Brother Bernard Van Waes — requiescat in pace
Br. Bernard Van Waes, OHC, died Saturday, June 14, 2008 at Sarah House Hospice in Santa Barbara. He was 87 and had been a member of the Order of the Holy Cross for over 31 years.
A lively and straight-talking man, Bernard took an interesting and circuitous road that led him to Holy Cross. Raised by German immigrant grandparents in Chicago, he enlisted in the US Navy shortly before the outbreak of World War II. He served with honor during that conflict in the Pacific Theater and was profoundly marked by that experience. After discharge from the service in 1947 he moved to Boston to attend college as a philosophy and religion major, but his undergraduate education was interrupted when he was called back to naval service. After two years, he returned to Boston, received his bachelor’s degree from Boston University and, having come to know the Anglican way through Christ Church, Cambridge, he applied for ordained ministry. He attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley, graduating in 1956. His first cure took him to Alaska, where he was ordained deacon and then priest. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area and served in several churches before moving to Odessa, TX where he served a curacy for three years. He also pursued an MA degree in literature from the University of Texas. After some years as a secondary school teacher he entered the Order of the Holy Cross in 1977 and lived at several of the Order’s houses. For the last seventeen years, before moving to Santa Barbara in late 2007, Bernard was part of the community at Incarnation Priory, Berkeley. He was widely known as a devoted and assiduous scholar of Thomas Merton, with a special interest in the relationship of Merton and the Shakers. He also spoke and wrote at some length about mysticism and had a keen appreciative eye for the Asian aesthetic, both Chinese and Japanese.
Though challenged by poor heath for many years, he persevered in his vocation and was a confidant and counselor to many in Berkeley, both students and locals. He captured the hearts of the brothers and guests here in Santa Barbara with his lively intellect and sparkling smile. We shall miss him.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory!
A lively and straight-talking man, Bernard took an interesting and circuitous road that led him to Holy Cross. Raised by German immigrant grandparents in Chicago, he enlisted in the US Navy shortly before the outbreak of World War II. He served with honor during that conflict in the Pacific Theater and was profoundly marked by that experience. After discharge from the service in 1947 he moved to Boston to attend college as a philosophy and religion major, but his undergraduate education was interrupted when he was called back to naval service. After two years, he returned to Boston, received his bachelor’s degree from Boston University and, having come to know the Anglican way through Christ Church, Cambridge, he applied for ordained ministry. He attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley, graduating in 1956. His first cure took him to Alaska, where he was ordained deacon and then priest. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area and served in several churches before moving to Odessa, TX where he served a curacy for three years. He also pursued an MA degree in literature from the University of Texas. After some years as a secondary school teacher he entered the Order of the Holy Cross in 1977 and lived at several of the Order’s houses. For the last seventeen years, before moving to Santa Barbara in late 2007, Bernard was part of the community at Incarnation Priory, Berkeley. He was widely known as a devoted and assiduous scholar of Thomas Merton, with a special interest in the relationship of Merton and the Shakers. He also spoke and wrote at some length about mysticism and had a keen appreciative eye for the Asian aesthetic, both Chinese and Japanese.
Though challenged by poor heath for many years, he persevered in his vocation and was a confidant and counselor to many in Berkeley, both students and locals. He captured the hearts of the brothers and guests here in Santa Barbara with his lively intellect and sparkling smile. We shall miss him.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory!