Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

MONROE—Fortitude, commitment, and a love of family. That’s what kept Joey Nizzardo going as he swam over seven hours from Port Jefferson, New York to Captain’s Cove in Bridgeport, becoming this year’s Hartford Healthcare Swim Across the Sound first place solo swimmer. That, along with a little music and a lot of prayers.

For Nizzardo, a 20-year-old college junior and St. Jude Parishioner from Monroe, swimming has been a constant, from his early hometown meets at age nine through championships on the Rapids Team. Now, he competes as a Division I distance swimmer at Fairfield University, but he faced the ultimate challenge of mental and physical endurance in the waters of Long Island Sound on July 29. This time, however, he didn’t swim for a medal or an award. He swam for all those he knows affected by cancer.

“I did this for those I love,” Nizzardo said of the longest race of his career. “My grandfather is currently battling multiple myeloma, and one of my other relatives recently died from cancer. I think it’s really important that we can empathize with people who need money to get cancer treatments, and this is a great cause for that.”

As a solo swimmer, he raised over $3,325, thanks to donations from family, friends, and teammates and through posts on Instagram and LinkedIn. These funds, in addition to the over $400,000 total raised by this event, will benefit cancer patients and their families with life-saving treatments and financial assistance.

“I got lots of support for the cause from so many people,” he said. “It especially means something from my college friends who have so little money to spare.”

His mother Sarah Nizzardo agreed, saying, “Events like this are wonderful and allow him to be philanthropic for a special cause.”

As a relay swimmer with the Boo’s Crew team in 2022, Nizzardo decided to swim solo this year, one of more than 150 swimmers making the 15.5-mile journey across the Sound. “It was awesome and a lot of fun,” he said, the culmination of his extensive training period which included swimming up to 30 hours a week. While he dedicated the Swim to his family, they in turn were the ones who supported him the most.

During practice time, his father Michael, beside him in a kayak off Westport’s Sherwood Island, would monitor Nizzardo as he swam, throwing him a rope with a water bottle and peanuts for sustenance, imitating the procedures followed on the day of the Swim. And he was also aboard the boat with the captain, a medic, and others as his son swam across the Sound’s warm waters.

“The last couple hours were pretty hard, and there were moon jellies and sea lice, but when I saw my dad smiling from the boat, that felt great,” said Nizzardo, smiling himself.

Back at Captain’s Cove, his mother was offering support of her own and giving updates by phone to her older son Mikey, stationed in Alabama with the Connecticut National Guard. As parishioners at St. Jude Church in Monroe, the family received many prayers of encouragement before and during the event. For Sarah Nizzardo, though, it was the intercession of the Blessed Mother that brought her comfort, knowing her son was in precarious waters. “Lots of Hail Marys!” she said. “This became my mantra. I prayed to her as a mother and asked her to watch over Joey in the water. I couldn’t be with him, but I knew she could.”

Despite the mental, physical, and spiritual preparedness, before he hit the open water, Nizzardo admitted that he questioned himself. “I felt nervous and anxious, having never done this before,” he said. Replaying music in his head, he added, helped him soothe any anxiety and persevere through the ongoing soreness and trouble breathing.

In the end, Nizzardo finished victorious, arriving at Captain’s Cove to the crowd’s exuberant cheers and the open arms of his grandfather, teary-eyed and proud. “This is incredibly important for helping those who are struggling with a cancer diagnosis,” Nizzardo said. “For me, it was a great opportunity to combine doing something good with something I love.”

By Emily Clark

TRUMBULL—St. Stephen Church located at 6948 Main Street in Trumbull is hosting a Blood Drive with the American Red Cross on September 9, 2023, from 8 am-1 pm in the Church Basement. It is being held in memory of our September 11th heroes. Please GIVE it save lives.

For an appointment, please visit redcrossblood.org or call 1.800.RED.CROSS (1.800.733.2767)

By Rose Brennan

TOMAR, Portugal—In the last stronghold of the Knights Templar, Diocese of Bridgeport seminarians Dominick Angiolillo and Maximilian Lock received the Rite of Candidacy on July 30—a major step on their path to priestly ordination.

