Marquette on the Shores of the Mississippi By John Jerome Rooney Here, in the midnight of the solemn wood, He heard a roar as of a mighty wind,— The onward rush of waters unconfined Trampling in legions thro’ the solitude. Then lo! Before him swept the conquering flood, Free as the freedom of the truth-strong mind Which hills of Doubt could neither hide nor bind, Which, all in vain, the valley mounds withstood! With glowing eye he saw the prancing... Read more

BELOVED “FATHER JOHN” DEAD. Rev. John McGuire was Rector of St. Mary’s Church for 33 Years.The New York Times, May 3, 1912 The Rev. John McGuire, for the last thirty-three years rector of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Long Island City, died yesterday. “Father John,” as he was affectionately known to thousands of Catholics in this and the Brooklyn Diocese, was born in County Longford, Ireland, on May 29, 1842. He was educated in St. Mel’s College, Longford, Ireland, and then... Read more

REPPLIER, Agnes, author, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 1, 1859, daughter of John and Agnes Repplier. She is of French descent, and was educated in the Roman Catholic church. As a child she was by no means precocious, for at the age of nine she could not read, and her only accomplishment was reciting long ballads and other poems, which her retentive memory made it easy to commit. At school she studied diligently whatever interested her, but neglected all... Read more

Our Lady Of Loretto, Brooklyn, N.Y. — This was the fourth Italian church in Brooklyn and its foundation dates from 1896. Father Stephen Gesualdi secured a hall used by the Salvation Army, and soon transformed it into a Catholic church. It was enlarged and changed into the form of a Greek Cross, 30 feet by 100 feet in dimensions. The interior was furnished with oak pews, the gift of the German Church of the Annunciation, and the beautiful altar was... Read more

“The individual must eagerly and earnestly perfect himself, yet this perfecting of self is not an unrelated, but a social act. The individual is not alone, he is a member of Christ and of Christ’s kingdom… what he thinks and does effects for good or ill the entire society of his fellows… We are knit to one another more closely than words can describe because we are all one in Christ, and Christ is in all, the Saviour, the One... Read more

In honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, this week’s Patheos column focuses on the history of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. To reach the article please click here. Read more

FOLEY, Thomas, fifth R. C. bishop of Chicago, was born in Baltimore, Md., March 6, 1822, of Irish parentage. He was educated at St. Mary’s College, in his native city, and upon graduation in 1840, entered St. Mary’s Theological Seminary. After a six-year course of study, on Aug. 16, 1846, he was ordained a priest in the Baltimore Cathedral, by Archbishop Eccleston. Father Foley was first appointed to a mission at Rockville, Montgomery County, Md., from which he attended four... Read more

 FRIDOLIN WILHELM.America has been aptly named the land of opportunity, for in no other country is there chance for such direct progress of individual effort and merit as in the United States. This is evidenced in the careers of many notable men and finds exemplification in the history of Fridolin Wilhelm, now a capitalist of Seattle. He was born in Germany, September 14, 1841, and came of good German-Catholic parentage. His father was Nathan Wilhelm, who made farming his life... Read more

MISSION EXTRAORDINARY.Labors of Father Damen and the Jesuit Fathers at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul.The Brooklyn Eagle, October 11, 1876, 4. One of the most successful and numerously attended missions ever presented in this city, was that concluded yesterday at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul, in North Sixth Street, of which the Rev. Martin Carroll is the parish priest. The very Rev. Father Damen and six Jesuit Fathers conducted the mission, which was in progress two... Read more

On December 7, 1947, Father Charles Eugene Bradley, CSP, died in New York at the age of 71 after 40 years in the Paulist priesthood. Born in Wichita, Kansas, on July 13, 1876, he moved to Chicago as a child and entered the Paulists in 1902. He was ordained in New York on May 25, 1907. Father Bradley spent the first half of his career in San Francisco, much of it as Director of the Old St. Mary’s Chinese Mission.... Read more