Time has slipped away and it is almost April. With that in mind, I wanted to post a few items from the calendar that are very important to the history of the Catholic Church in Indiana.
March 22nd is the anniversary of the death of Monsignor John J. Doyle. Msgr. Doyle was born in Indianapolis on March 13, 1898. He attended St. Joseph’s Parish, which was then located on the corner of North Street and College Avenue. He attended St. Meinrad and was ordained on May 17, 1921 Msgr. Doyle, known to many as the “Mons” spent most of his career as a professor at Marian College in Indianapolis. After his retirement, Monsignor Doyle became the Archivist and Historian of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He contributed much to the understanding of Indiana Catholic Church History. In 1976 he published “The Catholic Church in Indiana 1686-1814“. In 1978 he published “Genealogical Use of Catholic Records in North America” for the Indiana Historical Society. Msgr. Doyle’s love of history, especially his love of history of the Church in Indiana always showed through.
Father Anthony Deydier was ordained on Holy Saturday, March 25th, 1837. This was a special time for the Diocese of Vincennes not only because the first ordination in the new Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier had taken place a few weeks earlier, but also because Anthony Deydier, a man who had been ordained a deacon in 1812, was finally being ordained a priest. Deydier grave site at St. Vincent dePaul, Vincennes Why did Deydier wait so long? No one seems to know for sure, however, there are some possible explanations. Deydier was born in 1788 and he left his native France on June 10th, 1810 on the same boat as Simon Brute’. After his ordination to the diaconate he refused ordination to the priesthood and he taught for four years at Mount St. Mary’s eventually ending up in Albany New York as a private tutor. Apparently his association with Brute at Mount St. Mary’s is what led him eventually to his priestly ordination. After his ordination as a priest he was sent to Evansville where, except for a money collection tour, he remained. Much of his time was taken up ministering to the workers on the Wabash and Erie Canal. Deydier’s life in Evansville was not one of leisure. Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence, St. Mary of the Woods wrote in her journal”So extreme was his poverty and so complete his destitution, that I shall run the risk of being accused of exaggeration in describing it.” Deydier also combed the southwestern part of the state, seeking out Catholics. He remained in Evansville until 1859, when he retired to the”Highlands” at Vincennes. He died in 1864.
