News Item: : Fr. Matthew O'Callaghan - Requiescat in Pace
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
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Monday 16 July 2018 - 18:42:31

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The second priest that we heard had sadly died last week in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, was Fr. Mortimer Matthew O'Callaghan. He was 89 years old and had been a priest in the Archdiocese for 48 years.

Fr. O'Callaghan - who many people knew more affectionately and simply as ''Little Father Mattie'' - was an absolutely outstanding priest. He was also one of the holiest people that I ever met.

I never saw a Novus Ordo priest offering the entire Mass in that rite with such other-worldly reverence and devotion. Flowing from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the heart of his life and priesthood, Fr. Mattie was holy, kind, charitable and a true shepherd to souls.

We first met him just after we got married in 2002, when he supplied at Sunday Mass in Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in Seaforth. I said to Angie that he reminded me of a latter-day St. John Vianney. Following from that, we gradually developed a friendship with him between 2002 and 2012. Landmarks along the way included a period of regular monthly attendance at his First Saturdays for Our Lady of Fatima, at Ss. Peter and Paul church in Haresfinch; going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes led by him in December 2008; attending a Marian Day Mass when he was acting as a chaplain to the Missionary Sisters of Charity in Liverpool; meeting him at various social events hosted by friends; sharing in the joys of his 40th anniversary of ordination in 2010; visting him for evenings at his little apartment in Ainsdale; and having him over for meals with us when we used to have an apartment near Crosby Beach.

Those First Saturdays at Ss. Peter and Paul's were amazing days with a long queue waiting for Confession and spiritual counsel from Fr. Mattie, then his very reverent offering of Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the holy Rosary, a beautiful Marian procession, the recitation of the traditional version of the Holy Michael prayer and a cheerful social afterwards in the parish hall. During those social periods, we noticed that Father made a point of spending some time sitting with the people at every single one of the tables in the hall. He once told us that he did this so as to be approachable to everyone and to help them to feel the tangible pastoral care of their priest.

Father loved the social side of life and he delighted in telling us a story about a home he had once visited, which had just been blessed by the birth of a newborn child. He explained that the father, a big strong Irish man, had come in, raised a glass and proposed a toast with the immortal words, ''Long legs to the baby!'' This became a kind of catchphrase whenever we met Fr. Mattie; and he would mirthfully grin from ear to ear whenever it was mentioned.

Devout worship of God, authentic Marian devotion, genuine care of souls and development of a strongly Christian community life; these were all the hallmarks of Fr. Mattie and of his priestly ministry.
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Angeline, Fr. Mattie and Margaret celebrating Father's 40th anniversary of priesthood in the summer of 2010. Margaret had put a great deal of love, planning and hard work into making the day a very special one for him.

Father once told us that, when he still had a parish, he used to go on foot, like the priests of old, to every single house in his parish, twice each year. What made this extra special, was the fact that Father went to every house, whether Catholic or not.

He simply knocked on doors, introduced himself, explained who he was and where he lived, and concluded that they knew where he was if they ever needed any help.

Father recalled that some folks would ask him in and others would not. He smiled at the remembrance of one household that turned him away in the rain one dark night, but then invited him in for a cup of tea, six months later. It was all about gradually building relationships.

In the car on the way to my best friend Fr. Mike Williams' funeral, after he had sadly died in September 2011, Fr. Mattie explained that he also had served as a hospital chaplain for a time.

Fr. Mattie excitedly told us how he had won the confidence of a dying man, given him basic instruction, heard his Confession and helped him to die a holy death in God's peace. ''Now, isn't that wonderful?'' he would say. 

He also told us that he had once read somewhere that the soul does not necessarily leave the body immediately. In light of that, he would go alone into the hospital's morgue and pray for the lately dead to receive the grace of salvation. Whatever the merits of that particular theological theory, it nevertheless demonstrates again something of Fr. Mattie's deep care for souls; and of his resolve to go the extra mile to take the love of Christ out to all those in his field of care.

That duty of care for souls was particularly apparent in Father's incredible sermons. These were most often delivered in a low and gentle, but also at times grave tone. He consistently called the faithful to conversion of life, to repent of sin and to live lives of holiness, by allowing God to be at the centre. I vividly remember being on the edge of my pew one time when he described the horrific last moments of the tormented Josef Stalin: ''Pray for poor sinners, my dear children. Pray for them...'' he concluded in a sombre voice.

