Love of father, country inspired reprint of book

A pocket-size prayer book helped Ferris Steel endure combat in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Now, his daughter, Jennifer Steel-Bourgeois, is ensuring other soldiers have the same solace by reprinting it.

“It’s been a lovely prayer book and a comfort for individuals in the military and their families,” Steel-Bourgeois said.  “It’s got a long history here.
” Entitled, “My God and My Country,” the book was one of many written in New Orleans in 1942 by Msgr. Peter M.H. Wynhoven, then-editor-inchief of the Catholic Action of the South, a predecessor to the Clarion Herald. It was printed at Hope Haven press, located
on the Hope Haven campus he founded in 1925 in Marrero as an orphanage for boys and impoverished families.



The book contains the Ten Commandments, short prayers for morning and evening, the Act of Contrition, how to go to confession, and even prayers for the “tragedy of Calvary” and a “Happy Death.” Its last page is for identification and reads, “In case of accident or
serious illness, please call a Catholic priest.” 



Steel-Bourgeois has treasured her father’s prayer book since childhood and had been lending the original copy to any soldier who requested it. She is now 59 years old with two children and three grandchildren, and the requests outnumber the one copy she had.
“I’ve given it to friends, colleagues and loved ones,” she said. “It’s been to Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq, and, praise God, it’s come back intact. But, lately, I’ve been getting more requests for it, so I’ve gotten it printed.

”

First press run of 400 She said her first replication of the booklet, completed in the past few years, was for approximately 400 copies in the same size and patriotic red, white and blue cover as the original. She is embarking on another printing. “People are so grateful when you give them this book,” she said.

Steel-Bourgeois described her dad as being “ultra patriotic,” as evidenced in the letters he scribed to his sisters and aunts while in Okinawa, Saipan and Hawaii about the difficulty being away from family and not knowing his fate or that of two brothers also fighting at war. In fact, his father died during his tour of duty, and he wasn’t
able to make it home for the funeral.



“He had a deep love of country and of God. He couldn’t watch a war movie without crying his eyes out,” she said. “He lost comrades in the Army and talked about his war stories. They moved forward in his writings.

”

Steel-Bourgeois said her father used to say that his greatest honor when he returned home was to be a pall bearer for fellow soldiers and tell their loved ones how brave their relative was.



That love for God and country was engrained in Steel-Bourgeois. She recalled in junior high establishing the “Aunt Gretna Club” with
friends to send packages to soldiers fighting in Vietnam,
She’s also been a Rotarian for the past 14 years, serving as its first woman president. She also is immediate past president of the Harvey Canal Industrial Association.



“Each group I’ve been in has a great love of veterans,” she said. Steel-Bourgeois, a registered nurse who has worked at West Jefferson Hospital for 40 years, is currently executive director of West Jefferson Hospital’s Foundation. 



She has come full circle with Msgr. Wynhoven and is on the board of Café Hope, a restaurant that provides job skills and placement to at-risk youth, and PACE West Bank which will soon open to provide day activities and medical care for the elderly on the Hope Haven campus.



Steel-Bourgeois sees the distribution of the book as a tribute to her father. It is available to all, even non-Catholics, who “put themselves out there to protect freedom and peace.” “It’s an honor to pass it on to people who have touched your lives in a special way,” she said.
“I’ve passed it on whenever I’ve had the chance.

”

Steel-Bourgeois can be reached at 256-4805. Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.