From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
“From the Archives” is back after a short hiatus that can be attributed to many wonderful events going on in our diocese, travel, the World Cup, and the dentist. The summer heat is upon us full force and once again we find ourselves thanking the Lord for sturdy HVAC systems.

Last week I was talking with a friend who had just returned from an Alaskan cruise with family. I was rather envious hearing of the cool temperatures and whale sightings on that great Northwestern adventure.

Providentially, this conversation sparked a memory of a transatlantic cruise Bishop Richard Gerow took in September 1929. So, for the next couple of columns, let us transport ourselves back almost 100 years and journey with Bishop Gerow together with five seminary classmates as he sails on ocean breezes to exotic ports-of-call in Europe, Africa, and the Holy Land.

The voyage began on Sept. 21 from New York and ended with his arrival back in Natchez on Dec. 22 to several inches of snow and diocesan financial woes due to the collapse of the stock market in October while the Bishop was in Sicily.

So … let’s get sailing. We begin on the deck of the “Augustus,” an Italian cruise liner who along with her sister ship “Roma” were the premier sailing vessels for transatlantic crossings from North and South America. The Augustus was diesel-powered and could make the crossing in five days if the seas cooperated.

The Augustus was the most powerful motorship of her day. She was also the first ocean liner with a completely outdoor swimming pool. Bishop Richard Gerow – along with five seminary classmates – traveled to exotic ports-of-call in Europe, Africa and the Holy Land in the fall of 1929 on the premier Italian cruise liner. (Photos from Wikipedia)

At one time it was the largest motorship in the world, according to Wikipedia. Unfortunately, the Augustus meets a sad end. It was converted into an aircraft carrier by the Italian navy during World War II, then it was seized by the occupying Germans and was sunk in the Port of Genoa as a blockade. After the war, it was raised but eventually turned into scrap.

To think it once majestically ferried six 1909 graduates of the North American College in Rome and countless thousands from New York to all parts of the Mediterranean only to meet such an undignified ending.

Bishop Gerow begins his travel log with this description of the view from the deck:

“There is a thrill in watching a great steamer leave its berth for an ocean voyage. This morning we stood at the deck rail of the Augustus looking down upon the surging mass of people on the pier who had come to see the great ship depart.

“The ship’s gong had already sounded the notice ‘all ashore who are going ashore,’ and we but waited for the moment of departure. Friends ashore called to those aboard, and their calls were answered with showers of confetti. …

“Soon the great gangplank was lowered to the wharf. The great ropes which had held the ship were loosed, and … slowly, almost imperceptibly at first the great ship began to move. The crowd ashore shouts, handkerchiefs are waved from the pier. We see a silent face looking tenderly towards the moving ship, while a tear lingers on the eyelid.

“And in the midst of it all, seamen and wharf hands, officers and policemen move about as if this event, so important to many another, is merely a matter of routine in their lives.”

Bishop Gerow goes on to describe the first moments when all on the shore were no longer in sight. He and his classmates began to explore the Augustus to learn more about it. According to his description of the ship, it was about 700 feet long and around 32,500 tons. The open upper deck had a tennis court, shuffleboard courts, and a pool filled with blue salt water.

“On the decks are long promenades with comfortable steamer chairs. And inside, what gorgeous apartments – the great lounging saloon, the dining room, the smoking room, fitted with the most luxurious furniture, ornamented with beautiful tapestries and paintings.

“And spacious bedrooms with private bath, instead of the little rooms of olden days. All the arts of man seem to have been called upon to make this ship comfortable and luxurious. Certainly it is a far reach from the old sailing vessel that once carried our forefathers from Europe to America to the modern palatial Atlantic liner.”

Bishop Gerow would have gone to seminary in Rome and would have been in one of those “little rooms of olden days.” Now 20 years later he and his classmates have embarked on one of the finest ships on the sea. He has gone from steerage to upper decks. If anyone has flown on a long flight lately, you can somewhat imagine the difference of being in the main cabin versus being in the front.

So next time, we will be on the open seas and arriving off the coast of Spain as the adventurers make their way across the world.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
These past few weeks, I have been working on our upcoming ordination liturgies. Deacon Will Foggo will be ordained Saturday, May 16 in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Jackson. On July 18, Bishop Kopacz will ordain seven permanent deacons in the Cathedral, as well. Ordinations are beautiful liturgies and I invite you all to come and witness them in person or if you cannot make it in person, pray for these new ordinands.

Reflecting on May as the traditional month for priestly ordinations, I am rerunning a previous article on our diocesan bishops and the interconnectedness of dioceses in our region. I have updated it with more current information.
Our diocese was the 13th diocese established in the United States on July 28, 1837. Nashville and Dubuque were established the same day, but we claim pride of place due to strategic location and age.

We have a unique communion with three venerable and historic archdiocesan sees – Baltimore, the primal see of the U.S.; New Orleans, our first metropolitan provincial see; and Mobile, our metropolitan see, where Mass was first celebrated in 1703.

Bishop John Joseph Chanche (1) and Bishop William Henry Elder (3) are natives and products of Baltimore both being ordained bishops in Assumption Cathedral there in 1841 and 1857. Bishop James Oliver Van de Velde (2) was ordained a priest in Baltimore in 1827.

In 1852, Bishop Chanche ordained Francis Xavier Leray a priest in Natchez. Leray went on to become Archbishop of New Orleans in 1883. Bishop Elder, in 1859, was co-consecrator of John Quinlan, second bishop of Mobile, and Dominic Manucy in 1874, who went on to become third bishop of Mobile.

Bishop Francis Janssens (4) was elevated to Archbishop of New Orleans in 1888 and was principal consecrator of Bishop Thomas Heslin (5) in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans in 1889. Prior to being elevated to bishop, Bishop Heslin was ordained a priest in the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile by Bishop John Quinlan in 1869.

Bishop Quinlan added the portico to the Mobile cathedral and is buried under it instead of in the crypt chapel. He will be able to see his portico again on the day of the resurrection of the dead when his tomb is opened.

In 1890, Bishop John Edward Gunn (6) was ordained a priest in Rome by the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, which has nothing to do with the current thread, but I thought it was an interesting fact. In 1911, Bishop Gunn was ordained a bishop in Atlanta in Sacred Heart Church, which he built. Two of his three consecrating bishops were Archbishop James Hubert Blenk, Archbishop of New Orleans and fellow Marist, and Bishop Edward Allen of Mobile.

Bishop Richard Oliver Gerow (7) was born and raised in Mobile being baptized, confirmed, and in 1924 ordained a bishop in the Cathedral there by Bishop Allen. In 1927, Bishop Gerow was a co-consecrator of Archbishop Thomas Joseph Toolen of Mobile. Thirty years later, Bishop Gerow was principal consecrator of Vicksburg native, Joseph Bernard Brunini (8) in our Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle in Jackson. It was a co-cathedral then.

Bishop Brunini was a co-consecrator Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze as auxiliary of Jackson in 1973. Bishop Howze was a native of the Mobile area in Daphne and went on to become the first bishop of Biloxi when it was established in 1977.

Bishop William Russell Houck (9), a native of Mobile, was ordained a priest in the Mobile Cathedral in 1951. Another interesting aside, Bishop Houck was ordained a Bishop on May 27, 1979, in Rome by St. Pope John Paul II in a group of 27 bishops ordained that day.

New Orleans native, Bishop Joseph Nunzio Latino (10) was ordained a priest in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans by Archbishop John Cody in 1963. Forty years later, he was ordained a bishop in our cathedral by Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile. Bishop Houck served as a co-consecrator.

Bishop Joseph Richard Kopacz (11) was ordained a bishop in our cathedral in 2014 by Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi, archbishop emeritus of Mobile and native of New Orleans. Bishop Latino served as co-consecrator.

Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso, our new metropolitan of Mobile, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be ordaining and installing our next bishop (12) – whenever that time comes. Archbishop Rivituso, a native of St. Louis, was ordained a priest by Archbishop John May, who for a time served as bishop of Mobile (1969-80).

Well, that was a whirlwind of trails and tributaries surrounding the episcopal lineage of our region that gives a glimpse of the extraordinary interconnectedness of our bishops and dioceses. Even more, it is a microcosm of apostolic succession.

All this revelation of Catholic chronicles springs forth from memories of ordinations past inspired by the month of May. Pray for our clergy and think about coming to one of the upcoming celebrations.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
Occasionally, we have people wandering in wanting to stroll through our diocesan archives hoping to find long lost information about a parish event in 1950 or a baptismal record for a great grandparent. Often, these items are available at the local parish.

As a gentle reminder, the diocesan archives house the historical papers of each bishop and are open by appointment to scholars and historical researchers writing dissertations and articles for historical and church journals. Right now, we are doing some cleaning and reorganizing so the archives are closed to researchers until that is completed.

However, on the Thursday before Holy Week an old friend showed up in the chancery lobby and asked to see me. He had with him something I thought was lost forever – a large canvas painting of St. Augustine that once adorned the walls of the sanctuary in our Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle.

The current St. Peter’s was completed in 1900. It is the third church building. [The first burned in 1863; the second built in 1868 was moved in 1913 a few blocks north to become the first Holy Ghost church.] Its interior has gone through several renovations over the last 126 years, most recently in 2011-2012.

During a renovation in the 1950s, eight large canvas paintings of the four evangelists and four church fathers – Augustine, Ambrose, Athanasius and John Chrysostom were added to the sanctuary walls. The saints would gaze down upon the sacred mysteries with great joy and serenity.

In a later renovation, the interior went through a monochromatic phase and the eight canvases were removed. I had seen photos of them, but I never thought I would see them in person. But right here in front of me was one of them.

My friend explained that a former organist of the cathedral had found them discarded during renovation and took them home. Just recently he was moving and contacted my friend to come and get a few things he was not taking with him. Augustine was among those things.

What is even better is my friend told me he had seven more of these at home and would be happy to donate them to our archives. He just wanted me to see one and decide if we could take them on. (n.b., we do not take everything, so please call or email before bringing items for archives.)

The next day he brought in the remaining seven and all now reside safely in an ancillary archive room waiting for an opportunity to be cleaned and restored. We have just the spot for them.

The lesson is: when a renovation occurs at a parish, keep meticulous notes and records in a parish file of all contractors, architects, artists and craftsmen who do the work. If items are removed document where they go – to the parish hall or parish school, another parish, or if they are destroyed properly. Fifty to 100 years later, they may be the perfect piece needed to complete a renovation.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
On a beautiful Monday in February, Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson sealed the final two boxes of 15 total in the official closing session for the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification and canonization of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA. The closing session capped almost eight years of investigation and documentation into the life of Sr. Thea by theologians, historians and archivists.

In the presence of four brother bishops – Archbishop Mark Rivituso, the metropolitan archbishop of Mobile; Archbishop Thomas Rodi, retired archbishop of Mobile; Bishop Steven Raica, the bishop of Birmingham; and Bishop Robert Baker, retired Birmingham bishop – more than two dozen priests; two classes of elementary school students; and a packed house of joyful friends and admirers of Sister Thea, Bishop Kopacz celebrated a spirit-filled liturgy that transitioned into the closing ceremony filled with canonical protocols, oaths and decrees.

“This moment marks an important milestone in the Church’s careful and prayerful discernment of Sister Thea Bowman’s witness to the Gospel,” Kopacz said in his homily. “Her life continues to inspire faith, hope, and joy, not only within our diocese but throughout the Church in the United States and beyond.”

