0000003727 00000 n We also find inspiration in the lives of those who live that gospel with heroic seriousness and who model for us Christ like disposition and behavior. or school. Finally, a second appeal to the Urban College through the Franciscans lead to Augustus acceptance. His journey of deliverance from slavery and discrimination offers potent imagery for anyone who finds inspiration from his life when suffering persecution because of ones faith or ones race. Among the best known of these six is Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. On 9 July 1897, he died as a priest should worn out in the care of his flock. The Cardinal overruled the previous decision to send him to Africa. 0000004240 00000 n Bishop Baltes was willing to have him and the diocese would cover his seminary expenses. In reply to his letters, excuses were made as to why he could not be accommodated. Both black and white, Catholic and non-Catholic came to see the young man who had left a much-loved friend and fellow worker and who now returned in a black soutane with a red sash. He maintained above all fortitude of spirit harboring no resentment for any of the insults and offenses receive from others. We may not be With one last look at his children, Peter headed out into the night, to the North, and to war. I'm in a perfectly happy mood, you asshole. Having picked up German in Quincy, he was to leave Europe with French and Italian mastered, to say nothing of Latin. America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. A funeral also occurred at St. Peter Church in Quincy on July 13. We presented to the Church Tolton as a model Christian and priest during a time of paradox, an era of social deficits that attempted to derail his priestly ministry. Another miracle has been recently attributed to his intercession. He was a bright light in a dark time. The touching story of Augustus Tolton reminds us of the glaring social deficits of a former time. Much has improved since that time but much still remains to be done to build on a society that can be an emblem of interracial peace. Unlike the citys richer parishes, Fr. This post originally appeared at Catholic Exchange and is reprinted with permission. Students should be able to: 1. We shall see whether it deserves that honor. With all this said and for the fact that this apostolate was started on April 1, 2018, the 132nd anniversary of his birth, it is only right that Fr. 1852:Harriet Beecher Stowes novel about the horrors of slavery, Uncle Toms Cabin, is published and sells 300,000 copies in the first year. In his priesthood, Tolton embraced the life of Christ. On this grave stone which later replaced the original reads: I was a poor slave boy but the priests of the Church did not disdain me. Discuss human rights as related to problems of Unexpectedly, when aged only 43, having at last been able to attend a retreat for priests, on returning by train, Fr. They settled in Quincy, Illinois, a major stop on the Underground Railroad. My father was actually in the Jesuit seminary for a number of years. Here they joined the closest Catholic church, the German parish of St. Boniface. He is the creator and host of the EWTN television series They Might Be Saints and author of the book They Might Be Saints (EWTN Publishing 2021) about Americans on the path to sainthood and the search for canonization miracles. The authorities in Rome could see no reason why he could not minister to his co-religionists there, not least those of his own race. He suffered genuinely in that these priestly things were administered from a black face, black hands and a black heart. 1897: Father Tolton dies at Mercy Hospital in Chicago on July 9. Blacks were considered inferior and were begrudgingly accepted, if at all, in the social groupings and institutions that made up America. 1880 Augustus Tolton departs for Rome on February 15 to enter the seminary at the Collegium Urbanum de Propaganda Fide. Without a national program to assist the assimilation of freed slaves into the fabric of the country, its schools, social and educational institutions and politics were found generally off limits to blacks especially where whites were invested. I am praying for the smooth cause of his sainthood. His goodness easily elicits our affection and our empathy, a goodness that attracted people of whatever background to his sermons and ministrations and counsel. The woman and her children were slaves. His father, Peter, was an honest and good man well liked by his slave owner for whom he worked hard. Augustus was born of the marriage union of two slaves, Peter Paul Tolton and his wife Martha Jane, in Ralls County, Missouri, April 1, 1854. Great website-Father Tolten was not the first black in America. This victimization is placed on the altar of worship daily through the lives of people all over. Toltons Palm Sunday. The Tolton family had remained regular worshippers at St. Peters. He abuses me in many ways A Marked Man: Should Catholics Get Tattoos? Augustus Tolton was the first recognized African American Catholic priest. [] Source: Fr. The world is saved ultimately by our being victims. In his first year, he took over the school he had founded and also created a flourishing parish at St. Josephs, attended by both blacks and whites. Fr. Here and there we are stunned by incidents of intolerance and racial hatred in places. He abuses me in many ways and has told the bishop to send me out of this place. We give our all to the Lord yet blacks are the most under evangelized Saints arise from the exigencies of the eras within which they live. What Tolton experienced in that time of social ambivalence is stuff we read about in history books or view in certain documentaries. He had every reason to become embittered. Although the Venerable Augustus Tolton lived over a hundred years ago his spirituality still speaks to us with incredible