SINSINAWA — Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, the Dominican missionary who ministered with the people of the Midwest in the 1800s, will be remembered on the 150th anniversary of his death.
A Mass and other activities will be held at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Benton Sunday, Feb. 23. The Father Samuel Mazzuchelli Assembly 4th Degree Knights of Columbus, St. Patrick Parish, and the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters are inviting the public to attend the commemoration.
The house in which Mazzuchelli lived, ministered from, and died will be open for tours from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m., and people may visit his gravesite throughout the day. Mass will be offered at 1:30 p.m., followed by a reception where historical artifacts will be displayed and refreshments will be served. For more information about the commemoration, contact Sister Mary Fox, OP, 759-2131.
Mazzuchelli began his ministry in the 1830s with American Indians of the upper Midwest, providing education and attempting to right the injustices they faced. Later he traveled farther west to serve the new immigrants while founding parish communities, building schools and churches, serving in civic as well as religious affairs, and establishing the congregation of Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa who continue his mission of Gospel service.
Mazzuchelli was known throughout the U.S. Upon his death Feb. 23, 1864, these words began the heartfelt obituary by Judge Charles Corkery that was published in the San Francisco Monitor and New York’s Metropolitan Record: “Another efficient servant of God is gone to receive the reward of eternal life. ... He was a good man.”
Another obituary published in Dubuque, Iowa, and the Cincinnati Catholic Telegraph spoke for many, “Whoever knew him but loved him?”
Mazzuchelli’s life and ministry will be commemorated by several events in 2014. To learn more about this remarkable priest, visit the Sinsinawa Dominican website, www.sinsinawa.org/Mazzuchelli or visit the motherhouse of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters in Sinsinawa to tour the historical exhibit “Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, Tracing a Journey.”
