It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you....
John 15:16
At dawn a prayer shall be offered over the water. Where there is no scarcity of water the stream shall flow through the baptismal font or pour into it from above; but if water is scarce, whether as a constant condition or on occasion, then use whatever water is available. Let them remove their clothing. Baptize first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them. Next, baptize the men, and last of all the women.
"Tradition of the Apostles"
St. Hippolytus of Rome
215 AD
Many people around the world will be baptized tonight. Maybe you will remember your own baptism or maybe you will remember having been told about your own baptism. As for me, my country midwife grandmother delivered me and immediately baptized me right there because I was going through a near-death experience.
Many Catholics do not know that total immersion baptism is an option when adults are baptized. Its their choice. When it became a choice, we made provisions for in in the Cathedral renovation in the1990s.
Many people also do not know that already baptized people are not re-baptized when they come into the Catholic Church as members from other Christian denominations. It is actually forbidden. We accept their baptisms as valid.
This a a photo of Archbishop Kurtz baptizing an adult by immersion at the Cathedral of the Assumption on Holy Saturday a couple of years ago.
THE RECORD OF A CATHOLIC SLAVE'S 1830 BAPTISM
Imagine what it was like being baptized as a "slave" in a Catholic log cabin church in rural Kentucky in 1830! Today, it sounds incongruous and sad to use the words "Catholic" and "slave" in the same sentence. As awful as the common practice of slavery was back then, many Catholic slave "owners" of St. Theresa Parish were compassionate and caring enough to baptize their "servants," give them a Catholic education, attend Mass with them, provide them a Catholic burial and, in this case, are now part of producing a new American saint. Knowing these historical facts can help us realize how far we have come as well as how far we need to go.
Father Elisha J. Durbin
1800 - 1887
Father Durbin served St. Theresa Church as a traveling missionary before the first resident pastor, Father Charles Ignatius Coomes, took his place. Father Durbin was the first priest to start keeping sacramental records at St. Theresa. Below is entry # 22.
Father Durbin rode over 200,000 miles on horseback serving Catholic settlements in central and western Kentucky, northern Tennessee and southern Illinois. Father Durbin and several other early pastors of St. Theresa Church are buried in St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville, KY, not far from my condo.
This is typical of a baptismal record of the time. Slaves were referred to as "servants of" their "owners."
Slaves would have attended Mass at St. Theresa's log cabin church with their "owners," but they would have been required to sit in an area "apart" from the rest of the congregation.
(1830)
December 5th, I baptised Charles Son of Augustin & Matilda
Servants of John Manning. Born October 1829.
Godmother Servant of the same, Maria. E. J. Durbin . 22
Charles was the uncle of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, first black priest ordained in the United States and a soon-to-be-canonized saint. He left St. Theresa with his sister, Martha Jane who was the mother of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, when their "owner" Ann Savilla Manning Elliott moved to Missouri.
Below is Charles' mother's tombstone in St. Theresa Cemetery in Rhodelia, my home parish.
In memory of, Matildy, consort of Guston Chisley.
Born 1806 - Died 1836
"Consort" was typically used in those days to designate a "wife." In the history of this family, the names Guston, Gus, Augustus and Augustine are interchangeable. The future Father Augustus Tolton was obviously named after his grandfather "Guston."
On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, Mother Provincial Julie accompanied by her Assistant Sister Terese of Chicago and several of her Little Sisters of the Poor serving at St. Joseph Home for the Aged in Louisville asked me to take them on a "pilgrimage" to the grave of Matilda Hurd Chisley in the old Saint Theresa Cemetery who was the grandmother of the Venerable Augustus Tolton.
The Little Sisters of the Poor are very acquainted with Father Tolton who served his last years and died in a Chicago Parish at age 38 of a heat stroke. Father Tolton wanted to be buried in Quincy, Illinois, where he grew up as a slave and first served as the first black priest ordained in the United States.
Father Tolton's mother (Martha Jane) came from St. Theresa Parish in Rhodelia and is buried in Chicago. His Grandmother (Matilda) and his step-grandmother (Maria) are buried in St. Theresa Cemetery, as well as some of his uncles and aunts - all Catholic slaves.
I am doing what I can to make sure they are made known, remembered, thanked and honored for their contributions to the Catholic Community of Old Saint Theresa down in Meade County, Kentucky, where I grew and first practiced my Catholic faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment