“Welcome, pilgrims,” Father Michael Breslin says, greeting newcomers with a smile. For more than half a century, that simple phrase has embodied his ministry – a ministry marked by compassion, hospitality, and devotion.
Father Breslin, 86, celebrates his 60th anniversary of the priesthood this year and also retired earlier this month.
Father Breslin, the youngest of four children, was born and raised in Roanoke. His family regularly attended Mass and were parishioners at Our Lady of Nazareth, Roanoke, where he was an altar boy from the time of his first Communion through high school.
He also was a Boy Scout and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout; he was in the Order of the Arrow, which the Scouting website defines as Scouting’s National Honor Society. He attended Catholic schools all twelve years and said he started discerning the priesthood during a school retreat in his senior year.
“I think it impressed me, and I really made a hard and fast decision,” he said.
Immediately after high school, he enrolled at the now-closed St. Bernard College and Seminary in Cullman, Alabama, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Then he went to St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1961 to 1965. He was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, on May 1, 1965.
His assignments have been as associate pastor at St. Bridget, Richmond, from 1965-1968; associate pastor at St. Ann, Arlington, 1968-1974; pastor at Christ the King, Norfolk, 1974-1986; parochial vicar at Star of the Sea, Virginia Beach, 1986-1995; and his final assignment was pastor at St. Charles Borromeo, Cape Charles, from 1995 until his retirement on July 1. He also served as pastor of St. Peter the Apostle, Onley, from 2005-2006.
His priorities as a pastor were being available to tend to the pastoral needs of parishioners, improving parish life and “treating the people right.” He had “an open door” for parishioners, he said.
“I’m always available to the people. I accept people where they are, at face value,” he said. “I think they have a right to say things to me, and I accept them as I receive them.”
His acceptance of others is a strength that his parishioners appreciated.
St. Charles Borromeo parishioner Sue Kellam said people gravitate toward Father Breslin because he is not judgmental, and parishioner Kevin Fallon described him as a servant who created a “welcoming, safe environment where people can come and not really worry about being judged or put in a certain category.”
Father Breslin said he tries to foster the skill of listening and to serve those in need in the greater community.
Fallon said when newcomers visited the parish, Father Breslin said, “Welcome, pilgrims” and tried to get to know them.
“He just puts himself out there wanting to reach anybody and everybody,” Fallon said. He’s “a shepherd who tries to gather those who are on their journey, as well as those who are wayward, a little lost.”
“I like to be very welcoming to the people, and – especially when they have crying babies in Mass – to have deep patience,” Father Breslin said.
He said he values the friendship of the parish family, as well as the many visitors “who returned again and again.”
“Perhaps I married them or baptized their children. When they come for a return visit, it is such a pleasure to revisit the past because of the sacraments they received, like a connection has grown,” he said, adding that one of his favorite moments as a pastor was seeing the joy that baptisms and first Communion bring to families.
Describing Father Breslin as caring and wonderful with a gentle soul, parishioner Michael Flanagan said Father Breslin truly loves the parishioners.
His parishioners returned the support after he suffered a stroke.
“I had no idea if I would be able to walk, talk … [or] pastor again. All I could do was pray,” he said. “The only way the doctors would release me is if the parish family would commit to caring for me, getting me to rehab, making my meals, etc. They helped me overcome this very difficult challenge.”
Parishioners were glad to help.
“Everybody loves every moment with him, and they hold onto it because he’s that special,” said parishioner Jeanette Orzo.
Flanagan said, “Some people have said that Father Michael is just a living saint, and he’s a very good man … Father Michael is up there with the best of the priests that I’ve known.”