Born Mary Agnes Grace in 1812, Sister Mary Gonzaga, S.C., was in charge of the Satterlee Hospital in Philadelphia during the Civil War, when she helped tend many casualties from the Battle of Gettysburg. The sermon at her 1897 funeral Mass was delivered by Father John Scully, S. J., Rector of St. Joseph’s Church, Philadelphia: “St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and in order that... Read more
Henry Francis Brownson was born at Canton, Mass., August 7 1835. His father was the celebrated Orestes A Brownson, who was baptized by the founder of Holy Cross College, Bishop Fenwick. Wishing to become a Catholic, the young Henry asked his father’s consent to go to Holy Cross, a prospectus of which had accidentally fallen in his way. The request was granted and on November 18, 1844, Brownson was baptized at the college He graduated from Holy Cross in 1852,... Read more
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY PRESENTS THE FLAG TO ST. PETER’S SUNDAY SCHOOL, BROOKLYN. A memorable event for the children of St. Peter’s parish, Brooklyn, took place when Secretary of the Navy Tracy, in presence of Rankin Post, Naval Post, 516, G. A. R. and other guests holding distinguished civil and military positions, presented to them a beautiful silk flag, the gift of Rankin Post, of which he is a member. Columbia’s national airs were rendered by the children under... Read more
In the year 1834 the Right Rev. Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, Missouri, called at the mother-house of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Lyons and asked Mother St. John Fontbonne, the superior, to send a colony of her daughters to America. Arrangements were soon perfected, and on 17 January, 1836, six sisters sailed from Havre and, after a perilous voyage of forty-nine days, reached New Orleans, where they were met by the Bishop of St. Louis and Father Timon,... Read more
FAIR HAVEN, CONN.—Fair Haven was till very recently a separate town, but now, it forms part of New Haven. Hew Haven is one of the most important cities in the State, as it is one of the handsomest cities in the whole country. The private residences are especially beautiful, and the streets are shaded with lofty elms. From the numbers of these trees, New Haven is often called the “City of Elms.” Yale College, one of the oldest institutions in... Read more
THE SISTER OF MERCY By Author Unknown She shares in the hopes of those who sow, In the gladness of those who reap; She smiles for the joys that the joyful know, And she weeps with those who weep. She prays for the living—she prays for the dead; She joins in the children’s fun; And grief-worn hearts have been comforted By the words of the gentle nun. And a queen might envy her peaceful smile Of radiant and deep content,... Read more
“The Day We Celebrate”: Rev. Sylvester Malone at the Annual Banquet of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, March 17, 1884 “The day we celebrate” comes to us but once a year, yet its influences have been felt by our race on every day of the year through which it has run. Going back fourteen hundred years, “the day we celebrate” brought light where there was darkness and life where there was death. It brought a pagan people from idolatry... Read more
The whole course of Christianity from the first… is but one series of troubles and disorders. Every century is like every other, and to those who live in it seems worse than all times. The Church is ever ailing… Religion seems ever expiring, schisms dominant, the light of truth dim, its adherents scattered. The cause of Christ is ever in its last agony… Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Read more
The Noble Reformer and Philanthropist Pius Ninth (The Brooklyn Eagle, November 29th, 1847) Although we have during the late year given a few passing notices to the character mentioned in the heading of this article—and to his moves in Italy—such a comparatively full description of the grounds on which rest his claims to public love (the dearest reward, next to a pure conscience) cannot but be in every way interesting to out readers. For our own part we look, first... Read more
At the time of his death, the Louisville Catholic Record described Father Leopold Bushart as “surely one of the great men of the Catholic Church in America.” He was successively President of five different colleges: St. Xavier, Cincinnati; St. Louis University; St. Stanislaus Seminary, Florissant, Missouri; St. Mary’s College, Kansas; and Marquette University, Milwaukee. Born in Flanders on June 27th, 1838, he was named Leopold Buysschaert. (In 1870 he changed the name to Bushart.) Despite health issues, he was accepted... Read more
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