At the closing ceremony, Bishop Kopacz used red wax discs to seal the final two boxes of the 10 that would be shipped to the Vatican. These 10 boxes wrapped in the characteristic red ribbon adorned the altar and comprised two complete sets of the “acts” to be sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints by way of the apostolic nunciature in Washington. Each set contained a complete copy of the 15,000+ pages of transcribed writings, interviews, and decrees all needed to present as evidence of Sister Thea’s reputation of holiness to officials in Rome. One complete set of five boxes will remain permanently sealed in the Diocese of Jackson archive.

The cause postulator, Dr. Emanuele Spedicato, from Rome, myself as diocesan liaison to the cause, and members of the cause’s historical commission tasked with gathering all the documents, speeches, writings and notes of Sister Thea were present to witness the sealing of the boxes along with the cause tribunal who traveled the country to interview many witnesses who knew Sister Thea.

The historical commission – Dr. Cecilia Moore, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Dayton; Dr. Anne Klejment, professor emerita of history at St. Thomas University; Meg Paulino, FSPA archivist; and Sidney Paulson, FSPA associate archivist – worked the entire week before the Mass and closing session to organize all the documents with indices, page numbers, sections and volumes. As mentioned, each set contained 15,000+ pages divided into 47 volumes filling five banker boxes.

Each member of the commission got to seal at least one box of the complete set of 15. This process allowed us to determine exactly how many red wax discs we would need to be melted for Bishop Kopacz to seal the final two boxes at the ceremony. The sealing of first box of the two went very smoothly using six discs for the center seal on the ribbon knot then five discs for the secondary seal on the ribbon tails.
Then in front of everyone, in what seemed like an eternity, we waited for the second set of discs to melt for application to the second box. The virtue of patience played a major role throughout the entire eight-year journey and fittingly capped off the final moment of that closing session.

Following the ceremony, the boxes returned to my office in the chancery to be carefully packed and shipped to the apostolic nunciature in Washington where they would be placed in diplomatic pouches to ship to Rome. Each sealed box was wrapped in bubble wrap and heavily cushioned with packing materials to prevent the ribbons and seal from breaking during shipment. We even had to find heavy duty shipping boxes that could accommodate 38 lbs. of weight because that was 6 lbs. above the normal capacity for regular shipping boxes.

A few days ago, we received confirmation from the nunciature that the boxes were in route to the Vatican. A special ceremony for officially opening the boxes will be held at the Dicastery in Rome in the presence of the postulator and other dicastery officials. This normally happens within a few months of arrival.

The next phase will be the Roman Phase where the acts will be studied by the Dicastery while the postulator writes a large summary of the evidence that ultimately will be presented to the Holy Father. The Pope will determine if the Servant of God may then be declared venerable. The Roman phase may take up to five years.

Now, we wait and we pray. We pray for Sister Thea to intercede for us and our loved ones, especially those in need of miraculous healing. We pray for a miracle, because if a miracle occurs from the countless prayers of intercession offered through Sister Thea, she can jump straight into line for beatification. What a joyous day that will be!

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
Since Mardi Gras is approaching and parades are rolling all over the region, I wanted to share a fun fact about Bishop Richard Gerow’s father, Warren Rosecranz Gerow.

As I have chronicled in these columns, Bishop Gerow is a native of Mobile. There is a big debate as to where the first Mardi Gras celebration occurred in the United States. New Orleans claims Mardi Gras, but Mobile is fiercely protective of the fact that the first hint of Mardi Gras on the soil of the country happened around 1699 outside of its current location. I think the towns have settled on Mobile came first, and New Orleans made it bigger. That is probably the best consensus among the ranks.

With that being said, let me tell you about Bishop Gerow’s father. Warren Gerow was born in Mobile on Aug. 21, 1850 to Warren DeLancey Gerow and Charlotte Rosecranz, who had moved to Mobile from Duchess County, New York prior to the arrival of Warren Rosecranz. He was the oldest of Warren and Charlotte’s four children.

