Mercy, also, is a good thing, for it makes men perfect, in that it imitates the perfect Father. Nothing graces the Christian soul so much as mercy. St. Ambrose Read more

Today in 1900 marks the death of Charles Carroll Tevis, a convert and professional soldier who served in nine different armies over half a century. Born Washington Tevis in Maryland, he graduated from West Point in 1849. Seeing little opportunity for action or advancement in the peacetime army, he joined the Turkish army as a cavalry officer. The above painting was done in 1855 while he was still a Turskish officer. He then joined the French army and fought in... Read more

On this day in 1850, Pope Blessed Pius IX issued the bull Universalis Ecclesiae, which reestablished the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England. Since the dioceses had been handed over to the Anglican Church during the Reformation, England had no Roman Catholic dioceses. From the 1500’s through 1850, Vicars Apostolic governed England’s Catholic community. In 1850, Pope Pius reestablished dioceses in England, but rather than giving them the old names (e.g., Canterbury), new names were given. So the primatial see became... Read more

Today in 1930 marks the dedication of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, and the following is from the seminary website: Founded in 1926 by the third Bishop of Brooklyn, Thomas E. Molloy, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception has prepared more than 1,500 priests for the Dioceses of Rockville Centre, and Brooklyn, and as well as the East Coast Province of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians). Additionally, it has awarded nearly 600 graduate degrees in the areas... Read more

Sainthood is not the negation of human life. Saints have been kings, artisans, preachers, doctors, priests, painters, poets. Why should they not be novelists? Jacques Maritain, Art and Poetry Read more

One of the best parts about reading Church History is meeting new saints (and rediscovering old ones). Therefore, this week’s recommended book is by Father Jim Martin, S.J., My Life With the Saints. Loyola Press writes: “This best-selling memoir of spiritual self-discovery is an homage to the Catholic saints who have accompanied Fr. Martin throughout his life. From a lukewarm childhood Catholicism, to the Wharton School of Business, to the executive fast track at General Electric, to the Jesuits, to... Read more

The baseball team for St. Mary’s Industrial School, Baltimore, 1912. A young Babe Ruth is seen in the top row, fifth from the right. Read more

This painting of a monk is by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875), sometimes known as the “father of impressionism.” Read more

This programme is from 1929. I’m not sure which St. Mary’s College this is. Read more

As a devout young man in his native village in Burgundy, Jean Bernard Rousseau was serving as a catechist when he was introduced to the Brothers, who had just opened a school in a nearby town. He entered the Paris novitiate in 1822. After ten years in elementary schools throughout France, Brother Scubilion left France in 1833 to dedicate the remaining thirty-four years of his life to the enslaved natives on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Remembered... Read more