| 2/24/2010 10:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Msgr. Farina, who founded the archdiocese’s Paul VI Institute for the Arts and who helped found the Catholic Historical Society of Washington in 1976, died Feb. 10. |
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Msgr. Farina dies, longtime priest was noted for his support of the arts and Catholic history
MARK ZIMMERMANN
Editor
At a Feb. 15 Memorial Mass at St. Patrick Church in downtown Washington, Msgr. Michael Di Teccia Farina was remembered as a faithful and dedicated parish priest, a patron of the arts and a leader in the effort to promote and preserve local Catholic history.
Msgr. Farina, who founded the archdiocese's Paul VI Institute for the Arts and who helped found the Catholic Historical Society of Washington in 1976, died Feb. 10. The retired priest was 86 and had been in declining health and living at the Carroll Manor Nursing Home.
Archbishop Donald Wuerl, the main celebrant at the Mass, praised Msgr. Farina's legacy as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington for nearly 56 years, who made "Christ present in our lives, in the lives of his people and the life of this Church... You and I are the beneficiaries of that priesthood."
Concelebrants at the Mass included Washington Auxiliary Bishops Francisco Gonzalez and Martin Holley, and retired Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Olivier, along with nearly three dozen other priests of the archdiocese.
Welcoming people to the Mass, Msgr. Salvatore Criscuolo, the pastor of St. Patrick, praised Msgr. Farina as "our dear friend... who was truly loved by all his parishioners here... (He was) a man who truly loved the priesthood and the people he served."
Msgr. Farina, a native of Newton, Mass., was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1954. He served at Holy Family Parish in Hillcrest Heights and St. Thomas Apostle Parish in Washington before being named pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Forestville in 1966, and later pastor of Mount Calvary Parish in Forestville in 1974.
The priest resided at St. Patrick from 1976 until the fall of 2009, where he was known for his vibrant homilies at his Masses, and for greeting parishioners after Mass. The friend of leading figures in Washington art and culture, such as the late actress Helen Hayes, Msgr. Farina also took the time to speak to the homeless people who would visit the downtown church. In his later years as his health failed, the priest assisted in distributing Communion at St. Patrick.
"I lived with him for 16 years. He had an incredibly priestly heart," said Msgr. Peter Vaghi, a former pastor there who now serves as pastor of the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda. He said the veteran priest was a prayerful man who had a deep love for the Eucharist and a devotion to Mary.
In 1976, with the encouragement and support of Cardinal William Baum, then the archbishop of Washington, Msgr. Farina founded the Paul VI Institute for the Arts housed at the building adjoining the St. Patrick rectory, which is now the headquarters of Catholic Charities of the archdiocese. Msgr. Farina's work with the arts was named for and had the blessing of Pope Paul VI, who had written a letter to artists, hoping to re-establish the relationship between the Church and art.
"He was so committed to fostering the arts within a Catholic context. He strongly believed the arts had a role to play in the spiritual life (of people). He really believed art and beauty were gifts from God," said Bill Largess, artistic director of the Washington Stage Guild.
The theater company received critical support in its early years from Msgr. Farina, who invited the guild to be a constituent organization of the Paul VI Institute for the Arts. From 1986-99, the guild staged its productions at historic Carroll Hall, the theater at St. Patrick, and Msgr. Farina offered the company spiritual and financial support, and encouraged others to sponsor and attend their productions of such writers as T.S. Eliot and Graham Greene.
Largess said that Msgr. Farina "took the very historical view of the role of the Church, fostering the arts in the Renaissance and the Middle Ages." Msgr. Farina led the Paul VI Institute for the Arts from 1976 until his retirement in 1993, and in those years, the institute staged numerous exhibitions of icons and of religious paintings and sculptures, and it also sponsored concert series and educational programs on the arts.
"He saw this as the mission of the Church... the world of art reflects the beauty of Christ and the beauty of God. He tried to build bridges to those worlds," said Msgr. Vaghi.
Msgr. Farina's Memorial Mass at St. Patrick Church had a special poignance, because he played a key role in working with Russian-American artist Tatiana McKinney, who painted the "Gallery of Saints and Blesseds of the Americas" as 16 icons encircling the walls above the altar there.
"That was his idea, and his insight," said Msgr. Donald Essex, who was pastor of St. Patrick during its renovations and now serves as pastor of St. Jane de Chantal in Bethesda. Msgr. Essex noted that Msgr. Farina also worked with sculptor Leo Irrera, who sculpted the dramatic sanctuary crucifix at St. Patrick, a cast marble and epoxy work that depicts the risen Christ and an inverted relief of the crucified Christ on a Celtic cross.
"It sculpted itself," said Irrera, who signed the work, "Created by the Holy Spirit and produced by Irrera." The sculptor also sculpted the statue of St. Thomas More at St. Patrick, a moving representation of the patron saint of lawyers for the downtown church surrounded by law firms.
Msgr. Farina had invited Irrera to be the Paul VI Institute's artist-in-residence, and the sculptor had a studio for many years in the basement of Carroll Hall. "He's my saint," the artist said of the priest.
At the Memorial Mass, Father Paul Liston, a retired priest and longtime friend of Msgr. Farina who lived with him for many years at St. Patrick, said in his homily, "He dreamed large, and went on to accomplish what he dreamt."
Over the years, both priests served as presidents of the Catholic Historical Society of Washington. Msgr. Farina played a key role in supporting the effort to rebuild the historic brick chapel at St. Mary's City, and he also coordinated a special series of supplements on Maryland's Catholic history for the Catholic Standard, where he had earlier served as assistant general manager.
"He wanted to highlight the role (Maryland) Catholics had in promoting the freedom of religious practice," said Father Liston. "...History is story. He always loved a good story."
Father Liston also noted that Msgr. Farina had an engaging personality and was well connected, and would do things like taking friends on a surprise tour of Air Force One, and arranging a National Symphony Orchestra concert for a parish fundraiser. Msgr. Farina had a special love for women religious, including the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Discalced Carmelite nuns at Port Tobacco, and he once enabled a group of sisters to attend a rehearsal performance of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra.
After the Mass, Magistrate Judge John Facciola remembered the multi-faceted priest for his gourmet cooking. Msgr. Farina, who sometimes appeared on television demonstrating cooking, was nicknamed "the padre of the pots and pans." The priest once cooked ravioli for the judge, "and I can still taste it," he said after his friend's Memorial Mass.
In his letter of instruction for his death, Msgr. Farina asked that, after his Memorial Mass, a special meal be served for the priests at the rectory and the parishioners at the parish center.
Speaking of Msgr. Farina's intellectual curiosity, Judge Facciola said, "There was nothing on Earth that didn't interest him... It (his death) is a tremendous loss to the city."
Msgr. Farina's survivors include two sisters, Rosemary Favre and Sylvia Clark, both of Massachusetts.
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