Dear Members of the Providence College Community:

The horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech has been brought home to Providence College with the sad news that one of the victims, Daniel O’Neil, is the son of William O’Neil, an alumnus and former employee of the College, and the sister of Erin O’Neil, an alumna of the College.  I ask you to remember the O’Neil family in your prayers, along with all those whose lives have been devastated by this shocking act of violence. 

Last evening we offered Mass in St. Dominic Chapel for the victims of the tragedy; some three hundred of our students were in attendance, along with many Dominicans. The book of Job teaches us that when calamity strikes we cannot expect God to answer all our questions, but we can experience that God is still with us. For those of us celebrating the Easter season, it is a time to remind ourselves of God’s consoling revelation to Julian of Norwich:  “The worst has already happened and been redeemed.” In raising Christ from the dead, God has definitively destroyed the power of violence and death. May all those who died know that victory now. And may all who grieve and mourn find consolation in God and in the prayerful concern of others.   

Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.