Crossing the Causeway by Mark Tarnacki
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ross a narrow oceanfront causeway to a small, postcard-pretty island estate off Mystic, CT. This is the path taken decades ago by Edmundite Father Tom Hoar ’73 that connected him to unanticipated possibilities for service and fulfillment. It’s an experience he hopes today’s visitors to the island share as they pursue recovery, creativity, or retreat. Enders Island and Saint Michael’s College are kin, each a place where the Society of Saint Edmund (SSE) and lay partners have spent generations nourishing searchers for direction and meaning. Beyond shared historical ties, both communities rely on Saint Michael’s alumni to thrive. As a Saint Michael’s graduate, Fr. Hoar, once head of campus ministry and today president of Enders Island, is deeply invested in the success and growth of both. For nearly 25 years, his Enders ministry has been threefold: spiritual retreats for lay and religious; a 50-year old recovery ministry that today features a relatively new residential transitional program for college-aged men; and the expansion of the Sacred Art Institute.
The 64-year old priest says his work on the island is the work of Edmundites everywhere: “Bringing hope to the marginalized and forgotten by bringing meaning into their lives and relationship with God.” Today he oversees a unique property with ties to the Society dating to 1954, when the island estate’s owner approached Bishop Flanagan, a close friend with the Edmundites, about making a gift to the religious order. In 2003, Enders Island’s became an independent Catholic nonprofit (in recognition of limited SSE staff and finances), but its connection to Saint Michael’s continues through alumni like Fr. Hoar; trustees, including Tracy Romano’86, prominent marine biologist, Chief Scientist and VP of Research at the nearby Mystic Aquarium; and scores of alumni retreatants, counselors, staff, and artists who regularly cross the causeway. Besides being a trustee of Enders, Romano attends weekly Mass on the island and recently mentored a young man from the residential program. After an internship at a nearby museum that she helped him secure, he now has a job in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the Historical Society.
Learning the art of illuminated manuscripts at Enders Island. The year 2017 will mark 50 years of recovery on Enders. Fr. Joseph Waite, SSE brought the 12 steps there in 1967 with regular AA meetings and special recovery retreats. Today’s residential program was established in 2008 to address a mounting addiction crisis among college-aged males, says Program Director Tracy Georgetti ’84, whose staff includes Bryan Hickey ’14, the Resident Director of the Recovery Residence at Enders. Fr. Hoar says the Island’s programs have served many alumni in recovery at retreats over the years. Alumni religious and laymen in large numbers continue to attend the more general spiritual programs or retreats that long have been
the island’s centerpiece. Graduates take art classes too—the Sacred Art Institute is an outgrowth of classes offered for nearly 30 years. Recently, instructors have partnered as adjuncts with a nearby seminary to offer an undergraduate major in sacred art. Though Romano has an uncommonly exciting work career, frequently observing whales in arctic zones, she marvels at what goes on at the island. “I see so many alumni who are just enthralled as volunteers, watching how this program treats the mind, body and spirit,” she says. “To Saint Michael’s people, it feels like home.”
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