Like Fr. Peter Kelly (RIP), who was mentioned in our last piece, Fr. Mattie was also in the Marian Movement of Priests (MMP). After his love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, there is no doubt that Fr. Mattie's next great love was Our Lady. In his apartment was a lovely little piece of furniture with a nice cloth, bearing a beautiful statue of Our Lady. Father's Marian devotion was touchingly childlike; without ever being childish. Indeed, none of what is written here must be taken to mean that Father was in any way childish. On the contrary, he was prudent, shrewd and could frequently move people and situations to get what he wanted. Mostly that was nothing other than the glory of God, the good of the Church and the love of Our Lady. He knew and understood people and observed many things. He could lead, but with humility. Perhaps when I say here that he was childlike, it is more of a metaphor for the cultivation in him of Christ-like qualities. There was an underlying toughness to Fr. Mattie, which one sensed he had trained over a lifetime into gentleness for the sake of souls.

As a Marian priest, Father was also another great advocate of the regular praying of the holy Rosary.

He once told us that he suffered a heart attack in his presbytery one night and had to literally crawl for help. Apparently, as he crawled, he kept asking Our Lady to, ''do a Cana for me Blessed Mother!''

One of our happiest memories of Fr. Mattie is the winter pilgrimage we spent in his group at Lourdes in time for the feast of the Immaculate Conception in December 2008.   
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Fr. Mattie with Angie at the airport during the winter pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2008.

This was an incredible opportunity to witness Father's deep devotion to Our Lady and St. Bernadette first hand. We approached him to say that we would like to kneel for Holy Communion during the pilgrimage. Before we started just going always to the Traditional Latin Mass, it became important to do this beforehand because of modernistic clerics who might make a scene. For instance, several of our friends suffered cruel humiliations; including one to whom a priest growled, ''Get up!'' and dragged him to his feet by his clothing. In sharp and happy contrast to any of that, however, Fr. Mattie was simply delighted that we wanted to kneel for Holy Communion. Indeed, he told us that he wished that everyone would return to the practice of kneeling, ''like they used to.'' This certainly took the pressure off us during the rest of that blessed pilgrimage. Father knew we had been through the mill for the Faith and he was very kind to us.

Father sat with us on the flight home and, as soon as the ''Seatbelts Off'' sign came on, he jumped up and went to every seat on the aeroplane to chat to the people and offer them a Miraculous Medal from a huge bundle he suddenly produced from his jacket.

I guess that being the parish priest in his own place had somehow protected Father from some of the deplorable irreverences of our age.

He once told us that he had been donated some money and that he had used this to have a fine set of marble altar rails installed in his church to make it more traditional after the ''wreckovations'' following the Second Vatican Council. Apparently the ''powers that be'' had eventually got wind of this and an auxiliary bishop was sent out to ''investigate''. Happily, this turned out to be the down-to-earth and genuine Bishop Kevin O'Connor, who died in 1993. Apparently, Bishop O'Connor had said to Father Mattie that the, then, Archbishop was worried about him. Then he had given him the wink and said, ''You've done a good job on these Mattie. You'll be alright!''

When Father eventually ''retired'' from his parish due to his health, he began to work as hard as ever by supplying on a regular basis at parishes all over the Archdiocese, and sometimes beyond, to give priests a chance to get a vacation. It seems that this became a shocking awakening to him as to just how bad things were getting in so many places.

And so, as he motored around in his little black car, he became shocked by the loud chattering and boisterous behaviour in many churches before Holy Mass, the widespread acceptance of unchaste dress at church and the deep sense of a general loss of any kind of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, or even for the church as a sacred place.

Fr. Mattie did what he could to counter these horrors by his own reverence, by the content of his sermons and by direct corrective actions.

With great gentleness and humility, he would speak one to one with unchastely dressed women and explain to them why this was wrong and point out to them the great good that they could do by dressing chastely.

One time, he was chatting with parishioners in the porch after Mass, when he spotted a man chatting and laughing away merrily nearby. Father went over and asked him whether he was the Extraordinary Minister to whom he had just given Holy Communion to take straight out to the sick. When the man replied that he was, Father asked where the sacred Pyx was now. The man indicated his breast pocket. In front of the gathered throng, Father Mattie got right down on his knees in reparation. He once reflected movingly to us how only priests were allowed to touch the Sacred Species in the Old Rite.

