The crucifixion of Jesus reminds us that black suffering is a means through which God has loved his dark children. Great website-Father Tolten was not the first black in America. He was declared venerable in 2019. Jesus experienced the worse that a man could deal out to another and, therefore, leaves us an example. Religious orders were also tried, but to no avail. Father Augustus Tolton, you whose life demonstrated the fruit of the Holy Spirits gifts of fortitude and perseverance, pray for my strength and perseverance as I cry out for Gods mercy for (state your intention here). Pray Father Augustus Tolton that God will hear my cry and answer me according to His will. Amen! 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. Augustus was born into slavery. Tolton had asked to be buried in Quincy. Society and the Church did not allow Tolton to do these priestly things so easily assigned to him. He also learned to serve Mass. Banners announcing the Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton as the first African American diocesan priest were displayed in locations around the City of Chicago that had special significance for Father Tolton's life and legacy. The Tolton family had remained regular worshippers at St. Peters. At Quincy station there was a large and noisy crowd to welcome him. The Augustus Tolton cause for canonization is announced by Cardinal Francis George. WebTop Augustus Tolton Quotes I've always tried to do the smartest and best thing. He faced opposition notably from within the Christian community, the one institution he should have been able to rely upon for compassion and support. EWTN host discusses the remarkable life of Father Augustus Tolton during the 125th anniversary year of his death. Among the best known of these six is Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. His solemn Requiem Mass was attended by more than 100 brother priests and a crowd that overflowed the church. His human virtues and obvious piety did not go unremarked by the redoubtable Fr. 0000051295 00000 n Refused seminary training in this country because of his race, these same sympathetic priests and nuns helped him to receive a proper education and eventually seminary formation in Rome. 1889: Father Tolton begins his ministry in Chicago on December 19. Augustine Tolton was alone on a night train in a segregated carriage heading to Chicago where he had been assigned to care for that citys growing black population. Still, he went to Holy Mass as often as he could; he prayed daily. In June 2019, Pope Francis advanced the cause when he issued a decree declaring him venerable.. The Catholic Church deplores a double slavery that of the mind and that of the body. God pulled him through a sinful situation. America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. Father Tolton was declared venerable in 2019. His fellow students loved him too, and his professors held him in high regard. 1`' E,D2`%XX\DrE +LRZ*IF `6J5=@ 6w He also found a cultured and holy priest, one who complained of nothing and prayed for everything. Tolton is a model of virtue for all Catholics. Fr. HLN1y She endeavors to free us of both. The holy family fled at night into Eygpt to spare His life from Heord so our Blessed Lord was born in a cave which no one would expect for the King of kings. That night, the woman evaded her pursuers. His was a quiet approach, a novel ministry to black and white together and he was, unfortunately, resented for it. It was the priests of the Church who taught me to pray and to forgive my persecutors it was through the direction of a Sister of Notre Dame, Sister Herlinde, that I learned to interpret the Ten Commandments; and then I also beheld for the first time the glimmering light of truth and the majesty of the Church. On February 24, 2011 his cause was opened by the Archdiocese of Chicago making him a Servant of God, the first step towards canonization. Forces attempted to derail his priestly service in a creeping milieu of diversity that cried out for social and legal recognition but for which society and church could not respond at that time. Mild mannered and self-effacing as he was, Father Tolton survived enormous odds during that particularly difficult period of US history that viewed him an anomaly as an achieving black man, former slave and Catholic priest. 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. Father Augustus Tolton was the first identified black American ordained to the priesthood in the United States. One day the Parish Priest saw Gus praying alone in church. Michael ONeill Michael ONeill is a radio and television host, author, and creator of the website MiracleHunter.com, the top online resource on miracles. trailer <]/Prev 469030>> startxref 0 %%EOF 85 0 obj <>stream He abuses me in many ways Augustine Tolton was declared: Servant of God. print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the Father Tolton was demeaned for reasons of his race and background. You need patience to do Gods will and receive what he has promised. [10, 32-33; 35-36]. McGirr. In this Church we do not have to fight for our rights because we are black. His life story embodies the seminal verse from Isaiah 53:3 that points to the Messiah, He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. In hindsight, however, looking at that days generous welcome from all quarters, it was bitter sweet. On June 12, 2019, Tolton was declared Venerable by Pope Francis I, the second step towards canonization. If the United States has never before seen a black priest, it must see one now. Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni announcing to the committee deciding where Tolton would be sent in the world after April 1, 1854 He had won his freedom first by flight and his priesthood by perseverance. Discuss human rights as related to problems of Jim Justice to become law. Tolton lived in reduced circumstances. Fr. 1886: Augustus Tolton was ordained at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome on April 24 and was told he would return as a missionary to his home country of the United States in Quincy, Illinois. In Rome, he was Gus from the U.S., loved by his fellow seminarians and admired for his deep spirituality by his teachers. 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. Born into slavery in Missouri on April 1, 1854, and was baptized Catholic. 1854: Augustus is born to Martha Jane and Peter Paul Tolton in Missouri on April 1. Everyone was kind to me, Father Tolton recalled years later. 1882: The lower level of St. Marys Church in Chicago becomes Chicagos first Negro parish. Saints arise from the exigencies of the eras within which they live. God must be working salvation out through it all while none of it makes sense. He loved his time in the Eternal City. In the case of Augustus Tolton it is the long period of black slavery in this country and the nations Civil War foisting a resolution to uncompensated black servitude and the tumultuous period of Reconstruction of a nation torn to shreds over this issue. The Church is broad and liberal. Just remember that even though many people dont know his name, many people are praying for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. Trusting all to Providence, the same fervour and energy that Fr. He was born a slave in Missouri and escaped to Quincy, Illinois, through the Underground Railroad. 0000005833 00000 n Blacks were considered inferior and were begrudgingly accepted, if at all, in the social groupings and institutions that made up America. or school. Bishop Healy of Maine ordained in 1854 was of African and Irish parentage(her mother a freed slave). My grandson Ignatius wants to become a Jesuit Priest. We have seen over the many years a variety of ways to confront the evil of racism, social protest violent and non-violent, academically through oratory, literature, prose and story-telling. With one last look at his children, Peter headed out into the night, to the North, and to war. Several months later, his mother, Martha, decided it was time for her and the children to also seek freedom. We gaze at the crucifix to find a source of meaning. He receives special instruction because he was far advanced over other students. They settled in Quincy, Illinois, a major stop on the Underground Railroad. He wanted nothing less than for Father Gus to leave. What message is God sending through repeated instances of human agony and crucifixion? 0000003050 00000 n In July 1886, Fr. The good Lord allowed his witness only a short stay here. 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. It was through the influence of one of them that I became what I am tonight. Toltons life story inserts a dialectic into a begrudging situation of intransigence to social and moral change. But Father Tolton received no rewards or citations in life. We believers try to make sense of our own experiences of being victims along lifes way by gazing back at what happened to the Savior in his own mistreatment. Not till Judgment Day will we have an answer to the why of black suffering and black ignominy, or dare we say, Black Holocaust? But society could not perceive nor accept that he was a priest for both black and white. He was from Missouri and died in Chicago, but he was ordained by and for Springfield in IL., where he was buried. Seven years after Augustine, or Gus as he was known, was born, war broke out between the States. For years he persevered; eventually promoted by his employers, it proved a small consolation. fQn_PzAdx%Q~b , 73G':rl4=@ Augustine Tolton 0000059992 00000 n That night they took an old row boat across the Mighty Mississippi while the Confederates shot at them from shore. Father Tolton could find joy under trial and be himself simultaneously an encourager of others with their trials. 19th century America placed dark skin at the bottom of the color pyramid. Born in Brush Creek, Ralls County, Missouri We need good priests. Catch a new episode of They Might Be Saints.. Toltons sanctity emerges from an experience of the cross. A nation experimenting with democracy and certain notions of freedom was unable to process the dignity of black skin amidst the kaleidoscope of ethnic diversity emerging therein. He died of complications from heat stroke on July 9, 1897. 