The Rite of Candidacy officially marks the moment a man in priestly formation makes known to the bishop—and by extension, the Church—that he is choosing to continue on a path toward the priesthood. Barring a major occurrence or event, the current expectation is that the candidates will be ordained to the priesthood in four years.

For Lock, the path to the priesthood was almost always a possibility. He grew up in a Catholic home where he attended daily Mass and priests were frequent guests.

“We had a lot of priests who were friends and would come to the house for meals or just to hang out,” he said. “So being familiar with the Church, both inside the building and outside the building, really helped me. I knew I wanted to be a priest from quite young.”

The seed of a priestly vocation was planted quite early for Angiolillo, who was an altar server at St. Theresa Parish in Trumbull. But it wasn’t until the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world that he finally took the first steps to pursuing priesthood.

“I’ve had good priest mentors over the years that kind of got me hooked on the faith,” Angiolillo said. “I just became captivated and fascinated by theology. On my heart, I knew that there was always a desire, and it just kind of took time to mature fully.”

The Rite of Candidacy approaches after the end of the spiritual year of seminary, which concludes with a 30-day silent retreat. And at the end of that retreat, Lock says a man in priestly formation has a major decision to make.

“St. Ignatius has you think about the choices you need to make in life,” Lock said. “Once you’ve chosen marriage or priesthood or religious life, the only true choice you make is the joyful fulfillment of that. But until you reach that permanent choice, you need to make a choice to follow a path that will lead you to those permanent choices.”

For the two candidates, that choice was to pursue the sacred priesthood. But Angiolillo noted people of all vocations are called to live a holy life.

“This is an avenue to holiness, which we’re all called to,” he said. “In my case, that avenue to holiness is through the priesthood.”

Angiolillo and Lock received the Rite of Candidacy in the Church of Santa Maria do Olival in Tomar, Portugal during a diocesan pilgrimage to Fatima and World Youth Day celebrations in Lisbon. For them, having the Rite of Candidacy take place in this context helped reaffirm the importance of what they were doing, as well as the role they hope to eventually play in the universal Church. Angiolillo said that responsibility was especially apparent in the message of the Fatima apparitions.

“The Blessed Mother wants us to be strong men for Christ,” he said. “For a priest (to take) candidacy in Fatima under the mantle of the Blessed Mother, she will protect our ‘yes.’”

Between having the opportunity to undertake a pilgrimage to the site of a Marian apparition, undergoing the Rite of Candidacy and participating in World Youth Day celebrations in Lisbon, it’s clear that the entire pilgrimage to Portugal will play a significant role in Angiolillo and Lock’s continuing priestly formation and—God willing—their eventual priestly ministry. And even though this pilgrimage may be especially pivotal for the candidates, Lock said any member of the faithful who undergoes a pilgrimage is an example of every Christian’s final hope.

“Any pilgrimage that we do is a little representative of every Christian’s journey to heaven,” Lock said. “The fact that World Youth Day is a communal pilgrimage taken by so many members of the universal Church really helps emphasize that fact.”

For Angiolillo, the pilgrimage has largely been about finding Christ and being formed into one of his priests. And that is an experience that he does not take lightly.

“A priest is essentially a walking Jesus Christ by virtue of their ordination,” he said. “I think that’s what being here on this pilgrimage is preparing me to be: to come to that realization and to take it very seriously. To be a persona Christi is a great honor.”

By Joe Pisani

FAIRFIELD—When Father John Baran arrived at St. Anthony of Padua Parish on Ash Wednesday 21 years ago, all the signs were there that the parish would be shutting its doors. People were convinced it was only a matter of time… but then everything changed with the new pastor.

As Dr. Eleanor Sauers, the Parish Life Coordinator, recalls, “He was more positive, he was upbeat. He preached the Gospel with a different tone and tenor … and things started to pop.”

