Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli OP

Venerable Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli OP
4 November 1806 - 23 February 1864

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Venerable Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli OP. Fr. Mazzuchelli was born in Milano, Italia to a merchant family. educated at Somaschi Fathers' School, Lugano, Switzerland. In 1823 at the age of 17 he entered the Dominican novitiate against the wishes of his father. In 1928 he came to the USA. He completed his studies at Cincinnati, & was ordained a priest in 1830. At that time, much of the Upper Midwest was still under the care of the Bishop of Cincinnati, Edward Fenwick. Bishop Fenwick assigned him as a missionary at Mackinac Island, operating in Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, Green Bay & southern Canada.

His missionary work eventually brought him to the DBQ area in the mid 1830s. It was in this area that he operated out of for the rest of his life. Part of his work was to help Bishop Matthias Loras organize the then Diocese of Dubuque which covered the state of Iowa after it was erected in 1837.

Over the years he helped found or reorginized over 30 parishes from Wisconsin to to Illinois to Muscatine & Iowa City in Iowa. 3 of those parishes were named after the three Archangels: Saint Raphael's (the cathedral for the Archdiocese) in Dubuque, St. Michael's in Galena, Illinois, and Saint Gabriel's in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He also designed & built over 20 church buildings as well as some civic buildings. In 1848, he founded St. Clara Academy (now Dominican University of Illinois), a frontier school for young women.

In 1847, he founded the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. & as anyone who has followed this blog know, in recent years they have totally betrayed their founder by supporting radical feminism as well as abortion. I am sure that they are causing him to shed many tears before the throne of God.

1844 Fr. Mazzuchelli made a brief return ti Italia. While there he wrote & published his Memorie . . . d’un Missionario Apostolico, to acquaint the Italians with the people, government, religion, and culture of the United States.

Additionally, as a part of his missionary work among the Menominee & Winnebago of this area. In 1833 he published a Winnebago prayer book. In 1834 he wrote a liturgical almanac in Chippewa, the first printed item in Wisconsin.

Along the way Fr. Mazzuchelli became an American citizen. While he loved his new country he was also aware of the problems brewing because of slavery. He even contacted President Andrew Johnson about his concerns of the injustices being done to the Indians by government policy.

1 of the parishes he helped found was Saint Patrick's Church in Benton, Wisconsin. He founded it in 1852 & spent the last years of his life as pastor of the parish. It on this date in 1864 that he died. It came about because of exposure to the bitter cold weather when he went to visit a sick parishoner. He is buried in the parish cemetery (marker below) which is open to the public to visit.

In 1966 on Hwy. 11, 1 mi. W of Benton, Lafayette County in Wisconsin the below historical marker was erected.

The text reads:
In 1835 Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, Dominican missionary, came to the lead region from the Green Bay-Mackinac frontier. One year later he addressed the opening session of the territorial legislature. Soon he was establishing schools and preparing teachers for the children of the settlers. In 1847 he formed Wisconsin's first teaching sisterhood, the Sinsiniawa Dominican Sisters. At Benton he founded St. Clara Academy and taught science with the earliest laboratory instruments. To the Irish miners, this American from Italy was "Father Matthew Kelly." To settlers of many creeds, he was civic leader and friend, builder of the city of man and the city of God. At his death in 1864, Father Mazzuchelli was interred in the cemetery of St. Patrick's Church in Benton, one of the twenty churches he designed and built in the upper Mississippi Valley.

The cause for Fr. Mazzuchelli's sainthood was opened in 1964 & he was declared a Servant of God. )n 6 July 1993 he was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II. There is currently a miracle being investigated that could lead to his being declared Blessed sometime soon.
There is an historical exhibit of historical artifacts at Sinsinawa Mound. I recomend seeing it depsite the other problems with Sinsinawa Mound these days. It is a fascinating collection that, despite a few PC comments added, gives a great insight into who Fr. Mazzuchelli was as well as the years of work he put in serving the Lord as a missionary. (A half hour documentary suffers from the same PCitus.)
1 of the artifacts there is his Penance Chain he wore to unite himself with the suffering of Christ. Many sick have come to the Mound to have that chain laid on them & receive prayer for his intercession. In 2001 Robert Uselmann, a resident of Monona, Wisconsin had gone to Sinsinawa Mound with his family in to pray to Mazzuchelli for his intercession in curing him of cancer. While there he prayed with the sisters, using Mazzuchelli's penance chain. Uselmann later discovered that a cancerous tumor had disappeared from his lung. In 2006, Bishop Morlino received official notice from Fr. Vito Gomez, a Dominican priest who serves as the Postulator (or "Promoter") of all Dominican Causes being examined by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome about the possible miracle. At the request of Fr. Gomez, on 20 February 2007 Bishop Morlino issued a decree constituting a diocesan Board of Inquiry into the miracle. On 21 August the tribunal concluded its work. The work done by that tribunal has been sent to Rome. It is now in the hands of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints who will make the final determination if this was truly a miracle. If it is determined it was, that will allow the process to go forward for his beatification. If so, given the practice of Papa Benedetto, it is likely the beatification rites will be held somewhere in this area with the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints designated to preside over the ceremony as Papal Delegate. At that time an official feast day will be added to the US calendar as well. (Although not today as it is the memorial of St. Polycarp.) God willing, that day will be soon.

I have to add a couple of interesting little bits of trivia. Today is the feast of St. Polycarp of Smyrna. St. Polycarp was the disciple of St. John the Evangelist. 1 of St Polycarp's disciples was St. Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus was Bishop of Lyons, France (then known as Lugdunum, Gaul). Lyons is the diocese where Bishop Loras was ordained a priest. Bishop Loras was also a tutor to St John Mary Vianney. (Bishop Loras is supposed to have slapped St. John in the face 1 day from fustration at the difficulty he had in learning Latin.) & as I pointed out. Fr. Mazzuchelli helped Bishop Loras get the DBQ Diocese organized. These connections remind us of how the Catholic Church today is the One, Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church founded by Jesus.
The other bit of trivia is on a more personal level, not that the above wasn't because of of being in the DBQ Archdiocese all my life. Fr. Mazzuchelli died 1 day after my grandfather, George Washington Troup, was born in Haggerstown, MD. (22 February 1864)

Other resources: Mazzuchelli, Samuel Charles 1806 - 1864 (Wisconson Historical Society)
Father Samuel Mazzuchelli (Historic Marker Erected (Wisconson Historical Society)
Wikipedia entry
Cause for sainthood moves forward