Cause for the Canonization of
Servant of God
Demetrius Gallitzin
"Apostle of the Alleghenies"
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Cause for the Canonization of Servant of God Demetrius Gallitzin "Apostle of the Alleghenies"
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Catholic Register - Biographical Sketch
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To
mark the bicentennial of Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin’s birth in 1970,
The
Catholic Register printed a
series of biographical articles about the Prince - Priest by local historian
Grace Murphy. As part of the 1990
observance of the 150th anniversary of Father Gallitzin’s death, the articles,
revised by Monsignor Timothy P. Stein, editor, appeared again, under the title
“Gallitzin: A Prince Of Peace.”
Now, as the Diocese of Altoona - Johnstown officially inaugurates the
Cause of the Servant of God Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, we are pleased to
present an updated version of the 1990 revised articles. Part
One The
man history remembers as the Servant of God Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
was born Empress
Catherine depended upon Prince Dmitri Alexeievich Gallitzin to represent her and
the Russian Empire at the diplomatic circles of the western world. For
14 years the Prince represented his sovereign in It
was through the Empress Catherine that Gallitzin met Amalia Von Schmettau,
daughter of Field Marshal Count Samuel Von Schmettau of Gallitzin
was named Russian Minister Plenipotentiary at At
home at the The
glamour of the Dutch capital in 1770 provided the backdrop of the early years of
the little Prince Dmitri. It was a
time and place of great wealth. The
Dutch East India Company brought the riches of the Orient to the city.
The world was enjoying a time of comparative peace.
A blind gaiety was the order of the day. In
1773 the Gallitzin family was honored by a visit from the Russian Empress
herself, Catherine the Great. A
plague was ravaging her country, and she took refuge in a European tour.
During this trip, Catherine served as Dmitri’s godmother when he was
baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. The
Dutch Prince, husband of Princess Amalia’s friend, had a country house where
his family retired when not engaged in functions of government.
A roadway led past this estate from A
Dutch official, Franz Hemstenuis, owned a pleasant country villa on this
boulevard, neighboring the royal estate. The
Princess Gallitzin and her children moved to this house in 1774.
Here, little Prince Dmitri enjoyed the company of peasant children and
fishermen’s families, and renewed his friendship with the children of the
Prince and Princess of This
country estate in time became the center of a literary circle.
The senior Prince Gallitzin continued to engage in diplomatic affairs and
his wife, deciding that academic brilliance meant more than social success,
began her association with famous authors and teachers. In
the 18th century, children were considered infants until their tenth year.
According to all accounts, young Dmitri Gallitzin enjoyed his infancy,
completely overshadowed by his brilliant diplomat father, and his beautiful,
academic mother. Prince
Dmitri’s boyhood friend, Prince William of Part
Two Father
Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin descended through his father and mother from a
long line of European aristocrats. The
father of Father Gallitzin was a member of a family that had served the Russian
rulers since at least the early 13th century. Prior
to the rule of Tsar Peter I, Although
history records that the Tsar was an irreligious man, he chose singularly pious
people for administrative posts in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Among these persons was Princess Anastasia Prosorovsky Gallitzin, who was
named superior general of all nuns in Not
all the members of the Gallitzin family fared so well in court circles.
When a leading member of the family became a Roman Catholic, the Empress
Anna punished him by making marry an old and ugly hag.
She forced the newlyweds to spend their wedding night in a palace built
entirely of ice. Father
Gallitzin’s father was Prince Dmitri Alexeivich Gallitzin (1734 - 1803).
In contrast to many of his ancestors, this Prince Gallitzin chose to
serve in the fields of science and diplomacy, in preference to the battlefield.
He began his career in Gallitzin’s
period of service in Ironically,
since he was one of the world’s wealthiest men, the radical writers found a
generous patron in Prince Dmitri. He
financed the publication of Claude Adrian Helvetius’ treatise on economy, and
wrote a forward to it. Later, the
Prince was to write his own treatise on economics. The
Prince was interested in arts and letters of every sort.
Through his connection with Helvetius, the Prince was to meet Benjamin
Franklin. The two men would exchange
ideas on theories of electricity, which Gallitzin would later develop as a book.
Eventually, Gallitzin would become a member of The
18th century was also a time in which Freemasonry strengthened the forces of
world revolution. Gallitzin became
the Grand Master of the Oriental Lodge of Freemasons of Paris. In
1768, while traveling to The
mother of Father Demetrius Gallitzin was Countess Amalia Von Schmettau, the
daughter of Field Marshal Samuel Von Schmettau, commander of all the armies of Amalia
was raised in a convent school, following her mother’s Roman Catholic faith.
