Samuel Mazzuchelli

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Venerable

Samuel Mazzuchelli

OP
Young Mazzuchelli
Orders
OrdinationSeptember 5, 1830
by Edward Fenwick
Personal details
Born
Carlo Gaetano Samuele Mazzuchelli

(1806-11-04)November 4, 1806
Milan, French Kingdom of Italy
DiedFebruary 23, 1864(1864-02-23) (aged 57)
Benton, Wisconsin, United States
BuriedSt. Patrick's Cemetery, Benton, Wisconsin, United States

Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, OP (November 4, 1806 – February 23, 1864) was a pioneer Italian Dominican friar and Catholic missionary priest who helped bring the church to the Iowa-Illinois-Wisconsin tri-state area. He founded several parishes in the area and was the architect for several parish buildings. Additionally, Mazzuchelli established several schools throughout the region, some of which have developed into local Catholic colleges. As part of this effort, he founded the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters.

Life[edit]

Early life[edit]

Fr. Mazzuchelli historical marker

He was born Carlo Gaetano Samuele Mazzuchelli on November 4, 1806, in Milan—then under French control, the 16th of 17 children of a prominent family. At the age of 17, he entered the Dominican Order, which was still recovering from the devastation wrought on the Catholic Church institutions in Italy under the French Revolutionary Army.[1] After his period of novitiate, when he changed his name to Friar Samuel, he went to Rome to prepare for ordination. He was ordained a subdeacon in 1827 in the Lateran Basilica, around which time he was recruited to serve in new Diocese of Cincinnati, still missionary territory for the Church.

After spending some time in France to perfect his French, in 1828, Mazzuchelli set out for the United States, where he arrived in Cincinnati and was welcomed by the bishop, fellow Dominican friar, Edward Fenwick.[2]

Missionary priest[edit]

After obtaining a dispensation from the Holy See due to his being underage, Mazzuchelli was ordained a priest by Fenwick on September 5, 1830.[3] Shortly after that, he was sent to serve at Sainte Anne Church on Mackinac Island and later in northern Wisconsin, After about five years there, Mazzuchelli arrived in the Dubuque area. During his time, he faced a number of challenges, such as hostility from other Christian denominations.[4]

While in what would later become Dubuque, Iowa, he reorganized the parish and named it Saint Raphael, which later became the Cathedral parish when the Dubuque Diocese was formed in 1837. He assisted Bishop Mathias Loras during the first few years after the founding of the diocese. He worked extensively in what would eventually become the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin. There he founded over 30 parishes and designed and built over 20 church buildings and several civic buildings.[3] Three of those parishes were named after the three Archangels: Saint Raphael's in Dubuque, St. Michael's in Galena, Illinois, and Saint Gabriel's in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. In 1846, he founded Sinsinawa Mound College.

In May 1843 Mazzuchelli accompanied Bishop Loras to the Provincial Council of Bishops in Baltimore. After the sessions ended, he was advised to return to Italy to restore his weakened health. He sailed to Europe, going home to Milan and his welcoming family after an absence of 22 years.[5] While there he recruited missionaries, raised funds, and wrote a memoir full of details of frontier life.

Upon his return, he founded the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters in 1847. In 1848, he founded St. Clara Female Academy (now Dominican University), a frontier school for young women, which he entrusted to the Dominican Sisters.[6]

Many remembered Mazzuchelli as a kind and gentlemanly priest. He was able to break down the cultural barriers that existed and appeal to many different ethnic groups. The Irish he ministered to called him "Father Matthew Kelly."[7] He died of a severe case of pneumonia, on February 23, 1864, after attending a sick call.[8] Mazzuchelli was buried at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Benton.[9]

Veneration[edit]

Fr. Mazzuchelli's grave in Benton, Wisconsin

The cause for elevating him to Sainthood started in 1964 when William Patrick O'Connor, the first Bishop of Madison, established a Diocesan Historical Commission to determine if documents available were sufficient for the Church to proceed with initial steps required in the process of beatification. The process progressed and was accepted by the Holy See for further investigation.[10] In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Mazzuchelli Venerable.[9]

In August 2008, an official inquiry into a presumed miracle performed through the intercession of Mazzuchelli was completed in the Diocese of Madison. Robert Uselmann, a resident of Monona, Wisconsin, had gone to Sinsinawa Mound with his family in 2001 to pray for Mazzuchelli's intercession in curing him of cancer. While there, he prayed with the Sisters, using Mazzuchelli's penance chain. Uselmann later discovered that a cancerous tumor had disappeared from his lung.[3]

Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of the Diocese of Madison, opened a diocesan tribunal at the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters' request, which concluded its investigation and sent the results to Rome.