Young people began joining the parish, those who had left came back, parishioners migrated to St. Anthony’s from different towns and cities, and, as Dr. Sauers said, “worship changed from obligation to celebration.”

People were hungry to be fed, and as their pastor, Father Baran fed them with the Word. He told her that the Gospel unites, and Sauers saw evidence of that truth one Sunday when the most conservative person in the parish praised Father for his homily, along with the most liberal.

St. Anthony’s also began social justice initiatives and started “looking outward.” But the greatest legacy of Father John Baran, who died at 59 on March 24, 2018 after battling muscular dystrophy, was he built up a community nourished by the Word, said Sauers, who was his close friend and later took over the parish leadership.

Many parishioners still feel his presence, she says, especially in The Labyrinth Garden, which was recently dedicated in his memory. At the entrance, a bronze plaque simply states: “The Labyrinth Garden—Dedicated to the memory of our beloved Pastor, Rev. John P. Baran 2002-2018.”

The project, which was funded by the parishioners, was designed by Liz Short Ramsey. In 2010, Short Ramsey, who was studying for her degree in landscape design at Columbia University, approached Father Baran and asked if she could create a landscape project for the parish as part of her master’s program.

He said yes and told her that he envisioned “a labyrinth sanctuary” that would provide people an opportunity for solitude, prayer and “comfort away from the activities of life.” After his death, the parish pursued his vision as an appropriate way to honor him, Dr. Sauers said.

THE PRAYER GARDEN at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Fairfield is dedicated to the memory of the late pastor Father John Baran.

A fund was established, and Short Ramsey, whose family was among the founders of the parish, worked with The Labyrinth Company on the design. In September 2022, planting began, and this year, the dedication took place two days after May 19, which would have been Father Baran’s 65th birthday, Dr. Sauers said.

The garden is on the site of a former convent, and a brass cross that hung on the front porch is now embedded in the stonework at the center of the labyrinth, whose “pavers” are 30 feet wide. The area that includes the plantings is 40 feet wide. The pavers were manufactured by The Labyrinth Company of Greenville, SC and installed by Cedar Hill Landscaping of Mahwah, N.J., which provided the plants, bushes, ornamental trees and evergreens.

The garden has different “circuits,” where people from the parish and neighborhood can walk. Dr. Sauers says the garden attracts people of all ages, including a woman who pushes her husband in a wheelchair, children who play on the benches, and those who simply want to spend quiet time in meditation and prayer.

A brochure from the parish says: “Walking a labyrinth can be a metaphor for life. Our lives are a journey in which our experiences, our sorrows and joys, our challenges and our decisions influence how we live that journey. Symbolic of this journey, the labyrinth gives us a meditative tool to focus on and encounter the sacred in our evolving lives.”

“I see it as a memorial, but also something important for the future of our parish and the neighborhood,” Dr. Sauers says. “People come just to walk the labyrinth or to sit there because it’s a lovely, quiet, spiritual space. It’s a comfort place.”

The parish grounds have several other gardens, including a pollinator garden, a garden in memory of the son of a parishioner who died, a garden honoring the Blessed Mother and St. Anthony, and the “Resurrection Vineyard,” which helps Merton House by providing produce. There are also 400 daffodils— along with impatiens—lining the sidewalk approaching the church, all of them planted by parish volunteers.

Dr. Sauers, who is especially grateful to Father Baran for his guidance and friendship, sees the Labyrinth Garden as a sign of his legacy.

“It is a legacy that continues,” she says. “His spirit is alive in the church and in the community. It’s palpable, and this is a physical remembrance—a lovely meditative spot even for people who never knew him.”

BRIDGEPORT—It may be taking place a year later than anticipated, but it’s official: the Diocese of Bridgeport will be sending a group of 61 people from 24 parishes in 13 towns across Fairfield County to attend World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Originally created by Pope St. John Paul II as an opportunity for young people “to search for an encounter with God, who entered the history of mankind through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ,” this year’s World Youth Day will be the 16th such celebration. The first World Youth Day took place in Rome in 1986.

