Father Samuel Mazzuchelli
A couple weeks after being ordained, he was sent as the only priest of a vast swath of territory including northern Michigan and all of present day Wisconsin. Full of loving zeal for souls, he baptized 1500 Native Americans in addition to ministering to white pioneers. He founded around 30 parishes and built 20 churches.
Father Mazzuchelli’s story for children, plus coloring pages!
If you are looking for our beautiful coloring pages, scroll down, they are at the bottom! A Catholic mother says this story should be suitable for children who have received their First Holy Communion. It is also a good and lively introduction to Father Mazzuchelli for grown-ups. Samuel Mazzuchelli [motz-oo-KEL-ly] was born in Italy in the year 1806. His father was a merchant and hoped Samuel would grow up, get married, and follow in the same kind of work. But instead, the boy felt God calling him to the Order of Preachers founded by Saint...
read moreFather Samuel Mazzuchelli, O.P. A Character Sketch, by Father J. R. Volz, O. P. (1899)
This article originally appeared in The Rosary Magazine, before being reprinted in the Saint Clara Academy, Sinsinawa magazine The Young Eagle, in December, 1899. By JOHN A RAYMOND [a pen name for Rev. J. R. Volz, O. P., a former Saint Clara chaplain] The lovelier things of life are not always found on the world’s great thoroughfares. It is with this bit of philosophy well realized, that most visitors at Saint Clara Academy contemplate the stretch of shore, or more accurately, the carriage drive from the Mississippi Valley at Dubuque,...
read morePoetry about Father Mazzuchelli from turn-of-the-century Saint Clara Academy
From the Saint Clara Academy, Sinsinawa student magazine The Young Eagle, at the turn of the century. The first three are very pleasing student works. Possibly the one that begins “Today we keep our holy Founder’s Day !” may have been written by a sister, on the basis that an author is not mentioned, but only “read by Mary Lyon,” who was a student. The poem was described as “the keynote” of the November 4th Founder’s day celebration at which it was read. The Founder’s Day program also included instrumental and vocal music selections, and an eloquent address by a priest on the life and spirit of the Founder.
read moreThe Memoirs of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli
Father Samuel Mazzuchelli’s memoirs were written in 1843-44 during a visit home to Italy to recruit missionaries and raise funds to purchase Sinsinawa Mound, where he intended to found a seminary. He passed away in 1864, thus, his book dates from only the middle of his missionary activity, and prior to founding the Dominican Sisters. “Memorie Istoriche ed Edificanti d’un Missionario Apostolico” was published in Milan in 1844, its author anonymous and writing modestly in the third person. The book witnesses to Catholic doctrinal and moral truth in an exceptionally lively and attractive way, with many exciting and fascinating stories of frontier life.
read moreA historian’s synopsis of Father Mazzuchelli’s Memoirs
FATHER SAMUEL MAZZUCHELLI BY JAMES DAVIE BUTLER. LL. D. In 1844, the journal of a Dominican missionary “among various tribes of savages and among catholics and protestants in the United States,” was published in Milan. Being printed in Italian and never translated into English, this work of 364 pages has never been much known in America. It deserves, however, careful study. During the decade between the years 1830 and 1840, no intelligent man traversed the Wisconsin region more frequently and more thoroughly than this...
read moreFather Mazzuchelli
An excellent short article introducing some of the truly remarkable details of the life of pioneer missionary priest Father Mazzuchelli. From the State Historical Society of Iowa publication The Palimpsest, October of 1920, by its editor John C. Parish.
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Dominican priest and Missionary Apostolic
in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois
in pioneer times.
Builder of 20 churches, founder of 30 parishes,
founder of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa.