Cardinal James Gibbons’ Sermon at the Funeral Mass of General Philip Sheridan, August 11, 1888, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Washington, D.C. (The New York Times, August 12, 1888) Well might the children of Israel bewail their great Captain who led them so often to battle and to victory. And well may this Nation grieve for the loss of this might chieftan whose mortal remains now lie before us. In every city and town and village of the country from the Atlantic... Read more
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the figure of George Armstrong Custer. So you can imagine my delight to find out that I had a family connection to the Seventh Cavalry. Recently, I discovered a photograph of a lateral ancestor who fought in the battle. As far as I have been able to determine, John Briody was a cousin of my great-great-grandfather Henry Briordy. (The name was... Read more
FATHER CORBY’S DESCRIPTION OF A MILITARY MASS On or about the 4th day of September, 1864, Gen. Meagher, who was on a visit with Gen. Hancock at the time, prior to his departure for the department of Gen. Sherman, to whom he had been assigned for duty, proposed an anniversary celebration for the brigade. The brigade was now three years old. As usual, he wished to have the anniversary commemorated in a religious manner. He therefore, asked me, if I... Read more
Please check out my commercial for the new book on my Vlog! Read more
One of my favorite Frederic Remington drawings depicts the rescue of a Buffalo Soldier during the Indian Wars by an officer of the Tenth U.S. Cavalry. The officer in question was Second Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clarke, West Point Class of 1884. Clarke died tragically early at age 31, drowning while swimming in the Little Bighorn River. What I didn’t realize is that Clarke is not buried in Arlington, as one might think, but in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, a... Read more
Dear Friends, I would like to offer a word of apology and an explanation for my silence these past few months. On January 19, my daughter Theresa was hit by a car and broke her leg. Although she has recovered rapidly and is healing strongly, I have been acting as her unofficial factotum-nurse-caretaker for the last few months. If any of you have been in a similar situation, you know that it is rough work! Please keep Theresa and my... Read more
“YOU SILENT DEAD” By Sister Ignatius Summer, R.S.M. The silent dead! The silent dead! I’ve lingered where they sleep in peace, Where care, and want, or thought of dread There anguished vigils cease. Our silent dead! Our silent dead! They lure me to their mossy rest, Where roses, snowy petals shed, And birds sing requiems in their nest. O silent dead! O silent dead! Thus dreams my soul of deathless lands. For in the limit of your bed Time and... Read more
RIGHT REV. THOMAS GALBERRY, O.S.A., Fourth Bishop of Hartford Thomas Galberry first saw the light at Naas, in the County Kildare, Ireland, in 1833, but three years after his birth, his parents came to this country and settled in Philadelphia. Here he received his early training, and at the age of sixteen, entered Villanova College. On his graduation in 1851, he resolved to renounce the world, and the next year received the habit of the Hermits of St. Augustine at... Read more
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. “Thou art all, fair, my love, and there is not a spot in thee!”—Cant. 4. As Christ, in a figurative manner, is compared to the sun, whose rise imparts strength, consolation, and growth to our spiritual life, so in the same figurative manner, do we behold in Mary the mother of Jesus, the rosy dawn which appeared before the day of salvation. This explains why we, as children of God, should also at the beginning... Read more
SERMONS FOR CHILDREN’S MASSES, FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT Gospel. Luke xxi: 25-33. At that time Jesus said to his disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves: men withering away for fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world, for the powers of heaven shall be moved,... Read more
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