He had a gentle spirit and a devout soul. In the classroom and in the friary, he raised everyone’s level of consciousness. He repeatedly called his students and his fellow brothers back to their potential, to be followers of St. Francis and of Jesus Christ.
That was Br. Richard Therrien, who died on Aug. 3 at the age of 78 in Yonkers, N.Y.
He was born in Central Falls, R.I., and was steeped in the piety of his French-Canadian family. He entered the novitiate on Aug. 31, 1969, and professed his perpetual vows on Sept. 8, 1973. A lay brother, he served on the formation staff and as tailor at St. Anthony Friary, Hudson, N.H., then on the parish staff at St. Pius X, Middletown, Conn.; Sacred Heart, Yonkers, N.Y.; and St. John the Baptist, New York City.
He distinguished himself as a teacher of religion at Sacred Heart High School, Yonkers, where he became chair of the theology department; and Mount St. Michael High School, Bronx, N.Y. His years teaching Christology at Archbishop Stepinac High School, White Plains, N.Y., were among his most enjoyable in the classroom. To prepare for his ministry, he received a B.A. in theology at St. Anselm College, Manchester, N.H., in 1986, followed by an M.A. in systematic theology at St. Michael College, Winooski, Vt., in 1992.
He also served the Province in the vocation ministry from 1998 to 2002, where it was his responsibility to introduce men to Capuchin life and prepare them to make the serious decision to become a friar.
One of the men whose discernment of a vocation he fostered was Br. Thomas McNamara, who is celebrating 25 years of religious life this year. “He was so proud to be a Capuchin, and he shared that with us, though he may have had a stern outer shell,” he said in his homily at Brother Richard’s funeral on Aug. 8. “He schooled us, he taught us how to pray … and how we ought to wear our habits, [to] love our Lord and the Blessed Mother.” He lauded Brother Richard for handing on to him and to all the men who joined the Province at the turn of the 21st century the sound traditions of the Catholic faith and the enduring values of Capuchin life. In turn, he said, Brother Richard proudly claimed Brother Tom and the other men he recruited to the Order as his spiritual sons.
After he retired from Stepinac, Brother Richard served in adult faith formation while in residence at St. Conrad Friary, White Plains; St. Clare Friary, Yonkers; and St. Lawrence Friary, Beacon, N.Y. He took pride in being a spiritual assistant to the Knights of Columbus in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., and being made a Third Order Knight in 2024. To the end, he was a teacher who was deeply in love with his teachers—the saints—and with his master, Jesus Christ.