To kick off Women’s History Month, this week’s Patheos column features the unique story of Venerable Cornelia Connelly (1809-1879): socialite, wife, mother, convert, nun, founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, and subject of one of the 19th century’s most controversial court cases. Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and sometimes more interesting. For the article please click here. Read more

FATHER DANIEL WEBSTER MURPHY.The interests of the Catholic Church in Hollywood are zealously guarded by Rev. Father Murphy, who has had charge of the parish at this place since January 12, 1904. A native of County Cork, Ireland, born January 12, 1876, he was brought to the United States when but a child of four years and was reared and trained in Cambridge, Mass. His initial school training received in the east was continued in Redlands, Cal., whither he came... Read more

Descended from a long line of Spanish-Californian ancestry, Judge Ygnacio Sepulveda, recently returned to the land of his birth after thirty years voluntary exile in the City of Mexico, is a type of the true Californian of an early day, and also a splendid type of manhood. His return to Los Angeles is almost like a fairy tale, for when he left the city it numbered barely fourteen thousand souls, and he returns to find it a metropolis of over... Read more

Last week, I had the pleasure of appearing at Theology on Tap, a program for young adults sponsored by the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Faith Formation Office. The evening’s topic was “The Catholic Pages of American History,” replete with a Powerpoint presentation. Basically, it was a way to introduce people to  to American Catholic history, many for the first time, and the response was very positive. It was held at Manor Oktoberfest, a German restaurant, in the Forest Hills section of... Read more

IN THE FLUSHING CONVENT.Bishop McDonnell Officiates at the Ceremony and Gives Her the Religious Name of Sister Mary Bernadette.The Brooklyn Eagle, August 26, 1900(Special to the Eagle.)College Point, L.I., August 25— A large number of priests and sisters were present at St. Joseph’s Convent, when the feast of St. Louis, the patron saint of the mother superior of the St. Joseph Sisters, was celebrated in the convent chapel by a high mass, at which Bishop McDonnell assisted. The Rev. E.J.... Read more

As a whole, the Catholic Church was slow to get fully involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Whether or not Catholics publicly endorsed segregation, they certainly accepted it in their churches and schools, North and South. (In many cases, Catholic institutions weren’t fully integrated until the 1960’s.) Still, there were exceptions, mainly an informal network of laypeople, priests, and nuns who were long committed to promoting racial justice. One of them was a Midwestern Jesuit who led sit-ins, marches, and... Read more

DENIS J. STAFFORDSTAFFORD, DENIS, J., D.D., Roman Catholic priest, Shakespearean scholar and lecturer, was born in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1860. His father was a prominent contractor, a man of high character and of marked business ability. His mother was a woman of deep piety who gave much of her time to religious services. He studied in the schools of Washington, and later at the Niagara University, Niagara Falls, New York. His active work as a priest was begun... Read more

HOW WISDOM MAY BE FOUND.Sermon by the Rev. Augustine P. Hewit, C. S.P.Before the Boston Catholic Union, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.Boston Daily Globe, December 1, 1876 At the Church of the Immaculate Conception, yesterday morning, solemn mass was celebrated in the presence of a large and distinguished congregation, including the members of the Boston Catholic Union, for whose benefit the services were especially held. An interesting sermon was preached by the Rev. Augustine P. Hewit, C. S.... Read more

 A COLORED TERTIARY. The Franciscan Herald, May 1917. “Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no guile.” These words of Our Dear Lord may well be applied to Mr. George Perkins who died in Washington, Missouri, on March 2, 1917. His face, indeed, was Black, but his soul was white as snow. While speaking with him one never thought of the color of his body. The beautiful whiteness of his soul shone in the kindly light of his eyes,... Read more

This week’s Patheos column looks at the history of Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky, before Thomas Merton made it famous. You can read it by clicking here. (Also, if you haven’t seen it already, or if you’d like to take another look at it, you might also be interested in a photographic tour of the abbey from the year 1914. That you can read here.) Read more