Not everyone would listen to Father and complaints would be made. He was also greatly distressed when he heard a nun disparaging a holy picture in a sacristy. With an almost heartbreaking naivete, Father used to ask me, ''What have the parish priests been doing to let things get this bad?'' He would never criticise the bishops to us. Indeed, as we were lay people, he made a point of this. However, he did say that he was very concerned at the decisions they were making and told us to pray for the bishops.

If Father ever encountered couples who were living together in sin, he would grow very sad and say to them, always with humility, ''No, my children. This is not right. You can't live together like that without the grace of the sacrament. Oh no. That's a sin. Come and see me at my parish and I'll help you to get things sorted out.''

God bless him, how few have that kind of courage today! When we told him that we had experienced bullying on the compulsory marriage preparation day we had, had to attend to get married, just because we had actually defended the Magisterial teachings on holy matrimony, Father Mattie grew very sad. ''Is that what they said?'' he asked gravely. On a happier note, he once explained how he had studied those teachings deeply in his seminary and it had then hit him just how wonderful the sacrament and vocation of holy matrimony really is. With humourous delight in his eyes, he chuckled that he had realised too late, seeing as he was then nearing ordination.
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''Long legs to the baby!'' Father Mattie as so many people across the Archdiocese will remember him.

In 2004, just before we went overseas to America for 2 years in Steubenville, our dear friend Fiona hosted a ''going away'' party at her house, with Fr. Mattie as guest of honour. This photograph was taken that night and I think that it really captures something of the Fr. Mattie that we all knew and loved.

The circumstances of that photograph were as follows.

Father explained to us how much Dr. Scott Hahn's writings had helped him in his life and also in his priesthood, as they had helped him to go much deeper into the Sacred Scriptures. I asked him if I could take a picture of him with me and, when I encountered Dr. Hahn, I could tell him about Fr. Mattie and what he had said.

This was another humbling time that I glimpsed something of Father's Christ-like humility, because he said a few times, and with great simplicity, ''Would you really do that for me, Alan? Would you?''

When I eventually did meet Scott Hahn, showed him the picture and explained what Fr. Mattie had said, he replied that he was always blessed when he heard that his writings had helped anyone, but that it was always extra special when that person was a priest. When I eventually got that news back to Fr. Mattie in England, he was delighted.

In 2010, we moved back to Liverpool and rented an apartment close to one of my favourite places for prayer, reflection and basic relaxation with family and friends - Crosby Beach. During the next couple of years, we sometimes visited Father at his apartment up the coast in Ainsdale, and he sometimes joined us for meals at our place.

One night, we took a walk right along the waterfront and back. Father was joyfully greeting everyone we passed. He explained that he thought this an important witness for Christ and the Church, being as he was in his Roman collar. Most people responded warmly, as the diminutive Father Mattie had that kind of personality and olde world Irish charm. However, one bloke was curt with him and carried on past. Father became very sad and said that ''we must pray for that poor man'' as he felt this was a particular slight against Our Lord and the Church. Once again, we glimpsed something of that wonderful aspect of Father's life and priesthood.

It was during the social visits of those years, that Father explained something of his own journey through life.

He explained that he had served Holy Mass as a small boy at Our Lady, Star of the Sea in Seaforth, and had felt the call to priesthood early on; he spoke of the importance of prayer and of having good Christian friends to keep one going in the Faith; he reflected how his vocation had been started but then delayed by health issues; how he had done his, then compulsory, National Service for a couple of years in the armed forces overseas; how this had helped him to mature and gain good insights into human nature before becoming a priest; how for the sake of his vocation he had sacrificed the chance of a relationship with a lovely young lady who was ''sweet on him'' in the military days; how the other young men began to come to him for advice when they saw this integrity and deep faith; how this helped him to have a deeper understanding of the great value of priestly celibacy, which helps people to come with problems, when they see commitment and realise that you are not a threat to them; how all of this had affirmed his own vocation; and how he had become such a good football player that he could have played professionally, if he had chosen to go down that road.

Over the years, we heard from other sources that Father Mattie had indeed been an incredibly light, fast and skillful footballer, with professional levels of play, in the days of his youth.