1878: Augustus Tolton enrolls in St. Francis College, now Quincy University. Father Tolton was not the first black (priest) in America. Their efforts were remarkable in face of those odds and likely those odds could have proven too high to overcome. Cause website: https://tolton.archchicago.org. She had colored saints Augustine, Benedict the Moor, Monica. Mrs Henderson, please know that your grandson will be in my prayers. We desperately need more priests from the US. Tolton, a man of deep feeling, viewed himself a priest for anyone and everyone who approached the Church for the grace and mercy of God. The young priest worked tirelessly to minister to them, reminding them of the one thing no human power could remove or tarnish: their Catholic Faith. But, racial prejudice was also found there. 0000002077 00000 n Just outside the train station he had been seen to stumble and then collapse on the city street. If America has never seen a black priest it has to see one now! With these prophetic words the assignment orders for Father Tolton changed from some place in Africa back to Quincy, Illinois in the Diocese of Alton. Sign-up for E-NewsletterGet Register Updates sent daily or weeklyto your inbox. Northern congregations resented the recent influx of blacks from the South. The priests who knew him also saw a future priest in the dedicated, pious young man. They had fled Missouri and were crossing over into the Northern state of Illinois, and to freedom. Having already passed the states House of Delegates, the bill has only to be signed by Republican Gov. He is 14 years old. 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. %%EOF His canonization we hope will elicit an appreciation by the wider Catholic community for the contributions that Catholics of African descent offer the Church. 348 0 obj <> endobj 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. 0000012723 00000 n 1868: Augustus Tolton enrolled in St. Peter School, Quincy, Illinois. My father was actually in the Jesuit seminary for a number of years. McGirr knew the frustration and sadness that clung to the outwardly smiling Gus Tolton. Just as with his father before him, Gus was an idealist. 1870: Augustus Tolton was confirmed in St. Peter Church at age 16 and likely received his First Communion. God bless your grandson, Mrs. Henderson! Theme: Head Blog, Black (And Catholic) Like Me: Stories and Reflections on the Churchs Black Saints, Let em Speak On It: Reflections on Notable Quotes From Black Catholics, Prod. The Faith is more than bricks and mortar, however, and, in 2011, after an initial investigation at the behest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Fr. I will end with three quotes: America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. The young man looked embarrassed. Shockingly, as we turn the page of the sacred story we find a new chapter unguessed and unforeseen: God forgave us even after what we did to his Son. He waited. So its important to pray for Ignatius, as well as for those who may be against him. Among the best known of these six is Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first recognized American Black priest. This same year, Fr. The Gospel offers one approach, one that enjoins loving our enemies, doing good to those who mistreat us, approaching every man, woman and child out of genuine respect, honoring their dignity as a human being and as fellow brother and sister in Christ. Tolton had brought to Quincy was now loosed upon a poor district of Chicagos south side. There is a German priest here who is jealous and contemptuous, Augustus wrote in his second report to the Propaganda. Augustus Tolton Quote - Catholic Quote - Catholic nursery decor - Catholic Printable - digital download - Baptism gift $5.00 Add to cart 431 shop reviews Sort by: Suggested 1872: Augustus Tolton graduated from St. Peter School at age 18. His parents were both slaves of Catholic families and had been married in the Catholic Church the same St. Peters where Augustus and his two siblings were baptized. Ordained in Rome, Italy, April 24, 1886 A visiting priest met Fr. It brings a message of hope and healing for the wounds that plague our culture. As Cardinal Gibbons retired to his dais [on the altar at the Mass], the reporters in the improvised press gallery noticed for the first time, not six feet away from him in the sanctuary among the abbots and other special dignitaries, the black face of Father Tolton of Chicago, the first colored Catholic priest ordained in America. Catholic Church. Gus participated as much as he could in parish activities: learning to serve Holy Mass, and then going on to be a lay catechist. No one understood how impossible that was. Copyright 2023 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. He abuses me in many ways and has told the bishop to send me out of this place. BOOK PICK: Father Josh Johnsons On Earth as It Is in Heaven, Hawley asked Garland whether the Department of Justice is cultivating sources and spies in Latin Mass parishes and other Catholic parishes around the country.. 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