RIGHT REV. J.C. NERAZ, Second Bishop of San Antonio J.C. Neraz was born on the 12th of January, 1828, at Ause, in the Department of the Rhone, France, and after acquiring the rudiments, entered the diocesan seminary of St. Jodard; his philosophical course he followed at the Alix branch of the Great Seminary of Lyons, and completed his theology under the Sulpitians at Lyons. Resolving to devote himself to foreign missions, he came to the United States in 1852, and... Read more
The commercial development of America excites the admiration and wonder of the world, but when we take into consideration the character of our citizens, it is not a matter of marvel. The very fact that advancement is open to all, that efforts will not be hampered by caste or class distinctions, seems to serve as a stimulus to ambitious endeavor, and thus each American community produces men whose energy, determination, and business ability lead them into new and broad fields... Read more
REV. PATRICK FRANCIS McSWEENY, Pastor of St. Bridget’s Church. The Rev. Dr. Patrick Francis McSweeny, the present pastor of St. Bridget’s, was born in Ireland, July 9th, 1838. He came to America with his parents in April, 1849, in the eleventh year of his age. He was educated principally at the Jesuit College in Sixteenth Street, New York. In October, 1856, he entered the College of the Propaganda, in Rome. During his stay in that world-renowned institution he was created... Read more
The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, in its proper sense, dates from the year 1866, but in the prophetic views of the venerated Jeanne Chezard de Matel, who founded the cloistered Order of the Incarnate Word and the Blessed Sacrament in 1633, this branch already existed. The Incarnate Word wished, however, to give the glory of the direct establishment to the Venerable Reverend Mother Angelique of the Incarnation, who, in concert with the Reverend Abbe... Read more
Brother Pastoris, F.S.C. (1819-1874) Brother Pastoris (Jules J. Deville, 1819-1874), the austere and apostolic member of this pioneer band, was born in France on March 4, 1819. He entered the novitiate at Cluire-lez-Lyon at the age of twenty-three and received the religious habit on February 14, 1842. He spent only one year in New York, teaching a group of the smaller boys in the attic of the rectory on Howard Street. The name of Brother Pastoris is particularly revered in... Read more
Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, born Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 30 March, 1820; died 4 April, 1865. Father Baker was a son of Dr. Samuel Baker, a physician of note in Baltimore. He was graduated from Princeton College in 1839. His parents, whom he lost early in life, had been Methodists, but their surviving children joined the Episcopal Church. He took orders in that communion, and was ordained a presbyter in September, 1846. His career promised to... Read more
Catholic Sisters. A Minister’s Tribute to Their Work in the Civil War. As chaplain of the United States flagship Lancaster, stationed in the Harbor of Key West, I visited the hospitals to which the sick and wounded men were sent from both army and navy. At the beginning of hostilities the Convent of Mary Immaculate had been offered and accepted as a hospital and was known as the general hospital. The Sisters of Charity who gave the use of the... Read more
Catholics in American History. The earliest history of America is the history of Catholicity. The saintly names in the four corners of the American Continent tell that Catholics were its founders, writes The Sodalist. You may tell your Protestant friends that we were here before them, and that we mean to stay. We are here by no man’s and no party’s sufferance but by the right of discovery and exploration, as we can prove by the leading men and events... Read more
William Tyler was born on the 5th of June, 1806, at Derby, Vermont, his father being a substantial farmer, his mother a sister of the famous convert Rev. Daniel Barber. She followed the example of her relatives and soon after their conversion m 1816, was received into the Church, with her three sons and four daughters. When about fifteen, William entered the classical school established at Claremont by Rev. Virgil Barber. Showing a vocation for the priesthood, he was taken... Read more
Jesuit educator and publicist, b. at Nantes, France, 20 Nov., 1807; d. at St. John’s College, Fordham, New York, 17 Dec., 1885. Father Thébaud was the son of a worthy but not wealthy merchant who was married to his pious wife in the dark days of the Terror by a loyal priest, a circumstance which eloquently proves their earnest Catholicity. Their children were brought up with great care and given the best religious education which France at that time afforded.... Read more
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