By Fr Donal Halliden MSSC

On a late summer day in August 1940, while driving my mother to town, my eldest brother, William, already an ordained Columban, suddenly said, “If Donal wants to go to Dalgan he might as well go this year.”  Dalgan was the major seminary of the Columbans in Ireland.  I was still in high school but I had passed the matriculation examination of the National University of Ireland and on this basis I would be accepted in Dalgan.

Five Vocations in a Family

If my mother was surprised, she did not show it but I do remember her saying, “Anyone who wants to serve the Church cannot be selfish.”  My father still had to be consulted and he readily gave his consent even though I was the fourth of his five sons wishing to enter the priesthood, three of us as Columbans and the fourth as a secular for our diocese.  A fifth vocation was to come to the family later when our younger sister, Maureen, entered the local convent of the Sisters of Mercy.

The Halliden Brothers: (L-R) Jerome, Patrick, Donal and William

Sure Aspirant

So it was then that I found myself a first year student at St. Columban’s, Dalgan, in September 1940.  But I still had to be interviewed by the Dalgan Rector and by Fr. John Blowick, co-founder of the Columban Society.  My brother Jerome, then in his 6th year as a Dalgan student, got me a new, ready-made soutana on my first day and when I arrived at the interview room I was already wearing it.  Fr. Blowick remarked with a grin, “It looks like you have come to stay!”  I remember being asked why I wanted to be a missionary priest.  Without hesitation I said that it was in making the “Stations” (Way of the Cross) that I saw how Jesus loves us totally and I wanted to return that love and make it known to others.

Dalgan Spirit

My seven years at Dalgan were very happy.  I lived in an atmosphere where fraternal kindness and support dominated.  Critically too the disciplinary system was based on the student taking personal responsibility for his growth and formation.  This system, known as “Dalgan Spirit”, enabled one to mature quickly and to build a character that would sustain him in his future missionary life. 

50 years and more

My missionary assignment to the Philippines in 1947 was a most felicitous one.  For more than 50 years now, the abundant grace of God, the support of fellow Columbans and the kindness of the Filipino people have made my life a time of great joy and fulfillment.  In spite of the inevitable hardships and two breakdowns of health, I have been blessed with gladness and peace.

My first five years on mission in Mindanao were spent in parish ministry at Aurora in the Diocese of Zamboanga. I was then asked to accept a teaching post in Ozamiz at the Immaculate Conception College which was administered by the Columban Sisters.  This proved to be a turning point in my life as the next 40 years were spent in ministry to students.  After two years at Ozamiz, I was assigned toIligan City for teaching and administrative work in the parochial high school and in the RVM Sisters’ St. Michael’s College.

Ministry with young people

A major shift came in 1964 when I was transferred to Manila as chaplain to Centro Escolar University. I remained at that post for 30 years. Concern for young people is a special interest of mine.  Indeed it is a top pastoral priority of the Church and there is no greater example of this than Pope John Paul’s extraordinary success in reaching out to them.  We saw this in Manila in 1995 and it was evident again two years ago in Rome when he used words among the most touching of his pontificate.  These were words of affection and encouragement as he declared, “Young people of the world, you are my joy and my crown!”  The Holy Father always challenges the youth to be strong and authentic in following Christ and in helping to build a new society, telling them, “If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire.”

My Secret

I feel the good Lord gave me the precious gift of empathy with young people.  When a religion coordinator in a Catholic university asked me what was the “secret” of my relationship with students, I told her, “I believe it is the fact that I truly love them and they sense it.”  When young people experience love from adults, they more readily believe in and respond to God’s love, which is what life is all about. On Holy Thursday we pray, “Love of you with our whole heart, Lord God, is holiness.”

My ministry has been greatly inspired by a vision beautifully expressed by the late Cardinal Basil Hume:  “We want our people to walk as if they could see the invisible and to have fallen in love with God.”