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| Bro. Harold |
Celebrating the Year of the Brother, the Congregation of the Holy Cross is observing a special year of thanksgiving, events and prayer, which will culminate on Oct. 17, the anniversary date of the canonization of the first saint from their religious community.
SouthCoast has been blessed with outstanding religious Brothers.
Venerated around the world for thousands of reported miraculous healings, St. Andre Bessette visited his family here and celebrated Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church.
Word would spread very quickly whenever Brother Andre arrived in New Bedford, and when he left, his car would be filled with crutches and wheelchairs, donated by those who had been cured.
Over the years, the Congregation of the Holy Cross sent Brothers to teach and administer Monsignor Coyle High School in Taunton and to staff their Eastern Novitiate and Seminary on Tucker Road in North Dartmouth, as well as run a small working farm on the property that provided meat, eggs and fresh vegetables for their communities. The residence now serves as the home for retired Eastern Novitiate priests and brothers.
Today, Brother Harold F. Hathaway, C.S.C. carries on the important work in SouthCoast. He will celebrate 50 years in his vocation in 2013.
Born and raised in Taunton, he received his calling when he was 17 and a junior at Coyle.
"What attracted me to the religious life of the Brother was experiencing them in the classroom: their care and interest in individuals, community and prayer life, which they would share with the students," he said. "That was something that drew me to Holy Cross."
After graduation, he entered their formation program and went on to the novitiate, taking his first vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience.
Hathaway earned a bachelor's degree at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and a master's degree in biological sciences at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He also holds a second master's degree in administration from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and a certificate in religious education from Boston University.
He has served as principal and president of four Catholic high schools throughout the country: Holy Cross High School, Waterbury, CT; Judge Memorial Catholic High School, Salt Lake City, Utah; St. Joseph Catholic High School, Ogden, Utah; and Coyle and Cassidy High School, Taunton; and as adjunct professor at Stonehill College in North Easton.
Hathaway said that his first love is teaching, but his background in science and organizational skills also served him well in administration.
"Even as an administrator, I made sure I would teach one class," he said.
This week the Diocese of Fall River is celebrating Catholic Schools Week, and Hathaway offers a unique window into the world of today's parochial students.
"The students nowadays in Catholic schools are influenced by technology, as well as materialism and the economy, although there's also a sense of spirituality," he said. "They are very open, especially to various prayer experiences. For example, Stang has a very good campus ministry."
He said that a Catholic education prepares students for adulthood and family life.
"I think what students appreciate is a sense of moral values, especially family values and the respect for life from conception to grave," he said. "I also think the youth in our schools are sensitive, giving and charitable."
Currently, Hathaway resides at the Holy Cross residence in Dartmouth, serving his community as assistant superior and steward since October 2010.
"Personally my community has been very generous to me," he said. "I have to be available to my mother, who is 90. She doesn't drive, and I get up to Taunton a couple of times a week for grocery shopping and doctors' appointments."
Hathaway participates in daily common prayer and takes part in the many spiritual opportunities and retreats offered throughout the year.
"My spirituality is very centered in a personal relationship with the Lord," he said.
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