The parish facilities as they appeared around the year 1870. St. John the Baptist, Brooklyn.  During Bishop Loughlin’s episcopate the Diocese of Brooklyn had but two congregations of priests within its limits. The first to come were Lazarists, or priests of the Congregation of the Mission. In the spring of 1868, the Rev. Edward M. Smith, of that congregation, was sent by his superiors to Brooklyn to open a new field for the special work of the community. He was... Read more

Dear Friends, Catholic blogger Eric Sammons has researched the Top Two Hundred Catholic Blogs and listed them. The list was based on the number of Google subscriptions that each blog has. I would like to let you know that McNamara’s Blog is on the list at #150. If you’d like to take a look at the list, please click here. Thank you all for your support! Sincerely, Pat McNamara Read more

Father John Moore, C.M, was President of St. John’s University, Brooklyn, from 1906 to 1925. He is seated in the front row center wearing the biretta. With him is the ordination class of 1912 from St. John’s Seminary. Standing fifth from the left in the back row is Bernard J. Quinn (1888-1940), whose canonization cause is currently under consideration. LIFE IN A SEMINARY.How a Catholic Priest is Trained for His Duties.The Long and Severe Course of Discipline and Study. A... Read more

  St. John’s University during the 1940’s, when it stood in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant section. During the mid-1950’s, the main campus was relocated to Jamaica, Queens, where it stands today. ST. JOHN’S.Annual Commencement of the College. LIST OF PREMIUMS. The Brooklyn Eagle, June 25, 1873 The first annual Commencement of St. John’s College, Brooklyn, at the corner of Lewis and Willoughby avenues, took place last evening, and in all its features bore evidence of the well earned reputation which the faculty... Read more

 St. Vincent De Paul (1576-1660) Today the two largest Catholic universities in the United States are St. John’s, founded in Brooklyn in 1870, and DePaul, founded in Chicago in 1898. The two schools between them have nearly fifty thousand students. Their alumni include judges and lawyers, politicians and public servants, clergy and educators. In their commitment to service and the public good, they operate in the spirit of the religious community that founded both schools, the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers,... Read more

Father Theophilus Riesinger, O.F.M. Cap. (1868-1941), the priest who is the subject of this week’s Patheos article.   This Friday sees the release of The Rite, a new movie dealing with exorcism. This week’s column at Patheos treats an exorcism case in 1928 Iowa, the first one in America of which  there was public knowledge. I’d like to make a few points about the article: The story was released as a book in 1936 with official Church approval. The Catholic Church is VERY... Read more

THE NEW CATHOLIC COLLEGE.The Brooklyn Eagle, February 24, 1868 For a long time the energetic Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn, the Right Rev. John Loughlin, has cherished the idea of founding in this city a college that shall take the first rank among the educational institutions of the United States. The subject has been discussed in conversation both by priests and laymen, until a hearty and general sympathy with Dr. Loughlin’s view on the matter prevails. The priests of the congregation... Read more

THE APPEAL OF THE DEAF MUTE.Paper by THE REV. F. A. MOELLER, S. J., Chaplain, Ephpheta School, Chicago.Delivered at the First American Catholic Missionary Congress, Chicago, 1908. Right Reverend Chairman, Right Reverend Bishops, Reverend Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen: The New Testament tells of the kindness of Our Divine Lord, who, doing good to all, did not forget the deaf and dumb. After His example the Catholic Church has extended her charity to these afflicted people and has inaugurated their systematic... Read more

THE FATE OF ST. AGNES Rev. L.A. Grace’s Sermon in St. Agnes’ ChurchThe Brooklyn Eagle, January 24, 1898 Yesterday morning, the Rev. L.A. Grace preached in St. Agnes’ Church, Hoyt and Sackett Streets, taking as his text Psalms xvii:40: “Thou hast girded me with strength unto battles, and has subdued under me them that rose up against me.” He prefaced his account of the birth, virtues, sufferings, and martyrdom of St. Agnes by contrasting human warfare with the great and... Read more

ST. SEBASTIAN’S, WOODSIDE.FATHER GANNON’S NEW CHURCH RAPIDLY NEARING COMPLETION.The Brooklyn Eagle, February 16, 1896 St. Sebastian’s, the new Catholic church now in course of erection in Woodside, will, when completed, bear favorable comparison with any house of worship on the north side of the island. There are now more than four hundred families in the parish of St. Sebastian, who have attended service in a little chapel on Third Street. As soon as the Rev. Father Gannon was sent from... Read more