Post by Pacelli on Aug 9, 2018 16:08:32 GMT -5
I find this story of Fr. Power to be an amazing one. He was a diocesan priest in Massachusetts in the 19th century who died in his 20s. After his death, Catholics began to go to his grave to pray, and when miracles happened, more and more came leading up to massive crowds of tens of thousands coming to pray to him for his intercession.
In November of 1929, why did thousands of pilgrims flock to Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts to visit the grave of a Catholic priest, Father Patrick J. Power?
Father Power was born in Ireland on October 20, 1844, the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin. When he was four years old, his mother and father died, and he was brought to the United States by an older brother. He was mentored by Father James Fitton, the pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston. He attended the Petit Seminary in Laval, Quebec and Saint Joseph’s Provincial Theological Seminary in Troy, New York, He was ordained a priest in the Cathedral Chapel of the Holy Cross by the Bishop of Boston, the Most Reverend John Joseph Williams on September 7, 1867, the eve of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The academic year of 1867-1868 found Father Power at the University of Louvain, Belgium where he studied canon law. Upon his return to the United States, he was assigned to parishes in Springfield and Chicopee, Massachusetts. When he left Springfield, after only six months, the parishioners presented him with a gold watch valued at $275, an amount equivalent to almost $5,000 in today’s dollars. This gift was a measure of the esteem the parishioners had for the holy priest. However, Father Power’s constitution was always frail and in Chicopee he became seriously ill. He was moved to his brother’s home in Brookline Massachusetts, where he died at age 25, on December 8, 1849, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Pilgrims have visited Father Power’s grave through the years, but in November 1929, sixty years after his death, prompted by an announcement by a local priest of a miraculous cure, an estimated one million people visited his grave seeking healing. Many of their prayers were answered. Indeed, the Boston Sunday Post of November 24, 1929, published a list of 150 cures.
Healing Power is the story of the faithful who visited the grave of Father Power in 1929 and those who still visit his grave. They come to visit the grave of a priest who served only two years after ordination 150 years ago.
Healing Power was conceived by Victor Jenacaro, the step-son of the grand-nephew of Father Power. When his step-father died in 1955, Victor came into possession of two volumes of class notes that Father Power had written in Latin and French while attending the Petit Seminary in Quebec. Victor preserved these volumes for 55 years and in June 2010, presented them to the Most Reverend Robert Francis Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, so that they could be preserved in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Boston. Victor, however, felt called to do more to spread the knowledge of the life of Father Power and commissioned Larry Cappetto, a talented independent film maker to produce the film which became Healing Power. Larry is renowned as the producer of numerous documentaries, compiling one of the largest oral histories ever assembled of Americans and Canadians at war. Visit his website at www.veteranshistory.org.
SOURCE
In November of 1929, why did thousands of pilgrims flock to Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts to visit the grave of a Catholic priest, Father Patrick J. Power?
Father Power was born in Ireland on October 20, 1844, the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin. When he was four years old, his mother and father died, and he was brought to the United States by an older brother. He was mentored by Father James Fitton, the pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston. He attended the Petit Seminary in Laval, Quebec and Saint Joseph’s Provincial Theological Seminary in Troy, New York, He was ordained a priest in the Cathedral Chapel of the Holy Cross by the Bishop of Boston, the Most Reverend John Joseph Williams on September 7, 1867, the eve of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The academic year of 1867-1868 found Father Power at the University of Louvain, Belgium where he studied canon law. Upon his return to the United States, he was assigned to parishes in Springfield and Chicopee, Massachusetts. When he left Springfield, after only six months, the parishioners presented him with a gold watch valued at $275, an amount equivalent to almost $5,000 in today’s dollars. This gift was a measure of the esteem the parishioners had for the holy priest. However, Father Power’s constitution was always frail and in Chicopee he became seriously ill. He was moved to his brother’s home in Brookline Massachusetts, where he died at age 25, on December 8, 1849, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Pilgrims have visited Father Power’s grave through the years, but in November 1929, sixty years after his death, prompted by an announcement by a local priest of a miraculous cure, an estimated one million people visited his grave seeking healing. Many of their prayers were answered. Indeed, the Boston Sunday Post of November 24, 1929, published a list of 150 cures.
Healing Power is the story of the faithful who visited the grave of Father Power in 1929 and those who still visit his grave. They come to visit the grave of a priest who served only two years after ordination 150 years ago.
Healing Power was conceived by Victor Jenacaro, the step-son of the grand-nephew of Father Power. When his step-father died in 1955, Victor came into possession of two volumes of class notes that Father Power had written in Latin and French while attending the Petit Seminary in Quebec. Victor preserved these volumes for 55 years and in June 2010, presented them to the Most Reverend Robert Francis Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, so that they could be preserved in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Boston. Victor, however, felt called to do more to spread the knowledge of the life of Father Power and commissioned Larry Cappetto, a talented independent film maker to produce the film which became Healing Power. Larry is renowned as the producer of numerous documentaries, compiling one of the largest oral histories ever assembled of Americans and Canadians at war. Visit his website at www.veteranshistory.org.
SOURCE
