Mount St. Mary's, Greenmeadows






2018 - It is fifty years since these letters began. The letters are from a time and way of life that are no longer there, and in my opinion will hopefully never come back. These letters to my parents, all unedited except for the occasional correction of name-spelling, came in years of tumultuous change. Although mainly mundane, perhaps even boring, between the lines there could be a little more going on.

There will be a number of churchy words and a number of out-of-date words which might puzzle the reader. In the main, that shouldn't matter. So as not to clutter the text with footnotes of explanation, there is a not-totally-comprehensive glossary to help out. I realize that these letters won't be everyone's cup of tea. Rather than throw the letters away (I never knew my mother was keeping them!) I thought I would put them online. They may reveal a snatch of a snippet of an era.

I couldn't see anything in the letters that might be offensive when a personal name is mentioned. Rather than say "names have been changed" I decided to leave the names of those mentioned as is. If you find yourself referred to and want a pseudonym used, I'll kind-of-happily do that, but won't delete entire sentences. It was another age altogether and not everything was trendy. I don't like to change a text to satisfy contemporary whims. There's much in these letters that today embarrasses me and I could so easily delete things to make myself nicer! The reality is, I'm not expecting many to read this blog anyway!

There are 244 letters in all spanning the eight years of priestly formation. Their posting is some attempt to answer the many requests for a follow up of my autobiography - Bits of a Boyhood. Many around the world have enjoyed it online - even taught it in the classroom! - and asked "When is the next volume coming out?" This is not exactly in the same style, but it might sort-of sort-of do. We begin with a repeat of the final chapter of "Bits of a Boyhood", and move on from there.

Note: The original letters are now held at the Marist Archives in Wellington. The archivist can be contacted HERE

Thanks
Bruce Goodman




Setting the scene - 1967

Final Chapter of "Bits of a Boyhood"
1. 27 September 1967
2. 13 November 1967
3. 26 November 1967

Year 1 - Aspirant Year - 1968

4. 11 February 1968
5. 16 February 1968
6. 18 February 1968
7. 25 February 1968
8. 3 March 1968
9. 17 March 1968
10. 24 March 1968
11. 7 April 1968
12. 21 April 1968
13. 28 April 1968
14. 5 May 1968
15. 19 May 1968
16. 26 May 1968
17. 9 June 1968
18. 16 June 1968
19. 23 June 1968
20. 1 July 1968
21. 21 July 1968
22. 28 July 1968
23. 4 August 1968
24. 10 August 1968
25. 18 August 1968
26. 25 August 1968
27. 1 September 1968
28. 8 September 1968
29. 15 September 1968
30. 22 September 1968
31. 29 September 1968
32. 6 October 1968
33. 13 October 1968
34. 20 October 1968
35. 29 October 1968
36. 10 November 1968
37. 17 November 1968
38. 25 November 1968
39. 12 December 1968
40. 22 December 1968
41. 27 December 1968

Year 2 - Novitiate Year - 1969

42. 11 January 1969
43. 19 January 1969
44. 25 January 1969
45. 1 February 1969
46. 8 February 1969
47. 15 February 1969
48. 22 February 1969
49. 1 March 1969 (I)
50. 1 March 1969 (II)
51. 15 March 1969
52. 22 March 1969
53. 29 March 1969
54. 12 April 1969
55. 19 April 1969
56. 26 April 1969
57. 3 May 1969
58. 10 May 1969
59. 17 May 1969
60. 24 May 1969
61. 7 June 1969
62. 21 June 1969
63. 29 June 1969
64. 6 July 1969
65. 13 July 1969
66. 20 July 1969
67. 27 July 1969
68. 3 August 1969
69. 10 August 1969
70. 17 August 1969
71. 24 August 1969
72. 7 September 1969
73. 14 September 1969
74. 19 September 1969
75. 29 September 1969
76. 5 October 1969
77. 12 October 1969
78. 19 October 1969
79. 21 October 1969
80. 2 November 1969
81. 8 November 1969
82. 16 November 1969
83. 23 November 1969
84. 30 November 1969
85. 7 December 1969
86. 14 December 1969
87. 21 December 1969



