Goian bego, John Fitzgerald

Ddydd Iau fe glywais fod John Fitzgerald, neu Y Tad John Fitzgerald O.Carm, wedi marw ac fe gadarnhawyd hynny ddoe. Bu farw’n weddol sydyn, ac fe ddaeth yn dipyn o sioc i glywed y newyddion. Ond mae’r tristwch wedi’i gymysgu gyda llawenydd gan fy mod yn gwybod am ffydd gadarn John a’i dystiolaeth bendant a chyson fod angau wedi’i orchfygu gan fuddugoliaeth Iesu. Mae’n ‘na atgofion melys hefyd am ŵr a oedd yn gwbl echreiddig a chwbl normal ar yr un pryd. Des i adnabod John wedi dod i fyw yn Aberystwyth ac yn arbennig felly oherwydd ein diddordeb cyffredin mewn Basgeg. Cefais bron i bymtheng mlynedd o’i gymdeithas ac i ni oedd yn byw yn Aberystwyth fe welwyd ei golli pan symudodd i Lanelli rhyw bedair blynedd yn ôl, ond nawr mae’r colli hwnnw wedi troi yn alar go iawn.

Cyhoeddoedd Cyhoeddwyd gwasanaeth newyddion Independent Catholic News yr ysgrif goffa hon ac mae’n amlwg iddyn nhw gael rhywun oedd yn adnabod John yn dda i’w hysgrifennu. Mae un frawddeg yn dweud yr hyn yr hoffwn i ei ddweud amdano, “John was a man who never stopped learning and retained something of a young person’s wonder and awe in discovery right up until the end of his life.” Mae’r deyrnged yn cloi gyda’r frawddeg “We will not see his like again”, Ni fheicfimid a leithéid arís, sy’n ein hatgoffa er iddo gael ei eni a’i fagu ar y gororau yn Lloegr roedd ei wreiddiau yn ddwfn yn Iwerddon.

John FitzGerald O.Carm RIP
It is with sadness but trusting in the mercy of God that the British Province of Carmelite Friars announces the death of our brother, John FitzGerald, on 28th November 2008 following a short illness and aged 80.

Born Michael FitzGerald on 3rd February 1927, he joined the Carmelite Order in 1942 taking the religious name John and making his first profession of vows as a friar a year later at the age of 16. Following initial study of philosophy and theology in Ireland John undertook higher level studies in Rome and at Christ’s College, Cambridge. John was ordained a priest in 1951.

With his death the Welsh-speaking Christian community has lost a key figure. Sent as a young friar to join the then “Welsh Mission” of his Order, John grew to love the language, culture and people of Wales. He was a key figure in the translation of the Liturgy into Welsh and participated in the production of an ecumenical Welsh translation of the Bible. He also translated some of the works of the philosopher Aristotle from Greek into Welsh. His commentary on The Letter to the Hebrews, originally written in Welsh, was translated into English and published as the Lenten reading recommended by the Catholic Bishops of Wales. A book of Fr John’s poetry in Welsh was long-listed for the Book of the Year award of the Welsh Assembly in 2007.

Fr. John enjoyed a distinguished academic career, teaching philosophy in Welsh for many years at University College, Aberystwyth, where along with his brother Gregory (also a Carmelite) he served at times as Roman Catholic Chaplain to the University. From 2002 he combined the office of Chaplain with that of Prior of his community until 2004 when the Carmelite community transferred from Aberystwyth to Llanelli where he continued as Prior.

He will also be remembered by generations of students from Saint Mary’s College, Aberystwyth, which functioned as a college for “late vocations” to the priesthood until its closure in the 1970s.

John was a man who never stopped learning and retained something of a young person’s wonder and awe in discovery right up until the end of his life. In his latter years he took up the study of Basque. The Basque Country became the regular location for his summer holidays, always taken after he had fulfilled his duties on the Catholic stall at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. In the last few years he was involved in exchange visits of both sheep-farmers and poets between Wales and the Basque Country.

John FitzGerald’s great love of learning, especially the works of Thomas Aquinas, gave him a breadth of humanity and understanding which meant he was a compassionate and understanding friar-priest. Never the narrow scholastic, John would always err on the side of pastoral care for the individual. His easy humour and love for God and the people he served drew many people of all ages to the Gospel.

We will not see his like again.

Gorffwys dyro, Grist, i’th was gyda phawb o’th saint,
lle nid oes gofid mwy na phoen,
na gorthrymderau blin a gwae,
ond bywyd yn dragwyddol.

Rhannu hyn

2007-12-01 | Tagiau: John Fitzgerald | Categorïau: Personol | 7 sylw

7 sylw ar Goian bego, John Fitzgerald

• Dafydd

  Rhagfyr 5th, 2007 at 21:39

  Roedd John yn aelod ffyddlon o Urdd y Carmeliaid, ac yn Aylesford yng Nghaint y cleddir y Brodyr. Nid yn gymaint cael ei gladdu yn Lloegr felly (y wlad lle’i ganed wrth gwrs), ond gorwedd gyda’i gyd-Frodyr Gwynion a fu’n deulu iddo ar hyd y daith.
  http://www.thefriars.org.uk/

• Dogfael

  Rhagfyr 5th, 2007 at 20:05

  Dyma erthygl goffa arall a gefais drwy’r e-bost:

  John FitzGerald – R.I.P.

  John FitzGerald – Carmelite friar, poet, philosopher and lover of the Welsh language and all things Welsh – died on 28th November at Llanelli after a short illness. He was 80.