Subsequent World Youth Days have taken place every two to three years, in cities across the world, in 13 different countries across five continents. Italy, Spain and Poland have each hosted two World Youth Days, while Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Panama, the Philippines and the United States—and now Portugal—have hosted one each.

The Diocese of Bridgeport has a history of sending a delegation to World Youth Day, including to more recent celebrations in Panama City and Krakow, Poland. The latter delegation, sent to World Youth Day in 2016, consisted of more than 300 pilgrims—the largest in the diocese’s history.

This year’s delegation is smaller—11 teenagers, 24 young adults, 10 seminarians, five priests, one religious sister and 10 adults—but that doesn’t mean they’re inexperienced. According to Dr. Patrick Donovan, director of the Institute for Catholic Formation and the diocesan pilgrimage director, the delegation’s leaders have nearly 30 years of ministry experience and World Youth Day attendances under their belts, from the 1993 gathering in Denver to the most recent one in Panama City in 2019.

One of the delegation’s leaders is Susan Baldwin, who has many years of youth and young adult ministry to her name. She’s been to World Youth Day celebrations in Panama City and Krakow, and will soon make her third World Youth Day Trip, this time to Lisbon.

One thing that particularly strikes Baldwin each time she attends World Youth Day is seeing the unity among the young people—drawn together by their faith in the universal Church.

“It is amazing to see youth from around the world praying together, singing together (and) sharing their wares that they deliberately bring to trade,” she said. “They share their cultures, take photos together and eat together. They go to catechesis, they visit churches and, yes, they do have fun.”

While Baldwin is a World Youth Day veteran, there is one moment from the 2016 celebration that has stayed with her throughout the years.

“The most profound moment I will never forget is seeing thousands of youth on their knees in Blonia Park, Poland receiving the Eucharist at the celebration of Mass offered by Pope Francis,” she said. “The silence and reverence was palpable, and nothing else mattered in the world while everyone silently approached the presence of our Lord and Savior to receive him and stayed on their knees to pray.”

Father Christopher Ford, the diocese’s director of vocations and seminarians, will be one of the delegation’s leaders for the young adult pilgrims. Like Baldwin, this will be his third World Youth Day, having attended previously in Panama City and Krakow.

Father Ford first experienced World Youth Day in Krakow as a seminarian. One memory that sticks out to him is the day he had the opportunity to visit both the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Divine Mercy Sanctuary, where Christ appeared to St. Faustina Kowalska.

“To put those two experiences together, the power of mercy triumphing over the power of evil, set a tone for the rest of the journey that would not be soon forgotten,” he said.

His second trip to World Youth Day in Panama City occurred on the precipice of his priestly ordination. And seeing people from all over the world really reinforced his desire to be a part of the Church as a Catholic priest.

“As I stepped into the final phases of my preparation for priesthood, I did so with a new energy that came from knowing that all around me and all around the world, people’s hearts are yearning for Jesus—something that I experienced firsthand surrounded by thousands of young adults from all around the world united in prayer and adoration,” Father Ford said.

Father Ford’s third trip to World Youth Day this summer will be his first as a priest. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to “be present and minister not only to the members of our group, but to all of our fellow pilgrims and to be reminded that we are part of such a great gift: the universal Church.”

Many World Youth Day pilgrims bring the prayer intentions of themselves and others while on the trip. And one of the intentions Baldwin is bringing to Lisbon with her is seemingly simple, but nevertheless powerful.

“My prayer on this pilgrimage is that every person will experience that one moment when a question in their heart is answered because in the quiet, they heard the Lord speak to them,” Baldwin said.

(To follow the delegation’s trip to Portugal, be sure to keep an eye on the Diocese of Bridgeport’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and follow the hashtag #BridgeportWYD2023.)

By Rose Brennan

By Rose Brennan

BRIDGEPORT—There are countless things constantly competing for the attention of people in their 20s and 30s: work, family, relationships, friendships and more. But once a month, young adults in the Bridgeport area are hoping to set aside some time for something else: their faith.

And now they can do so more easily than ever with the arrival of a monthly young adult Mass, the first of which was held Wednesday, July 19 at St. Margaret Shrine in Bridgeport.

The event draws off the success of a similar monthly young adult Mass in Stamford, offered on the second Wednesday of each month. Those Masses have enjoyed great success for young adult Catholics living and working in the greater Stamford area, but for those living in the eastern confines of the diocese, they might be a bit too far of a trek to make to spend time with fellow young adults.

But now, monthly young adult Masses are being offered for the greater Bridgeport and Fairfield area at St. Margaret Shrine on the third Wednesday of the month, so young adults who live there can gather in faith and fellowship a little closer to home. But even so, the Mass drew in people from many different places, said Steven Velardo, chair of the Diocesan Young Adult Council and one of the Mass coordinators.

“It was great to have an opportunity for young adults from across this region to come together to worship in Mass and have fellowship,” he said. “We had people come from local communities—Bridgeport, Shelton, Stratford and Fairfield—and from as far away as New Canaan and even Hartford.”

Velardo said holding events like a monthly young adult Mass helps encourage them to live out an life authentic to the Catholic faith. And laying the groundwork for their communities to thrive now can help start a revival of parish life further down the line.

“Our mission is to help Catholic men and women grow stronger in their faith and closer to God,” Velardo said. “Young adults are the future of the church, and when we invest in young adult community, we invest in stronger and more vibrant parishes.”

One of the readings at the first Greater Bridgeport Young Adult Mass recounted the story of Moses and the burning bush. And to Father Peter Lenox, rector of St. Margaret Shrine and the Mass’ principal celebrant, this story was especially appropriate at the onset of an endeavor like a monthly young adult Mass.

“The burning bush itself speaks of God’s own love, of who he is. His love is so great that while it seems to be that which will consume, it is in fact him,” Father Lenox said. “Jesus Christ himself would come to save us definitively with his own passion and death on the cross—in which we see the love of God incarnate, in which we see burning love as in the burning bush that comes forth in Jesus himself.”

Father Lenox then invited the young adults gathered for Mass to experience God and his love in the “oasis of prayer” of St. Margaret Shrine, just as Moses did at the burning bush.

“We wish to know him and love him and recognize him more deeply in our lives in the midst of a society (where) that’s challenging,” Father Lenox said. “It is that very ardent love of God that calls us to himself, even here, by means of something that is still quite difficult to explain, more so than the burning bush. And that is the sacramental presence of Christ.”

Following Mass, a social was held in St. Margaret Shrine’s community room. There, the young adults were able to connect with each other over pizza and dessert. Forging connections through faith and friendship is especially for people in their 20s and 30s, according to Velardo.

“Community is so important to our faith, and young adults can often feel alone, as they’re sometimes the only ones of their generation they know who are attending Mass,” Velardo said. “As a young adult, to be able to look around and see a church full of their peers is incredibly powerful.”

The Greater Bridgeport Young Adult Mass is celebrated every third Wednesday of the month at St. Margaret Shrine at 7 pm. For more information and regular updates on young adult ministries and events in the Diocese of Bridgeport, visit www.catholic203.com.

The Jesus Guild had the great privilege to host an Iconography Workshop taught by Veronica Royal from July 17th – 21st on the campus of the Georgetown Oratory in Redding. Coming from as far away as Philadelphia and Albany, there were students who were expert iconographers with 10 or more years of experience, and some had never painted before.

Veronica emphasized to the class that painting, or writing, icons is a very prayerful process. The week began with Holy Mass on Monday morning when each artist received a blessing. Each class began in prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit “who was present in the creation of our beautiful universe, to be present in our life and inspire us to echo the eternal beauty of Jesus, His Mother Mary, and all the saints…by His grace, teach us the technique of painting holy icons and thereby give glory to God.”

