Joseph C. Laenen

The Rev. Joseph C. Laenen, a priest of Daylesford Abbey, died on July 30, 2019 at the age of 94. Fr. Laenen was born in Poederlee, Belgium on May 15, 1925. He entered the Norbertine abbey of Tongerlo in Belgium on Sept. 15, 1944 and was ordained to the priesthood on August 12, 1951. In 1953 he was sent to the Belgian Congo as a missionary where he functioned as an elementary school principal and taught native seminarians. In 1964 Fr. Laenen was imprisoned by rebels but was then freed by the Congolese Liberation Army. In 1986 Father Laenen became a member of Daylesford Abbey and spent many years as hospital chaplain at Fitzgerald-Mercy Hospital in Darby as well as St. Mary’s Hospital in Langhorne. Reception of the Body and Morning Prayer will be held at Daylesford Abbey on August 12, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. followed by public visitation and viewing. A Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:30 a.m. with final interment in the Abbey cemetery. Abbot Domenic Rossi, O. Praem. will officiate at the funeral liturgy. Donations in Father Laenen’s memory can be made to Daylesford Abbey, 220 S. Valley Road, Paoli, Pa. 19301.