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Pierre Toussaint - Black Saint to be?
The Vatican took another step recently toward declaring a Haitian-born slave, the United States' first black saint. The Vatican body which studies candidates for sainthood issued a decree recognizing that Pierre Toussaint "lived in an outstanding way, better than we do," said the Rev. Paolo Molinari, who is promoting Toussaint's sainthood. Pope John Paul IIattended a ceremony at the Vatican on Tuesday to present the decree declaring the "heroic virtues" of Toussaint. "The decree means "Pierre Toussaint, more than any of us, lived...in an outstanding Christian way," Molinari said. The process of declaring official sainthood is long and complex. Candidates must first be beatified, and beatification requires a certified miracle. Molinari said several possible miracles attributed to Toussaint's intercession are under study. Toussaint worked for a well-educated, religious Catholic family in Haiti that brought him to New Yourk when they fled an anti-slavery uprising. Living with the family as a domestic servant, Toussaint learned to read and write. He also worked as a barber and was allowed to keep some earnings. After his owner died, the widow became impoverished and Toussaint supported her. The widow freed him before she died in 1807. Toussaint then married a woman from Haiti. Until his death in New York City in 1853, he worked with orphans, the poor and the sick, both black and white, Molinari said.
Saint Augustine
Historians tell us that there is more intimate knowledge available about Saint Augustine than of any other individual in the whole world of antiquity. Augustine the sinner is all too well known. There is knowledge of him as a convert and author of Confession, but little is known of him as a Father of the Church and as a saint.
Augustine was born in the little town of Tagaste, Africa, on November 13, 354. He claimed that he learned the love of God from his mother Monica's breast, and that her early Christian training influenced his entire life.
He was highly educated, having studied at Madaura, Africa, the University of Carthage, and Rome. He was brilliant - actually a genius and he used his great abilities to lead men to love God.
His thousand of letters, sermons, and tracts, combined with 232 books instructed the Early Church and have relevance for the Church today. It is said that Christian scholars through the ages owe much to Augustine, and that the full impact of his psychology and his embryonic theology will be felt in years to come. Blondie writes, "The Augustinian outlook alone allows not only the Catholic philosophy, but also the fully human one."
Augustine was truly a saint. He lived an austere life, performing great acts of mortification and penance. He wrote, "I pray to God, weeping almost daily. I have decided to desert Christ's authority absolutely at no point."
His feast day is August 28th.
Saint Monica
Saint Monica, an African laywoman, is a saint with whom most black women can readily and easily identify, because Monica epitomizes the present-day black woman.
Saint Monica was born in Thagaste in northern Africa about 331. She was a devout Christian and an obedient disciple of St. Ambrose. Through her patience, gentleness and prayers she converted her pagan husband. To her son, St. Augustine of Hippo whom she loved dearly, she gave thorough religious training during his boyhood, only to know the disappointment of seeing him later scorn all religion and live a life of disrepute. Before her death Monica had the great job of knowing that Augustine had returned to God
and was using all his energies to build Christ's Church, and that her youngest daughter had become a nun.
Today many black mothers wonder what they did wrong, that their sons forsake the Church when they reached adolescence. Many women today need the hope that their prayers and tears will be rewarded, as were Monica's by the return of their children to the sacraments.
Saint Benedict
Saint Benedict the Black, a lay brother, was born in Sicily in 1526. He was the son of African slave parents, but he was freed at an early age. When about twenty-one he was insulted because of his color, but his patient and dignified bearing caused a group of Franciscan hermits who witnessed the incident to invite him to join their group. He became their leader. In 1564 he joined the Franciscan friary in Palermo and worked in the kitchen until 1578, when he was chosen superior of the group. He carried through the
adoption of stricter interpretation of the Franciscan rule. His feast day is in April.
Saint Moses
Saint Moses the Black, was a desert monk, born around 330. He was an Ethiopian of great physical strength and unruly character. He became the leader of a gang of robbers and lived a life of violence. He was converted and joined the monks in the desert of Sketis. He was chosen for priesthood and at his ordination the bishop remarked to him, "Now the black man is made white." Moses replied, "Only outside, for God know I am still dark within." He was killed during a raid by Berbers on the monastery, which he refused to defend.
