Saint Patrick's Day

(The following is from a talk given at St. Patrick's Church in Lexington, Virginia, March 17, 2024)

Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Father Maxwell, for inviting us all from St. Mary’s School in Staunton to speak with you today.

It is especially meaningful to speak with you this morning here at St. Patrick’s Church in Lexington, Virginia on St. Patrick’s Day. It is also a special anniversary, of sorts.

100 years ago, this month, a young Irish boy arrived here in America with nothing but his clothes and 50 dollars – a sizeable fortune for most immigrants in those times. His family called him, Sonny. And, while they did love him, they had sent him away from home, at age 12, to work in the coal mines of England. You see, Sonny was a “Runner” – a messenger for the IRA. And, youngster or not, his family knew what would happen to him if he was caught by the army occupying Ireland at that time. The coal mines were, for Sonny, safer than remaining at home.

Sonny worked in those mines for several years, with one goal in mind: to come to America, the land of Freedom and of Plenty. It wasn’t easy for Sonny when he arrived here. But, not even when the Great Depression struck, did he regret his decision to come here to the United States.

After several years, Sonny married and began his family of 6 children. He was truly an Irish Catholic.

He was never wealthy. With only 3 years of a somewhat formal education, he worked a variety of jobs until landing a relatively secure and safe position working in a factory - mixing asbestos for a brake- lining company. Despite hardships and shortcomings, Sonny held fast to 3 beliefs, formed in the mountains of Western Ireland: The Right of every man to own his own home, the Right to be openly, proudly, and gratefully Catholic and the Right and obligation to send your children to a Catholic school. Sonny held onto those beliefs all his life; he was right then and those beliefs are just as right today.

Yes, times are now different. Yet, even Sonny, with a third-grade education would be in disbelief to learn that in any 200 mile stretch of America, where there were a good number of thriving Catholic parishes, its children did not have a Catholic school in which to attend. And, yet, here we are in this beautiful Shenandoah Valley experiencing that very thing.  Sonny would say, in his County Mayo brogue, “I can’t understand this, ‘tisn’t right”.   And, no, it isn’t.

Sonny taught his children that when people saw something that wasn’t just or fair, they should do something about it. I know this because Sonny, that young Irish immigrant, was my father, John Martin Giblin, and I am his second youngest child - by the Grace of God and great fortune, born in America and given a Catholic education.

My father’s lessons that we should try to correct something that is not just or right should not be lost.

Today, on this glorious Feast Day of Patrick, the Great Patron of Ireland, a humble man who taught something so complex as the Trinity by simply picking a shamrock and showing it to an Irish warlord, thus bringing Christianity to a pagan land, I, and all of us from St. Mary’s School, beg you – to please help us to bring a Catholic school back to our area of the Valley. It is our children’s Right to have it and our duty to provide it. It is Just.

You can help with your prayers, and by whatever other means you are able, to ensure that St. Mary’s School becomes a safe harbor for our Catholic children and all of God’s children and a model of Catholic education.

May the Trinity of God, bless us. May our Patroness, Mother Mary, continue to guide us and we pray that St. Patrick inspire us all in accomplishing tasks that may seem impossible.

We’d love to meet each of you after Mass to explain our Mission and how you may help St. Mary’s School.

Thank you, Father Maxwell. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all.

(For more information about St. Mary's School in Staunton, VA, an Independent Catholic-centered school, go to: www.stmarysschoolva.com)

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