1921 – 1968 (May 13)

James Joseph Cain was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on October 17, 1921, to Patrick Cain and Gertrude O’Brien. He had three brothers and three sisters, two of whom became Sisters of Notre Dame. He was baptized in Saint Mary’s Church, Lawrence, and attended Saint Mary’s Grammar School. He went on, in 1934, to Lawrence High School from which he graduated in 1938. After working for a year as a cashier and bookkeeper, he entered Augustinian Academy, the minor preparatory seminary on Staten Island, New York, as a postulant, in 1939, and made his novitiate at Our Mother of Good Counsel, New Hamburg, New York.

1860 – 1927 (May 12)

Michael Duffy was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 21, 1860, the son of Richard Duffy and Anne McNamara, members of St. Michael Parish in Philadelphia. He attended local schools as well as La Salle College, after which he spent some years with the Christian Brothers and was known as Brother Basil. He later applied to our Order and was vested as an oblate at Villanova, on August 4, 1903, with the name Brother Edward. He entered the novitiate on May 4, 1907 and made his profession of vows on July 6, 1908.

1909 – 1984 (May 12)

John Patrick Corley was born on July 21, 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Patrick Corley and Delia Ruane. He had four brothers and one sister. After attending Saint Edmond’s Parochial School, he entered Augustinian Academy on Staten Island, New York, as a postulant in 1926. He was received into the novitiate on September 11, 1930, and professed temporary vows on September 12, 1934. He graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in June 1935, and then pursued theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington DC, where he was ordained on June 7, 1938 by Archbishop Michael Curley.

1885 – 1936 (May 12)


Charles Aloysius Branton, son of Owen and Mary Calahan, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 15, 1885. After receiving his early education in Philadelphia’s St. Elizabeth and Our Mother of Sorrows Schools, he attended Saint Joseph’s College High School and Roman Catholic High School. He entered the novitiate at Villanova in July, 1905, and professed first vows on July 5, 1906 in Bryn Mawr Hospital where he had been admitted for a severe case of appendicitis. Solemn Profession occurred on July 7, 1909. He was ordained to the priesthood in Philadelphia’s Cathedral by Archbishop Edmund Prendergast on May 27, 1911. Charles’ brother, Richard, was a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

1899 – 1954 (May 12)

James Patrick Ambrose, son of James Ambrose and Helen Anderson, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 10, 1899, and received baptism at St. John the Baptist Parish in Manayunk. He attended Augustinian Academy as a postulant beginning in 1921, and entered the novitiate of Our Mother of Good Counsel, New Hamburg, New York, on August 15, 1925. He made his simple profession on August 16, 1926, and was professed solemnly on the same date in 1929 at Villanova. On June 14, 1932, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Emmett Walsh of Charleston in the Immaculate Conception Shrine in Washington, DC.

1878 – 1951 (May 9)

Blase J. Zeiser was born in Bowmans, Pennsylvania on October 8, 1878, the son of Blasius Zeiser and Juliana Sauer. He entered Villanova College in 1898, and was received into the novitiate in 1902. He made his profession of simple vows on June 30, 1903, and solemn vows on July 1, 1906. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Prendergast in Saint Charles’ Seminary, Overbrook, PA, on May 25, 1907.

1853 – 1919 (May 6)

Hugh Augustine Gallagher was born in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, on August 13, 1853, the son of John Gallagher and Jane McLaughlin. He immigrated to the United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1873. He entered the novitiate at Villanova, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1883, and made his first profession on February 3, 1884. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of Philadelphia by Archbishop Ryan on May 29, 1887.

1930 – 2014 (April 28)

James Patrick Conway was born on July 27, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Patrick Conway and Margaret Cribbin, and was baptized on August 17, 1930 at Saint Joseph Church, Tremont, New York. He attended St. Barnabas Parish School from 1936 to 1937, and St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish School, Bronx, from 1937 to 1943, and St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School from 1944 to 1948. He enrolled as a postulant at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York in 1951, and was received as a novice on September 9, 1952.

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.