Antonio Vieira
Antonio Vieira was an African born in Portugal. When he was fifteen years old, he became a Jesuit novice and later a professor of rhetoric and dogmatic theology. He went to Brazil where he worked to abolish discrimination against Jewish merchants, to abolish slavery, and to alleviate conditions among the poor. On the 200th anniversary of his death, in 1897, he was canonized.
African Popes
There were three African Popes who came from a region of North Africa where the people were predominately Negro and are still Negroid today. Although there are no authentic portraits of these popes, there are drawings and references in the Catholic Encyclopedia as to their being of African
background. The names of the three African Popes are: Victor (189-203 A.D.), Gelasius (492-496 A.D.), and Melchiades or Miltiades (311-314 A.D.). All are saints.
Pope St. Victor
African by birth. He condemned and excommunicated Theodore of Byzantium who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. In a council held in Rome in 196, he fixed the Feast of Easter for the Sunday after the 14th day of the moon of March. He suffered martyrdom under Servus. He was the Church's 14th Pope.
Pope St. Gelasius
St. Gelasius was born in Africa and reigned as Pope from 492 to 496. He decreed the Canon of Scripture with which the Tridentine Canon agrees. His theory on the relations between the Church and the state are explained in the Gelasian Letter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. Gelasius was active in rooting out the last vestiges of paganism in Rome.
Pope St. Miltiades or Pope St. Melchiades
St. Miltiades was one of the Church's Black Popes. He was born in Africa, but died in Rome in January, 314. Little is known of Miltiades except that during his reign as pope, the Emperor Constant decreed toleration for Christianity. The classical era of persecution came to an end and the Church had to meet more subtle trails. St. Augustine praised St. Miltiades as a man of moderation and peace. His feast day is December 10th.
St. Martin De Porres
St. Peter Claver
Martyrs of Uganda
Africa has been abundantly blessed by dedicated young men who have devoted time, energy and life to the conversion of their people. The Church of Uganda has been nourished by the blood of her martyrs and their zeal, for they were all apostles to their brothers before being martyrs. Everyone said
that they were the best in the country, the most sincere, the most intelligent and the most generous. Yet, King Mwanga hated them so intensely for their purity he ordered them cut into pieces, burned and thrown to the dogs.
The White Fathers had converted many Africans to Christianity, and because of their success they were expelled from the country. The new converts dedicated their lives to carrying out the work of the missionaries. They revised the catechism, printed it in their native language, and secretly gave instruction. They taught the people the true faith, encouraged them to pray and give witness to Christ and, although there were no priests in the country, they kept alive the faith. They met great opposition from tribal chiefs, medicine men, pagans and Moslems.
Because the Christian pages attached to the court refused to perform impure acts, the King ordered twenty-two boys ranging in age from thirteen to thirty to be tortured. They endured horrible cruelty with heroic courage and died nobly for Christ.
Immediately after the persecution there were 500 Christians and 1000 catechumens in the country. The White Fathers were asked to return to Uganda after the death of King Mwanga. They baptized more than 150 catechumens.
Now Uganda, a Christian land, has two million Catholics, three major and eight minor seminaries. Some 200 African priest, 200 brothers and 1000 sisters, natives of the country, dedicated themselves to evangelizing their people. Every parish comprises form Bishops of Uganda, there are two Baganda. Two institutes of African religious, seven institutes of African sisters and four thousand catechists continue the work of the Uganda Martyrs.
Patrick F. Healy, S.J. - College President
Patrick F. Healy was born in a log cabin near Macon, Georgia, in 1834. He was the third of ten children of Michael Healy, an Irish planter, and his wife, Elisa, a former slave. An opponent of slavery, Healy had bought her freedom to marry her.
Three of their sons chose the priesthood and two daughters became nuns. One brother, James Augustine, became the first Negro priest and Catholic bishop in America (when he was named the second bishop of Portland, Maine). Another, Alexander Sherwood, was Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston. One sister, Emma, founded the Sisters of the Holy Family, an order dedicated to teaching black children.
