February 18 is the anniversary of Eugenio, J. Sanelli.

Eugenio John Sanelli, son of Eugenio Sanelli and Rosolia (Schiavo) Sanelli, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on May 31, 1927, and baptized on December 3, 1927, in the church of St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Philadelphia, Pa.

Eugene applied to the Augustinian Order as a lay-brother, choosing the name Jude, and fulfilled the oblature and postulancy at Saint Augustine Monastery, Nova Scotia. He then entered the novitiate on September 6, 1952, and made first profession of vows on September 7, 1953. Three years later he professed solemn vows in Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Philadelphia, Pa. Brother Jude was a member of the Vice Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel until 1995, when a merger brought him into the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. In 1972, Brother founded Our Lady of Good Counsel Center in Philadelphia, an assisted-living facility for women. Two years prior to the opening of the Center one columnist wrote, “He is the great hope of the poor in South Philadelphia. He tends the needs of the children and old people who do not have much time left but there are not enough hours on the clock for Brother Jude to do what he thinks he should.” In a feature story for a local newspaper, a staff writer noted: “Brother Jude’s clear blue eyes cloud up when he talks about the people he sees everyday.”

Brother Jude’s spirit to help the poor and elderly followed his ministry of operating a day nursery and pre-kindergarten school at the church, supervising the care of about 200 children nine hours a day five days a week.

Brother Jude was a private and prayerful man who gained strength from his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He declined to take credit for the success of the center, claiming, “I had quite a partner. The best. When God does something, he does it well.” Brother Jude’s warmth and benevolence made him a symbol of hospitality and many of the old Italian-speaking parishioners sought him out as a spiritual director.

A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Philadelphia, Pa. with the interment in Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Marple Township, Springfield, Pennsylvania.