  Born Michael FitzGerald in 1927 in Ludlow on the Welsh border, as a teenager he came to know the Carmelites – an ancient religious order of the Roman Catholic Church – at Aberystwyth. It was there that he met Saunders Lewis, one of the founding fathers of Welsh nationalism. In 1943 he made his profession as a Carmelite friar in Dublin, taking the religious name John of the Cross. He began studies at University College Dublin where he combined an enthusiasm for the Classics with Celtic Studies. He went on to study theology at the Jesuit Faculty at Milltown Park in Dublin and then the Gregorian University in Rome. John was ordained a priest in 1951 and continued his enthusiasm for Greek philosophy with valuable years at Christ’s College, Cambridge. He could well have settled there but his superiors called him to work in Wales and so for the next half-century and more Wales would be his home in every sense.

  From 1958 Fr. John was prior of the Carmelite house of studies at Llandeilo. Here for a decade he helped form young friars in their religious commitment and introduced them to philosophy. He was also responsible for the pastoral care of the local Roman Catholic community. John was an inspirational philosophy teacher with a love of the Pre-Socratics; he encouraged his students to read widely and to be challenged. This was also the time when John began to immerse himself in the Welsh language, earning the respect of the local community and supporting and enhancing the position of Welsh-speaking Catholics.

  In the late 1960s John moved to Aberystwyth where the Carmelite community was responsible for St. Mary’s College (which specialised in nurturing ‘late vocations’ to the priesthood) and caring for the Catholic parish and the chaplaincy at the University of Wales. About this time his elder brother Gregory, also a Carmelite and lover of the Welsh language, was parish priest and mayor of Lampeter. John was to stay in Aberystwyth until 2004 lecturing in the university, and then in retirement acting as chaplain and also involved in the life of the parish.

  The years in Aberystwyth were when John’s gifts flourished. He translated Descartes into Welsh and also Aristotle’s Ethics. He helped translate the Catholic liturgy into Welsh and was involved in an ecumenical translation of the Bible. Over that period he was a regular contributor to radio and television. He was so much part of the community’s life that when the local Welsh Baptist Chapel was without a minister John was invited to preach and help sustain the chapel. John found a gift for poetry and became involved with the National Eisteddfod earning great respect among the bards. A book of John’s poetry in Welsh, Grawn Gwirionedd, was long-listed for the Book of the Year Award of the Welsh Assembly in 2007. His commentary on The Letter to the Hebrews, originally written in Welsh, was translated into English and published in 2005 as the Lenten reading recommended by the Catholic Bishops of Wales.

  From 2002 John combined the office of university chaplain with that of prior of his community until 2004 when the Carmelites transferred from Aberystwyth to Llanelli where he continued as prior. Enjoying discussion and debate with students and colleagues, John also developed an enthusiasm for the Basque language and the Basque country. He saw similarities between Welsh and Basque as minority cultures surviving against the mainstream. In the last few years John became involved with cultural exchange visits between Wales and the Basque country.

  John never seemed to age. At eighty he was tall, spare and had a youthful way. He delighted in the internet and continued to enjoy working with young people. Whenever he came into a room he could feel the zest, energy and joie de vivre. However at the heart of his life was his faith and a deep contemplative spirit. His patron saint was John of the Cross, Carmelite poet and mystic, and it would be true to say that like his namesake John’s poetry was often the expression of deep spiritual experience. The Carmelite friars and his two surviving sisters mourn a very human brother, and many in Wales will miss his creative presence. A final memory of John was his delight in cracking the cryptic crosswords in The Guardian; it was rare that he failed to see the allusion.

  Fr. John’s Requiem Mass will take place at 11.30 on Friday 7th December at The Friars, Aylesford, Kent.

  Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm.
  Whitefriars, Faversham

• Rhys Llwyd

  Rhagfyr 5th, 2007 at 17:32

  Roedd yna barch mawr tuag ato fel dyn hawddgar ymysg protestaniaid hyd yn oed ymysg efengylwyr Aberystwyth. Doeddw ni ddim yn ei adnabod ond ces sgwrs gyda fe unwaith a’i gael yn ddyn hyfryd oedd yn dangos diddordeb ynddoch.

  Un cwestiwn. Pam fod yr angladd yn Kent?

• Begotxu

  Rhagfyr 4th, 2007 at 12:40

  “Joan zatzaizkit mundutik baina ez bihotzetik” ysgrufennodd awdur Basg o’r enw Axular, sef, “rwyt ti wedi mynd o’r byd ond byth o’r galon”. Roeddet ti’n person mawr yn bob ystir y gair a roeddet ti’n gadael twll mawr, John. Begotxu

• Dom Allan R. Jones

  Rhagfyr 3rd, 2007 at 23:07

  Fe glywais i’r newyddion trist heno. Bues i yn y coleg yn Aber ddeng mlynedd yn ol (1993-1997), ac wrth gwrs y Tad John oedd ein caplan ni. Dyn hawddgar, meddylgar ac wrth gwrs sanctaidd. Dyn oedd yn barod i helpu myfyrwyr gyda’u cwestiynau ynglyn a chrefydd a materion athronyddol. Welais i ddim llawer ohono fe ar ol i fi adael Aber, ond bob blwyddyn yn y Steddfod ar Stondin y Cylch (neu fel rhan o Stondin Cytun) roedd e wastad yn fy nghyfarch a gofyn sut mae pethau.

  Mae marwolaeth John Fitzgerald yn golled i’r Brodyr Gwynion, yr Eglwys, Cymru, yr iaith, ac wrth gwrs i’r rhai ohonon ni a gafodd e fel caplan yn Aber.

  Bydded enaid John drwy drugaredd Duw orffwys mewn tangnefedd a chodi mewn gogoniant.

• Tony Lester

  Rhagfyr 2nd, 2007 at 13:07

  For John’s funeral details follow link above

• Tony Lester

  Rhagfyr 2nd, 2007 at 10:35

  For funeral details see:

  http://www.carmelite.org/jof.htm

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