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A Century of Faith

The first Mass was offered for what would eventually be known as St. Rita Church in the humblest of places, a cobbler’s shop on East Custis Avenue in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. The ladies of the yet-to-be-established parish provided its name—St. Rita of Cascia is the patron of impossible causes. The first small church was built on Hickory Street in Mt. Ida and a parish was founded on September 21, 1924. Through depression, war and post-war growth, political and social change and into a new millennium St. Rita Church has grown under its namesake’s patronage. A beautiful new church was built in 1949 and a school was founded in 1952. The St Rita Centennial Committee tells the stories of a century of community.

In 1820, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston was established, and Bishop John England arrived from Ireland. His new diocese encompassed North and South Carolina, Georgia and, for a time, Haiti. From 1859 to 1885, when Patrick Lynch and Henry Northrop were bishops of Charleston, the diocese included the Bahama Islands. However, the history of Catholics in the diocese--which now covers all of South Carolina--began much earlier. The arrival of Spanish settlers and missionary priests dated back more than 150 years before there was a diocese on American soil. Sister Pam Smith charts the history of the diocese from the first words of prayer uttered on Santa Elena in the sixteenth century through the interfaith singing of a reformed slaveholder's hymn at a painful funeral in the twenty-first century.

Before Spanish rule, the land now known as New Mexico was inhabited by many indigenous tribes and pueblos with their own religious beliefs. When conquistadors arrived to search for the Seven Cities of Gold, they created settlements in the pueblos they conquered and forced Catholicism on the people they enslaved. While several of these original missions were destroyed during the Revolt of 1680, the surviving churches are cherished by the communities they now serve. Author Donna Blake Birchell guides you through the unique histories of more than twenty mission churches, their struggles and triumphs over the centuries and the preservation challenges they now face.

Father Jean Pierre, a missionary priest from Brittany, France, answered a call to serve in sparsely populated Shreveport, where he chose to remain when a yellow fever epidemic struck in 1873. From a perspective told largely through his own words, Father Pierre provides the reader a glimpse of his “fearful steps strengthened by hope.” His unique insights extend even to the secular history, framing the development of Shreveport and the surrounding region in the middle of the nineteenth century. Gradually emerging as someone widely respected and admired for his intellect and ability, Father Pierre’s story culminated in a heroic choice to sacrifice his life in the service of strangers when the epidemic ravaged the city. A trio of authors celebrates the life of this Shreveport martyr.

Experience the brilliant mind of a man who sacrificed his life for the people of Shreveport. From 1854 to 1873, Servant of God Father Louis Gergaud, native of Heric, France, served as a dedicated missionary priest in northeast Louisiana. These years, often fraught with hardships, culminated in his decision to offer his own life for the people of Shreveport during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1873. The narrative of his life during these years, drawn from his own letters and papers, provide insightful commentary on issues as diverse as Catholic-Protestant relations in the nineteenth century South, the economics of commerce in an expanding nation, and the social impacts of the Civil War. Most importantly, these papers provide context to understand the character of a man whose heroic virtue led him to the sacrifice of his own life for strangers.

In the autumn of 1873, one of the worst yellow fever epidemics in U.S. history swept through Shreveport. As the deadly scourge claimed a quarter of the town's population, the dedicated efforts of five missionary priests offered a call to hope, even as they laid down their own lives in the struggle. True martyrdom is vanishingly rare, extolled as the highest possible sacrifice, yet Shreveport bore abundant witness through these five saintly priests. Their heroism in the midst of this tragic chapter is captured here by a trio of authors, winding a narrative that transcends history to reveal complex themes of virtue, sacrifice and response in times of human crisis and suffering.

Pioneers in Ministry

When six Ursuline nuns stepped off a train in September 1874, they encountered a smoky industrial town still reeling from a recent economic downturn. Yet, the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown went on to staff more than a dozen parochial schools, while organizing the city's first Catholic high school.

Over the next century, they compiled an extraordinary record of community service. When the Mahoning Valley's fortunes eroded in the wake of deindustrialization, the Ursulines gradually expanded their mission to address a host of new challenges.

Today, the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown are celebrated for their groundbreaking efforts to assist the urban poor, single mothers and people living with HIV-AIDS. They remain more committed than ever to meeting the needs of the community, in the face of ever-changing social, political, economic and religious circumstances.