Mgr Maurice Bayard

Maurice Joseph Bayard was born on November 15, 1900 in Poplar, London UK. 

In 1923 Archbishop Spence received a letter from Fr Joseph Darcy SJ of St Ignatius College in London, recommending he accept a young man of 23 years, Maurice Bayard, as a candidate for the priesthood.

And so Maurice came to Australia later that year with his mother, and was re-united with his married sister already living in Adelaide. He completed his secondary education at Rostrevor College. His studies for the priesthood were undertaken at St Patrick’s College, Manly NSW and he was ordained in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral on November 30, 1930. He was the first student of Rostrevor College to be ordained a priest.

Appointments

His first appointment was as Assistant Priest at Parkside where he remained for a year until he was appointed to the Cathedral Parish on January 1, 1932. After six years he was appointed Parish Priest of Naracoorte and then in July 1942 he was appointed Parish Priest at Keswick.

At the Cathedral

On August 4, 1946 he was appointed Administrator at the Cathedral, a position he held until 1957. While at the Cathedral he also served on the Matrimonial Tribunal acting as a Judge from 1946 and as Officialis in 1951. He was also the Diocesan Master of Ceremonies and a member of the Marian Procession Committee.

While at the Cathedral he was noted as one to ‘run a tight ship’, being rather strict on discipline, especially with the altar servers. And at the Bishop’s House while there was a certain spirit of hospitality, the liquor was always kept in a locked cupboard and only brought out on special occasions. He himself was always a teetotaller. Nevertheless, while at the Cathedral he showed great kindness to many visiting priests, especially those who came as migrants and refugees to minister to their own people.

He had a great devotion to St John Bosco, resulting in a great friendship with the Salesians at Brooklyn Park, where he used to go every week to hear the confessions of the students at the Salesian College and came to be seen as an “honorary grandfather’ to many of the students.

Back to Parkside

On May 5, 1957 he was appointed Parish Priest of Parkside and at the same time he was appointed a Privy Chamberlain with the title of Monsignor, no doubt in recognition of his years of service as Administrator at the Cathedral. He had a number of hobbies including astronomy, photography, and a variety of technological gadgetry including and electric train set located in the garage which attracted the interest of a lot of the local lads. For some years he served as Diocesan Spiritual Director of the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Holy Name Society and the Hibernian Society. 

He is remembered as a man of strict routine, with something of a penchant for numbers. He always counted the collections himself and meticulously counted the number of coins which he maintained was an indication of how many were at Mass. Similarly he would count the number of people coming to Confession in any one session and the number coming to Communion. He saw no need for committees and made all decisions himself, often to the annoyance of his Assistant Priests.

Retirement

When he retired in January 1974 after 17 years at Parkside, he took up residence at Beovich Villa at Lourdes Valley. While there he showed great enthusiasm in his pastoral care for the elderly people at Lourdes Valley. He celebrated Mass every day in the chapel at Beovich Villa and on Sundays he went regularly to celebrate Mass in St Anne’s church at Marion.

He died in his sleep at Beovich Villa on December 11, 1983. Two days later Requiem Mass was offered in St Raphael’s Church, Parkside. In his homily at the Funeral Mass Archbishop Gleeson recalled how Archbishop Beovich had often spoken of Monsignor Bayard’s constant loyalty to his Archbishop, the Church and the Holy Father.  He described him as a man of great faith and fidelity.

He said: "Many will recall the gracious and kindly help received from him. Many at the same time, may have been upset by his lack of organisational and administrative skills which caused so much frustration. Yet through the kindness, love and fidelity of this priest the love of the Lord really shone through into so many lives. That is what is really important, more important than efficiency, and we thank the Lord for that today.” 

Monsignor Bayard died at the age of 83, after 52 years as a priest, and he was buried at Centennial Park Cemetery.

May the Lord bless and reward him for his faithful service and ministry.