Catholic Review: Monsignor Bastress reflects on 60 years in priesthood: ‘We’re brothers’

Matt Palmer has posted a great story on Monsignor Arthur W. Bastress who recently celebrated his 60th Anniversary as a priest.

Sixty years have passed, but images of Monsignor Arthur W. Bastress’ ordination flood back to him.

“I can remember getting up that morning and feeling like I was in a dream,” said the 84-year-old pastor of the Shrine of St. Alphonsus in Baltimore. “It didn’t seem real.”

Never did Monsignor Bastress imagine that when Archbishop Francis Patrick Keough laid his hands upon him in 1951 that he would still be serving, as the oldest pastor in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

“I remember placing my hand in the bishop’s hands and promising obedience to him and his successors,” Monsignor Bastress said. “I took that very seriously.”

....Both St. John Neumann and Blessed Francis X. Seelos were pastors of St. Alphonsus, and its legacy is something he takes seriously. He wants to spend the rest of his life at St. Alphonsus and help others discover its rich history...

Don't miss this great story. Monsignor Bastress celebrates the TLM each Sunday at 11:30 AM at Saint Alphonsus Church in Baltimore.