‘It’s hard to say goodbye’ to Father Theodore Auble

After 48 years in active priestly ministry, Father Theodore “Ted” Auble closed out 2022 by assuming senior status on Dec. 31.

A Greece native, Father Auble attended Holy Name of Jesus Parish as a child. He studied at St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester as well as the American College at Louvain in Belgium. He also completed clinical pastoral training at Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts.

Bishop Joseph L. Hogan ordained Father Auble Sept. 19, 1975, at Our Mother of Sorrows Church in Greece. After ordination, he served at Our Mother of Sorrows, followed by St. Anne Parish in Rochester and Church of the Good Shepherd in Henrietta.

In 1993, Father Auble became chaplain of the Newman Catholic Community at SUNY Brockport. He served there until 2000, when he became sacramental minister at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Churchville.

Father Auble later returned to the Brockport community, this time as assisting priest at Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He left the post in 2014 to return to another familiar place: Churchville. He became assisting priest at St. Vincent de Paul as well as St. Columba in Caledonia and St. Mary of the Assumption in Scottsville.

In 2017, those three parishes came together to form the new St. Martin de Porres Parish. Father Auble assisted the parish’s pastor, Father John Hayes, until assuming senior status.

Father Auble is known for his unique preaching style, as he typically memorized the Gospel readings and often preached homilies from the center aisle. He published a book of these homilies, Divine Sparks: Gospel Stories in Everyday Life, in 2009. A second volume, titled Heaven in the Orchard: Hints of the Divine in Daily Life, was published in 2012.

After leaving St. Vincent de Paul, Father Auble moved to the Cherry Ridge community in Webster. He assists with Mass and other priestly duties at Cherry Ridge, which is part of St. Ann’s Community.

Parishioners at St. Vincent de Paul gave Father Auble a warm send-off, complete with a party as well as a “card shower,” according to Father Hayes.

“It’s hard to say goodbye to that man. He’s a great man,” Father Hayes said.