Fr. Jim Cryan OSFS, profession cross on left.
When Oblates make their first profession, we are given our profession cross. We keep these crosses for the rest of our lives. They are made of sterling silver, modeled after the bishop cross St. Francis wore and the crosses that he chose for the Order of the Visitation that he founded with St. Jane de Chantal. There is no corpus on the cross so that we may be the body of Christ. The exterior is rich with engraved symbols such as three nails dripping with blood, a mountain, an olive branch, and a heart surmounted by two crosses. Inside, the cross contains relics including Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal, and Louis Brisson. I have worn my cross since my first profession in 2009. I thought I already learned all it had to teach me; I was wrong.
Recently, Fr. Jim Cryan OSFS, our beloved brother and confrere, died at the age of 86 on Friday, November 3, 2023. Fr. Cryan served the Oblates and the people of God as a priest, teacher, pastor, provincial superior, formator, and scholar. His funeral mass was full of Oblates, family, and friends who love Jim.
I visited Jim about a month before he died and noticed his profession cross around his neck and tucked behind his shirt. I asked him, “Jim, is that the original profession cross?” Jim did not respond with words. Towards the end, Jim was difficult to understand and dementia clouded the thoughts of his brilliant mind. However, when I asked about his profession cross, Jim communicated clearly to me. He looked at me, took the cross out, and kissed it.
When that cross was placed around his neck by his provincial at his first profession in 1955, Jim said, “God forbid that I should glory in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” Jim’s kiss of the cross was an intimate and gentle commitment to those words he said decades ago. Jim not only wore his cross, he kissed it.
It is our tradition to place an Oblate’s profession cross on the casket at the beginning of the funeral mass. When I placed Jim’s cross on the casket, I noticed the beautifully engraved symbols had worn to the point where they were unidentifiable. The IHS, the monogram of Jesus in Greek, was barely visible. Same too were the three nails dripping in blood.
For 68 years Jim faithfully lived out his vocation as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales. For 68 years he wore that cross and its very meaning rubbed off on him. Even Jesus’ name rubbed off on him embodying the words of St. Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:19-20).
Fr. Brisson, our founder, said that if we were faithful to our vocation, “The Savior will be seen walking again on Earth.” I see no other way than to wear and kiss our crosses daily.
May God be Praised!
Fr. Joe Newman, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo- Detroit Province
