February 1: The Apostle to the Sioux

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is February 1st, and our story is The Apostle to the Sioux. When Father Martin Marty set sail for America in 1860, he expected his stay to be short, just one year or slightly more. Earlier that year, his order, the Benedictines of Einzy Del Nabi in Switzerland, discovered that their daughter house in St. Meinrad, Indiana, was riddled with corruption and laden with debt. To correct the problem, their superior turned to the 26-year-old Marty, booking him passage across the Atlantic, and giving him one year to turn the situation around.

Which he did. Upon Marty's arrival, morale among the monks improved immediately, and before the year was out, the abbey was financially solvent. Impressed, the Benedictines decided Marty should stay in St. Minerad. He remained there for sixteen years, becoming abbot of the house in 1870. In 1876, however, a dispute with his fellow Benedictines led Marty to resign his post and accept another with the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. Arriving in the Dakotas just one month after the Battle of Little Bighorn, Marty's success with the Sioux was almost as immediate as his success with the monks.

His personal asceticism impressed them, and when he journeyed to Canada in 1877, hoping to convince Sitting Bull to return to the United States, He quickly won the great chief's trust. Although it took four more years before Sitting Bull surrendered, Marty purportedly baptized him, along with 2,000 other Sioux, in 1883. On February 1, 1880, Father Marty was consecrated Bishop Marty of the newly created Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota, which nine years later became the Diocese of Sioux Falls. Even as a bishop, however, Marty never lost his missionary zeal and devoted the bulk of his episcopacy to evangelizing the Sioux, founding schools and parishes for them, and petitioning the U.S.

government on their behalf. He also wrote a dictionary of their language and translated numerous church writings into Sioux. In 1895, Marty left the Dakotas to serve as Bishop of St. Cloud, Minnesota. He died there one year later, his stay in America lasting 35 years longer than expected. Father Marty's life demonstrates how dedication and faith can expand far beyond what we initially imagine.

Sent for a year to fix a troubled abbey, he stayed for decades, leaving a profound impact on Native communities. His story challenges us to consider the ways God may be calling us beyond our plans, and how fidelity can create enduring change. Reflect on a way your talents could serve a community or cause beyond your immediate circle. Take one step this week to engage in it. Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, February 2nd, for another story of faith and courage in America.