Kathryn Kirby, a longtime parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park, remembers a day around a decade ago when she and her family were swapping out the missals in the pews with Father Michael Triplett, then a seminarian in his pastoral year, and Monsignor John J. Auer, who was retired but in residence at the parish.
They came across a Eucharist, apparently partially chewed and discarded, that had hardened and become “glued” between a missal or hymnal and its wooden holder on the back of the pew.
“It was terrible,” Kirby recalled.
However, Monsignor Auer and Father Triplett carefully unscrewed the wooden holder, detached it from the pew, and took care of the Eucharist with proper reverence.
“(Monsignor Auer’s) gentle presence was a great example at the time for my son,” Kirby said, referring to her boy Stephen, who is now in his second year at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg as he discerns a vocation to the priesthood.
Monsignor Auer died Aug. 14. He was 92. He was both baptized and confirmed at St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish in Irvington, the latter by Baltimore Archbishop Michael J. Curley in 1939, according to information provided by the Baltimore archdiocese.
He spent his formative years in Baltimore, learning at the former St. Joseph Monastery and St. Bernardine parish schools and, later, at Mount St. Joseph High School. Initially pursuing a career in medicine, Monsignor Auer began his post-secondary education at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, but his experience with the Newman Center there changed his trajectory.
In a 2007 interview with the Catholic Review, Monsignor Auer said he had an attraction to the priesthood.
“It was a spiritual call to follow Christ and to be of service to others,” he said.
Ordained in 1957 by Baltimore Archbishop Francis P. Keough, Monsignor Auer was the archdiocese’s oldest living priest at the time of his death.
“He was the most gentle – not only priest, but soul – I ever met,” said Shirley Sciortino, who had known Monsignor Auer for more than 50 years but interacted particularly closely with him during his 1988–2002 pastorship at Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville, which preceded his retirement.
“Nothing seemed to rattle him; everything was possible,” Sciortino remembered. “He was just a ‘let’s roll up our sleeves and have fun doing this’ kind of guy.”
One of the possibilities he made a reality was the establishment of a credit union for the poor laborers to whom he ministered during a five-year missionary stint in Ecuador. In addition to his boots-on-the-ground efforts, the undertaking entailed significant preparatory work, including his learning of the Spanish language.
“People there were so poor,” Sciortino said, adding that the “banks wouldn’t help them in any way” because of the perceived financial risk involved.
The “Padre Auer” credit union – established in the 1960s – serves the region’s hard-working poor to this day, according to the Baltimore Archdiocese.
After returning to the U.S., Monsignor Auer assumed the mantle of a parish priest, working his way to pastorships at Holy Trinity in Glen Burnie (starting in 1974), the former St. Brigid in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood (starting in 1985) and Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville (starting in 1988).
St. John Paul II named him a papal chamberlain in 2003.
For Kirby, of Our Lady of the Fields, it was Monsignor Auer’s quiet yet unrelenting dedication that defined him as a priest of God.
“We’ve just had this solid group of priests who have lived out their vocations at our parish, without being flashy,” she said. “Monsignor was a part of that – he was so good-natured, and had a great sense of humor.”
Monsignor Auer also had a great sense of fun, according to his friends. Sciortino noted that he enjoyed golf, sailing and snow skiing. He taught himself to paint late in life – his portrait of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus won the ribbon at a local fair, Sciortino said.
He also enjoyed “going out to dinner,” she added, and had “quite an appetite right up until the end.”
Monsignor James P. Farmer, administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish in Towson, will deliver the homily at Monsignor Auer’s funeral Mass, scheduled for Aug. 23, 10 a.m., at Our Lady of the Fields. Visitation will be held Aug. 22, 3-8 p.m., at Our Lady of the Fields.
“First of all, I’ll miss his companionship,” Monsignor Farmer told the Review. “He was a great friend and a gentle giant of a man.”
The two met just months after Monsignor Farmer’s ordination more than 40 years ago and “became great friends.”
“He was a great model for younger priests,” Monsignor Farmer said.
An obituary prepared by the Baltimore Archdiocese notes that one of those priests was Adam J. Parker, now auxiliary bishop of Baltimore.
“He walked the journey with me all the way to my ordination to the priesthood during which he vested me in a chasuble for the first time,” Bishop Parker said. “It was as though he placed his own priesthood onto mine, for which I will always be grateful.”
Monsignor Farmer noted that Monsignor Auer was known to help those in need from all walks of life, including, more recently, a young parishioner of St. John the Evangelist who was in danger of failing high school chemistry.
“His whole life was helping people,” Monsignor Farmer said. “His holiness has influenced so many people in so many good ways.”
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