Father Montalbano had passion for God’s word

Father Montalbano was born on Halloween 1922 at his family’s home on Esplanade Avenue near Royal Street, growing up in the lively immigrant Italian and Sicilian community that characterized the downriver side of the French Quarter.
    

Shortly after graduating from Jesuit High, Father Montalbano entered St. Peter’s Novitiate in Mission, Texas, professing vows as a member of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1941.
    

He completed his seminary studies in San Antonio and was ordained to the priesthood on Feb. 24, 1947. The scholarly priest also would go on to earn degrees in theology from Gregorian University and a degree in Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, both in Rome.
    

Father Montalbano, who spent the first 40-plus years of his priesthood serving in Texas and Colorado, returned to his hometown in 1985, assigned as parochial vicar at St. Louis Cathedral, then under the care of the Oblates. He also began a 20-year tenure at Notre Dame Seminary as a respected and much-beloved Scripture professor, specializing in courses on the New Testament, Johannine studies and the Pauline Letters.
 

Useful, copious notes
    

Father Pat Williams, vicar general and pastor of St. Pius X Church in New Orleans, said students in Father Montalbano’s classroom not only would receive a thorough grounding in the “academics” of Scripture – its meaning, linguistic underpinnings and historical context – but also would be given detailed insights into how seminarians could help their future flocks apply God’s word to their everyday lives.
  

 “He always taught Scripture with that sense of knowing that we were going to be priests and how we could preach it; he always talked about how to use the Scriptures in a pastoral way,” Father Williams said, recalling how Father Montalbano would hand out reams of typed, carefully crafted notes to his students, many of which Father Williams still keeps in a folder and uses to prepare homilies.
    

“He would give us pages and pages,” Father Williams said. “He would say he didn’t want us to have to take notes, so we could just listen during class.”
 

Down-to-earth bibliophile
    

Oblate Father Tony Rigoli, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, developed a 17-year friendship with Father Montalbano over morning coffee. The elder priest would make a daily trek from his residence at the cathedral to Father Rigoli’s North Rampart Street rectory in search of the New York Times.
    

“He loved New Orleans. He loved being a priest,” said Father Rigoli, recalling Father Montalbano’s daily commitment to visiting classrooms at Cathedral Academy and the priest’s cathedral office, overflowing with books.
    

“You could tell he was enthused about helping people, taking care of them pastorally,” Father Rigoli said, “but at the same time, he was a real professor. He could do both!”
    

Although he was never one of Father Montalbano’s “official” students, Father Rigoli knew of his fellow Oblate’s love for Scripture, which Father Montalbano would refer to as “the soul of theology.”
    

In Father Montalbano’s own words, future and current priests continually should strive to be “men of joy when celebrating the Eucharist – not performers on stage – but serving (God) at two tables: the table of the word and sacrament.”
    

“He was able to interpret Scripture and make people able to understand it easily. He could make the most complex Scripture passage come to life,” Father Rigoli said, chuckling at the memory of how Notre Dame seminarians were able to identify Father Montalbano’s voice, even from a distance, based on its distinctive raspy quality.
    

“Every guy at Notre Dame seminary could imitate him,” Father Rigoli said.
    

In 2000, Pope John Paul II awarded Father Montalbano with the Papal Honor of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in recognition of his scholarship and pastoral service. In 2010, he received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Notre Dame Seminary. 
    

After Hurricane Katrina, Father Montalbano relocated to the Oblates’ Madonna Residence in San Antonio, where he lived until his death.
  

 He is survived by a brother, John; a sister, Theresa Thumfort; and numerous nieces and nephews.
    

A Mass of Christian Burial was Jan. 3 at San Antonio’s Immaculate Conception, with burial at the Oblates’ cemetery. A Memorial Mass also was celebrated Jan. 4  at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
    

Memorial contributions can be sent to the Oblate Madonna Residence, 5722 Blanco Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78216.