Nov. 7, 2012 By Suzanne Pietropaoli Ellenburg Center - Pat Hanley sits serenely in view of the Tabernacle, her breviary at her side. Gilded by the autumn sunshine that fills the library at Our Lady of the Adirondacks House of Prayer, the house’s Director is obviously very much at home. Warm and welcoming, she seems so well suited to her environment that it is easy to assume that her life has always looked like this. In fact, the path that led her here has had more twists and turns than an Adirondack backwoods road. But as she shares her story, Pat also shares her conviction that God has been with her every step of the way. She also has one extraordinary memory from those years: “I was seven years old and, as on most days, I was walking home from school with my brother, who was two years older. That particular afternoon, the members of his class were supposed to meet in the church to pray the Stations of the Cross. I had an idea that someone my age wasn’t really supposed to be there, but I couldn’t go home alone—so in I went. “What followed was a truly profound experience at the foot of the cross,” she said. “At that moment God showed me his gift of compassion: I experienced it deeply, young as I was, and it left an indelible impression. Hunger for God The Episcopal church nurtured my relationship with God,” Pat relates. “The Episcopalians I met were very friendly compared with the Catholics I knew; I no longer felt like a stranger in church. More importantly, I was blessed to be exposed to good teaching that really led me into deeper relationship with God.” Especially important for Pat was the “Alpha Course,” which she describes as “an Episcopal version of Cursillo.” In this Alpha Course, participants were asked to face any lack of forgiveness in their lives. “By the grace of God, I was able to forgive my father and to experience the fatherly love of God in a powerful way,” she said. “This really started me back towards the Catholic Church.“ During her time as an Episcopalian, Pat was married, raised a family (she has two children and three grandchildren) and, for three decades, ran her own business. But she never stopped searching, and never stopped trying to find and follow God’s plan for her life. Eventually she worked for the Episcopal diocese of Albany and spent time discerning with an Episcopal order of nuns in Peekskill, NY. “Since the 1990’s,” Pat remembers, “I had given up everything to follow where Christ led.” But she had not foreseen the next part of the journey: ‘I knew I was still a Catholic’ Though Pat remembers wondering whether the Board of Directors would even consider her for the job, they knew that they had found a person of deep faith and exceptional ability. For the past three years, she has been responsible for all aspects of managing the House of Prayer as well as its various programs. Undaunted by the sheer number and variety of the tasks involved, Pat keeps a clear focus on the purpose of the House of Prayer and of her own presence there: “The experience of meeting the Lord here is the most important thing, “she points out. “Just spending time with him herein the Eucharist is the heart of the House of Prayer.” She marvels at the ways of God, and is grateful for all the experiences which have brought her closer to him. And, in leading Pat to this unique form of lay apostolate, God extends these gifts through her to all who seek his presence at Our Lady of the Adirondacks House of Prayer. Pat Hanley, left, is shown during the Foundation Celebration at Our Lady of the Adirondacks House of Prayer in August. |