She remained a pupil of the nuns until her early teenage years, when she
was sent to a finishing school in At
the time of her meeting with the Russian Prince, Amalia was serving as lady in
waiting to the Princess Ferdinand, sister - in - law to King Frederick.
The young Countess was entranced by Prince Gallitzin and married him in Part
Three Father
Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, son of Prince Dmitri Gallitzin and Countess
Amalia von Schmettau, was not to be the only famous Catholic member of his
family. Nor was he the only member
of the family to become a pioneer missionary in the Princess
Elizabeth Galitzine was born in Prince
Alexis died when his daughter was only four - years - old.
Her mother became a Catholic secretly, after being instructed by a
Jesuit, Father Jean Rosaven. The
Jesuits, the Society of Jesus, had been suppressed by order of the Pope, and
forbidden to minister as Jesuits throughout In
1825, with Father Rosaven’s encouragement, Mother
Elizabeth Galitzine arrived in One
of the first priests to meet Mother Galitzine was a Vincentian, Father Philip
Borgna. Father Borgna acquainted
Mother Elizabeth with the story of her cousin’s ministry, and prevailed upon
her to open a convent and academy in Father
Borgna’s plea was made on the basis that McSherrystown was close to Conewago,
the mission from which Father Gallitzin had been called to The
Religious of the Sacred Heart accepted the McSherrystown mission in 1842.
After struggling for several years to make a success of the academy, they
yielded the field to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill, In
her brief sojourn in the The
relationship between Mother Galitzine and Mother Barat was often a difficult
one. Father Rosaven’s influence on
the former Princess Elizabeth was strong; he hoped through her to influence the
development of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
Hoping that Despite
the difficult nature of her character, and the tensions in her relationship with
her Mother General, Elizabeth Galitzine died a truly heroic death within six
months of her return to Biographies
of Mother Galitzine and Father Gallitzin were written by another Catholic
cousin, Prince Augustine Peter Gallitzin. Part
Four There
is an old saying among Christian families that a man’s sole world is the woman
he loves, and a woman’s whole existence is her children.
Princess Amalia Gallitzin was such a woman, who lived only for her little
boy, Mitri, and her daughter, Marianne. The
diplomatic circles of the The
Princess accepted the whirl of high society for three years.
Then one day in 1773, she told her husband, the Prince - Ambassador, she
would endure it no longer. Her
children were more important to her than anything in the world. The
Princess
Anne lived most of the year on the tree - lined boulevard leading from Except
for the necessary courtesies to diplomatic visitors, the Princess devoted all
her time to the children. She gave
them a rather strenuous upbringing with cold showers and strict discipline.
They played along the sand dunes with the peasant children, and the
philosopher Hanz Hemsterhius acquainted them with astronomy, basic mathematics
and geometry. The
formal education of an 18th century child began at the age of 10.
Thus in 1779 the Gallitzins considered several methods for the education
of their son. His friendship with
Voltaire led the Prince - Ambassador to purchase a house in The
Society of Jesus - - the Jesuits - - had been suppressed in 1773 by Pope Clement
XIV, and their House of Studies on the Gruene Gasse in The
Princess’s next move was to lease the country estate of Angelmodde where she
established a private school for her children and those of neighboring families. Among
the neighbors was the Von Droste family, destined to play a singular role in the
life of the Gallitzins. A
Catholic family, the Von Drostes made a deep impression upon Princess Amalia.
Their orderly Christian family life so moved her that she wanted her son
and daughter to emulate the Von Droste children.
Ultimately, this admiration led the Princess to return to the Catholic
faith of her childhood and to bring her two children with her. In
June 1787 Prince Mitri and Princess Marianne followed their mother’s example
and were received into the Roman Catholic Church.
They received their First Holy Communion as Catholics on Trinity Sunday,
with spectacular ceremonies befitting their noble status. Part
Five Confirmed
at the parish When
the senior Prince Gallitzin heard the news of what had transpired, he journeyed
to Young
aristocrats of the 18th century were traditionally sent on a “grand tour” of
the capital cities of As
was fitting for someone of his rank and background, Mitri was being trained for
the life of a professional soldier at the As
a traveling companion for her son, Princess Amalia chose Father Francis Xavier
Brosius, who had formerly been a tutor in the household of her friends, the
pious and aristocratic Von Droste - Vischering family.
Mitri carried with him letters of introduction to Bishop John Carroll of It
was rumored that one reason why his father consented to Mitri’s voyage was to
divert his son’s attention from the desire to become a priest.
