Vows - holy orders and marriage

Vows: The story of a Priest; a Nun and their son, by Peter Manseau.

Peter Manseau writes of the complications of being the son of a priest and a nun – parents who committed themselves to the church and thence to each other and their family.

How so?

William Manseau was ordained a priest on Feb. 2, 1961 by Richard Cardinal Cushing. Manseau served the Archdiocese of Boston as a parish priest. On June 14, 1969, he married Mary Doherty, a professed member of the CSJ.

In the wake of the reforms of Vatican II, Manseau and Doherty walked away from one life to another in search of their vision of the emerging church. That vision is yet to be.

Their son, Peter, writes now of the early years and the call to a vocation and the pre-Vatican II church environment and ethos. Peter describes the separate journeys of his dad and Mom in their struggle to find the path that God called them to.

From his father’s own writings, in July of 1968, “ … O Father, deep within my being I feel a call to follow you in a new way – trusting beyond knowledge that it is right – it is so insistent – Lord Jesus, accomplish your will in me. Whatever it may be. I am bewildered as to which course to follow…” p. 192

Earlier, Manseau had said that “ …I had come to a junction in my life … when I really felt that in order to be faithful to the Gospel, I should enter into the deepest relationship possible for a Christian, marriage…” p. 191