Catholic All Week

On July 24, 1990, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States designated November as Black Catholic History Month to celebrate the history and heritage of black Catholics. November is significant because two important black saints are commemorated within the month: St. Martin de Porres’ feast day (Nov. 3) and St. Augustine’s birthday (Nov. 13). While Sister Thea Bowman may be the most well-known, there are a number of other black women in the Americas who are on the path toward sainthood. Here are a few of their stories:

Henriette Delille

Henriette Delille was born in 1812 in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a free woman of color. When she was 24, she experienced a religious conversion and proclaimed: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.” Henriette co-founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1842 — 20 years before the Civil War and before it was legal for this type of organization to exist. In 1847, the Society of the Holy Family was founded to support the sisters financially. The sisters responded to the need of treatment for the enslaved, elderly and sick, as well as care and education for the poor. Archbishop Philip M. Hannan began the canonization process for Henriette DeLille in 1988. Henriette was declared Venerable (the first step toward sainthood) by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Elizabeth Lange

Elizabeth Lange was born around 1794 in Santiago de Cuba. An educated woman, she left Cuba for Baltimore in the early 1800s. Since there was no free public education for African American children in Maryland, she opened a school in her home. At the behest of the Archbishop of Baltimore, Lange was approached with the idea of founding a religious congregation for the education of African American girls. On July 2, 1829, Lange and three other women professed their vows and became the Oblate Sisters of Providence — the first congregation of African American women religious in the history of the Catholic Church. Elizabeth, the foundress and first superior general, took the religious name Mary. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine for the Causes of Saints approved the cause of her sainthood in 2004, and Pope Francis declared her venerable in 2023.

Julia Greeley

Julia Greeley was born into slavery in Hannibal, Missouri, between 1833 and 1848. Freed by Missouri’s Emancipation Act in 1865, Julia earned her keep by serving families in Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. Julia became Catholic at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver in 1880. She became an enthusiastic promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She visited every fire station in Denver monthly — on foot — and delivered Sacred Heart League literature to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. A daily communicant, Julia had a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901 and was active in it until her death in 1918. As part of the ongoing cause for her canonization, Julia’s mortal remains were transferred to Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on June 7, 2017.

— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Black Catholic Congress

At www.nbccongress.org: Learn more about the National Black Catholic Congress and its upcoming events, download educational resources and get vocation information

Catholic All Week

One reason why the kitchen is referred to as “the heart of the home” is because so many memorable moments center around preparing and sharing food. Food also offers an opportunity to connect with our faith on an informal level, as we share recipes inspired by Church holidays. The Feast of St. John Paul II and the observance of Hallowtide – the Catholic season encompassing the three celebrations of All Hallows Eve or Halloween (Oct. 31), All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) – offer the ideal chance to cook up something sweet:

Papal Cream Cake

Yes, even popes have a sweet tooth – and St. John Paul was no exception. According to Lois Britton’s Polish Housewife website, Kremówka Papieska, or Papal Cream Cake, is an ideal tribute to former Pope John Paul II as we celebrate his Feast Day on Oct. 22. She notes that kremówka – pastry cream sandwiched between two layers of puff pastry that is similar to a French Napoleon – became famous when the then-pope reminisced about enjoying the pastry from a bakery in his hometown of Wadowice, Poland.

Get the recipe on Britton’s website at www.polishhousewife.com.

Pan co’ Santi

The Catholic Church is blessed with a wide variety of saints – all those who have died and attained heaven – whom we collectively celebrate on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1. Pan co’ Santi is seasonal sweet bread baked in Siena, Italy, and traditionally served on that day. This bread features walnuts and raisins – the “saints” that create its unique taste. Each family has their own recipe perfected over the years. The recipe found on Juls Kitchen is a modified family treasure that features red wine, extra virgin olive oil and sugar.

Read about the family history behind this version and make it at en.julskitchen.com/bread/pan-co-santi.

Soul Cakes

Soul cakes are an English treat made to commemorate the dead during Hallowtide. Starting in medieval times up through the late 1800s, soul cakes were baked and given to soulers – typically children and the poor – who would go from door to door. If they were given a soul cake, they would sing and pray for the soul of the cake giver as well as for those of their deceased relatives and friends. Baking these sweet cakes that are a combination of a biscuit and a scone is the perfect time to share memories of, and pray for, loved ones. Get the recipe at www.littlesugar snaps.com/soul-cakes.

Catholic All Week

Throughout 2024, Franciscans worldwide are commemorating the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s stigmata – the appearance of the bodily wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. This Oct. 4 also marks our Conventual Franciscan bishop’s first feast of St. Francis as Bishop of Charlotte. In honor of the stigmata anniversary and the saint’s feast day, explore artwork depicting this popular saint in the permanent collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.

Reverence the spiritual world

St. Francis believed that although the kingdom of heaven is everywhere, the Portiuncula – the chapel he famously rebuilt – was visited more frequently by heavenly spirits. The saint himself also experienced such visits. When St. Francis received the stigmata, a member of the seraphim appeared to him in a vision holding a crucified man between his wings. A depiction of this can be found in oil on canvas circa 1470 by France’s School of Amiens at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. On the other side of the piece is a depiction of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, illustrating the closeness of the two events.

Ponder St. Francis' closeness to Christ

The museum’s permanent collection also has an Italian sculpture of the Franciscan order’s coat of arms made of glazed terracotta and dating back to about 1525. The piece by Luca della Robbia the Younger depicts the right arm of Christ with the nail wound in His hand and the left arm of St. Francis with the stigmata wound in his hand and has a cross in the background on a shield. All of this is encircled with a wreath with grapes, fish and other biblical symbols of Christ’s life and sacrifice. The coat of arms is often depicted on the altar in sanctuaries of Franciscan churches or is engraved in plaques that represent the Franciscan order in institutions worldwide. It’s also incorporated into Bishop Martin’s episcopal coat of arms.

Ask for Christ's blessing

St. Francis also appears in another piece at the museum. This time in Giotto’s “Peruzzi Altarpiece,” so-called because the wealthy Peruzzi family commissioned the work, which is dated 1310-1315. Made with tempera and gilded gesso on poplar panel, it is one of the few remaining altarpieces by Giotto and the only one preserved outside of Europe. Like the altarpiece recently completed for St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly, this work is a polyptych – a painting with more than three panels. Giotto used vermilion, a bright red pigment, to communicate the importance of Jesus. The altarpiece was made for the family’s private chapel in the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. The artist, Giotto di Bondone, is considered the father of the Italian Renaissance. In the painting, Christ is offering a blessing alongside St. John the Evangelist, the Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist and St. Francis. Enjoy this rare piece and the rest of the museum’s religious collection, which includes additional paintings of angels, the Holy Family and other saints.