April 16, 2010
Father Hilary Meny
Father Hilary, 95, looks forward to 70 years in priesthood
Father Hilary Meny wears a hat during his ninety-fifth birthday celebration. He is a native of Haubstadt who was ordained to the priesthood in 1940 and served in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. This May, he will celebrate his seventieth anniversary as a priest, according to his niece Laurette Faraone. Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
“It’s a blessing to talk with you,” said the newspaper editor to the priest.
“At 95, it’s a blessing to be alive!” said Father Hilary Meny.
Father Meny was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Indianapolis on May 14, 1940. His family will celebrate with him for his 70th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.
His family has always been important to him.
“I was a kind of a late Santa Claus,” he recalls, during the years he would come after his parish Masses on Christmas Day in Madison back to see his family in the Haubstadt area. He would arrive on Christmas afternoons, bringing presents for his nephew and nieces.
Now Father Meny lives in Haubstadt with his sister Renilda and her husband George Kissel, both in their upper 80s. Now the six children of the Kissels take turns, one each day typically, coming to look in their parents and their Uncle Hilary.
“We had a great time,” said Father Meny. “We always had a great time when we got together. Family continues to be very important to him, and a joy.
Father Meny celebrates Mass each day in the family room with his sister and brother-in-law. On Sundays, occasionally, other family members join them for Mass.
Father Meny’s eyesight is not good, so the Kissel siblings read the Sunday scriptures to him during the week, so he can prepare his Sunday homily.
His memory is strong, and he easily provides details of his ministry over the years, starting at his first assignment at St. Philip Neri in Indianapolis.
Times were different then, before Indianapolis had become an archdiocese and during many years when there was no shortage of priests.
“I was the lowest priest on the totem pole” at St. Philip Neri, he said. “There were five priests in the rectory there.”
After seven years at St. Philip Neri, he was assigned to St. Joseph Hill, outside of Sellersburg, and then to St. Vincent de Paul Church in Bedford.
One Saturday he went to an IU football game, only finding out when he came home that the archbishop had come for a visit. His pastor relayed the news – that he was assigned to St. Patrick Parish in Madison, “replacing a priest who went on to other things.”
Father Meny remained pastor in Madison for almost 40 years, until he was retired at age 75. During his years in Madison, some parishes dwindled while St. Patrick blossomed. He oversaw construction of a high school and then a consolodated grade school on St. Patrick property.
Looking back on his ministry, he recalls his earliest years of ministry.
“I did not know all that it involved, not at that time. That came on day be day and month by month and year by year,” he said. “I had hoped to be able to live up to the demands.”
With a smile in his voice, he adds, “I certainly didn’t look up to all the grass-mowing I did.” He was janitor at the parish, and the one who cut the grass around the church and school buildings.
He was also one who spent a lot of his time on reducing debts of parishes and schools, he said.
In response to a request for advice to men considering priesthood, he describes priestly ministry as “a wonderful life, very productinve in so many ways.” He treasures the role he has played in people’s lives, their marriages, their education. “There are so many things you give to the young,” he said.
Priesthood is “a busy life, and a full life, and very rewarding. And I hope it pays off in eternity.”
Father Meny and about 50 family members will celebrate his 70th anniversary at Sts. Peter and Paul on May 23. His niece, Laurette Kissel Faraone said some of the details will be worked out closer to the day of celebration.
Congratulatory card may be sent to Father Meny at 111 North Race Street, Haubstadt, IN 47639.
On his 95th birthday, his niece recalls, he said, “This might be my last one.” She pointed out that he has said the same thing for the past 20 years. He replied, “One of these years, I will be right.”