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Cistercian Fr. Mark Delery dies

Catholic Herald Staff Report

Fr. Mark Delery, a doctor specializing in internal medicine and the author of several books, died last month.

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Father Mark Delery, a doctor, writer and Cistercian monk at
the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Cross in Berryville, died
June 29 at the Blue Ridge Hospice Residential Center in
Winchester. He was 91.

Alfred A. Delery was born Jan. 2, 1919, in Cambridge, Mass.,
the third of nine children of Louis A. and Albertine A.
Vezina Delery.

Father Delery was a graduate of Boston College, 1941, and
Tufts Medical School in Boston, 1944. He served as a captain
in the U. S. Army Medical Corps, 1945-47, and was in private
practice as a physician, 1949-54, specializing in internal
medicine. He was a fellow of the American College of
Physicians and a diplomate of the American Board of Internal
Medicine.

In 1954 Father Delery entered St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer,
Mass., and was ordained a priest in 1959. In 1981 he
transferred to Holy Cross Abbey and was elected abbot in
1984. After six years as abbot, Father Delery ministered as
spiritual director and counselor at the abbey’s retreat
house.

He authored several books, including The Parable of the
Cherry Blossom and The Song of a Silent Stone.

He also wrote a biography of a fellow monk, Brother Thomas
Whalen, called Feet of Clay Wrapped in Love. The book follows
the monks’ struggle with alcoholism and his journey to
recovery.

While an intern at Boston City Hospital proceeding his time
in the Army, Father Delery treated many alcoholics.

“It was common for an alcoholic to be brought in so
inebriated that we had to keep him on IVs,” he said. “But we
never made them feel guilty, even though they kept coming
back.”

Father Delery is survived by two sisters, Corinne Brittain of
Burnham-on-Crouch, England, and Patricia Webber of Concord,
N.H.; a brother, John Delery of Fort Worth, Texas; and
numerous nieces and nephews.

A prayer vigil and funeral Mass, officiated by Cistercian
Abbot Robert Barnes, was offered July 10 at Holy Cross Abbey.
Burial followed at Holy Cross Abbey Cemetery.

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