In 1873 Father Healy became the first black president of a major university in the United States, Georgetown College, which had been founded in 1789. This was the nation's oldest Catholic College. Under his leadership the school expanded. The curriculum was extended to include advanced sciences
and medicine. The law school was revitalized. An extensive building program was undertaken, several permanent awards were established and the Georgetown College Journal appeared. Football and other sports were encouraged. Alumni associations were formed and the school's endowment increased. Most importantly, academic excellence was required and the school became a renowned university.
In 1882 Father Healy was forced to resign due to failing health. He was appointed spiritual father of St. Joseph's college in Philadelphia. Illness forced Father Healy to return to Georgetown's infirmary as a patient in 1908 and he died there two years later.
(Reprint from Georgetown Today by Martin Yant)
Bishop James Augustine Healy
James Augustine Healy, brother of Patrick F. Healy, was the first Negro Catholic bishop in the United States. For twenty-five years he presided over the diocese of Maine and New Hampshire. Under him 68 mission stations, 18 parochial schools and 50 church buildings were built. The number of Catholic
communities more than doubled. The Church recognized Bishop Healy's work by making him assistant to the papal throne, a rank just below that of Cardinal.
It is important that the black Catholics know that today there are black priests, brothers and sisters also making a contribution to the mission of the Church. Many of them hold positions of influence and prominence.
In the United States there are thirteen black men who serve as bishops. The Most Reverend Eugene Marino is Archbishop of Atlanta, GA., and the Most Reverend Joseph L. Howze is Bishop of Biloxi, MI. The other eleven serve as auxiliary Bishops: the Most Reverend Moses Anderson- Detroit, MI, the Most Reverend Joseph A. Francis- Newark, N.J., the Most Reverend Wilton Gregory- Chicago, IL, the Most Reverend James P. Lyke- Cleveland, OH, the Most Reverend Emerson Moore- New York, N.Y., the Most Reverend Harold R. Perry- New Orleans, LA, the Most Reverend John H. Ricard- Baltimore, MD, the Most Reverend Carl Fisher- Los Angeles, CA, the Most Reverend Terry Steib- St. Louis, MI, the Most Reverend Curtis Guillory- Houston, TX, and the Most Reverend Leonard Olivier- Washington, D.C.
List of Some African Saints, Blesseds and Venerables
African American nun-former slave Sister Josephine Bakhita to be canonized October 1, 2000 in Rome. For more details and pilgrimage to Italy information, visit the National Black Catholic Congress website at http://www.nbccongress.orgor call (410) 547-8496. Space is limited.
Josephine Bakhita who died in 1947 at age 78 was born in Sudan to a loving and prosperous family but at age 9 was kidnapped and sold into slavery where a series of owner humiliated, tortured and mutilated her. Between 1883-85, the young girl was sold twice more, and was taken to Italy to be a nurse-maid for her mistress' child. The child name Mimmina, was enrolled in a boarding school run by the Daughters of Charity (the Cannossian Sisters). It was there that Sr. Josephine began to learn about the Catholic
Faith. Sr. Josephine died February 8, 1947. She lay in state for three days, and mourners noticed that her limbs remained flexible. Sisters lifted her hands and placed them on the heads of their children, praying for her blessing. Large crowds followed her hearse to the cemetery. A woman of immense faith and forgiveness, she was beatified in May 1992 by Pope John Paul II in the Catholic canon of saints. (The Catholic Review, July 13, 2000, pg.7)
This unofficial list is only an attempt to put together a monthly calendar of some African Saints, Blesseds, and Venerables, holy men and women of African ancestry, those of the ancient Church of North Africa as well as those of later centuries including those of the twentieth century. The year indicates when they died, and the date at the end of the comment indicates the feast day. This list is not exhaustive.
Name Year Comment
St. Fulgentius 533 Bishop of Ruspe, Tunisia, January 1st.
St. Paul 342 Egyptian Hermit and founder of Monastic life in Thebes, January 15.
St. Anthony 356 Founder of monastic life in the desert of Egypt, January 17.
St. John the Alms Giver 619 Patriarch of Alexandria, January 23.
St. Gelasius 496 Bishop of Rome and third African Pope (492-496).
SS. Perpetua and Felicity 202 Martyred in Carthage along with 6 other companions, March 7.
St. Maximilian (Marmilian) 295 Martyred at Theveste, Numidia after refusing to serve in the Roman army, March 12.
St. Benedict the Black 1585 Sicilian, son of African parents; the first African to be canonized through the regular canonical process, April 12.
St. Zeno 380 Born at Cherchell, Algeria; missionary in Verona, Italy, where he become Bishop of Verona (c.362), April 12.
St. Marcellinus 4th Cent. He was an African missionary to France, April 20.
St. Athanasius 373 Bishop of Alexandria, May 2.
SS. Timothy and Maura 298 Husband and wife martyred in Southern Egypt, May 3.
St. Isdore of Chios 251 Alexandrian army officer beheaded for his faith, May 15.
Blessed Josephine Bakhita ? Sudanese slave girl who joined the Canossian Sisters, Italy, lived a holy life, and beatified May 17, 1992. Canonization of Josephine Bakhita by Pope John Paul II is scheduled on October 1, 2000.
St. Julia of Tunisia ? Slave girl crucified for her faith, May 22.
St. Charles Lwanga and Companions 1886 Martyrs, canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The 22 young court servant were martyred for their faith by the Buganda King Mwanga in 1886. Along with them were 80 young Anglicans, June 3.
St. Onuphrius 4th Cent. Egyptian hermit, June 12.
St. Orsiesius c.380 Abbot of Tabennisi Monastery, Egypt, June 15.
St. Cyril of Alexandria 444 Patriarch of Alexandria (412-444), June 27.
St. Shenute c.450 Founder of monastic life in Egypt, July 1.
St. Anatolius c.282 Philosopher and scientist of Alexandria, July 3.
St. Pantaenus 190 Head of Alexandrian Catechetical School and missionary to Persia (Iran), July 9.
St. Eugenius 5th Cent. Archbishop of Carthage, Tunisia, July 20.
St. Speratus and Companions 180 The 12 martyrs of Scillum, Carthage, Tunisia, July 17.
St. Aurelius 5th Cent. Archbishop of Carthage, Tunisia, July 20.
St. Victor I 199 Bishop of Rome and first African Pope (189-199), July 23.
St. Rutilius 4th Cent. North African martyr, August 2.
Blessed Isidore Bakanja 1909 A Congolese laborer and catechist martyred for his faith, August 17.
Blessed Victoire Rasoamanarivo 1894 Foundress of the Catholic Action in Madagascar, beatified in 1989, August 21.
153 martyrs of Utica c.260 Thrown into a pit of quicklime in Utica, Tunisia, August 24.
St. Monica 387 Mother of St. Augustine of Hippo, widowed at age 40, August 27.
St. Poemen c.400 A desert monk known for his holiness, and who encouraged frequent Communion, August 27.
St. Augustine of Hippo 354-430 Bishop of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba) on coast of Algeria, Doctor of the Church, August 28.
St. Moses the Black 395 A slave, gang leader, who after conversion died a martyr of non-violence on August 28, his feast day. The date providentially coincides with the march to Washington by 200,000 African Americans in 1963, August 28.
Blessed Ghebre Mikha'el 1855 Ethiopian priest and martyr, September 2.
St. Donatian and Companions 257 9 Bishops, several deacons and lay persons who died in a marble quarry in North Africa, September 10.
St. Maurice and his Theban Legion (from Egypt) 287 Martyrs, who were killed at Agauno, Switzerland for refusing to sacrifice to pagan divinities, September 22.
St. Matthew 1st Cent. Apostle and Evangelist. According to one ancient tradition, he was the first evangelizer of Nubia (modern Sudan), September 21.
St. Raissa c.300 Virgin and martyr from Alexandria, September 22.
SS. Aizan and Sazan 360 Twin Brothers; Aizan was the first Christian Emperor of the Kingdom of Axum, Ethiopia, October 1.
St. Thais c.350 Egyptian penitent, converted after many years as a prostitute, October 8.
St. Cerbonius 573 African missionary Bishop in Italy, October 10.
St. Michael Aragave 4th Cent. One of the first Ethiopian Monks, October 11.
St. Sarmata 357 A disciple of St. Anthony of Egypt, martyred by Saracens in the Egyptian desert, October 11.
5000 African martyrs and confessors of the faith 483 African martyrs deported and killed for their faith by the Vandal King Huneric, October 12.
