MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL,WASHINGTON, D. C.Author of “The House of Egremont,” “The Fortunes of Fifi,” etc. In the old country house, the Shelter, in Gloucester County, Virginia, where I grew up, there was a typical eighteenth century library. It had been partly selected for my great-grandfather by Thomas Jefferson. Everything in this library was strongly anti-Catholic. I was allowed great liberty in reading, and from a very early age I read these books, which, of course, I only half understood. I... Read more

George William Mundelein, third Archbishop of Chicago, was born on July 2, 1872, son of Francis and Mary (Goetz) Mundelein. He was graduated at Manhattan College in 1889, and after preparatory theological studies at St. Vincent’s Seminary, Westmoreland, Pa., was sent as a student from the diocese of Brooklyn to the College of the Propaganda, Rome, Italy, where he was ordained priest June 8, 1895. Returning to Brooklyn, he was appointed secretary to Bishop McDonnell and pastor of a Lithuanian... Read more

This week’s Patheos column focuses on a Native American Catholic catechist, Nicholas Black Elk, who was the subject of two bestselling books on Native American religion and life. For the article please click here. Read more

On the evening of July 7, 1942, Thomas Francis Meehan passed away at his home on Greene Avenue in Brooklyn. He was 88 years old. It seems he was working on an article about Catholics in New York City, a topic to which he had devoted his life as journalist and historian, when he slumped over his desk peacefully around 9 p.m. In some ways, it almost seemed a fitting end for one dedicated to chronicling the history of Catholic... Read more

Recollection Whitney Eckert, ‘03The Fordham Monthly (May 1904)How often in the blessed month of May, We gather her nightly round her statue fairTo offer up a hymn of praise and gladness,Or murmur at her feet a fervent prayer. Ah! Mother, as we silent kneel around thee,And lay our cares and troubles at thy feet, A holy peace from Heaven steals upon us, That makes thy tender love seem e’en more sweet. How often when our hearts are torn with anguish,... Read more

 FRANCISCANS.Their Work in Brooklyn as Educators of Youth. The Schools Established by Them and the Course of Study Pursued in Their Colleges. The Brooklyn Eagle, August 19, 1884, p. 2. Among the institutions of learning in Brooklyn few have grown so silently and so steadily as St. Francis’ College, on Baltic street, under the supervision of the Franciscan Brothers. Six hundred years ago the order was founded by St. Francis, of Assisi, but it was not until 1848 that, at... Read more

THE MARONITE MISSIONIN recent years many people of the Arabic races have taken up their abode in this country. A considerable number profess the Catholic faith. These are most numerous in the West, many being settled in Cleveland and Detroit. New York has a congregation numbering about 500. It is estimated that 230 are to be found in Boston; 15 in Lowell; 57 in Providence; 25 in Lawrence; 35 in Springfield; 28 in North Adams; 47 in Portland Diocese; 39... Read more

MOUNT ST. SCHOLASTICA CONVENT, ATCHISON, KAN. Mount St. Scholastica’s is the older of the two foundations made from St. Benedict’s, St. Joseph, Minn. It was founded in 1863, when at the request of the Rev. Augustine Wirth, O.S.B., the Sisters at St. Joseph, Minn., consented to give Sisters for the purpose of establishing a house of the order in Atchison. Late in the fall of 1863, the little band of seven Sisters, with Mother M. Evangelista as superior, arrived at... Read more

This week, I did a guest column for Frank Weathers’ great blog YIM Catholic, on why I’m Catholic. It has to with how Church History keeps me Catholic. To see the article please click here. Read more

RIGHT REV. THOMAS E. MOLLOY, Bishop of Brooklyn, when thirty-six years of age, was consecrated Bishop, in 1920. He was widely known as a capable executive and a profound student of theology and at the time was attached to the Queen of All Saints Church at Vanderbilt and Lafayette avenues. The appointment at the hands of Pope Benedict XV conferred the honor of Titular Bishop of Loria and made him Auxiliary to the Right Rev. Charles E. McDonnell, Bishop of... Read more