PILGRIMS OF HOPE
JOHN LEARY

By Brother Patrick

Pope Francis (1936-2025) once said: “Many men and women, whose names we do not know, honor our people and our church because they are strong in carrying forward their lives, their work, their families, and their faith. These, our brothers and sisters, are saints! Everyday saints! Hidden saints among us! They have the gift of fortitude in carrying on in their duty as people: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and citizens…Let us thank the Lord for these Christians who are the hidden saints among us (5-14-14)!”

Among these quiet, hidden, everyday saints is John Leary of Massachusetts. John Leary was born on February 22, 1958, the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. He was raised in a devout and working class family. He was an honors graduate of Harvard University.

John Leary was a faithful Catholic. He attended Daily Mass. He was inspired by Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day. He was drawn to the struggle for social justice by the Lord’s non-violent way of the cross. He marched for peace. He protested against nuclear weapons. He was arrested twice just for praying on the sidewalk in front of a military research facility. He was assaulted in the street for promoting peace and non-violence.

John Leary also supported the doctrine known as the seamless garment of life which calls for defending the dignity of every human person from conception until natural death. He co-founded and worked at the Pax Christi Center on Conscience & War in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He lived at Haley House, the Catholic Worker ministry in Boston. He worked tirelessly with the poor, the homeless, the addicted, the elderly, and the incarcerated.

Sister Evelyn Ronan, a Catholic chaplain at Harvard University, once said about him: “You could look into those eyes and see all the way, right to heaven. The goodness was so powerful, and the honesty, unlike anyone I have ever met (All Saints, 375).”

John Leary’s life was inspired by faith and empowered by an ever deepening spiritual life. He loved to pray. During his course of study at Harvard, he became interested in Eastern Orthodox Spirituality. The Jesus Prayer became an essential part of his prayer life: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner! John Leary also loved to run. He often jogged from work, across the Charles River, through the Boston Common, and back to his room at Haley House. As he ran, he prayed the Jesus Prayer, over and over again.

On August 31, 1982, John Leary collapsed and died of a heart attack while running through the Boston Common. He no doubt passed from this life with a prayer for mercy on his lips. He was just twenty-four years old. In her grief over John Leary’s death, Sister Evelyn Ronan said: “John had a sensitivity, an awareness of the pain of others that was relentless. Compassion for others had become the dominant experience of his life (All Saints, 375).”

John Leary’s life was short, but his vision was long. Despite the threat posed by nuclear weapons, he worked tirelessly for the “peaceable kingdom” envisioned by Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 11:1-9). Despite the bane of poverty, racism, and violence, he labored with humility in the Lord’s vineyard for the creation of the “beloved community” envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Despite the torment of hunger and homelessness, John Leary practiced what he preached. He loved God and he loved others. He longed to experience the eternal glory envisioned by the Poor Christ who said: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me (Matthew 25:34-36).”

After John Leary’s death, a friend, Reverend Peter Gomes of Harvard, said about him: “The difference with John was that he discovered that life had no purpose, no meaning, no direction, and no focus apart from the purpose and focus on God. He became in his short life the complete and total man for others, and those who knew him and loved him testify to the love of Christ that shone in and through him (All Saints, 376).”

Among John Leary’s heroes was Saint Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916). Often called the Universal Brother, Saint Charles lived and died in obscurity. He was a soldier, explorer, and geographer. He then underwent a conversion experience and was ordained a priest. Answering a call to the eremitic life, Saint Charles constructed a hermitage in the remote mountains of Algeria. He lived among a nomadic people. He learned their language. He gave witness to the Gospel through small acts of love, fraternity, and hospitality. And he died before the promise of his vocation could be fulfilled in this life.

Each day in prayer, John Leary offered his life to God through the Prayer of Abandon which was written by Saint Charles de Foucauld:

Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you.
I am ready for all. I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, Lord.
Into your hands, I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands
without reserve and with boundless confidence
for you are my Father. Amen.

By his short but abundant life of prayer, fellowship, and service, John Leary is remembered as a universal brother like his patron, Saint Charles de Foucauld. John Leary is remembered as one of the everyday saints of our time and for all times. And John Leary is remembered now and always as a pilgrim of hope. Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Pope Francis, pray for us! Saint Charles de Foucauld, pray for us! John Leary, pilgrim of hope, pray for us!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brother Patrick Garvey is co-founder and spiritual director of the Assisi Project. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Saint John Seminary, and the Catholic University of America. He is a writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and university lecturer. He also serves as an Associate Minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport in Massachusetts. On October 3, 2023, the Feast of the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brother Patrick was consecrated as a diocesan hermit by Bishop Mark O’Connell, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston. For more information about the Assisi Project and our ministries with adults of all ages and backgrounds, please contact Brother Patrick at brpatrick@assisiproject.com.

Quotations: All Saints 25th Anniversary Edition by Robert Ellsberg
Art Credit: ID 7464309 – Dreamstime.com

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ABOUT US

Founded in 2007, the Assisi Project is a Fellowship of Franciscans in Spirit with friends and followers throughout the world. We are dedicated to helping Christian believers of all ages more faithfully live the Gospel of Christ in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. The Assisi Project is a non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization. Please support our ministry via Pay Pal (see link below) or mail a tax-deductible donation to the Assisi Project, Post Office Box 3158, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01931-3158. The Assisi Project Podcast is produced by the Assisi Project, Inc. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. May the Lord give you peace!

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