“The Church Would Look Foolish Without Them”: George B. Perkins, Washington, Missouri

The Franciscan Herald, May 1917.

“Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no guile.” These words of Our Dear Lord may well be applied to Mr. George Perkins who died in Washington, Missouri, on March 2, 1917. His face, indeed, was Black, but his soul was white as snow. While speaking with him one never thought of the color of his body. The beautiful whiteness of his soul shone in the kindly light of his eyes, the courtesy of his speech, the correctness of his manner. One day, he was introduced to a strange Father. After he had left, the Father remarked that there was something unusual about George. Being asked what he meant, he replied, “He has such a heavenly look.”

George Perkins was loved and respected by all who knew him. He was dear to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He was a favorite with the children, because he always had a kind word and a winning smile for them. The grown people cherished him for his solid virtue. Known by all for his deep faith and his great reverence for our holy religion, he was a very humble man. He never made a show of his piety and religion. But, he was not ashamed to own up to his religious convictions; nor was he afraid to defend the Catholic Church when occasion offered. George gained a livelihood by working in the gardens and doing other small jobs. Thus he would often be seen on his way to work with his wheelbarrow.

When he met a priest, he would at once set down his wheelbarrow, raise his hat respectfully, and say, “Praised be Jesus Christ.” If anyone cast slurs on the Catholic Church or on our holy religion, George was always ready with an answer. On one occasion, for instance, a non-Catholic lady began to criticize the Catholic pastor for decorating and repairing his church. As Judas of old she said to George, “I don’t see any use in throwing away money by fixing up the church that way. The money might have been used much better for some other good purpose.” “Oh, I don’t know,” Perkins replied in his usual quiet way. “You try to have your front room fixed up as fine as you can. You want to have a fit place to entertain your visitors. I don’t see why it should be wrong to fix up the church where Our Dear Lord himself is our visitor.”

St. Francis Borgia Church, Washington, Missouri, where George Perkins attended Mass every morning.

George had a very great love for our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Although he had to work hard all day long, he was in church every morning at a quarter past five o’clock and received Holy Communion even when there was no Mass at that hour. He was there, summer and winter, not only when the weather was fair, but also when it was raining and snowing. One morning, it was cold and rainy. When George rose and prepared to go to church, his good wife expostulated with him, saying that the weather was too bad to go out. “If I were to go out to get a ten-dollar bill,” he answered meekly, “you would not ask me to stay at home. And Holy Mass is worth far more to me than ten dollars.” And to Holy Mass he went.

The deceased was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, and he knew well how to appreciate this great grace. “Father,” he once said, “I just love the Third Order. The longer I belong to it, the better I like it. I can pray so much better since I joined, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.” His patron in the Third Order was St. Benedict the Moor. As he knelt with the other Tertiaries the Sunday before his death to say the rosary for the deceased Tertiary, Henry Jaspers, he little dreamed that he himself would be among the dead within six days. On the next day he did not appear at the communion rail. This was unusual. Tuesday morning came, and again he was missing. “That’s strange,” remarked one of the Fathers, “something must have happened to George.” Wednesday the report came that George was sick. Thursday afternoon he received the Holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction. By Friday noon he was dying.

Every now and then he was heard to say, “My Jesus mercy!” The Father attending him prayed aloud for him. At times, he would pause in order not to tire the dying man. But George was not to be tired. Again and again he asked the Father to continue to pray. At half-past seven o’clock in the evening, he died. It was the First Friday of the month, the day of the Sacred Heart. George had always worn the badge of the Sacred Heart when he went to Holy Communion. It seems as if our dear Lord wished to reward him for this devotion by taking George to himself on the, day consecrated to his Sacred Heart. George Perkins, who had lived and died as a fervent and practical Tertiary was also buried as a Tertiary, dressed in the large brown habit of St. Francis. As he lay in the coffin, many people, old and young, from all over the city came to his humble home to view his remains.

He who had always been so humble and unassuming in life received special marks of honor after death. Solemn funeral services were held for him Monday, March 5, in the presence of a large congregation. After the solemn Requiem High Mass, the altar boys surrounded the casket and accompanied it to the doors of the church. There, in the vestibule the coffin was opened and the school children crowded round to take a last look at the mortal remains of him whom they had so well known and loved as the janitor of their school. May the good God give us many more Tertiaries like George Benedict Perkins.

NOTES
When St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscans, he actually founded three orders. The first is the Order of Friars Minor (priests and brothers), and the second are the Poor Clares (nuns). The Third Order is composed of laypeople who seek to live out the Franciscan spirit in their daily lives. They were called Tertiaries, but today they are known as Secular Franciscans, and they number 400,000 worldwide. They are buried in the Franciscan habit. (Past members include Dante, Christopher Columbus, and Louis Pasteur.)

St. Francis Borgia Church, Washington, Missouri, was founded by German immigrants in 1834. The parish, named for a Jesuit saint, was run by the Jesuits until 1894, when the Franciscans took charge. Father Anthony Moll, O.F.M., pastor from 1899 to 1901, introduced the Third Order to the parish. In 1990, the Franciscans left the parish and the Archdiocese of St. Louis took charge of it. The parochial school has been in operation since 1846, and for many years was under the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Reference is made above to the fact that Mr. Perkins worked in the school as a janitor.

Mr. Perkins’ patron saint, Benedict the Moor (1526-1589) was a Franciscan Brother of African descent who worked in Italy for nearly fifty years. He was canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807.