Fr. Paul Cossette died suddenly in Sherbrooke, Que., on Jan. 28. The initial diagnosis was a pulmonary blood clot, but Fr. Romeo Trottier was informed that evening that Fr. Paul apparently suffered a heart attack.
Fr. Paul was 71 and had been a Salesian for more
than 52 years, a priest for almost 42 years. He was a member of the Salesian
community at Séminaire Salésien,
where he in fact spent 40 of his Salesian years.
According
to Fr. Romeo, on the morning of the 28th Fr. Paul became ill in his room but
was still conscious, very weak and breathing with much difficulty, when EMTs
arrived. While they were bringing him down from his room, he lost consciousness
and never regained it. The EMTs took him to the local hospital, Hôtel-Dieu, where
he was examined and then transferred in very serious condition to University
Hospital for specialized care. He died at 3:35 p.m.
Paul Cossette was born in St.-Narcisse
de Champlain,
Que., on May 7, 1941, and baptized that very day in the local parish church, St.
Narcisse.
He was just six when he was confirmed (June 23, 1947) in the same church.
His
parents were Edouard and Marie-Rose Ayotte Cossette. When Paul was five, his
father died.
He
was educated by the Daughters of Jesus and then the St. Gabriel Brothers in
grade school. Planning to enter a Franciscan seminary, he had the good fortune
to meet Fr. Pierre Décarie, the Salesians’ vocation director in Canada, who
induced him to go instead to Don Bosco Juniorate in Haverstraw, N.Y., in September
1954. Like most of the boys from Quebec who went to the juniorate in those
years, Paul needed to learn English; thus it took him five years to complete
his high school courses. He graduated in June 1959.
Paul
entered the novitiate in Newton, N.J., in September 1959, with Fr.
Aloysius Bianchi as master of novices, and professed first vows on September
8, 1960.
As a young Salesian, Bro. Paul was assigned to summer
apostolates at Camp Don Bosco in Newton and Camp Savio in West Milford, N.J.,
where he put his artistic talents to use teaching boys arts and crafts. After
his graduation from Don Bosco College in 1964, he completed three years of
practical training at the Salesian school in Jacquet River, N.B., where his
directors were first Fr. Ronald Quenneville, then Fr. Maurice Petit.
He made his perpetual vows on June 26, 1966, at the end of his annual retreat
in Ellenville, N.Y.
Bro.
Paul studied theology at Sherbrooke Major Seminary and University from 1967 to
1971 and was ordained by Bishop André Cimichella, OSM, auxiliary bishop of
Montreal, at the Salesians’ Ste-Claire’s Church in Montreal on May 9, 1971. He
earned bachelor’s degrees in theology in 1970 and in pedagogy in 1972 at the
university.
Fr.
Paul exercised two primary apostolates during his Salesian life. The first was
educational. He taught at Séminaire Salésien in Sherbrooke from 1971 to
1984 and was director of the SDB community at Sherbrooke from 1990 to 1996. From
1992 to 2000 he was also in charge of the school’s campus ministry. Fr. Romeo
says that he was very close to the students, not only during his time
officially on staff but over the years—his noon time always spent at the
pastoral room or the corridor adjacent, assisting as a volunteer not hired by
school. Of the 700 students, there were few names he did not recall; he had a fantastic
memory for names. Many of them attended his funeral Mass; they made up
three-fourths of the congregation, according to Fr. Romeo.
Past
pupil Kate Kendall wrote on her Facebook page:
May the soul of this great man be at peace! Human, friend of the
young, serene, but welcoming, a stamp in his hand [he had a philatelic club for many years], a discreet but sincere
smile on his lips. He had a lively eye for our projects at school so as to
congratulate us for our work and give us a gentle word of encouragement at the
right moment.
He was a man of God, accustomed to celebrate Mass with a really
beautiful passion. From having sometimes participated at his Mass, whether he
was presiding or concelebrating, I cherished the shared moments when our
glances met and I felt he was happy just to share his faith with us young
people. Séminaire Salésien, the alumni, the teachers, and all those who knew him will miss
him very much.
Thank you, Paul.
Another
past pupil spoke at Fr. Paul’s funeral. He said:
It’s often said of Don Bosco that he was
“the friend of the young.” The young were always the center of Paul’s life.
It’s important to pay this tribute to him today because he was, right up to the
end, the friend of the young in a very simple way.
In the name of all these young people who
had the good fortune of crossing your path, we thank you heartily for your
patience and your devotion to us. You’ll be carried in the memories of hundreds
of students and alumni. Now it’s time for you to rest, a rest well earned after
so many years of service to the young.
His
other main apostolate was communications. From 1972 to 1976 he contributed to the Canadian SDB newsletter Nouvelles Salésiennes/Salesian News. In 1976 he became
editor of Carrefour
Salésien,
the Salesian Bulletin of Canada, and
carried out that responsibility until his death “with artistic taste and
intelligence,” says his colleague Fr. Romeo. From 1996 he was also director of
Don Bosco Audiovisuals, which distributed Salesian printed, audio, and visual
materials.
In
addition, Fr. Paul was assistant pastor of Ste-Claire’s Church from 1984 to
1990, as well as during the summers of 1977-1983, and directed the Salesian mission
office in Canada from 2000 to 2006. He was active in the Salesian summer camp
at Hatley, Que. (1963-1975).
Fr.
Romeo writes:
Fr. Paul was conscious of his commitment as
a Salesian priest and as a religious, and what that implied. He was very
faithful to the daily celebration of the Eucharist and the other Salesian
practices of piety.
He was very close to the students and their
lives, interested in school life and the students’ various activities. With the
young he was always aware that he was an educator, very present but discreetly.
He had a vast collection of newspaper
clippings that concerned our alumni, and he would post them on the bulletin
boards. Putting up bulletin boards was another of his favorite tasks:
liturgical and Salesian feasts, photos, artistic events, current events, etc.
He had a great knowledge of the history of art.
Fr. Paul is survived by his cousins Solange Carbonneau,
Jeannine Carbonneau, and Jean-Jacques Carbonneau and his aunts Gertrude
Cossette, Simonne Gervais, and Jeannine Ayotte.
Fr. Paul was waked in Sherbrooke on Thursday evening,
January 31, and Friday morning, February 1. The Mass of Christian Burial was
celebrated at Nativity of Jesus Church on Friday morning, with former
provincial Fr. Rich Authier presiding and Fr. George Harkins,
director of the Séminaire Salésien community, preaching.
In
his homily Fr. George said:
Yesterday was the feast of our Founder. I
imagine that Don Bosco is welcoming Paul to the Salesian Garden.
Paul and Don Bosco had a lot in common.
Both of them lost their fathers in their childhood, both worked to make young
people happy, both were educators, both were religious.
Paul had a great knowledge of the Salesian
world and a love for Salesian things. More than 50 years ago Paul committed
himself to following Christ Jesus as a Salesian after the example of the Good
Shepherd, giving his life for others.
Do you see the three books on his coffin,
next to the crucifix and the flowers? They’re the Bible, the Salesian Rule of
Life, and a copy of Carrefour Salésien.
That tells us a lot about Paul’s life.
Fr.
Paul was buried in the Salesian plot of Repos
St-François d’Assise in Montreal.
No comments:
Post a Comment