Civil War General Receives Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, 1896

November 24, 2018 By Pat McNamara

Since 1883, the University of Notre Dame has bestowed its Laetare Medal on an outstanding American Catholic. (The medal is so-called because it is traditionally announced on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent.) Recipients have included scholars and activists, religious and laity, politicians and generals, artists and architects. During the 1890’s, when anti-Catholicism was particularly strong nationwide, the university honored one of the heroes of the Civil War, Major General William Starke Rosecrans (1819-1898), partly as a way to... Read more

How to Preach Missions to Non-Catholics

November 23, 2018 By Pat McNamara

The parish mission, which traces it roots to 1500’s Europe, was the Catholic counterpart to the Protestant revival meeting. It comprised a series of week-long lectures, with Masses and Confessions, designed to “jump-start” the life of the local faith community. In nineteenth century America, the Paulist Fathers offered missions to non-Catholics, at the very time when anti-Catholic sentiment was at an all time high, presenting Catholicism in a positive manner. Paulist Father Walter Elliott (1842-1928), an experienced mission preacher, offers... Read more

Holiness is Contagious: The “Social Saints” of 19th Century Turin

November 22, 2018 By Pat McNamara

The city of Turin in northwest Italy is famous for several reasons. During the 1860’s, it was the first capital of a united Italy. Today its Cathedral of St. John the Baptist houses the famed Shroud of Turin, Christ’s alleged burial cloth, whose authenticity has been long debated. While the Church has never made an official pronouncement on this, in a 1998 visit to Turin, St. John Paul II noted: “For the believer, what counts above all is that the... Read more

Books: The Perfect Christmas Gift!

November 21, 2018 By Pat McNamara

As it begins to look a lot like Christmas, books can be the perfect gift. If you know someone interested in learning more about their Catholic heritage, this list is for you. So I’ve created this list of books that are in print, accessible to the general reader, and enjoyable. I hope you’ll find it helpful! Charles R. Morris, American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America’s Most Powerful Church. Morris recounts Catholicism’s rise from a despised minority to... Read more

“McNamara’s Vlog”: Race, Religion, and the Healy Brothers, 1830-1910

November 20, 2018 By Pat McNamara

Friends, here is a video I created some time ago, which relates to Black Catholic History Month. It’s a brief account of the Healy Brothers, the first Black priests ordained in the United States. Unfortunately, they had to hide their heritage because of the prevailing racism of the time. (In 1886, Father Augustus Tolton became the first Catholic priest to publicly identify as African American.) It’s a story of tragedy and triumph. Hope you enjoy it! Here also is an... Read more

“We’re an Integral Part of the Church”: Father Cyprian Davis and Black Catholic History

November 19, 2018 By Pat McNamara

November is Black Catholic History Month, a good time to commemorate the Father of Black Catholic History: Father Cyprian Davis, O.S.B. (1930-2015). His 1990 book The History of Black Catholics in the United States inspired a generation of scholars to chronicle the subject. For Father Cyprian, history wasn’t just facts. It also had a pastoral end: to reclaim the true meaning of the word “Catholic.” He was born Clarence John Davis in Washington, D.C., on September 9, 1930. His father... Read more

Catholics in the Movies: Pedro de Cordoba (1881-1950)

November 6, 2014 By Pat McNamara

Born in New York City to a French mother and a Cuban father, Pedro de Cordoba was a solidly reliable character actor in American films from the silent through the sound era. Between 1915 and 1951, he appeared in some 125 movies. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) says of him: “A tall, somewhat frail-looking man, he often played wealthy, aristocratic Latins, usually (but not always) kind-hearted and benevolent.” Some of his more noteworthy appearances include two Errol Flynn movies: Captain... Read more

Anti-Catholic Cartoon of the Week

November 5, 2014 By Pat McNamara

The Rail Splitter was one of several anti-Catholic publications that gained a wide circulation in the 1910’s and 1920’s. This cartoon from its pages shows a cassocked priest replete with horns and tail knocking at the door of the American public school system. (In many remote rural areas of the South, priests, and Catholics in general, were said to have horns under their hats). He is seen literally crossing the line between Church and State, coming from the “parochial school and nunnery,”... Read more

Catholics in Public Service: Senator Francis Kernan, New York (1816-1892)

November 4, 2014 By Pat McNamara

As Americans go to the polls today, we profile the first Catholic to represent New York in the United States Senate. The following is taken from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia: Lawyer, statesman; born in Steuben County, New York, 14 January, 1816; d. at Utica, New York, 7 September, 1892; son of General William Kernan, who came to America from County Cavan, Ireland, in 1800, and of Rose Anna Stubbs, his wife. He attended Georgetown College, D.C., from 1833 to 1836,... Read more

Catholic Poetry: “Believe and Take Heart,” by John Lancaster Spalding

November 2, 2014 By Pat McNamara

BELIEVE AND TAKE HEART By John Lancaster Spalding What can console for a dead world? We tread on dust which once was life; To nothingness all things are hurled: What meaning in a hopeless strife? Time’s awful storm Breaks but the form. Whatever comes, whatever goes, Still throbs the heart whereiby we live; The primal joys still lighten woes, And time which steals doth also give. Fear not, be brave: God- can thee save. The essential truth of life remains,... Read more