This week’s Patheos column features an 1876 Easter sermon at St. Paul the Apostle Church, Manhattan. To reach the article please click here. Read more

Edward A. Scott was born in Ireland and came to America at age fourteen. He was the first student to enroll at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts (in those days the lines between high school and college were blurred.) Father Fitton, a Jesuit at the school, was a friend of his family. The history of Spring Hill College states that he was the first student to enroll at Holy Cross, and the first to win an... Read more

Drawing by Pat McNamara, 1992  To Pius X at Easter John Hazard Wildman (1911-1992) Pius, the springtime rolls like a wave upon our land, White-capped in bloom above the long-flung green, With flame and rainbowed sprayAudacious, sudden, in the fierce engendering sun. Strange wise men drone about the vast significanceOf all of this: They draw on Tennyson and violets, On hope resurgent and the brave atomic bomb; And chorus girls in white samite Put over the resurrection in the... Read more

“Is not your Church the only Church that does not demand moral character as a qualification for membership? Why is it that you allow drunkards, rum sellers, and boodlers to be members of your Church in good standing? Are they in the fellowship? Why are there so many wicked, poor, and ignorant in your Church?” An habitual drunkard, a saloon-keeper whose saloon is a proximate occasion of sin to himself or others, a thief who is enjoying stolen property which... Read more

THE TWELFTH STATION Jesus dies upon the Cross V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. Rx. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum. JESUS hung for three hours. During this time He prayed for His murderers, promised Paradise to the penitent robber, and committed His Blessed Mother to the guardianship of St. John. Then all was finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. The worst is over. The Holiest is dead and departed. The most tender,... Read more

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICES. DEVOUT WORSHIPPERS VISIT REPOSITORIES IN CHURCHES.Commemoration of the Day of the Crucifixion and the Period of Darkness and Mourning—Catholic Notes Relating to Eastertide. The Lowell Daily Sun March 23, 1894 The repositories in the various Catholic churches of the city were visited by large crowds yesterday. The nuns of the various convents of the city visited each church, as did the pupils of St. Patrick’s convent and St. Peter’s Orphan Asylum. St. Patrick Church The Sisters of... Read more

  BLESSED SACRAMENT, Brooklyn, N.Y. — To relieve the overcrowding of St. Malachy’s due to the influx of people into the Cypress Hills section following the annexation in 1886 of the 26th Ward to the City of Brooklyn, Bishop Loughlin founded the parish of the Blessed Sacrament on February 14, 1891. Beginning with February 15 two Masses were said each Sunday at Lafayette Hall. The first Sunday the congregation numbered about 15 at each Mass. The second the attendance was... Read more

This 1912 photograph was taken in front of St. Patrick’s rectory, Huntington, during the 25th anniversary celebration for Father John B. York’s ordination. He stands in front of the window, while to his left, addressing the crowd, is former President Theodore Roosevelt, a close friend of York’s. PRIEST ATTACKS THE FILMS.Happened in Picture Show and Was Shocked by “Story of the Nun.”Special to The New York TimesHUNTINGTON, L.I., July 8— When the Very Rev. Dean John C. York, rector of... Read more

Father James Kent Stone, C.P., in his Passionist habit, as seen in the early 1880’s.  As Christians celebrate Jesus’ Passion, death and Resurrection, this week’s column focuses on a religious community dedicated to proclaiming “Christ’s crucified love.” During the Passionists’ early years in America, one of their preeminent figures was James Kent Stone (1840-1921). Before age thirty, he had been a Harvard graduate, Civil War veteran, minister, professor, and president of two colleges. One Passionist historian refers to him... Read more

Confessions of Women. A dangerous rock which the priest encounters in the stormy sea of the world is the hearing of women’s confessions. The knowledge of this fact and a sense of dread are his best safeguard. He must persevere in a state of indifference and insensibility towards female penitents; he must keep his heart hermetically sealed against human sentiments of affection and avoid every sign of familiarity, though cherishing a holy respect and reverence for the sex of our... Read more