Rev. Bernard Frederick Langton, O.P.

Rev. Bernard Frederick Langton, O.P., a Dominican Friar of the Province of St. Joseph and of the Dominican Community of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at Providence College, died on Apr. 1, 2022 at the Hope Health Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence, following several years of declining health. Most recently, he was a resident of Mount St. Rita Health Center in Cumberland, RI.

Born Bernard Francis Langton in Providence on Oct. 24, 1927, he was the son of the late Frederick J. and Margaret (McDermott) Langton. He graduated from La Salle Academy in 1946. After a year of active service in the U.S. Army, he attended Bryant College, earning a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1950. After eleven years working for several different Providence area firms, he spent 1961-1962 studying at Providence College.

In August of 1962, he entered the novitiate of the Province of St. Joseph at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, OH, where he received the religious name Frederick. He made his simple profession of vows there on Aug. 16, 1963. He spent the next three years at St. Stephen Priory and College in Dover, MA, earning a master’s degree in philosophy and making his solemn profession of vows on Aug. 16, 1966.

He spent the next three years at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., earning a bachelor of sacred theology degree from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. He was ordained a priest at St. Dominic Church in Washington on Jun. 5, 1969, by the Most Rev. Edward J. Herrmann, D.D., auxiliary bishop of Washington.

Following an additional year of study in Washington, Father Langton was assigned to Providence College, where he taught philosophy for the next ten years, except for a period of time earning a doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the Angelicum) in Rome, Italy.

From 1980 until 1982, he served as chaplain of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Monastery of Dominican nuns in Lancaster, PA. For the following two years, he was assigned to Vincent Ferrer Priory in New York City while serving as assistant treasurer of the Province of St. Joseph. From 1984 until 1990, he served as superior and pastor at Holy Rosary Rectory in Hawthorne, N.Y., where he spearheaded the construction of a new church and rectory.

In 1990, he resumed teaching philosophy at Providence College until his retirement in his mid-eighties. He was subprior at PC’s St. Thomas Aquinas Priory from 1990 until 1993 and from 2002 until 2003.

He was pre-deceased by two brothers, Frederick and Edward, and is survived by seven nieces and three nephews, as well as by his Dominican brothers.

Father Langton was a quiet, gentle, and loving man and priest. He rejoiced in Dominican community life and priestly ministry. Widely read, he relished teaching philosophy, especially the philosophy of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. He enthusiastically preached Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He was a fan of professional sports and a lover of grand opera.

His body will be reverently received into the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Priory of St. Thomas Aquinas at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Apr. 5, 2022, with the Office of the Dead being celebrated at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for him at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2022, in the same chapel, with burial following in the Dominican Friars’ Cemetery on the Providence College campus.

Donations in his memory may be made to Providence College, Office of Advancement, One Cunningham Square, Providence, RI 02918, for the Dominican Scholarship Fund.

Arrangements by Russell J. Boyle and Son Funeral Home, 331 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908. www.boyleandsonfunerals.com