Author, Educator and Activist
Fr. Edward Farrell Passes Away
Fr. Edward J. Farrell, 75, 05/09/2006

Fr. Edward Farrell, 1931-2006

Fr. Edward Farrell, 75, passed away in his sleep during the afternoon hours of Tuesday, May 9. Father Farrell, a senior priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit, was a former professor of theology and seminarian spiritual director at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. A member of the faculty for nearly four decades, Father Farrell resided at the seminary for many years until recently, and was in the process of relocating from the Most Holy Trinity Oratory in Detroit, where he died, to Clergy Village in Livonia.

Father Farrell earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Sacred Heart Seminary in 1953, and his Licentiate in Sacred Theology degree from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1957. He also did graduate-level studies in Classics at the University of Michigan. Father was ordained a priest in Rome in 1956.

Father enjoyed a rich, multi-faceted career as a parish pastor, academic, author, retreat master, contemplative, spiritual director and peace activist. He had written no books until age 40, and since then had published eleven books on various spiritual topics. The latest work, Journeys into Solitude, is scheduled for publication in 2006. It explores his deep love of the Eucharist and his devotion to the desert contemplative Blessed Charles de Foucauld. Father's esteem for the holy man inspired him to co-found a local chapter of Jesu Caritas, a fraternity of Detroit archdiocesan priests who gather monthly for prayer and mutual support. The fraternity is still active after twenty-nine years.

Many of Father's writings converge traditional Catholic spirituality, particularly Eucharistic and Marian spirituality, with the psychological theories of Personality and Human Relations. PRH was developed by a French priest in the 1960s that sought to discover and overcome interior issues that hinder spiritual development so that one could reach full human potential. Father was a licensed PRH educator and influential in spreading the movement's growth in central and eastern United States.

"Father liked to call himself a 'hatcher,'" says Lynn Salata, a close friend who assisted in editing his books and articles over the years. "He would often say, 'My job is to help people hatch their true selves, to become the person God created them to be.' This gift helped him to bear many spiritual sons and daughters throughout the world."

Over the past thirty years, Father had given retreats in at least thirty-five countries. He was close friend of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and was instrumental in bringing her to Detroit to speak in the late-1970s and establishing within the archdiocese a community of Blessed Teresa's nuns.

Always filled with energy and new ideas for spreading the Kingdom, Father Farrell's latest outreaches were organizing a prayer ministry at the Most Holy Trinity Oratory that focused on world peace, and meeting regularly with local Moslem leaders to discover ways to encourage interfaith understanding. He also found time to celebrate weekend Masses regularly at St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park.

Father was honored for his years of service to Sacred Heart at the annual Awards Dinner just a few days ago, on April 28, where he was given a rocking chair as a gift of appreciation.

Senior priest-in-residence Msgr. Edward Baldwin, who attended seminary with Father Farrell, remembers him as a superb young athlete, and later as an "excellent parish priest."

"I followed him as a priest at St. Peter Parish in Harper Woods 1960, but never replaced him," Monsignor says. "He was so loved by the people that I didn't have a chance! I may have lived in his shadow, but it is nice to live in the shadow of such a nice guy."

Monsignor Baldwin also recalls Father as a "stable and well-trusted" spiritual director for a number of communities of nuns for many years, and a much sought-after director, too: "If you were as good as Ed was, you didn't have to advertise," Monsignor says.

Sacred Heart faculty member Sr. Mary Finn, H.V.M., was a friend and co-worker of Father Farrell's for over forty years. "He died a few hours before offering 5 o'clock Mass at the oratory," Sister Mary says. "The Gospel reading he had been preparing was from John 10, Jesus as the Good Shepherd. That was so appropriate. Jesus shepherded Father Farrell so that he could shepherd people everywhere he went."

Fr. Richard Cassidy, former seminary student of Father Farrell's, and now faculty member at Sacred Heart, remembers Father particularly "for his thirst for knowledge and his desire to enter ever more deeply into the meaning of Christ."

Joan McHugh of Lake Forest, Illinois, is an author and editor of seven books on the Eucharist and the spiritual life. She has quoted Father Farrell's writings considerably in two of her books, and credits him with an important influence on her own spirituality.

"When I first read his book Prayer is a Hunger many years ago, I felt as if I had met someone who knew the Lord personally," recalls Joan. "Father Farrell taught me that prayer is a precious gift given to each of us, if we open ourselves to receiving it."

"He had a very deep, very special relationship with God," says Joan Darrow of Canton, Father Farrell's niece. "We all loved him, but from the number of phone calls the family has been receiving, there are just so many people out there who loved him too."

Fr. Edward Farrell's body will lie in state until Saturday morning at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Friends are invited to pay their respect according to the schedule below.

Thursday, May 11
1:30 p.m. Gathering in the presence of the body. The body of Father Farrell will lie in state in the Bishop Gallagher Parlor.
7:00 p.m. Office of the Dead and Evening Prayer.
9:00 p.m. Visitation ends.

Friday, May 12
9:00 a.m. Visitation, Office of the Dead and Morning Prayer.
7:00 p.m. Transfer of the body to the Main Chapel, with Vigil Service.
9:00 p.m. Visitation ends.

Saturday, May 13
9:00 a.m. Visitation.
10:00 a.m. Funeral Mass in the Main Chapel.