With 25 years of experience painting icons, Veronica’s interest in iconography stems from her cultural background as Russian and Ukrainian. Over those 25 years, she has traveled throughout Europe and the United States with a desire to master the discipline of iconography. And now as a master iconographer herself, she travels all over the world to teach this great art form. Along with leading workshops, Veronica lectures on iconography and is a full-time iconographer, working on commissions for religious organizations, churches and individuals.

Resi, one of the students new to iconography, remarked that beginning each day at the workshop in prayer helped her to open herself up to the presence of God in a new way. At times while painting, she would realize that she had become focused so much on painting, that she had “disconnected” from His presence, and remembering the prayer, she lifted her gaze back to Him. She said that this awareness of His continual presence with her has impacted her time outside of the class as well. Another prayer prayed by the class begins, “Lord, grant that I may meet the coming day with spiritual tranquility. Grant that in all things I may rely upon Your holy will.” Another student, Ken, echoed Resi’s words, saying that he was exhausted at the end of each day having focused so closely for 8 hours on the painting process. He said that when he truly and prayerfully allowed the Holy Spirit to guide his hand, painting seemed effortless, and he imagined that developing the gift of iconography is a process of allowing the Holy Spirit to guide more and more of the brushstrokes.

Ewa Krepsztul, the Guild’s Graphic Designer and coordinator of the workshop, attended Veronica’s workshop last year as well, and that experience had a profound effect on Ewa who has now completed 12 additional icons over the past year. As a critical part of her spiritual journey, painting icons has given her a very personal experience of God as she meets Him in her time of painting. As she paints various saints, Our Lady and Our Lord, she finds that she speaks with them while her hand is led to reflect their sacred images.

Throughout the class, Veronica would spend time speaking to the whole workshop about iconography or giving specific directions regarding the process of painting the icon. Then, she would spend the rest of the class working individually with students, gently guiding, encouraging, helping them to improve their brush technique, or to see the variations of color, or encouraging them to be less tentative and more bold in their work.

On Veronica’s website, royaliconstudio.com, she writes, “Iconography does not seek to express an artist’s personal point of view, but expresses the teachings of the historical Church, its traditions, and Scripture…Contemplating the visual representation of the icon, the faithful are brought into contact with the presence of God. The artist is not so concerned about the exterior resemblance of the subject, but attempts to capture the essence and spirit of the person or event portrayed. Strict rules of subject and technique foster a timeless and universal quality of the icon which expresses the mystery of the divine.”

Veronica chose for the students to paint the Mandylion Icon, depicting the face of Christ on the Holy Napkin. Several of those attending the class commented that it was incredible to spend a week meditating on and painting the icon of the Holy Face. Students expressed that there was such a personal and intimate connection, that prayers were poured out and into the process of painting. From a blank piece of wood, His face and His beautiful eyes emerged as if a veil were parted for them to see Him.

In a Sermon during the week of the workshop, Fr. Michael Clark, Rector of the Georgetown Oratory and the Jesus Guild, said that art reveals the face of Christ. “God is able to create something out of nothing, from nothing, something comes into being.” Similarly, the artist takes a blank canvas, sheet of paper, block of marble, and beauty emerges as the Hand of the Creator directs the hand of the creator.

Veronica said that these workshops which she leads throughout the world draw together the most wonderful, gentle, loving people. Although there are strict rules in how an icon is written, one can see slight variations in each icon that are connected to each person’s prayerful expression of the Holy Face. To enter the hall where they were painting was to enter into holy ground as each person revealed the face of Christ not only in the icon but in each person meditating for 40 hours during the week’s long workshop and then reflecting His face.

As a culmination to the workshop, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was celebrated on Friday evening at the Georgetown Oratory by Fr. Thomas Davis, Syncellus of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton. It was a tremendous opportunity to experience the beauty of the Byzantine liturgy with its ancient and otherworldly tone of the chant. After everyone had received communion, Fr. Davis blessed each newly painted icon by touching it to the chalice containing the Precious Blood of Christ.