Warren DeLancey was a shipbuilder and probably moved to Mobile, which was growing into a large port. The family home was a one-story wood-framed building on the east side of Hamilton Street near Eslava Street. Bishop Gerow in his Reminiscences describes the yard as having two fig trees and that he would visit his grandparents much more often during fig season. Having a fig tree in my yard, I understand why the visits were probably daily during July.

Bishop Gerow’s father married Annie Skehan on April 11, 1883. Two years later on May 3, the future bishop, Richard Oliver Gerow was born to Warren and Annie.

Let me allow Bishop Gerow to take it from here: “My father received his education in the public schools of Mobile. His early years gave evidence of a talent for art, drawing and painting, and later this became most helpful to him when he was engaged permanently by the Order of Myths (OOM) for designing and construction of the Mardi Gras floats of that Order.

“He was a great reader and student all his life and accumulated a rather fine library of classics of history, science, and literature. I still have very vivid memory of my father. As I grew we became the greatest of close pals. To me he was the greatest man in the world.

“I remember well the large warehouse on Commerce Street where he used to construct the floats. I was a frequent visitor, and I had the esteemed privilege of knowing long in advance the great secret of what the floats would represent when they were paraded on Mardi Gras night.

“I still remember many of the intriguing floats. One particularly I remember had little electric bulbs lighted at the tip of gigantic morning glory blossoms each representing a sparkling dew drop. “In order to light these bulbs my father had to construct within the float a dynamo – for storage batteries were not available in those days. I remember that at night at home he would study books on electricity. I remember, too, the big wheel within the float with iron cranks on either side had to be turned by two muscular men – and it worked beautifully.

“Other cities from time to time called upon him to put on pageants – among these was Baltimore, Albany, Vicksburg. He was a member of the No. 5 Volunteer Fire Department and also of a Volunteer Company of the U.S. Artillery.

“On May 29, 1894, my father died; he was buried in the Gerow lot in Magnolia Cemetery. During his long illness he gave serious thought to preparing his soul for death. He had not been a church-goer for many years. He now gave thought to the Catholic Church, and well before he died his family had the pleasure and consolation of seeing him received into the Catholic Church and prepared with the last sacraments.”

Having come upon this account in Bishop Gerow’s Reminiscences I will have a more nostalgic and more appreciative experience of Mardi Gras this year. Bishop Gerow was only 11 when his father died. His father had become his closest friend and losing one’s father at any age is so difficult. But losing one’s father at such a young age had a profound effect on young Richard.

As I have written before, Richard grew up in the shadow of the Cathedral, and he received all his sacraments there, except for ordination to the priesthood. His father would have been received into the church there.

As he grew older, Bishop Edward Allen became somewhat of a spiritual father to Richard. Bishop Allen would have helped guide Richard ultimately to seminary and ordination. But I sense that Warren Rosecranz Gerow was deep within Richard’s heart as a profoundly spiritual and creative driving force who instilled in his young son a sense of wonderment for creation and a love for arts and sciences that he carried with him throughout his life.

I hope this memory of Bishop Gerow inspires you as much as it has inspired me. Have a wonderful and safe Mardi Gras and a blessed Lenten journey.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Annie Skehan Gerow is pictured in an undated photograph taken prior to 1894. At left, her husband, Warren Rosecranz Gerow, father of Bishop Richard Gerow, is shown in an undated portrait. Warren Gerow was a Mobile native known for his artistic talent and work designing Mardi Gras floats for the Order of Myths. (Photo from archives)

From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – As of this writing, I am recovering from the Ole Miss Rebels losing to the Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl last night in Arizona. Ole Miss had a historic run playing for a spot in the college football national championship game. I know everyone has their favorite school and team, but it is exciting that a team from our state reached such a high level on the national sports scene.

