I read an article recently about vocations to the priesthood and religious life and the discerning of those vocations. The article suggested that people look to the saints and holy individuals for the examples
\nthat they set of selfless behavior. Great advice! However, the saints and wanna-be saints mentioned were many. Among them, St. John Nepomuk, a 14th-century Czech priest who died as a martyr. Father Edward Flanagan, of Boys Town and others, all of whom ministered and served far away from Indiana.<\/p>\n
The point of this post is to remind ourselves that in our collective history here in Indiana, we have any number of individuals that could and should be mentioned if one wants to promote vocations. The history of the Catholic Church in Indiana is rich with examples of selfless behavior, of laying down one’s life for another.<\/p>\n
Former Archbishop Daniel Beuchlein, in his promotion of Servant of God, Bishop Simon Gabriel Brute’ quoted Baltimore Cardinal Gibbons, who visited Vincennes in 1891. The Archbishop wrote:<\/p>\n
\nThe fact that Bishop Brut\u00e9 was esteemed as a holy person was strikingly affirmed by the renowned James Cardinal Gibbons during a visit to Vincennes on Dec. 4, 1891. He said, \u201cWorthy citizens of Vincennes, you need not go on pilgrimage to visit the tombs of the saints. There is one reposing here in your midst, namely, the saintly Founder of this diocese, Right Reverend Simon Brut\u00e9.<\/strong>\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here is a whole list of men and women who can be models of sanctity for anyone discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. Many of them could easily be considered martyrs of charity. They are especially remembered for their part in the building up of the Church in Indiana:<\/p>\n
\nServant of God, Simon Brute – First Bishop of Vincennes<\/a>
\nSt. Mother Theodore Guerin – Indiana’s first “Canonized” Saint<\/a>
\nSimon Lalumiere – Born in 1804<\/a>
\nAnthony Deydier – Brut\u00e9s “late” vocation<\/a>
\nJean Stephen Bazin – 3rd Bishop of Vincennes<\/a>
\nStanislaus Buteux – Early missionary in Terre Haute<\/a>
\nVincent Bacquelin – Served Shelbyville and Indianapolis<\/a>
\nJohn Plunkett – Served Joliet Illinois and the Canal in that area<\/a>.
\nJulian Benoit – Early missionary and Vicar General of Fort Wayne<\/a>
\nBr. Columba O’Neill CSC- Holy Cross Brother.<\/a>
\nMother Theresa Hackelmeier – Oldenburg Franciscans<\/a>
\nAugust Bessonies – Early Pioneer Priest<\/a>
\nJoseph Chatrand – Bishop of Indianapolis and Cincinnati (almost)<\/a>
\nJohn Corbe – Chaplain of the Sisters of Providence<\/a>
\nJohn Chasse – Pioneer Priest<\/a>
\nFrancis Chatard – Bishop for 40 years<\/a>
\nHippolyte Dupontavice – First Priest of Hailandiere
\nMartin Marty – First Abbot at St. Meinrad<\/a>
\nJoseph Ferneding – Pioneer Priest<\/a>
\nCelestin de la Hailandiere – Second Bishop of Vincennes<\/a>
\nJoseph Kundek – Brought Benedictines to Indiana<\/a>
\nFintan Mundweiler – Early Benedictine leader<\/a>
\nBenjamin Petit – Trail of Death martyr of charity<\/a>
\nNicholas Petit S.J. – Brut\u00e9s choice for Bishop<\/a>
\nMaurice de St. Palais – Fourth Bishop of Vincennes<\/a>
\nMichael Edgar Shawe – Madison pastor<\/a>
\nRoman Weinzapfel – Persecuted Priest<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhat is the point? Learn about the history of the local Church in Indiana. Remember those who have gone before us and emulate them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I read an article recently about vocations to the priesthood and religious life and the discerning of those vocations. The article suggested that people look to the saints and holy individuals for the examples that they set of selfless behavior. Great advice! However, the saints and wanna-be saints mentioned were many. Among them, St. John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-postings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6502"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6509,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6502\/revisions\/6509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}