Fr. Laurence Bourget, O.C.S.O., 99
SPENCER – A preeminent chapter in the history of the Trappist community at St. Joseph's Abbey ended late Friday evening, December 12, 2014, with the passing of Father Laurence Bourget. O.C.S.O.
Born Joseph George Bourget, in Central Falls, Rhode Island, the second child of George and Rose (née Tetrault) Bourget in 1915, he was thoroughly immersed in Rhode Island's Catholic culture, attending Notre Dame Parochial School, staffed by the Sisters of St. Ann, Sacred Heart Academy, a middle school run by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and Saint Raphael Christian Brothers Academy, where his studies focused on languages, particularly French, English, Latin and Greek. He entered the Abbey of Our Lady of the Valley, Lonsdale, Rhode Island, in 1933 and, after a fire in 1950 that forced the closure of that monastery, he moved with the rest of the monastic community to St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer.
Father Laurence pronounced his solemn vows in 1938 and was ordained a priest in 1942. Throughout the span of his long career in monastic life he filled many posts: organist, abbot's secretary, enrollment secretary, choir master, guest master, retreat master, archivist, professor of history, patrology, philosophy and scripture, claustral prior, counselor to the order's Abbot General in Rome for English speaking monasteries in North and South America and English/French, French/English translator at its international General Chapter meetings.
The last living link to the earliest history of the Trappists in North America, Father Laurence's formative years were cultivated by monastic elders who had lived and prayed in the original 1825 foundation of Petit Clairvaux in Tracadie, Nova Scotia. He was a passionate witness to the cultural richness inherent in the traditions he handed on.
Pre-deceased by his sister, Claire Bourget Duffy, Father Laurence is survived by his nephew Paul Duffy and his wife Carol Duffy, his niece Dr. Jocelyn Gemis and her husband, Dr. Paul Gemis, and his beloved grand-niece Sasha. Father Laurence's monastic brothers especially wish to thank the lay staff at St. Joseph's Abbey infirmary for their patient and devoted care of him in his final years. In the hearts of the monastic community Father Laurence remains a figure of considerable effect in the history of St. Joseph's Abbey. With gratitude for the gift of his presence among us, the monks commend his soul to your prayers. There are no calling hours. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph's Abbey on Thursday, December 18, at 2 P.M. Burial is in the abbey cemetery. J. HENRI MORIN & SON FUNERAL HOME, 23 Maple Terrace, Spencer, 508-885-3992, is directing arrangements.