FEAST OF ALL SAINTS: The Intercession of the Saints. “You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the Church of the firstborn, who are written in the heavens, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect” (Heb. xii. 22, 23). SAINT SULPICIOUS SEVERUS says of St. Martin of Tours, that he commanded... Read more
On the eve of All Hallows (All Saints), it seems appropriate to focus on a seminary named for that day. From 1840 through the 1980’s, All Hallows College sent some 5,000 Irish priests out to the English-speaking world. Today it is a college of Dublin City University. The following is taken from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia: An institution devoted to the preparation of priests for the missions in English-speaking countries. In the year 1840 a young priest, the Reverend John... Read more
The following review of my new book, New York Catholics, appears this week in The Tablet, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn. It’s in the editorial column by Editor Ed Wilkinson: I’m a big fan of a new book titled “New York Catholics, Faith, Attitude and the Works” by Dr. Patrick McNamara. I write that not just because I’m one of the 71 people profiled in the book but because it is an outstanding piece of scholarship... Read more
Between 1910 and 1917, this actress appeared in some 109 movies, featured mainly as a Native American woman. Born Josephine Workman in California, she was of English, Scottish, Native American and Chilean descent. As a young woman she responded to a newspaper from Bison Pictures looking for women to play Native American characters. The company advertised as a full-blooded Blackfoot Indian princess, and she became famous in the movie world of the 1910’s as Princess Mona Darkfeather, famous for “leaping... Read more
Ignatius Aloysius Reynolds was born near Bardstown, Kentucky, August 22, 1798, of one of the Catholic families that emigrated from Maryland to that State. Trained under Bishop Flaget and Dr. David he early showed a real vocation, and was one of the first students in the Theological Seminary at Bardstown. Completing his course at St Mary’s, Baltimore, the young Kentuckian was ordained there October 24, 1823. Returning to his native State, he became professor, and subsequently president, of St. Joseph’s... Read more
This cartoon was circulated from the early 1900’s through the 1920’s, when anti-Catholicism reached a fever pitch in American life. Here an octopus with Pope Leo XIII’s head strangles Lady Liberty with tentacles titled “Insolence,” “Rascality,” “Deceit,” “Tyranny,” “Treachery,” “Bigotry,” “Intolerance,” and “Greed.” The cartoon illustrates the alleged threat that Roman Catholicism, specifically Irish Roman Catholicism, poses to America in general and the public school system in particular. The sign at the bottom reads “Erin Go Unum E Pluribus Bragh.”... Read more
MISS DAHLGREN TO BE A NUN. Society Girl to Join Sisterhood that Aids Negroes and Indians. Special to the New York Times. The New York Times, December 24, 1914 PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 23—Miss Lucy Dahlgren, 21 years old, a social favorite of this city and New York, is to join the Blessed Sacrament Sisterhood, an order whose members devote themselves to work among Negroes and Indians. Miss Dahlgren, who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Dahlgren, recently divorced, is... Read more
Saint Philip in His School. This is the Saint of gentleness and kindness, Cheerful in penance, and in precept winning: Patiently healing of their pride and blindness, Souls that are sinning. This is the Saint, who, when the world allures us, Cries her false wares, and opes her magic coffers, Points to a better city, and secures us With richer offers. Love is his bond, he knows no other fetter, Asks not our all, but takes whate’er we spare him,... Read more
Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton: A New Look at the Spiritual Inspiration of His Life, Thought, and Writing (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2014). The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton’s spiritual autobiography, has touched the hearts and souls of countless readers. It’s worth noting here that the book was released on October 4, 1948, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Whether this was intentional or not, no one knows. But if anyone could... Read more
St. Anthony of Padua, New York, New York (1866) THERE can be little doubt but that the Catholic navigator Gomez, at the close of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, entered our harbor on the feast of the great Franciscan, St. Anthony of Padua; and, himself a Portuguese, felt especial devotion to that glory of his native land. We draw this conclusion from the fact that other coast names are those of summer feasts, and in the name of... Read more
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