Commemoration of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church: St. Frumentius (Abba Salama) and Aedesius 380 Syriac monks and founders of the Church in Ethiopia, October 27.
St. Elesbaan 555 An Ethiopian King who died as a monk in Jerusalem, October 27.
St. Lalibala (Ghebre Mesgel) 1255 An Ethiopian Emperor revered for his faith, October 27.
St. Tekla Hymanot 1313 A great Ethiopian reformer of monasticism, October 27.
St. Martin de Porres 1639 Born in Peru, son of a Spanish father and an African slave mother, who became a pharmacist at an early age and later joined the Dominican Order, where he continued to dispense medicine to the poor, while living a humble and austere life, with great devotion to the
Eucharist, November 3.
St. Pierius 4th Cent. Head of the Catechetical School in Alexandria, November 4.
St. Achilias 312 Head of religious instruction in Alexandria, November 7.
St. Nennas c.300 An Egyptian soldier in Phygia, who fled from persecution and became a hermit, November 11.
St. Arcadius and Companions 437 Martyrs, victims of the Arian Kind of the Vandals, Genseric, November 13.
St. Gelasius 496 Bishop of Rome and third African Pope (492-496), liturgical reformer, who ordered the reception of Communion under both species, November 21.
St. Catherine of Alexandria 4th Cent. Virgin and martyr who suffered martyrdom in Alexandria. Her relics are said to be kept in the monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai, November 25.
Blessed Anuarite Nengapeta 1964 Virgin and martyr, a member of the Holy Family Sister in Congo Kinshasa, martyred by the Simba rebels, December 1.
St. Peter Martyr of Alexandria 311 Patriarch of Alexandria during the Roman persecution, December?
St. Cassian of Tangiers 298 A lawyer who resigned and became Christian and died as a martyr, December 3.
St. Melchiades 314 Bishop of Rome and second African Pope (311-314), December 10.
Our Thanks to African American Catholic Ministries
Archdiocese of Baltimore
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
(410) 625-8472
FAX: (410) 727-5432
e-mail
http://www.archbalt.org/cardinal/AACM/index.html
African American Catholics
The Black Catholic Information Mall (BCIMall) is a project of the Catholic African World Network to establish a constant flow of communications among the 200 million Catholics of African descent in the world today.
http://www.bcimall.org/
RESOURCES FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN CATHOLICS
This site has information on African American Popes and Saints; African American Parishes; Fraternal Voice (Newsletter by African American Seminarians; Prayers for Canonization Cause.
http://www.xula.edu/~gdgaskin/
AFRICAN AMERICAN CATHOLIC COMMUNICATION TASK FORCE
The African American Catholic Communication Task Force is affiliated with The African American Vicariate of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, an ongoing body of clergy, religious and laity to envision, shape and implement the future of the church in the African American Community. It attempts to gain clarity, consensus and commitment about the issues and concerns that these Priests, involved in African-American Ministry, encounter and to develop them into an effective actualizing group. It's members are African American Catholics from different Catholic Churches in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
http://www.catholic.org/aacctf/
SECRETARIAT FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN CATHOLICS
The official voice for African American Catholics. Includes African American Fact Sheet; African American Bishops; National African American Catholic Calendar of Events; National African American Catholic Alert Network; Publications and Videotapes; Stand Up and Speak Out!
http://www.nccbuscc.org/saac/
CATHOLIC RESOURCES
This site hosts Ruth McCuaig's Homeschooling Page. Includes various Black Catholic Resource links.
http://users.desupernet.com/pages/ahalliwell/Pages/OLRS.html
BLACK CATHOLIC STUDIES
This is a direct link to Xavier University.
http://www.xula.edu/BCS.html
CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AFRICA
http://www.rc.net/africa/catholicafrica/
CHRISTIAN CLIPART
http://www.barrysclipart.com/relg/relg.html
NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC EVANGELIZATION FORUM
This is an outgrowth of National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.
http://www.bcn.net/~wsavage/index.html
IN A WORD
This site has the monthly publication for and about African American Catholics.
http://www.inaword.com/
BLACK CATHOLIC LINKS
http://www.catholic-doc.org/bcm/bcmlinks.html
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