Fr. Irenaeus Herscher, O.F.M.

1902-1981

St. Bonaventure University

Biography

Irenaeus was born on March 11, 1902 in Alsace-Lorraine, which is now part of France. He remained there until the sixth grade when he emigrated to the United States with the rest of his family. He completed elementary and high school in Camden, NJ. Beginning with his high school years he held a variety of jobs, ranging from soda fountain clerk, to drug store clerk, to template checker at the NY Ship Building Corporation. During this same period he visited the Sacred Heart Church each morning on his way to school or work. There he assisted at mass until it was time to clock in. A Franciscan priest at the church, Fr. Cuthbert Cotton, showed Irenaeus how to apply for a vocation to the Franciscan Order. He then entered St. Joseph's Seraphic Seminary in 1920, then moved on to the novitiate in Paterson, NJ, in 1924, to be instructed in Franciscan life.  He made his profession of solemn vows on August 28, 1928 and was ordained a priest on June 9, 1931.

In 1932, Irenaeus was sent to St. Stephen's Friary in Croghan to be Assistant Master of Clerics. The following year, he went to Columbia University to study library science.  Irenaeus was appointed assistant to librarian Father Albert O'Brien in 1934.  He took over the administration of the facility in 1937 after Father Albert's death.  He continued in this position until 1970.  

Some of Fr. Irenaeus' efforts resulting in great success were two first day cachets, one for baseball and the other for the Gutenberg Bible. The baseball cachet centered upon Bona's contribution to the major leagues, with two graduates in the National Hall of Fame. The Gutenberg Cachet was for Franciscan contributions to printing. He also initiated America's First National Bible Week in 1941.

He was a friend to Thomas Merton, who taught at St. Bonaventure before going to the abbey at Gethsemane and who later wrote The Seven Storey Mountain. There were many instances where Merton spent hours with Irenaeus in the library. Fr. Irenaeus probably had great influence on Merton's spiritual attainment. 

Irenaeus was chaplain of St. Francis Hospital, and, later on, chaplain of St. Joseph's Manor starting in 1955. Each day he offered mass and prayers to the aged and chronically ill. He would pray over the sick patients, and is even believed to have aided in their healing. Irenaeus' spirituality and his generous nature is why Mt. Irenaeus, the nearby Franciscan Friary, is named after him. He was well informed on Franciscan history, literature, and its spiritual practices. Among his interests were the Cuba Oil Spring, and Fr. Joseph De la Roche. He also lobbied for a commemorative national stamp in honor of the event of the discovery of oil in the United States.

Canisius College presented Irenaeus with a citation on the occasion of its Library cornerstone laying in 1954. An area library organization also honored him as a charter member on the Silver Jubilee of the Western New York Catholic Librarians Conference.  St. Bonaventure University awarded him with an honorary degree of Doctor of Literature in 1969. 

During the fall of 1980, Irenaeus was diagnosed with a heart condition and hospitalized for three months. Upon his release, he came back to St. Bonaventure and spent his last two days on earth at the Library. He woke up early on the morning of January 28, 1981, in cardiac arrest. He died on the way to St. Francis Hospital. 

For more biographical information about Fr. Irenaeus Herscher, OFM, go the the Thomas Merton site.

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Last updated:  01/30/07

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