He was recalled by his superiors and set to the task of training other Jesuits for the English mission. In the end, though he came close, martyrdom eluded Fr. Gerard was accused, and he had to hide in a priest hole for nine days-during which time he wrote a letter refuting the charges. He served the English mission from 1588 to 1606, until the Gunpowder Plot, of which Fr. He was also extremely wily, narrowly escaping capture on numerous occasions, sometimes hiding for days in tiny “priest holes”. Gerard was an effective priest who encouraged Catholics and brought many Protestants back to the Church. Ordained in 1588, he entered the Society of Jesus in August, and shortly thereafter departed for the English mission.įr. He eventually made his way to the English College in Rome. After his release in 1584, he continued to recuperate, and then again went to meet with priests in France.

'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.Returning to England, Gerard was arrested for lack of travel papers and spent a year in the Marshalsea prison.

Despite being an agnostic - one who lacks the certainty to be an atheist - he believes passionately in the power of friendship, loving kindness, and literature to give meaning to our lives. A gift for all his children, biological and emotional, this anthology was compiled as an act of affirmation. Part of the impetus, too, came from seeing how 'astronaut kids,' children with fathers half a world away, responded to reading personal essays and poems about fathers. He was, after all, the father of two teenage children, and some of his thoughts were forged in the fiery smithy of experience.

The idea for Fathers: A Literary Anthology came to him several years ago, and though he tried to resist, it would not go away. from University of British Columbia, and a Master's of English Literature from the University of Washington, and over the years he has worked as a broke hustler, green chain hand, postal employee, commercial fisherman, apartment manager, and tutor. A lover of endives and sauerkraut, lebkuchen and rice pie, he has a BSC. Born a twin in 1953, son of a German mother and a Belgian father, Gerard grew up far from Würzburg and from Liège, among the forests and lakes of the coastal pulp and paper town of Powell River, B.C.

Fathers by Andre J.D. Gerard