Mercy, kinship converge at place of Fr. Tolton’s baptism

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Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton is the most famous person to have been baptized into the Church in what was once St. Peter parish in Brush Creek, but there were many, many others.

All of them were present in memory and spirit as Father Greg Oligschlaeger offered Mass in St. Peter Church.

It was Divine Mercy Sunday.

People with surnames matching many of those on the nearby headstones crowded into the pews of the scrupulously maintained edifice, along with neighbors, pilgrims and people who had helped with restoration and maintenance of the site.

Some had attended Holy Rosary School in Monroe City and visited the church on pilgrimages and field trips.

A few were newer arrivals, interested in history and a place with holy connections.

Others had listened to stories told by the late Monsignor Edward E. Connolly, who served at the Monroe City parish for 50 years before retiring to Brush Creek in 1965.

“I really enjoy coming out here,” said Dominican Sister Suzanne Walker, who grew up in the area, graduated from Holy Rosary School in Monroe City and has been principal there for 35 years. “I always feel the presence of all the ancestors and all the people who came here to worship and be strengthened in their faith.”

Fr. Tolton, the Roman Catholic Church’s first black priest in the United States, was born into slavery and baptized in Brush Creek in 1854. After escaping to Illinois with his family as a child during the Civil War, he wound up overcoming discrimination and massive hurdles toward answering his priestly calling.

Ordained in Rome in 1886, he served as a priest of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, first in Quincy, Ill. and then in Chicago, where he died in 1897.

The Archdiocese of Chicago opened a sainthood cause for him in 2010 (https://tolton.archchicago.org), and the Pope will likely declare him Venerable in the near future.

“Believe!”

In the spirit of Divine Mercy, Fr. Oligschlaeger offered the Mass for the repose of the soul of Father Michael Weiss, who was a vocal critic of Fr. Tolton while both priests were serving in Quincy, Illinois.

Fr. Weiss is probably best remembered as the priest who resented Fr. Tolton’s success in drawing black and white Catholics together for worship.

“His racial slurs, prejudice and envy made Fr. Tolton’s life difficult,” said Fr. Oligschlaeger, pastor of the Monroe City parish and of St. Stephen parish in Indian Creek.

“As a pastor and a parish priest, Fr. Weiss did do a lot of good for others, but he did have that flaw,” said Fr. Oligschlaeger.

In his homily, Fr. Oligschlaeger preached on Jesus’s words to St. Thomas, “Do not be unbelieving, but believe.” (John 20:27b)

The priest urged the people to give witness to their belief that Jesus rose as He said He would, and to put all of their trust in Him.

He spoke of Jesus’ Sacred Heart, through which He offers all love and forgiveness and frees people to do likewise.

“Fr. Tolton believed in that love and mercy, and that’s how he was able to be loving and forgiving in the midst of great criticism and difficulty,” said Fr. Oligschlaeger.

“That is how was able to forgive Fr. Weiss.”

During the General Intercessions, Fr. Oligschlaeger led the people in praying for an end to all racial tensions and divisions in the world, including those based on religion or ideology — “and for us as Christians and members of God’s family to work together in mercy and compassion to unify our world.”

He and the people then prayed the official prayer for Fr. Tolton’s sainthood cause.

“May (Fr. Tolton’s) life continue to inspire us and imbue us with that confidence and hope that will forge a new evangelization,” they prayed, “... so that all may know the goodness of this priest whose memory looms large in the Church he loved.”

Light and peace

The present stone church, built in the early 1860s, stands on the site of the previous plank church in which Fr. Tolton was baptized in 1854.

Founded in 1846, St. Peter parish was folded into Holy Rosary parish in neighboring Monroe City in 1969. St. Peter Church and its cemetery have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980.

The past 20 years have seen substantial progress in restoring and maintaining the church, which was designated a diocesan pilgrimage site during the Jubilee years of 2000 and 2016.

Previously unmarked graves of slaves in the cemetery have been marked with stone crosses.

Holy Rosary parish usually has one Sunday Mass in the spring and one in the fall in the church, in addition to any pilgrimages or funeral Masses held there throughout the year.

A group of students from St. Thomas More Newman Center parish in Columbia had Mass there in March as part of their spring break pilgrimage to historical locations of the Civil Rights Movement.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry of Chicago, co-postulator for Fr. Tolton’s sainthood cause, plans to lead a pilgrimage from Chicago to Brush Creek and Quincy, where Fr. Tolton is buried, in September.

A tradition has developed at the regularly scheduled Masses for a member of each family present to state their connections to the place and the community.

“I was baptized here and went to church here when I was a child,” one former parishioner stated, “Our oldest son was baptized here, and my grandparents are buried out in the cemetery.”

“We grew up here and all went to church as a family, and my brother and I had our First Communion here,” another former parishioner stated.

“My great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents were buried out here,” said Sr. Suzanne. “I also came here when I was in high school to help with the music ministry.”

“I remember coming out here every year since kindergarten,” said Paige Thompson, who graduated from Holy Rosary School in 2016. “I remember always having to have our picture taken in front of church.”

A parishioner from St. Peter had heard many stories about Fr. Tolton from the late Father Roy Bauer, longtime pastor of St. Peter parish in Quincy.

History enthusiasts Keith and Tiffany Greiman and their children attended, having made a pilgrimage to St. Peter Church in Quincy, where Fr. Tolton had gone to grade school.

One of their children did a history project on Fr. Tolton’s life and sainthood cause for Holy Rosary School’s Festival of Learning. 

Bill Mitchell used to travel to Brush Creek to help with Sunday Mass when Msgr. Connolly was living there.

“I was fortunate to be able to hear the stories that guy could tell!” he said.

Laura Spalding Campbell from St. Louis, who has family in the area, said she was amazed at how beautifully the church and grounds are being maintained.

“Thanks to all the people who did the work to renovate it and keep it going,” she said.

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