Editor's note: This version corrects the spelling of Monsignor Donohue's last name.

East Lyme – A Mass of Thanksgiving Sunday at St. Matthias Church turned into a college reunion, as prominent bishops from New York, Boston and Providence joined in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the ordination of Monsignor Michael T. Donohue and The Most Rev. Michael T. Cote, bishop of Norwich.

His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, metropolitan archbishop of New York, combined humor and Scripture to describe his two seminary schoolmates from the North American College in Rome and recalled the four-hour ceremony on June 29, 1975, when Pope Paul VI ordained Cote and Donohue along with 357 others on a sweltering hot day in Rome.

Dolan, ordained a year later, said while the spry Cote held up well during the ceremony 40 years ago, the more portly Donohue needed “seven handkerchiefs” to make it through.

“Both these men were ordained by a pontiff who is now beatified,” Dolan said during the homily Sunday,” I suppose making them both relics.”

Last fall, current Pope Francis announced the beatification of Paul VI, putting him one step removed from sainthood.

Along with Dolan and Cote, a fourth schoolmate from North American College, Auxiliary Bishop of Providence Robert C. Evans, attended Sunday’s celebration. Longtime friend, The Most Rev. Robert F. Hennessey, archbishop of Boston, and priests from throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and even Florida helped celebrate Sunday’s Mass.

The two bishops and the monsignor kept a jovial tone for Sunday’s celebration, forgoing mention of major recent news, such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. “That’s for another day,” Donohue said after the Mass.

St. Matthias parishioners applauded several times as Dolan described Donohue’s dedication to the priesthood. Dolan used the same three themes – vocation, ordination and mission -- Pope Paul VI invoked during his 23-minute ordination ceremony sermon 40 years earlier, although Dolan joked that he would not tarry so long at the pulpit.

Dolan also recalled his own ordination by Pope Paul a year later, when the pope asked if his parents were still alive and thanked them for their gift of their son to the church. Donohue’s mother, Catherine Donohue, nearly 98, was too frail to travel to attend Sunday’s celebration, Donohue said.

“Tell your dear mother she has our love and our gratitude for giving her son to the church,” Dolan said.

The chalice Donohue used to celebrate Mass Sunday was given to him by his mother upon his ordination 40 years ago, he said. The inscription reads: “A fulfillment of his father’s dream.”

Dolan said local parishes like St. Matthias are “the front line of the church.” Donohue, 68, has served as pastor of St. Matthias for the past 23 years. Donohue said like many priests, he keeps a count of all the Masses he has celebrated over the years, called a Registro Messe. Including Sunday’s Mass of Thanksgiving, Donohue has celebrated 15,720 Masses.

“More to go, I guess,” he told the congregation. “The 40 years of priesthood have been absolutely wonderful.”

c.bessette@theday.com

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