CSB+SJU pays respects to Don Talafous

On Friday, Fr. Don Talafous, OSB, died at the age of 99. Community members said that Talafous will be missed by many students, faculty, alumni and monks of St. John’s Abbey.

Fr. Timothy Backous, a monk at St. John’s Abbey, gave the homily at the funeral service on Wednesday. Backous talked about how influential Don was and the legacy he is leaving behind.

“He was around St. John’s since he was 17 years old, so dying at the age of 99 basically means he was here for about 80 years of his life. He was the university chaplain for quite some time and was also the alumni chaplain for over 30 years, which was a long time of service,” Backous said.

Talafous attended SJU when he was 17 as a student and then later decided to come back and become a monk. He then wore many hats at SJU, from being chaplain for the university to the alumni chaplain and even was a professor of theology.

Alongside this, Talafous was well-known for writing the Chaplain’s Letter and daily reflections. Backous said Talafous was also very dedicated to his students and those around campus.

“He was always generous with his time and was totally dedicated to the students at this university. For many years he was a faculty resident, a teacher, a chaplain, director of campus and was a prolific writer,” Backous said.

Robert Culligan, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, shared a few things about Talafous that he said made him unique and special to many.

“Don was a very holy man. He was holy in his decency and his loving of others as well as his commitment to following God and the Rule of St. Benedict. Another way I would describe him is that he really has been an institution to St. John’s,” Culligan said.

Talafous was widely known among alumni as well, since Culligan said he received many messages from alumni following Talafous’ passing with words of remembrance and gratitude. Hundreds of alumni and other community members would receive daily meditations that Talafous would send out.

Culligan, who is also an alumnus of SJU, said he met Talafous when he was the campus minister.

“I got to know him when he was the campus minister for the student body. He would write a weekly campus ministry newsletter that was put under every student’s door. His campus ministry newsletter was legendary. I then decided to take a theology class with him, and then later got to work with him when I came back to St. John’s University,” Culligan said.

Talafous was known for a plethora of reasons, but two reasons that Culligan and Backous highlighted were his longevity at St. John’s Abbey and SJU and his kindness and generosity.

He also loved food and spent a lot of time eating in the refectory with students, which Culligan said strengthened Talafous’ connections with the student body.

“We love Father Don because he loved us first,” Culligan said.

Culligan said Talafous embraced everyone he met and was good at remembering peoples’ names and their hometowns, which was one of his many ways of showing radical hospitality to the people he met in his lifetime.

Both Backous and Culligan said that Talafous will be remembered fondly, and his legacy will live on in the lives of countless students, staff, faculty and alumni.

The reception of the body took place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in St. John’s Abbey and University Church.

The Funeral Mass took place on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in St. John’s Abbey and University Church.