Easton Residents Receive 2011 Spirit of Holy Cross Awards

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Stonehill professor Maura Tyrell

EASTON, MA (09/16/2011)(readMedia)-- The Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Province of Priests and Brothers has named nine recipients for the 2011 Spirit of Holy Cross Award and Easton residents Maura Tyrell  and Julieann Smithis are two of the recipients.

The award is given annually on September 15, the formal observance of Our Lady of Sorrows and the Feast Day of the Congregation, to lay collaborators who serve with the Province in the United States and abroad. It acknowledges the critical importance lay collaborators play in living out the vision and mission of Holy Cross founder Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., to make God known, loved and served in education, parish and mission settings.

Honorees will be recognized in their local communities in January by the Holy Cross ministry for which they work or serve. At that time they will receive a proclamation of gratitude signed by the Provincial Superior on behalf of the entire U.S. Province.

Tyrrell was named this past year the first Rev. Francis J. Hurley, C.S.C. endowed chair and professor of Biology at Stonehill College. Around campus and amongst the Holy Cross community at Stonehill, Tyrell is known for being not just a knowledgeable scientific professor, but also an educator in the faith who values Stonehill's Catholic identity and works hard to maintain and deepen it.

In her 36 years at Stonehill, she has worked to educate both the heart and the mind. In 2000, she and a colleague in the Religious Studies Department co-authored a course proposal, Ecology, Theologies, and Worldviews, which earned a course award and grant from the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.

A Stonehill student in 1960-1961 and later a graduate of Trinity College, now Trinity Washington University, she completed her doctorate in Biological Sciences at the University of Delaware, specializing in marine biology.

Tyrell and her husband, George, who is assistant director of Technology Services at Stonehill, have three children and two granddaughters.

Smith has been a parishioner at Holy Cross Parish in South Easton since 1972. She also served as parish secretary for ten years. When she retired, she did not sit idle. Wishing to do her part to make God known, loved and served, Smith works tirelessly in the background assisting wherever her talents are needed at the parish.

As the parish sacristan she's come to be known as one of the "backbones of Holy Cross Parish." In her role as sacristan, she has helped the priests and brothers of the former Eastern Province celebrate their annual Jubilee Masses. 

For her numerous contributions, she received the annual diocesan Marian Award. Smith was married for 44 years to her beloved husband Walter, who passed away eight years ago. She has one child and three grandchildren.

"Using the Holy Family as a model, Blessed Basil Moreau built his Congregation to include lay men and women as collaborators," said Provincial Superior Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C. "This indelible model has been in place for 174 years, fulfilling not only Basil Moreau's vision, but God's mission. Around the world, thousands of lay collaborators work side by side with us every day in our schools, churches and ministries providing valuable support and service. Just as our Constitutions call on us to be, Holy Cross is one community working together to 'spread the Gospel ... for the development of a more just and human society.' "

About The Congregation of Holy Cross

The Congregation of Holy Cross is a Catholic religious order formed in 1837 in the little town of Sainte-Croix, (which translated means Holy Cross) France when Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., joined a group of parish priests with a band of teaching brothers to fill the educational and spiritual void left by the upheaval of the French Revolution. Today there are approximately 1,500 Holy Cross religious working to educate both the heart s and minds of believers of Jesus Christ in 16 countries and on five continents.

The United States Province of Priests and Brothers is made up of nearly 500 priests, brothers, and seminarians and is headquartered in Notre Dame, Ind. The Province fulfills the original vision of Blessed Basil Moreau to make God known, loved and served. The priests and brothers serve in education, parish and mission settings from Vermont to Texas to Oregon to Florida. They are educators in the faith serving the people of God at their colleges, universities, parishes, primary and secondary schools, social service organizations, and international missions. The United States Province's presence also extends across borders to include the Districts of Chile, Peru, East Africa and a Region of Mexico. To learn more about the mission of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers, please visit us at www.holycrossusa.org.