Fr. Clark commented, “To see the face of Christ emerge from the brushes of these artists was truly remarkable. Under Veronica’s expert guidance I could see the students were invited into the order and discipline of a deep spiritual tradition. But we were also able to connect the dots by demonstrating how icons are used in the Divine Liturgy. This is powerful art, oriented precisely to holiness.”

These wonderful icons, written in prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit, truly do give glory to God.

(For further information about the Georgetown Oratory and the Jesus Guild, visit our website at www.jesusguild.org and sign up for our weekly newsletter.)

Liz Sweeney is the Communications Manager for the Georgetown Oratory and the Jesus Guild.

The former Rev. Peter John Lynch has been given a dispensation from sacred celibacy and from the obligations connected to Sacred Ordination. On May 20, 2023, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, after having received the report of the Congregation for Clergy, gave his consent to the request by the former priest. The rescript grants a dispensation from celibacy and at the same time, the loss of the clerical state. The notification comprising the grace of the dispensation was transmitted to the former Fr. Lynch on July 22, 2023, when he signed the document in the presence of Bishop Frank J. Caggiano. With the issuance of the Rescript, the dispensed cleric automatically loses the rights proper to the clerical state. However, he is encouraged to take an active part in the life of the People of God “in a manner consonant with his new state, to give edifying example and show himself as a devoted son of the Church, fulfilling useful service to the Christian community.”

FAIRFIELD,—Fairfield University is excited to announce a new name for the School of Engineering: the School of Engineering and Computing. This renaming reflects the steady growth of the various disciplines within computer science.

“The School of Engineering and Computing has been offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science, software engineering, data science, and cybersecurity for many years. With the tremendous success and industry demand from these disciplines, it was only a matter of time until this was recognized,” said Dean Andres Leonardo Carrano, PhD. “We believe this new name will attract prospective students seeking degrees in computing related programs who may not have realized our ample academic offer in these areas.”

The scale of the demand for computer science professionals continues to grow. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for computer scientists and researchers is projected to grow 21 percent over the next decade.

Fairfield University is one of the few universities that offer engineering and computer science programs that are rooted in the centuries-old Jesuit educational tradition. A rigorous curriculum based on a humanities Magis core, coupled with our Cura Personalis approach and hands-on curriculum, students are prepared to lead in their fields with the necessary communication skills, critical thinking, and social responsibility.

The School of Engineering and Computing offers a breadth of programs including computer science, data science, and cybersecurity. In addition to programs, the

School has a state-of-the art cybersecurity lab, a fully staffed security operations center, and the Innovation Annex. Besides running a very successful annual coding Hackathon event, the School will open an Artificial Intelligence Lab this fall.

To support this expanding field, the School of Engineering and Computing is onboarding several new faculty in the fields of artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning this fall.

This year, through research, innovation, and expertise, the computer science faculty continue to make their mark in the field through publications and grants. Research areas range from augmented reality and artificial intelligence to framework for developing next-gen cyber-aware workforce.

To see more School of Engineering and Computing news, visit fairfield.edu/engineering.

By Emily Clark

FAIRFIELD—Behind a row of bushes, just above busy Kings Highway sits the former rectory of St. Emery Church, now a small, refurbished monastery for two cloistered Carmelites of Mary Ever Virgin. This quiet sanctuary amidst retail buildings and modest residences has become home to Sister Maria and Sister Mary Ruth, where they can quietly and simply continue dedicating their lives to God.

Since their arrival on April 15, the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, the sisters have been embraced by the church community.

“Our parishioners have really adopted them. ‘What do they need? What can we do?’ they ask me,” said Father Sean Kulacz, pastor at Holy Family-St. Emery Parish. “We’re blessed to have them.”