Several of my nieces and nephews went to Ole Miss, and we currently have one there and one playing in the band at Mississippi State, so our family is very diverse when it comes to college sports among other things. I went to Millsaps, so I like to see everyone do well.

Back in the early part of the 1900s, Oxford was not the sports or Catholic epicenter it is today. The thriving town of Water Valley was the central parish of that region. From Water Valley came Grenada, Oxford, and Holly Springs. All these were missions of Water Valley.

In October of 1941, Bishop Richard Gerow made a visit to that region after picking up Bishop William O’Brien, president of the Catholic Church Extension Society in Chicago, at the “airfield” in Memphis. Bishop O’Brien was coming down for the dedication of St. Peter’s in Grenada. Extension had supported the building of the church there.

The plan was to stay the night before the dedication at the rectory in Water Valley with the pastor of St. Patrick Parish, Father Cletus Manon. If you haven’t been there, Water Valley is about halfway between Grenada and Oxford on Hwy 7. It’s the Coffeeville exit just north of Grenada off I-55. Make sure you stay close to the speed limit on that stretch.

Back to the story. After arriving at the rectory, the men devised who would sleep where in the quaint structure. Because he would be celebrating the Mass at the parish the next morning before going over to Grenada, Bishop Gerow decided to take the small bedroom closest to the church.

In his diary, he offers an interesting tale about the situation:

“As I was preparing to go to my room, the housekeeper very timidly approached me and with a look of anxiety in her eye said to me, ‘I hope you will be able to sleep in that room tonight’; and when I inquired as to the cause of her anxiety, she told me that the room was haunted.

“She told me that at night strange noises were heard in this room that had disturbed others who had attempted to sleep there. I assured her that I was not afraid of haunts, and that I was very glad that I had been assigned to this room rather than one of the other Bishops.

“When I entered the room to prepare for the night, I had the theory that there was probably some loose furniture or some loose article in the room that in the still of the night might be caused to vibrate when trucks would pass by the house.

“Accordingly, I examined the furniture and the articles in the room but found nothing there that might indicate a tendency to rattle on vibration. So, I went to bed and went to sleep. During the course of the night, I heard the knocks and creaking that she had spoken about, and it was not long before I readily discovered the cause of it.

“During the heat of the day preceding, the timbers of the room had expanded, and now in the chill of the night they were contracting, and this contraction of the timbers was the cause of the knocking and the creaking and the weird noises about which the housekeeper had spoken.

“So now having satisfied myself definitely as to the nature of the spooks, I went back to sleep. The following morning, I told her of my discovery, and, while she did not exactly want to doubt the word of a bishop, nevertheless I don’t think that I thoroughly convinced her.”

During his stay in Mississippi, Bishop O’Brien visited Oxford and celebrated Mass for the Catholic students at Ole Miss. It was then that he along with Bishop Gerow saw the need for a church building in Oxford.

After almost passing out when Father Manon told everyone the good Bishop from Extension had promised $50,000 toward building a church there, Bishop O’Brien ended up pledging $10,000 from Catholic Extension. A few years later, Bishop O’Brien was back from Chicago to celebrate the dedication of St. John Church in Oxford.

This is a great story that reminds us of our connection with Catholic Extension and how they have helped and continue to help our diocese grow and spread the Good News. I imagine at the dedication of the new St. John’s 80+ years ago, the students let out a boisterous “Hotty Toddy” for Bishop O’Brien to take back with him to Chicago.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – On a crisp November Saturday, a group of 27 pilgrims boarded a bus in front of St. Peter Cathedral bound for Mobile, Alabama to participate in the Archdiocese of Mobile’s annual Black Catholic History Month celebrations. The pilgrims were all charter members of the newly launched Sister Thea Bowman Guild.

Several months ago, archdiocesan officials in Mobile had invited our diocese to participate in their annual celebrations to promote the cause for canonization of Sister Thea and invite collaborative efforts among the two dioceses going forward around her cause. This invitation grew into the formation of the official guild for Sister Thea’s cause, which early next year will be the main point of contact for actively supporting her cause prayerfully and financially.

