Maryland priest recounts stories of ghosts and the unexplained

Father Michael Roach, a retired pastor and former professor of Church history, recounted a story regarding a deceased Passionist priest at St. Joseph’s Passionist Monastery in Irvington.

According to Father Roach, monks at the monastery heard footsteps in the corridors late at night following the death of a respected priest more than sixty years ago. The community investigated the noises and found a list of Mass stipends for intentions that had not yet been fulfilled in the deceased priest's trunk. Father Roach stated that peace returned to the monastery once the promised Masses were offered.

Father Roach, who is 80 years old, has collected various such stories over several decades. Dr. Matthew J. Dugandzic, academic dean at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, noted that in theological terms, a ghost refers to a disembodied soul.