In terms of pastoral care of souls there are so many things we could add. Here are a few more.

Whenever we visited him at his apartment, Father would always smile merrily by one door and say, ''Would you like to see Someone before you go? Would you like to see Our Lord for a minute? I've got my own little chapel with a Tabernacle, you know!'' And he would open the door, and we would all kneel there at the edge of the little chapel together for a few moments. ''Now, isn't that lovely!'' he would say with delight, as he then led us down the hall to say goodbye.

One time we were chatting outside a church after Mass and two young teenaged girls came along. ''Now then, my children,'' he said. ''Be careful in these teen years. These are the years of great temptations! Stay close to Our Lord and Our Lady, and ask them to help you through these years!'' When the girls smiled and said, ''We know, Father. We've come to get Baptised!'' Father was overjoyed.

Around 2010, I remember Father going around places and telling anyone who would listen that, ''the demon of impurity has become very strong in these times... It is essential that people resist and do not allow the enemy of souls a foothold.''

Father also told people that the depressing remembrance of past sins, as long as they have been repented, confessed and forgiven, never, ever comes from Jesus. With gentle clarity, Father would say, ''Our Lord, Who is Love Itself, would never throw old sins back in your face like that.'' He made it clear that such disquieting experiences are attacks of the infernal enemy of souls. He encouraged people to always stay close to Our Lord.

In my own spiritual life, Father was a great support to me through two bereavements I suffered in the space of a couple of years, including the death of my great friends Fr. Mike Williams and Phil Rushton. ''Are you alright son.'' he would say. ''C'mon Angie, let's get him a cup of tea!''

In the winter of 2011, Father seemed to suddenly become overwhelmed with his belongings and whenever we visited him he would ask me to start sorting and taking his things off to charity shops. I did not ever do this as I was concerned that people might wonder what I was doing and who the heck I thought I was! I knew that his family and priest friends were visiting him, so thought that, as a layman, it would be best to let them help in the matter.

One time we met him and he did not seem to know who we were any more. Then my dad was diagnosed with cancer and suffered and died in 2012. Aside from receiving the sacraments, I was out of the public Church scene with grief for a long time. I think the cumulation of deaths, (we'd also lost a friend called Laura, who died young and suddenly in her 30's), and my close friendship with Dad, just overwhelmed me; plus the post Ushaw soul-shrapnel... Actually, although I write this blog, I'm still not really back in the public Church scene.

By the time I re-emerged to some extent, I was told by another holy old priest friend that Fr. Mattie had gone into a home somewhere and would no longer recognise who I was. It is impossible to think of this without regret. Here we see another reason why, in our human frailty, we all need Our Lord Jesus so much.

Nevertheless, there is another happy story with which it seems more appropriate to conclude.

As one of our pictures above shows, Father Mattie celebrated 40 years of priesthood in 2010. That was the year that Pope Benedict XVI, of happy memory, was visiting the UK and all priests celebrating milestone jubilees that year received a splendid invite to the Papal Mass at Westminster.

I'll always remember how little Fr. Mattie, with childlike glee and humility, kept saying, ''To think Angeline, to think Alan... I'm going to be at Holy Mass with His Holiness. Me!'' He was quite simply over the moon.

It is heartening and moving to hope and pray for him now to be feeling something similar about entering into the eternal presence of the Most Holy Trinity and enjoying the Beatific Vision of God for evermore. Please join us in praying for the repose of his immortal soul.
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Fr. Matthew O'Callaghan, priest of Jesus Christ. In these times, what a light he was! May God have mercy on him and rest his immortal soul. May his family and friends be comforted. May God bless those who nursed him.

With thanksgiving and Christian hope, we pray: Eternal rest grant unto Fr. Matthew O'Callaghan, dear Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him, and may he rest in peace. Amen.

Father's Reception and Vigil Mass will take place at St. John Stone Church in Ainsdale, this Wednesday 18th July at 7pm. His funeral will commence at 12 noon, on Thursday 19th July, followed by Burial at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Southport.

Our Lady of Fatima - pray for us!

St. Joseph - pray for us!

St. Matthew - pray for us!

Ss Peter and Paul - pray for us!   




This news item is from Torch of The Faith
( http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.1742 )