As we rolled down Highway 49, guild members anticipated a first stop at historic Africatown just outside Mobile. Africatown is the site where descendants of the last ship carrying slaves entered the United States illegally in 1860. The Atlantic slave trade had been banned since 1808, but in 1860, 110 slaves were smuggled into the Mobile Bay and partially up the Mobile River on the Clotilda, which was burned and sunk shortly after its arrival to conceal any evidence of its cargo.

Unfortunately, on the outskirts of Seminary, our bus broke down and the pilgrimage was delayed waiting for repair. Serendipitously, we coasted into the parking lot of the local Ward’s and spent the next two hours getting to know one another over grits, biscuits, burgers and fries. Guild members came from Greenville Sacred Heart Parish, Vicksburg St. Mary Parish, Jackson Holy Ghost and Christ the King Parishes along with a smattering of other locations in the diocese. We even had a communications person come down from LaCrosse, Wisc., to cover the event for the FSPAs, Sister Thea’s religious order.

Soon enough we were back on the road, but the delay caused us to miss Africatown so that we could make it to the hotel and change for the archdiocesan event at Prince of Peace Parish. The celebration included a vibrant program of prayer, music and the sharing of stories about Sister Thea by several who knew her and whose lives were greatly influenced and inspired by her.

Following the program, Archbishop Mark Rivituso of Mobile celebrated Mass with Father Tony Ricard serving as homilist. Father Ricard, a priest from New Orleans, gave an incredible witness in word and song of the journey of African American Catholics throughout history, including Sister Thea’s profound contributions to that journey.

At the very end of the Mass, I was asked to share a few words on Sister Thea’s Cause and the new guild. It was a great honor to be standing before such a vibrant gathering of faith, hope, and love. I assured the congregation that Sister Thea’s cause was in the hands of some incredibly dynamic scholars who were hoping to have everything ready to send off to Rome very soon. We will have more details on that in January.

After Mass, our group enjoyed dinner on the grounds of Prince of Peace listening to a jazz band and mingling among the parishioners and others from around Mobile then headed back to the hotel for some rest.

The next morning, we made a quick visit to the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, a short walk from the hotel in Downtown Mobile. The cathedral parish was founded in 1703 and has been on that spot since then though not the original building. It is a beautiful worship space, and our pilgrims appreciated a chance to offer some prayers of thanksgiving before boarding the bus bound for Montgomery. Fortunately, the ride up to Montgomery did not involve any unexpected stops and we made it to our first stop, the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Sites, in good time.

The EJI Legacy Sites include the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. If you have never been, you need to go. It is an outstanding, comprehensive, and heart-wrenching encounter documenting the Black Experience in our country.
One could spend days trying to take in all the interactive exhibits, artifacts, and information. On the EJI website, Forbes Magazine describes it this way: “With each person who visits the Legacy Museum, who faces these wounds of our past and is moved to change, we move one step closer to healing.”

After several hours at the Legacy Sites, we headed to the City of St. Jude Parish in Montgomery. This parish is historic for it becoming a city within the city of Montgomery offering on its grounds educational opportunities, medical and social services to the community, and refuge to Civil Rights workers and those who participated in marches in Selma and Montgomery.

The afternoon program featured music and prayer and witnesses to Sister Thea’s dynamic strength and faith by those who knew her. Once again Father Ricard shared his vibrant message of African American Catholics and Sister Thea’s legacy.

The parish kindly provided us with food for our journey home as we made our way to our bus and the long ride home to Jackson.

Reflecting on the whole weekend, we encountered the rich and deep faith of our church in a unique and profound way. It was an honor to be a part of this journey of hope with such an inspiring group of people from our diocese. We are already thinking of future adventures.

To learn more about Sister Thea’s Cause and the Guild, visit our website at: https://www.jacksondiocese.org/thea-bowman

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)