The life of a Dominican Friar is a life of sacrifice. Please consider making a gift in support of our aging friars.
Even as he advances in age, a Dominican Friar never really retires. One Friar who continues to make an impact is our very own Fr. Basil Cole, O.P. Although at one time he thought he might become a high school teacher of English Literature, the Lord called him to a slightly different line of work. From his ordination as a young Dominican to becoming a full time teacher of theology, Fr. Basil has journeyed through a full life as a traveling preacher, professor, author, jazz pianist and religious superior of Novices in the Order.
Initially interested in joining the Benedictines, Fr. Basil did not feel a call to the monastic life. It was the height and difficulty of the ideal that Dominicans pursue that made Fr. Basil want to chase that ideal, no matter how difficult it would be to do so and no matter how much he would have to sacrifice. Fr. Basil rode out the tumult of the 1960s and 1970s which also affected in the Church in America.
“There was radical dissent in the Church from perceived moral norms,” he recalls. But through it all Fr. Basil kept the peace in a spirit of collaboration with his brother Friars, and was able to ensure that Dominican life continued unabated, unchanged from the outside world.
In recent years, he has taught courses on topics ranging from bioethics to the angels, and he is still going strong. Fr. Basil publishes articles regularly, gives parish missions, conducts retreats, and continues to mentor the young Friars. Fr. Norbert Keliher, O.P. (then a Student Brother) once wrote in his article on Fr. Basil in our Dominicana magazine: “We younger friars look to him as an example of what a contemplative preacher can be, and we hope that we will respond with the same alacrity to the needs of the Church.”
