
Chart listing the residents of Our Lady of the Valley in 1935, written by Fr. Michael Holland, O.C.S.O
Today, at Saint Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, there stands a large pink stone. This is the final resting place of the monks of Our Lady of the Valley who died between the years of 1900 and 1950. In August of 1969, they were reunited with the rest of their brothers in Spencer. As the inscription on the plaque reads, "separated neither in life nor in death".
Monk Biographies
Fr. John Mary (Jean-Marie) Murphy (1849-1913)
Founder of Our Lady of the Valley, former Prior of l'Abbaye Notre-Dame du Lac in Oka, Quebec and l'Abbaye du Petit Clairvaux in Tracadie, Nova Scotia.
Fr. John Mary Murphy, 'known to the world as' Richard Murphy, was born in Montreal on April 10, 1849.
Before entering the priesthood, he was a well known figure in the business world. He ran a wholesale grocery business with his brother, Alexander, called the Murphy Brothers, and he was also at one point employed at La Maison McManamy et Murray, which sold spices.
Fr. Murphy studied at Le Grand Seminaire in Montreal, and later became the first novice to enter the Abbey of Notre Dame du Lac in Oka, Quebec, Canada on January 8, 1883. Four years later on June 7, 1887, Fr. Murphy was ordained into the priesthood. Under the leadership of Dom Antoine Oger, he was appointed to the position of prior. On top of the duties required of him at Notre Dame du Lac, he cofounded l'Adoration Nocturne de Montreal with Louis-Joseph-Amédée Derome, noted photographer and business owner of la Librarie (or Imprimante) Saint-Joseph (Auclair, 1922).
On November 13, 1898, he was appointed to be the superior of the Abbey of Petit Clairvaux in Tracadie, Nova Scotia, which was supposed to be a temporary position. However, Petit Clairvaux's abbot, Fr. Dominic Schietecatte, resigned his position early due to stress caused by the series of fires in 1892 and 1896. Due to these fires, the question of what to do with Petit Clairvaux came up many times during the 1899 General Chapter (a meeting attended by leaders of the Order). Fr. Murphy effectively saved Petit Clairvaux during this General Chapter meeting, as reported by Dom Jean-Marie Chouteau, Abbot of the Abbey of Notre Dame de Bellefontaine:
...This question was asked: 'Should Petit Clairvaux be suppressed?' And an affirmative answer was being upheld and would probably have won the day, had it not been for the good impression made by Rev. Father John Mary Murphy on all the members of the chapter and for the confidence that he was able to inspire. They were ready to grant all that he was asking... (Chouteau, 1899, as cited in Bertoniere, 2005, p. 186).
Fr. Murphy died on Sunday, July 6, 1913 at the age of 64, after battling a long-term illness. According to his obituary written by Fr. Michael Holland, he was a well-beloved prior who "shar[ed] the hardships and labors of his brethren", and was known for his "genuine devotion and earnestness in the divine service".
Fr. Murphy, 1890
Photo caption: "Rev. Father Murphy. Taken at Seaforth Ont. Can. when collecting for Oka. 1890" (Fr. Joseph Conaghan, O.C.S.O).
Ca. 1890-1899
Photograph taken at Laprès & Lavergne, 360 Rue St. Denis, Montreal
Taken shortly before his death, in April of 1913
Full caption: "Fr. Murphy our late prior April 1913" (Fr. Joseph Conaghan, O.C.S.O).
Rev. John M. O'Connor (1864-1945)
Second Prior of Our Lady of the Valley from 1921 to 1943
John O'Connor was born on February 11, 1864 in Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland. He emigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia with his family in 1880, where he attended Saint Mary's College (now Saint Mary's University).
On June 20, 1885, he entered the Abbey of Notre Dame du Lac in Oka, Quebec as a postulant, before transferring to the Abbey of Petit Clairvaux in Tracadie, Nova Scotia. At Petit Clairvaux, "he made his first vows [on] March 17, 1889 and his solemn profession [on] April 19, 1894" (Schrepfer, 1947, p. 156).
He was one of the founding members of Our Lady of the Valley, and entered the United States on February 1, 1901 (National Archives at Boston; Waltham, Massachusetts).
Described by Boston Traveler writer, Joe Toye, as
A magnificent man in body and spirit: a big, two-fisted man in a white robe of fine wool. He was more than all that: he was a gentleman. Look in my eyes, or the eyes of your neighbor, or your brother: they are tired eyes, nervous eyes, worried eyes. Let me tell you about Father John's eyes: calm eyes, restful, soothing, ready, clear, kindly; the eyes of a man who had looked into this thing we call life and had discovered what it is all about; who had decided what it all meant and where we were going, who had settled everything to his own satisfaction and therefore faced the future with a profound calm. If I were in hysterical distress I would flee to such eyes because I would know that they would understand all about my perplexities and solve them. Those eyes were a relief; that's what they were (Toye, 1923, p. 2).
He died on October 13, 1945 at the age of 81.
Taken June 14, 1928
(From the Our Lady of the Valley Memorial Scrapbook)
Fr. O'Connor (right) with Rev. William Hickey, Bishop of Providence from 1921-1933
(From the Our Lady of the Valley Memorial Scrapbook)
Fr. O'Connor (left) with Fr. Bernard
Photo taken April of 1930
(From the Our Lady of the Valley Memorial Scrapbook)Fr. Joseph (James) Conaghan (1853-1926)
James Conaghan was born on March 30, 1853 in Ireland.
After surviving what he called "an incident in my early life", a near death experience after being pushed into the River Clyde, he enrolled in the Roman Catholic St. Mungo's Academy and was baptized and confirmed.
A few years later, he entered Rockwell College, a Catholic boarding school in Tipperary, Ireland. The spiritual director of the school at the time, Fr. Richard, after hearing about James' near death experience, told him that "in gratitude for [his] preservation, it was [his] bounden duty to become a priest"... He was ordained into the priesthood in 1877.
After becoming a priest, Fr. Joseph taught theology and Greek at Maynooth College (Saint Patrick's Pontifical University) in Maynooth, Ireland. He later became a curate of Saint Patrick's Church in Glasgow, Scotland, before entering the Trappist Order in 1886 at l'Abbaye du Petit Clairvaux in Tracadie, Nova Scotia. He was one of the founding monks who first came to Rhode Island with Fr. John Mary Murphy in 1900 after a series of fires destroyed Petit Clairvaux in 1892 and 1896.
During his time at Our Lady of the Valley, Fr. Joseph acted as Guest Master, Confessor, and Official Correspondent. He was well known, in particular, for greeting "thousands" of visitors to the Monastery as the Guest Master, and was "full of great personal charm" ("Death Claims Third", 1926, p. 1).
Fr. Joseph was also known as a "real scholar" (Toye, 1923), being able to speak Latin and Greek, and was called the "scribe of the monastery" ("Death Claims Third", 1926, p. 1). In addition to his regular duties, he wrote poetry and essays (which he wrote in his diary), some of which were published and could be found in local churches.
In the months of March and April of 1926, the flu tore its way through the community. At its peak, 34 monks were in the infirmary at the same time. On April 23, 1926, at 5:40 A.M. Fr. Joseph died at the age of 73 at Saint Joseph's Hosptital in Providence, Rhode Island. At the time of his death, he had been a priest for 49 years, 40 of those years were spent in the Trappist Order.
Thanks to a diary he kept and a scrapbook he assembled, we are able to get a rare glimpse into daily life at Our Lady of the Valley. (The contents of his diary and scrapbook can be viewed on the library's digital repository site on Omeka https://cumberlibdigital.omeka.net/)
Photograph of Fr. Joseph that appeared in a Boston Traveler article published on November 17, 1923: "Joe Toye Learns Trappist Monks are Real Men, Thoroughly Educated, Firm in Purpose, Disciplined, Most Hospitable".
Fr. Joseph, 1922
References:
Auclair, É-J. (1922). Courte notice sur la vie et les oeuvres de Louis-Joseph-Amedee Jerome: Fondateur de l'adoration nocturne au Canada. Arbour et Dupont. https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2022229
Auclair, É-J. (1907). Chronique mensuelle. Le Propagateur, 4(1), 1-15. https://archive.org/details/lepropagateurbul03montuoft/page/448/mode/2up
Bertoniere, G. (2005). Through Faith and Fire: The Monks of Spencer 1825-1958. Yorkville Press Inc.
Death claims third monk of Cistercian Order in Cumberland. (1926, April 23). The Pawtucket Times, 1. https://pawtucket.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011825-12311976&e=former%20theology&m=between&ord=e1&fn=pawtucket_times_usa_rhode_island_pawtucket_19260423_english_1&df=1&dt=4
Élu prieur titulaire. (1907, May 7). La Presse. https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3213247
Schrepfer, L. (1947). Pioneer Monks in Nova Scotia. Saint Augustine's Monastery, N.S. https://archive.org/details/pioneermonksinno0000schr/mode/2up
Toye, J. (1923, November 17). Joe Toye learns Trappist Monks are real men, thoroughly educated, firm in purpose, disciplined, most hospitable. The Boston Traveler, 2.