The St. Anselm schoolyard was the place to be on Thursday May 28th as parishioners arrived to participate in a very special event—Monsignor Phillips’ 60th Anniversary as a Priest. Parishioners caught up with each other and then joined a very long line of cars and waited for a special arrival–firetrucks from Engine 114 and 242 along with the Battalion Chief from District 40 which led the way for the convoy of well-wishers. Msgr. Phillips’ father was a firefighter, so this was especially meaningful for him. And that wasn’t the end of the surprises as Msgr. Kevin Noone, Pastor of OLA, presented Msgr. Phillips with copies of the first Baptism and Wedding Msgr. Phillips celebrated as a newly ordained Priest. What a wonderful keepsake!
Msgr. Phillips, who was joined by Monsignor Maloney and Fr. Anthony, waved and thanked the Firefighters, Parishioners and neighbors who came out to join the celebration.
Msgr. Phillips served at OLA Parish, St. Cecilia Parish, and the Diocesan Office for Schools prior to coming to St. Anselm in 1991 and retiring in 2009. Thank you, Monsignor, for being such a Good Shepard to us all.
We would also like to thank Dan Texeira for organizing the event, Linda Lombardo for the suggestion to invite the fire fighters and Donna Burns for helping alert the local media. Finally, we thank everyone who came out to make this such a wonderful event celebrating a wonderful man. We are grateful to you all.
All the best,
The St. Anselm Publicity Committee