By Rob Herbst The Catholic Week FOLEY – Msgr. Theodore Hay can vividly recall his ordination to the priesthood like it was yesterday. “I was thoroughly and totally ordained,” he said. “Archbishop (Thomas J.) Toolen was a very large person and I knelt before him. He put his hands on my head and put all his weight on my head. I thought my knees would go through the marble. “I knew I was ordained. That memory does not fade.” The truth is, that ordination was a few yesterdays ago. Family and friends filled St. Margaret of Scotland’s parish hall on Saturday, March 9 to celebrate Msgr. Hay’s 100th birthday. Those 100 years have included 69 years as an inspiring priest and teacher throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile. “He is an inspiration,” said Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi, who was in attendance for the evening. “His commitment to his priesthood just shines forth and the number of people here out of a sign of affection, respect and admiration is a reflection of how much good he's done.” Msgr. Hay has been a fixture in Foley and at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish for the past 20 years. He came out of retirement and served as administrator of the parish in 2002 at the young age of 79 and served in that role until 2003. Msgr. Hay, whose actual birthday is March 12, now lives at an assisted living facility in Foley and his mind is as sharp as ever. Only his hearing is not what it used to be. “He’s the most intelligent, wise, humorous, well-read priest I’ve ever met,” said Fr. Paul Zoghby, who now serves as pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish. “I don't know any priest like him. He’s just a real joy.” Many from the parish came to show their love, but so did some of his former students at McGill Institute in Mobile. “He turned boys into men by teaching us to think, to discern, to know,” said retired Dr. C. Adrien Bodet III. Msgr. Hay also had teaching stops at St. Margaret High School in Bayou La Batre and John Carroll High School in Birmingham. Teaching turned out to be Msgr. Hay’s favorite assignment. “Being a teacher - that is what Jesus was,” Msgr. Hay said. “He came to teach. He came to give us knowledge.” It was Msgr. Hay’s favorite assignment out of a wide variety of ministries. Msgr. Hay played a vital role for mental health patients. He served as chaplain at Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon, a state psychiatric facility, as well as the Emmett Poundstone Mental Health Facility in Daphne. He also ministered to military veterans, having served as chaplain at a VA Medical Center in Iowa. There were also several parish ministries throughout Alabama. He first served at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Birmingham and also served at St. Margaret Parish in Bayou La Batre, St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Atmore, St. John the Baptist Parish in Magnolia Springs, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Mobile and St. Cecilia Parish in Mount Vernon. Through it all, Msgr. Hay was – and remains – a man of great faith and a prayerful priest. “He does not miss an hour of the Breviary,” Fr. Zoghby said. “He’s a man of prayer. I’ve walked with him through some serious things over the last couple of years and his spiritual growth continues.” Msgr. Hay was born March 12, 1924, in Miami. He was raised in Miami, graduated from Gesu High School, a Catholic school run by the Society of Jesus. Msgr. Hay later attended Spring Hill College before entering St. Mary’s University Seminary and University in Baltimore. Msgr. Hay’s first love was actually music. He is an accomplished pianist and studied at the Miami Conservatory of Music, but he was called to be a priest. “(You) spend a lifetime trying to fathom that you are a priest (and wonder) ‘God, how did this happen’ when you consider what a priest is,” Msgr. Hay said. “He did say He chose us, we didn’t choose Him. I’m dependent on that.”
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