Category Archives: today

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. 

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.