clarity and inspirational vitality for our times. He also found a cultured and holy priest, one who complained of nothing and prayed for everything. Also, what a blessing as it sounds as if your grandson and a fellow young parishioner are BOTH considering vocations to the priesthoodthere is certainly room for both of them! Toltons Canonization Timeline 2019 June 11, 2019 Pope Francis issues the declaration that For the time being, local priests tutored Augustus privately in between his work at both the cigar factory and as a janitor at St. Peters. This same year, Jane Addams establishes Hull House in Chicago. April 1, 1854 372 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[]/Index[348 51]/Info 347 0 R/Length 117/Prev 154762/Root 349 0 R/Size 399/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Augustus witnessed mistreatment of his people and became a victim himself of such mistreatment. document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Liked this post? 0000004756 00000 n Father Augustus Tolton, you whose life demonstrated the fruit of the Holy Spirits gifts of fortitude and perseverance, Funds were raised and the basis of a great and beautiful church, St. Monicas, dedicated to the service of the citys black population was started. Requiescat in Pace. Father Augustus Tolton | CatholicSaints.Info, Fr. At the end of the evening, when dinner had finished, the visitor observed how the younger priest took a set of Rosary beads hanging from a nail on a wall nearby and, with his mother beside him, knelt on the stone floor to recite that ancient prayer just as they always had done, not least when they had arrived frightened and anxious having fled slavery those years previously. He was 43. A Better Way Forward, Heres a Bishop Doing Something Good, and More Great Links! Through his experiences of racial negation by a society that would separate black and white by force of the law and lawless custom, Tolton found the love of God, found his own vocation and ultimately has received his reward from God as a figure of Christian faith in action, indiscriminate love of neighbor and pastoral charity despite the bigotry that was thrown at him. Toltons legacy says to us that transformation is possible through suffering. They knew the odds that stood against them and the Church. We may not be connected by hand but we are always connected by heart. Gus participated as much as he could in parish activities: learning to serve Holy Mass, and then going on to be a lay catechist. endstream endobj startxref I was a poor slave boy but the priests of the Church did not disdain me. She endeavors to free us of both. 1882: The lower level of St. Marys Church in Chicago becomes Chicagos first Negro parish. Rev. 0000005833 00000 n After many years he was eventually accepted at a Pontifical university in Rome. Web1878 Augustus Tolton enrolls in St. Francis College, now Quincy University. That day he did. I will end with three quotes: America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. And, with that, one of her children, Augustine Tolton, later to become the first African-American to be ordained priest, was freed. Articles on the death of Father Tolton in The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Daily News. trailer <]/Prev 469030>> startxref 0 %%EOF 85 0 obj <>stream Just over three years after his triumphal return, Fr. Father Tolton was declared venerable in 2019. His congregation was largely poor, ill-educated ex-slaves, with all the resultant ills of depression and violence attending those who, for varying reasons, had given up on life. His body was returned there and interred in a simple grave by St. Peters Church. He was always conscious that his vocation was as a result of his mothers example and the Christian home she had provided for him, in spite of everything. Just outside the train station he had been seen to stumble and then collapse on the city street. Our Lady teaches us to place our faith and trust Jesus. Web835 North Rush Street Chicago, IL 60611-2030 . The future for the Tolton family began to become clearer when the Civil War finally ended with victory for the North and an end to slavery throughout the United States. fQn_PzAdx%Q~b , 73G':rl4=@ Augustus Tolton. But, racial prejudice was also found there. As he did so he gazed at the three children sleeping and began to talk of his hopes for their future, one in which they would be free. Augustine Tolton was declared: Servant of God. Bishop Healy of Maine ordained in 1854 was of African and Irish parentage(her mother a freed slave). Miracle Hunter Michael ONeill profiles the Bishop of the Barrios, Alphonse Gallegos. The record of his life is absent any show of retaliation toward anyone or anything. Among the best known of these six is Fr Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. His was a quiet approach, a novel ministry to black and white together and he was, unfortunately, resented for it. Cause website: https://tolton.archchicago.org. PRAYERS CARDS, NEWLETTERS, AND BROCHURES: For prayer cards, newsletters, and brochures, call 312.534.8376 or write Bishop Joseph N. Perry at the Archdiocese of Chicago: 3525 South Lake Park Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60653. https://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/from-slave-to-priest-1#, http://www.dio.org/tolton/tolton/videos-about-father-tolton.html, https://www.ltp.org/p-2539-father-augustus-tolton-a brief-biography-of-a-faithful-priest-and-former-slave.aspx, Call 312.534.8376 or writeBishop Joseph N Perry, Archdiocese of Chicago, 3525 South Lake Park Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60653. As a teenager he taught religion classes to black children of Quincy, Illinois. Jesus experienced the worse that a man could deal out to another and, therefore, leaves us an example. 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