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1842 – 1908 (April 27)

John Joseph Fedigan, son of James Fedigan and Anna McGowan, was born in Rathbran, Ireland, on April 27, 1842. He studied at Saint Mary’s College in Wilmington, Delaware, before entering the Province in 1864. In May of that year he was sent to make his novitiate at Ghent, Belgium, with three other novices, Timothy Hayes, James Conway, and John Gilmore. The first two of these classmates, on their return to the United States, died at 25 and 24 years of age, respectively, due in no small part to the severe conditions under which they all lived in Ghent. John Fedigan made his profession of vows on July 23, 1865.

1902 – 1948 (April 25)

Matthew Michael Cunningham, son of Thomas Cunningham and Ellen Ellis, was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1902. He entered the novitiate at Villanova, Pennsylvania, on August 15, 1926, and made his profession of simple vows on August 16, 1927. He was solemnly professed on the same day in 1930. He received his A.B. degree that same year from Villanova College and pursued theological studies in Washington, D.C. He received his Master’s degree in 1934. Matthew was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Curley of Baltimore, at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, on June 13, 1933. 

1907 – 1980 (April 23)

Giovanni Frediani was born in Borgo a Buggiano, Italy, on June 16, 1907. At age seven, he moved into the local Augustinian Seminary where his father was the cook. For the rest of his life, he lived in Augustinian communities. He professed his first vows in the Order on October 31, 1924, and his solemn vows on July 23, 1928, as a member of the Etrurian Province. He was ordained to the priesthood on March 16, 1930.

1945 – 2009 (April 23) Mark Anthony Garrett was born on March 13, 1945, in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of Thomas A. Garrett and Velma Moersdorf, and was baptized at Our Lady of Victories Church, Jersey City, N.J. He attended public and parochial schools in New Jersey and later in Decatur, Illinois, and, from […]

1772 – 1839 (April 20)

Robert Browne was born in Ireland in 1770. The records of the Irish Province show that he asked to enter the novitiate on November 13, 1786, when he was about 16 years old. He made his novitiate in Rome and, at his profession, took the name Nicholas. He studied at St. Matthew’s, the Irish Augustinian seminary in Rome, and at Bologna from 1790 to 1796. He was ordained in 1795. He returned to Ireland where he is listed as a member of the Dublin community in 1803.

1845 – 1869 (April 19)

James Trowbridge Sylvester Conway, son of Thomas Conway and Rebecca Van Brant, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 13, 1845. He entered the novitiate at Ghent, Belgium, where he made his first profession of vows on July 9, 1866. He was solemnly professed on July 24, 1869. Having completed his studies, he returned to the United States in 1868, suffering from consumption. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Philadelphia Cathedral by Bishop Jeremiah Shanahan of Harrisburg on October 24, 1868.

1889 – 1967 (April 18)

William Liguori Fink was born on August 29, 1889, in McSherrystown, Pennsylvania, to John J. Fink and Mary Shorb. He received his elementary education at St. Joseph Parochial School, McSherrystown, and after completing one hear of high school at St. Joseph, he entered the Augustinian minor seminary at St. Rita’s Hall, Villanova, Pennsylvania, where he completed his secondary education. He was received into the novitiate on July 6, 1908, and professed simple vows on July 7, 1909, and solemn vows on September 22, 1912.

1939 – 1996 (April 18)

John Allan Crosson, son of John E. Crosson and Eleanor Laskey, was born on Staten Island, New York, on December 10, 1939, and was baptized on December 31, 1939 in the Church of St. Paul, Staten Island, where he received his early education. He studied at St. John Baptist de la Salle and Don Bosco Technical High School in Paterson, New Jersey, and on July 15, 1957, entered  Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, N.Y., as an oblate. Two years later he began his six month postulancy. On January 24, 1960, John entered the novitiate at New Hamburg, N.Y., professed simple vows on January 25, 1961, and three years later made solemn profession.

1897 – 1926 (April 17)


William Francis Berry, son of William Berry, a watchman, and Ann Jennings, was born in Castlebar, Count Mayo, Ireland on February 13, 1897. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1906, studied at Saint Anselm Grammar School in the Bronx and at local public schools before he entered the novitiate at Villanova, Pennsylvania in 1916. He pronounced first vows on June 24, 1917, and solemn vows on June 27, 1920. He was sent to Spain to study theology and was ordained there on July 15, 1923.

1916 – 1984 (April 16)

Edmund Lawrence Burke, son of Lawrence Burke and Jennie Proctor, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 30, 1916. He received his early education at Visitation and Saint Clare grammar schools and spent his high school at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York. He entered the novitiate on September 8, 1934, and professed first vows on September 10, 1935 and solemn vows on September 10, 1938. After his novitiate he began college work at Villanova College and received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1939. He pursued theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington, DC, where he was ordained to the priesthood at Trinity College on May, 28, 1942.