Tribute to Father Lucian P. Hayden (1924-2001)
Note: the following excerpts came from the February 2002 WKC; see the hard copy version for the complete article.
By Rev. Paul P. Powell
The Church on earth and the whole civic community lost a great friend and leader in the passing of Fr. Lucian Paul Hayden on Dec. 30, 2001. Born January 7, 1924, he gave his all to the priesthood in which he was ordained in June of 1949.
Everyone who approached him for help went away richer... He always had a "preferential option for the poor.."
The St. Vincent De Paul Society and Legion of Mary enjoyed a high priority in every parish where he was pastor for the 15 years the diocese was blessed to have him as Chaplain of the St. Vincent De Paul Society.Fr. Hayden's many "letters to the editor" in papers wherever he resided bore out his wide range of concerns. In his mind any improvement in a community had to be based on sound moral principles. His articles addressed life and death issues, racism, government waste, economic injustices, poverty and even proper apparel in public.
The public knew his stand, and his reasoning for it was hard to contradict. He was patient with people in error, but intolerant of error itself, with gentle insistence he appealed to those who were "off base" to seek guidance for a change of heart.
Many across the 32 counties of western Kentucky--which comprises the Diocese of Owensboro--were privileged to have him in their midst, and they were the richer for it.
Wherever the broad spectrum of his interests took him he was, first and foremost, a priest and he tried to pattern his heart after the priestly Heart of Christ. He knew he had to be a priest before anything else, ordained to reach out to souls and convince them that only one thing is necessary, namely, their salvation.
No opportunity was ever passed up to evangelize. He knew Christ and wanted everyone else to come to that knowledge, too. Christ was the center of his life.
His practice of handing out countless holy cards, religious pictures and papers on about every occasion became legendary in his own time. Toll booth operators were disappointed when another priest came by and didn’t have worthwhile literature to leave with them.Forever a man of prayer, the smallest cookie or a cup of coffee never touched his lips without a blessing.
Had he not worked so hard he might have sustained his health and lived longer. But I’m sure the Lord in heaven nor he would change anything. A man with a great devotion to Mary and the rosary, when praying it with others, his meditations on the individual mysteries often went longer than most of us preferred!
Though always serious about matters of religion, he also had a sense of humor. His temperament made him blush at the most innocent of jokes, the only kind that ever came forth from his lips.
In many ways his many months in the wheelchair and the infirmary bed was his toughest assignment. They were not easy months for him, knowing there were souls out there who needed to be contacted and influenced. This was indeed a great suffering for him. But his time was not wasted. His prayers for them and his redemptive suffering kept him in the "active" ministry. (The beauty of knowing what life is all about makes it possible to "shift gears" and continue in the service of God and His Church.)
Fr. Hayden, Owensboro, Central City, Livermore, Knottsville, St. Lawrence, Paducah, Fancy Farm, Russellville and the Carmel Home are better places for your having been there!
We will miss you, Fr. Hayden, but God did not see fit to delay your reward any further. You were born on the Feast of St. Lucian, but your middle name is Paul, quite appropriately named after the great apostle Paul. Now you understand more fully what St. Paul meant when he said: "for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain." (Phil 1:21)