As Black History Month continues, read more about these Black Catholics on the journey to Sainthood:
Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman F.S.P.A.
A self-proclaimed, “’old folks’ child,” Thea Bowman, was the only child born to middle-aged parents, Dr. Theon Bowman, a physician and Mary Esther Bowman, a teacher. At birth she was given the name Bertha Elizabeth Bowman. She was born in 1937 and reared in Canton, Mississippi. As a child she converted to Catholicism through the inspiration of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity who were her teachers and pastors at Holy Child Jesus Church and School in Canton. These religious communities nurtured her faith and greatly influenced her religious vocation. Read more…
Venerable Henriette Delille
Henriette Delille, was born in 1812 in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a free woman of color. At 24 years of age, Henriette experienced a religious conversion, and proclaimed: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.”
Henriette eventually founded the Society of the Holy Family, responding to the need for treatment of the enslaved, elderly and sick, and care and education for the poor.
Her obituary ends with this quote: “For the love of Jesus Christ, she made herself the humble servant of slaves.” Read more…
Venerable Pierre Toussaint
Pierre was born in Haiti and brought to New York City as a slave, where he died a free man. When his master died, Pierre supported his master’s widow and the other slaves himself, and was freed shortly before the widow’s death in 1807. Within the Catholic community, even during his lifetime, Toussaint enjoyed the reputation of an exceptionally devout and charitable person. Every day he attended the 6:00 a.m. Mass in St. Peter’s Church, where he was a pewholder for many years. During a Yellow Fever epidemic when many of the city’s political leaders fled the city in search of healthier rural climates, Pierre Toussaint cared for the sick and the dying. He was a successful entrepreneur, who did not hesitate to share the fruits of his labor with others. He also raised funds to build the original St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Vincent de Paul Church. Read more…
Servant of God Mother Mary Lange
She was born Elizabeth Lange in around 1794 in Santiago de Cuba, where she lived in a primarily French speaking community. She received an excellent education and in the early 1800s Elizabeth left Cuba and settled in the United States. Elizabeth came to Baltimore as a courageous, loving, and deeply spiritual woman. There was no free public education for African American children in Maryland until 1868, so she responded to that need by opening a school in her home in the Fells Point area of the city for the children.
On July 2, 1829 Elizabeth and three other women professed their vows and became the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Elizabeth, foundress and first superior general of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, took the religious name of Mary. Read more…
Venerable Father Augustus Tolton
Augustus was born to two slaves, Peter Paul Tolton and his wife Martha Jane, on April 1, 1854. As Augustus grew older he began displaying an interest in the priesthood. His parish priests here in our diocese in Quincy, IL, Fathers McGuirr and Richardt, encouraged the young man in this aspiration and tried without success, to enroll him in several diocesan seminaries. Finally, in 1878, the Franciscan College in Quincy accepted him, and two years later he was enrolled at the college of the Propaganda Fidei in Rome. After completing his courses there, Augustus Tolton was ordained on April 24, 1886. Read more…
Servant of God Julia Greeley
Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Julia subsequently earned her keep by serving white families in Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico—though mostly in the Denver area. Whatever she could spare, Julia spent assisting poor families in her neighborhood. When her resources were inadequate, she begged for food, fuel and clothing for the needy. To avoid embarrassing the people she helped, Julia did most of her charitable work under cover of night through dark alleys.
Julia entered the Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver in 1880. The Jesuits who ran the parish considered her the most enthusiastic promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus they had ever seen. Read more…