Year 3 - Post-Novitiate - 1970

88. 14 January 1970
89. 29 January 1970
90. 8 February 1970
91. 15 February 1970
92. 22 February 1970
93. 8 March 1970
94. 15 March 1970
95. 22 March 1970
96. 31 March 1970
97. 5 April 1970
98. 12 April 1970
99. 19 April 1970
100. 26 April 1970
101. 3 May 1970
102. 10 May 1970
103. 24 May 1970
104. 1 June 1970
105. 7 June 1970
106. 14 June 1970 (I)
107. 14 June 1970 (II)
108. 21 June 1970
109. 29 June 1970
110. 19 July 1970
111. 26 July 1970
112. 2 August 1970
113. 9 August 1970
114. 16 August 1970
115. 23 August 1970
116. 30 August 1970
117. 6 September 1970
118. 20 September 1970
119. 4 October 1970
120. 11 October 1970
121. 15 October 1970
122. 18 October 1970
123. 1 November 1970
124. 9 November 1970
125. 15 November 1970
126. 22 November 1970
127. 30 November 1970
128. 14 December 1970

Year 4 - 1971

129. 25 January 1971
130. 11 February 1971
131. 14 February 1971
132. 21 February 1971
133. 28 February 1971
134. 14 March 1971
135. 21 March 1971
136. 28 March 1971
137. 5 April 1971
138. 18 April 1971
139. 25 April 1971
140. 2 May 1971
141. 9 May 1971
142. 23 May 1971
143. 6 June 1971
144. 14 June 1971
145. 21 June 1971
146. 27 June 1971
147. 1 July 1971
148. 7 July 1971
149. 9 July 1971
150. 1 August 1971
151. 8 August 1971
152. 17 August 1971
153. 23 August 1971
154. 31 August 1971
155. 5 September 1971
156. 13 September 1971
157. 19 September 1971
158. 26 September 1971
159. 4 October 1971
160. 11 October 1971
161. 17 October 1971
162. 15 November 1971
163. 22 November 1971
164. 13 December 1971










Year 5 - 1972

165. 28 January 1972
166. 19 February 1972
167. 29 February 1972
168. 4 April 1972
169. 9 April 1972
170. 16 April 1972
171. 23 April 1972
172. 29 April 1972
173. 7 May 1972
174. 29 May 1972
175. 4 June 1972
176. 12 June 1972
177. 25 June 1972
178. 4 July 1972
179. 15 July 1972
180. 20 July 1972
181. 31 July 1972
182. 6 August 1972
183. 14 August 1972
184. 21 August 1972
185. 27 August 1972
186. 5 September 1972
187. 25 September 1972
188. 1 October 1972
189. 9 October 1972
190. 16 October 1972
191. 30 October 1972
192. 7 November 1972
193. 26 November 1972
194. 13 December 1972

Year 6 - 1973

195. 12 February 1973
196. 20 February 1973
197. 27 February 1973
198. 27 March 1973
199. 4 May 1973
200. 22 July 1973
201. 3 September 1973
202. 27 September 1973
203. 16 October 1973
204. 28 October 1973
205. 18 December 1973

Year 7 - 1974

206. 6 January 1974
207. 12 February 1974
208. 24 February 1974
209. 7 April 1974
210. 17 April 1974
211. 22 April 1974
212. 2 May 1974
213. 15 May 1974
214. 1 June 1974
215. 13 June 1974
216. 26 June 1974
217. 10 July 1974
218. 4 August 1974
219. 12 August 1974
220. 18 August 1974
221. 26 August 1974
222. 2 September 1974
223. 25 September 1974
214. 20 October 1974
225. 27 October 1974
226. 3 November 1974
227. 16 November 1974

Year 8 - 1975

228. 14 February 1975
229. 3 March 1975
230. 16 March 1975
231. 26 March 1975
232. 1 May 1975
233. 10 May 1975
234. 26 May 1975
235. 4 June 1975
236. 6 June 1975
237. 10 June 1975
238. 16 June 1975
239. 22 July 1975
240. 17 August 1975
241. 24 August 1975
242. 4 November 1975
243. 14 November 1975

Postscript - 1976

244. 7 February 1976




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