Originally from North Dakota, the sisters spent four years in rural Texas and then several months in New York before Bishop Frank J. Caggiano invited them to create this residence in Fairfield where they hope to grow their community to include eight Carmelites, an order committed to a life of silent prayer, removed from the outside world. According to Father Kulacz, the diocese has not had a cloistered order in decades.

To convert the 100-year-old rectory into a private space for monastic life, Father Kulacz said the Knights of Columbus, parishioners, and diocesan staff painted rooms, removed rugs, and made repairs to the building. A refectory (dining room), individual cells (bedrooms), an office for clerical work, and several other rooms complete what Father Kulacz calls a “beautiful space.” A separate chapel allows for Mass within the small monastery, and soon a fenced-in yard and large trees will give them the opportunity to get outdoors in a private area.

Additionally, there is a sunroom with sliding glass doors where the sisters find joy in greeting visitors for short periods throughout the day. Here, they can remain cloistered behind a screen and still converse openly.

“We are thrilled to be here and are starting to get to know the laity,” Sister Mary Ruth said one recent afternoon. “The bishop understands that a contemplative, cloistered community is an integral part of Catholic life. That is us. That is why we are here. This will be the spiritual powerhouse of the diocese.”

It is that secluded, monastic life–marked by prolonged periods of uninterrupted silence and prayer–that sets the Carmelite nuns apart from other sects and is why creating this separate space for them was so essential. This call, said Sister Maria, requires much psychological stamina.

“It’s a capacity for silence and a desire to be alone with the Lord,” she said. “The more you have it, the more you need it.”

Sister Mary Ruth nodded in agreement, adding, “The silence and solitude, living a whole life of withdrawal, eliminates a lot of disruption. It helps us listen to God on another level and enriches our prayer life with a deeper devotion to Him.”

Such devotion is present in all facets of the nuns’ lives, beginning with waking at midnight to pray in the ancient monastic tradition, chanting the hours of the Divine Office, and attending Mass together. They also make time for study, rest, and exercise, all in strict silence and enclosure, as well as preparing meatless meals and attending to administrative work. This includes answering emails and using the internet sparingly to remain in touch with the modern world so they can share word of their vocation. An interdependence exists, said Sister Mary Ruth, between the nuns and the greater community, similar to the Carmelite tradition whose roots were established in cities.

“They give us food and supplies, and we give them our prayers,” she said.

Though the sisters rely on almsgiving for support, they do generate a small income by sewing altar linens, receiving orders from priests interested in corporals, purificators, and palls. While they use a machine for the hems, they hand-embroider a tiny red cross in the center of each cloth. Sister Maria recalls the first order they received – on their first day at Holy Family-St. Emery.

“There was a note from the mother of a young man about to be ordained asking us to sew a pall for him. It was a very busy time since we just arrived, but of course we said yes!” she said, adding that doing so gave them the chance to pray for all of the newly ordained priests.

Though they visit their small chapel daily, the sisters also join the congregation and Father Kulacz to chant at the 10 am Sunday Mass where they sit in a cloistered area on the altar, thanks to a screen constructed by a parishioner. On the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16, Bishop Caggiano celebrated Mass at St. Emery, expressing appreciation to Sister Maria and Sister Mary Ruth for their presence and their prayers.

“We come today to give thanks to almighty God that we have a contemplative order which represents the very heart of Carmel,” the bishop said. Using the metaphor of yeast in baking to represent the Carmelites’ importance to the diocese, he added, “They are our spiritual yeast. You don’t see or hear them. They are hidden, but the sisters are essential, and we are grateful for their presence and for all they do.”

Though their intentions may go unnoticed by most, the sisters’ prayers extend well beyond their tiny community. Thousands of vehicles pass the monastery each day, speeding up Kings Highway, and Sister Maria offers a prayer for each one.

“When I hear a car or a motorcycle go by, I think ‘I need to pray for that person,’” she said. “We hope to reach them all.”

The Carmelite sisters said they plan to have an Open House this fall to welcome the community and let them see “the great things God has done for us in his mercy.”