Legacy[edit]

In 2006 a new middle school built by the Holy Family Catholic School System in Dubuque was named after Mazzuchelli. The school opened for the 2006–2007 academic year.[11]

Parishes founded by Fr. Mazzuchelli[edit]

[12]

This list is incomplete. You can help by adding to it.

Parish Location Year Ecclesiastical territory Photo
St. John the Evangelist Church Green Bay, Wisconsin 1831[13] Diocese of Green Bay
St. Michael's Church Galena, Illinois 1832 Diocese of Rockford
St. Raphael's Cathedral Dubuque, Iowa 1833, 1835[14] Archdiocese of Dubuque
St. Matthews Church Shullsburg, Wisconsin 1835 Diocese of Madison
St. Anthony's Church Davenport, Iowa 1837[15] Diocese of Davenport
St. Paul's Church Burlington, Iowa 1839[16] Diocese of Davenport
St. Patrick's Church Garryowen, Iowa 1840[17] Archdiocese of Dubuque
St. Mary's Church Iowa City, Iowa 1840[18] Diocese of Davenport
St. Mathias Church Muscatine, Iowa 1842[19] Diocese of Davenport Church built in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, floated down the Mississippi River to Muscatine.
St. Augustine Church New Diggings, Wisconsin 1844 Diocese of Madison
St. Patrick's Church Benton, Wisconsin 1852[9] Diocese of Madison

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP", Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa
  2. ^ Check, Christopher (July 1, 2013). "The Apostle of the Upper Midwest: Samuel Mazzuchelli". Crisis Magazine.
  3. ^ a b c Uhler, Mary C. (August 28, 2008). "Cause for sainthood moves forward". Catholic Herald. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  4. ^ "Ste. Anne Catholic Church - History". Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  5. ^ McGreal, Mary Nona. "Samuel Mazzuchelli", The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa
  6. ^ "Early Education in Wisconsin", Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin...", Volume 5, p. 349
  7. ^ "Term: Father Samuel Mazzuchelli" Dictionary of Wisconsin History
  8. ^ "Mazzuchelli, Samuel Charles 1806 – 1864". Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "St. Patrick's Rectory and Father Mazzuchelli's Gravesite & Museum", Lafayette County
  10. ^ "Mazzuchelli Cause Continues". Sinsinawa Dominicans. Archived from the original on February 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Middle School Named in Honor of Fr. Mazzuchelli Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters website
  12. ^ "Builder of the Church".
  13. ^ "Who was the Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli?", Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison
  14. ^ Gallagher, BVM, Mary Kevin (1987). Seed/Harvest: A History of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Dubuque, Iowa: Archdiocese of Dubuque Press. p. 7.
  15. ^ Schmidt, Madeleine M. (1981). Seasons of Growth: History of the Diocese of Davenport. Davenport, Iowa: Diocese of Davenport. p. 33.
  16. ^ Schmidt 1981, p. 63.
  17. ^ Sr. Mary Gilbert Kelly, OP (September 1940). "Irish Catholic Colonies and Colonization Projects in United States, 1795–1860: Part II". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 29 (115). Irish Province of the Society of Jesus: 447–449. JSTOR 30097893.
  18. ^ Schmidt 1981, p. 76.
  19. ^ Schmidt 1981, p. 38.

Further reading[edit]

  • Mazzuchelli, Samuel. The Memoirs of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, O.P. Chicago: Priory Press, 1967.
  • McGreal, Mary Nona. Samuel Mazzuchelli: American Dominican, Journeyman, Preacher, Pastor, Teacher. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2005.

External links[edit]

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