priests
THE NATURAL
beauty of
Graymoor,
New York
allows both
the friars
and those
they serve to
connect with
God’s grace.
Home to those
who have lost their way
The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement offer shelter, healing, and the
chance for a new life to men affected by homelessness and addictions.
PHOTOS BY O NE HUNDRED years ago the BROTHER Friars of the Atonement in JOHN Graymoor, Garrison, New York
O’HARA, opened their doors in hospitality to men
S.A. who were homeless. Those doors have
never shut. Atop a hill in the lush Hudson River valley, the friars continue the
ministry they began in 1909.
TEXT BY
CAROL
SCHUCK
SCHEIBER
Brother John O’Hara, S.A. belongs
to the Friars of the Atonement in
Garrison, New York. He is both vocation director and a palliative-care
hospice minister. He has worked
as an advertising and corporate
photographer in New York City and
continues to create, show, and sell
his photography, with studios in Toronto and Montreal.
Learn more at
www.spiritualityandphotography.org.
Carol Schuck Scheiber is content editor of VISION.
That effort has grown by leaps and
bounds. Today St. Christopher’s Inn
provides food, clothing, shelter, medications, substance abuse counseling, and
spiritual help to its residents, who from
the beginning have represented a wide
range of races, creeds, and walks of life.
In the halls of St. Christopher’s Inn the
friars live with those whom they help. A
large staff of both lay people and friars
offers assistance in spiritual, physical,
and emotional healing, which leads
residents down the long road of recovery from alcohol or substance abuse—a
frequent cause of homelessness.
Not all the men who arrive at what
some call “The Holy Mountain” avail
themselves of all the services, but many
do. And each year those who have
78
VISION 2009
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