October 28: The Apostle of the Alleghenies

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is October 28th, and our story is The Apostle of the Alleghenies. On October 28th, 1792, the 21-year-old Augustine Smith walked off a ship in Baltimore's harbor and encountered a new country where Catholics were few and priests even fewer.

Within weeks, he decided to become a priest and serve the church in America. But when Bishop John Carroll learned of the young man's intentions, he had his doubts. Although Carroll desperately needed priests, he knew that Smith wasn't who he pretended to be. In truth, he was Prince Demetrius Galitsin, son of one of the wealthiest noblemen in Russia, traveling in disguise.

Carol appreciated that gesture of humility, but doubted that the prince had the makings of a missionary. Galitzin grew up in the courts of Europe. His childhood playmates were future kings. Carol couldn't envision him roughing it on the American frontier. Galitzin, however, knew his own mind. Five years earlier, over the strong objections of his father, he had joined his mother in the Catholic Church. With that same determination, Galitzin convinced Carroll of his vocation.

Three years later, in 1795, the prince became a priest. Still using his pseudonym, Father Galitzin spent four years ministering in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania before discovering a small community of Catholics near the summit of the Alleghenies. With Carroll's permission, Galitzin built a church there. He also built a town, borrowing on the prospects of his immense inheritance to buy farmland for Catholic families and construct sawmills, gristmills, and tanneries. He named the city Loretto. As Gallatin's reputation as a preacher and apologist grew, so did the town.

Although the inheritance never came, mostly because Russia wanted to punish him for becoming a Catholic priest, Galitsin's friend, King William of the Netherlands, Pope Gregory XVI, and others helped the prince settle his debts. And while that indebtedness somewhat tarnished his reputation, in retrospect, Galitsin spent money wisely. By the time of his death in 1840, more than 10,000 Catholics lived. In and around Loretto, and the church in southwestern Pennsylvania was flourishing.

Galitzin's cause for canonization opened in 2005. Galitzin's life exemplifies sacrifice for a higher purpose. Wealth and privilege were secondary to his calling to serve the faithful in difficult conditions. Identify one comfort or convenience you can set aside this week to serve others more fully.

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, October 29th, for another story of faith and courage in America.