--Long-time Friend, Thomas Aquinas Medallion Recipient (from the Winter 2000-2001 Quarterly Newsletter)
One of the nation's greatest catechists, spiritual directors, and retreat masters, Fr. John Hardon, S.J., died on December 30 at the Colombiere Retreat House in suburban Detroit at the age of 86. Fr. Hardon was a long-time friend of Thomas Aquinas College and a recipient of the Thomas Aquinas Medallion at Commencement Ceremonies in 1981.
His Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1975 by Doubleday, is in its 26th printing with more than one million copies sold. It anticipated the Holy See's Catechism of the Catholic Church for which he served as a consultant.
Altogether, he published more than 30 books on Catholic theology and spirituality, and recorded dozens of audiotapes on various topics, including The Apostles' Creed, The Eucharist, Catholic Sexual Morality and Angels and Devils.
In addition to his rich publishing and speaking career, Fr. Hardon was beloved as a spiritual director and retreat master. He was Mother Teresa's spiritual director and one of her principal confessors. He spent hundreds of hours giving conferences to the members of the Missionaries of Charity and worked with Mother Teresa to promote the establishment of chapels of perpetual Eucharistic adoration. He was also for many years the chaplain of the World Apostolate of Fatima, the Blue Army, aiming to promote devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.
Fr. Hardon also founded numerous Pontifical Catechetical Institutes throughout the United States at the request of Pope Paul VI. In the last few years, he launched the magazine Catholic Faith, and just last fall published The Marian Catechist Manual, to assist Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in their work as catechists. He worked to help homeschooling families everywhere, and consulted with Dr. Mary Kay Clark, founder of the popular Seton Home Study School.
What many found so remarkable about Fr. Hardon was his holiness. He would spend three hours a day before the Blessed Sacrament, writing letters and books on his knees. He kept a strict account of every moment of his life, and had limited his sleep to such a point that his superior had to order him to sleep at least six hours a day. His converts were many, including Lee Atwater, the feisty chairman of the Republican National Committee, to whom Fr. Hardon gave last sacraments when he was on his death bed with brain cancer in 1990.
Fr. Hardon's last visit to the College was in March, 1998, when he spoke on "Writing and the Spiritual Life." He implored his audience to take up writing, saying "writing is a wonderful way of growing in intellectual humility." That he was a giant in intellectual humility is no surprise, given the rich legacy of writing he left us. May he rest in peace.
Hardon's lack of understanding Protestant theology is only exceeded by his ignorance of Protestant history. He should have stayed with his strong suit, Catholic theology and spirituality. Hubris is a terrible thing to watch in a spiritual director. Maybe he just needed more sleep.