Catholics on Stage, 1919
Hubert Savile, “Convent-Bred Thespians,” Theatre Magazine, Volume 30 (July 1919): 34. SHAKESPEARE, the patron saint of actors and actresses, caused Hamlet to say to Ophelia, “Get thee to a nunnery.”...
View ArticleFather Alexis Granger, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame (1817-1893)
VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: VERY REV. A. GRANGER Very Rev. Alexis Granger, the first who occupied the position of Vice-President in the University of Notre Dame, was born at Daon,...
View ArticleCatholic Poetry: “The Pillar of the Cloud,” by Blessed John Henry Henry...
Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home– Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet, I do not ask to see The distant scene– one step enough for...
View ArticlePaulist Outreach to Non-Catholics Explained, 1896
TO SPREAD THE CATHOLIC FAITH. A Mission to Explain Dogma to Protestants is to be Established by the Paulist Fathers. (The New York Times, January 13, 1896) Within a short time a band of Catholic...
View ArticleForgotten 19th Century Catholic Authors: Henrietta Dana Skinner
“Authentic Sketches of Living Catholic Authors: Mrs. Henry Wimple Skinner,” The Catholic World 65 (May 1897): 283-284. MRS. HENRY WIMPLE SKINNER (Henrietta Channing Dana) is the youngest daughter of...
View ArticleA Sermon on Thanksgiving, 1913
“Were not ten made clean? And where are the nine?”— From this Sunday’s Gospel. These are reproachful words, my brethren. Our good Saviour is indignant, because, of the ten men whom He healed of...
View ArticleQuote of the Day– On Joy
“The joyous man is the strong man—ready to sympathize: to appreciate: to help: a comfort and a light to others. Into a world where there is a surplus of sadness, of despondency and of despair, he...
View ArticleCatholic Poetry: “A Christmas Song” by Teresa Brayton (1868-1943)
O LORD, as You lay so soft and white, A Babe in a manger stall, With the big star flashing across the night, Did You know and pity us all? Did the wee hands, close as a rosebud curled, With the call of...
View ArticleSermon for a Children’s Mass, First Sunday of Advent, 1900
SERMONS FOR CHILDREN’S MASSES, FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT Gospel. Luke xxi: 25-33. At that time Jesus said to his disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon...
View ArticleSermon by Fr. Francis X. Weninger, S.J., on the Feast of the Immaculate...
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. “Thou art all, fair, my love, and there is not a spot in thee!”—Cant. 4. As Christ, in a figurative manner, is compared to the sun, whose rise imparts strength,...
View ArticleBishop Thomas Galberry, O.S.A., Hartford, Connecticut (1833-1878)
RIGHT REV. THOMAS GALBERRY, O.S.A., Fourth Bishop of Hartford Thomas Galberry first saw the light at Naas, in the County Kildare, Ireland, in 1833, but three years after his birth, his parents came to...
View ArticleCatholics in Public Service: Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832)
With the Fourth of July, McNamara’s Blog launches a new feature, “Catholics in Public Service.” It seems best to begin with the first major American Catholic to engage in public service, Charles...
View ArticleBrooklyn Widow Enters Carmelite Monastery, 1916
Mrs. J. Delehanty is Carmelite Nun. Former Miss Monahan of Brooklyn, Now a Widow, Joins Severe Order. RULES EXTREMELY STRICT. Picturesque Ceremony at Monastery on Bedford Avenue—Vicar General...
View ArticleWho’s Buried in Catholic Cemeteries: Annie Moore (1874-1924)
Born in County Cork, Ireland, on April 24, 1874, Annie Moore was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island when it opened on January 1, 1892. (Prior to that, immigrants entered through Castle...
View ArticleFather William Starrs, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York (1807-1873)
Very Rev. William Starrs, D.D. (The New York Times, February 7, 1873) Very Rev. William Starrs, D.D., Rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of New York, died...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Mike Mazurki (1907-1990)
Mike Mazurki was what is known as a “Brothers’ Boy.” Born Mikhail Mazurkiewicz in Austria-Hungary, he emigrated to the United States on the eve of the First World War. Settling in upstate New York, he...
View ArticleWho’s Buried in Catholic Cemeteries: Supreme Court Justice joseph McKenna...
Joseph McKenna was one of the few politicians to have served in all three branches of the Federal Government: as a Congressman, as a U.S. Attorney General, and as a Supreme Court Justice. The son of...
View ArticleCatholics on Stage: Fritz Williams (1865-1930)
Williams, Fritz (Frederick Williams): Actor; b. in Boston, Mass., August 23, 1865; parents member at the stock company at the Boston Museum for 15 years; made his first appearance on stage at that...
View ArticlePoem for the Fiftieth Anniversary of Villanova, 1892
ODE FOR THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF VILLANOVA COLLEGE (1892) By Eleanor C. Donnelly OH ! blest be the day, when the sun’s golden ray First shone on these shades, Villanova revealing! Like the sunrise that...
View ArticleCatholics in Public Service: John Lee Carroll (1830-1911)
Born in Baltimore, John Lee Carroll was the great-great-grandson of Charles Carroll (1737-1832), the sole Catholic signatory of the Declaration of Independence. His great-grandfather Thomas Sim Lee...
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