Today is a day to remember our beloved dead, and to commend their souls to God. We are thinking especially of the souls still in Purgatory. Let us go to cemeteries and churches, and let us remember and reflect on deceased family members and friends, especially those still in purgatory.
Many Jesuits on the East Coast will be praying for the soul of Fr. John Bapst, SJ, today. He was a missionary Jesuit of the 19th Century. He did not wish to be a missionary, but his Jesuit superiors dictated that he leave Switzerland and come to America, to Maine, to work with the Penobscot tribe. He arrived speaking neither English nor Penobscot, but, in time, he learned both languages, and he became quite effective. In fact, he became so effective in Maine that anti-Catholics of European descent tracked him down, stripped him naked, tarred and feathered him, beat him up, and left him alone on a wharf. While still in a daze, he began to wander for some time until his friends found him and cleaned him up. The next day, before leaving town, he composed himself and offered Mass in the Catholic church there. Heading South, he came to Massachusetts, where he enjoyed great success as the founding president of Boston College. From there, he advanced still further to become the Jesuit superior for all of Canada and New York. When he reached his early sixties, though, he began to suffer from dementia. It worsened over the years. He kept reliving his experiences of being hunted and tarred and feathered. He was taken to an insane asylum in Baltimore where he died on this date in 1887.
Let us pray for the repose of his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed. Amen.