Remembering the Early Days on St. Ignatius' Day with the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities

In the early days of the Dog Tag fellowship program, the Georgetown Bakery was under construction, fellows were meeting Meghan Ogilvie in cafes around the neighborhood, and co-Founder, Father Rick Curry, had an inkling divine intervention would be required before the accessible door could slide open to welcome military families and cafe patrons. 

As the team tapped their toes and crossed their arms waiting for DC permits to come through, Father Curry handed Meghan a statue of St.Joseph - the patron saint of real estate, carpenters, and attorneys - and a personal favorite of his. Father Curry advised Meghan to bury St. Joseph upside down, facing the front door (north), as that would ensure that St. Joseph would get to work with getting our needed permits.

Meghan obligingly put the statue on the top shelf of her office desk, still in the box. After weeks and weeks, Father Curry and Meghan met up again, lamenting the delay of the long awaited building permits. Frowning, he asked if the patron had been settled in his proper place. With a moment’s hesitation to ensure he was serious, she admitted, St. Joseph was still on the shelf, watching over the team stress over the lack of progress as we awaited permit approvals.

Shaking his head, he reminded her that she already knew what they had to do. 

With good humor and maybe a little bit of skepticism we took St. Joseph out of the box, and walked to our vacant building. We walked onto the dirt floor towards the location of where our elevator was to be located, and dug a hole about a foot deep. We turned St. Joseph upside down, carefully placing him in his new home, pointing north toward the front door. We said a prayer of gratitude to St. Joseph and hoped for a miracle 

Three days later, the building permits came through. 

Dog Tag Bakery could be finished and the latest cohort of veterans, spouses, and caregivers were welcomed on a journey of faith in something new and scary, faith in a combination bakery and fellowship that started with a priest, and faith in themselves.

May St. Joseph and St. Ignatius continue to watch over them.