Memoirs: Historical and Edifying of a Missionary Apostolic of the Order of Saint Dominic Among Various Indian Tribes and Among the Catholics and Protestants in the United States of America
Memoirs: Historical and Edifying of a Missionary Apostolic of the Order of Saint Dominic Among Various Indian Tribes and Among the Catholics and Protestants in the United States of America
TO THE READER Among the motives that persuaded the compiler of these memoirs to consent to their publication, there are two leading ones: First, to comply with the earnest solicitations of many pious persons in Italy, both of the laity and religious of the illustrious Order of Preachers to which the missionary glories in belonging, who have expressed the most eager desire to obtain a more thorough knowledge of his labors in a region little known in Europe, and where, thanks to Divine Assistance, he was able to establish ...
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TO THE READER Among the motives that persuaded the compiler of these memoirs to consent to their publication, there are two leading ones: First, to comply with the earnest solicitations of many pious persons in Italy, both of the laity and religious of the illustrious Order of Preachers to which the missionary glories in belonging, who have expressed the most eager desire to obtain a more thorough knowledge of his labors in a region little known in Europe, and where, thanks to Divine Assistance, he was able to establish Catholic worship; the second motive he considers as of grave importance, also, as it is with the design of contributing to the Ecclesiastical history of the United States of America, those documents which will one day assist to make clear the beginning of the dioceses of Detroit, of Milwaukee and of Dubuque, recently erected by the Sovereign Pontiff, happily reigning, and make known the obstacles which the servants of the Lord have to encounter in the propagating of the truth of the Gospel. It is to be hoped that this little work which may tend to the edification of some, and may powerfully move the zeal of others for the propagation of the Faith, will redound also to the greater glory of God, which is the only aim proposed by him who writes. It has been thought useful to preface the book with a few thoughts concerning the vocation to the holy missions, and a simple account of the circumstances which attended the same vocation of the person in question, for the benefit of those who feeling called thereto, delay in responding either through misplaced apprehension or for any other reasons. For the better understanding of the subject, and in order not to deviate from the form of a well-conducted narration, although facts and places varied in many respects are treated of, it has been thought best to describe them chronologically, and thus relieve the monotony of the account. Honorable mention has not been omitted of the missions of other priests which were near those of the missionary, not only to render them their just meed of homage, but also that there might be no break in the history of those countries. The compiler would be more diffuse in his description of the missions which in some places preceded those of the missionary, if the accounts given by the old inhabitants of certain places had shown a higher degree of probability. Actuated solely by the thought of helping others, he has intermingled with his own narrations certain moral reflections that sprang from a heart accustomed to derive from all happenings that which makes the blessings of Divine Providence and the sublimity of the Christian virtues shine forth the more resplendently. The name of the missionary and the circumstances of his life not connected with the history of his labors, are withheld as is fitting, since they are considered of no importance to the object of these memoirs, who looks upon himself as but a simple instrument of the Will of the Lord. If any should wonder that the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith have not published at least a portion of these memoirs he must bear in mind, in the first place that not everything which is effected by the missionaries in foreign countries can be known by that wonderful Association which is beyond praise; and moreover, that there are priests who by reason of their great distance from Italy, or the precarious conditions surrounding them, or lastly, perhaps, willing to put into practice the Evangelical Counsel, to let not the left hand know what the right hand doeth, fail to set forth their deeds in public. We are to consider, however, that our Lord counseled us to make known our good works and glorify our Father Who is in Heaven (St. Matthew, V. 16); He Who graciously disposes all things, has appointed in His inscrutable ways, the time, when, with Christian prudence, not through vainglory, or through any other human motive, it will be fitting to reveal His works.
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