It was unthinkable for a Gallitzin, baptized in the Russian Orthodox
Church and provided at birth with a high commission in the armies of the Empire
to become a Catholic priest. His
father was certain the journey would turn Mitri away from this “wayward”
call. Mitri’s
mother and some friends accompanied him to The
voyage to the Prince
Demetrius had chosen to travel incognito in the At
the direction of the Bishop, the travellers lodged in a tavern a mile outside of
Balitmore recently purchased by a few exiled priests from Part
Six When
he send his son to the new Mitri
and Father Brosius traveled to “I
have received your letter of October 1793. It
was a source of real pleasure to me, not only because you tell me you are
enjoying perfect health but also because you are deriving profit from your
travels. “Your
descriptions of the land from It
soon became evident that Mitri was not interested in using his father’s
letters of introduction to the leaders of “ “My
confessor to whom I give and owe entire obedience, consented to let me spend a
half - hour, although I wanted to spend an hour on this meditation.
I also promised to spend at least five minutes every day reading the New
Testament.” When
he announced to his parents his determination to remain in the News
of this move by Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin was received with dismay by
his mother and fury by his father. Their
wrath, the alarm of his friends, and the confusion of European revolutions were
far from the mind of the seminarian in the quiet halls of Saint Mary’s
Seminary. The remembrance of the
peace, the scholarly atmosphere, the zealous discipline and pious example of the
Sulpician priests set the pattern for Mitri’s future way of life. The
young priest was ordained by Bishop John Carroll on There
had been one other priest, Father Stepehn Badin, previously ordained by Bishop
Carroll, but he had received all the minor and major orders in Part
Seven Following
his ordination, Father Gallitzin was given a vacation at Mitri
was 24 - years - old and on the brink of a long and active priestly life.
Months of sedentary study at the seminary had made him eager for a
glimpse of life in the American hinterlands.
Leaving Mitri’s
visit to Port Tobacco, a plantation on an estuary of the “The
arrival of Reverend Mister Napier and your messenger yesterday evening relieved
our minds from the uncertainty and many fears concerning you.
You ought to have given us early notice of your delay and where you were.
How often you vary your projects gave me concern.” It
is a long letter, disclosing Mitri’s desire to remain at Port Tobacco for the
rest of his life. On the journey
from It
is difficult today to realize the conditions faced by priests in the Bishop
Carroll could not honor Father Gallitzin’s request to remain at Port Tobacco.
He needed the young priest to preach to German - speaking congregations
in Foregoing
his own wishes, Father Gallitzin returned to Part
Eight In
the summer of 1795, the newly - ordained Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin
ministered to the German - speaking Catholics resident in the city of Baltimore,
preaching to them in their own language, and celebrating the Eucharist for them.
After his death in May 1840 there were found among his papers a group of
homilies entitled by him “Sermons Given At Baltimore - 1795.” Demetrius
Gallitzin was no longer a bewildered European stranger in the new world.
He settled down to live a life of priestly routine.
Living with his teachers at Saint Mary’s Seminary and visiting Bishop
Carroll often, Demetrius met the pioneer missionaries on their way to the west,
north and south of the new Diocese. These
men became his heroes. The great
names of Washington, Adams and Franklin no longer fascinated him. This
change of attitude was reflected in his 1820 publication “Letter To A
Protestant Friend” in which he advised “Do not be imposed upon by great
names. The true greatness of a man
depends upon the depth of his humility and the perfection of his obedience.” In
August 1795 Gallitzin’s ministry took a new turn when accompanied by Bishop
Carroll, he undertook a new assignment at Conewago in The
Conewago parish was centered on a tract of land granted to the Society of Jesus
by John Digges, an uncle of Bishop Carroll.
The Jesuit plantation contained the priests’ house, a church dedicated
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the homes of many Catholic settlers.
Located in the present day Diocese of Harrisburg, Conewago at that time
was on the Lancaster Pike. Roads
giving access to As
assistant to the pastor, Father Pellentz, Gallitzin became a “circuit rider”
missionary priest. His particular
circuit covered territory in Mitri
enjoyed the healthful climate, the good food, the pious atmosphere, the
scholarly companionship of the priests, as well as the physical activities of a
hardy missionary life. He said Mass
in the farm houses of the Catholics and helped to build chapels.
He served as pastor of Still
known by pseudonym “Father Smith,” the Prince - Priest was summoned on a
sick call that would eventually lead to the founding of Loretto.
The young priest answered the cry for help and solace as just a normal
part of his missionary duties, though it entailed a trip of 150 miles to
McGuire’s Settlement in Here
he was summoned to the non - Catholic wife of the Catholic John Burgoon.
Mrs. Burgoon was seriously ill and her husband was greatly concerned for
her life. Late
in the evening on the fourth day of his trip, Father Gallitzin arrived at
McGuire’s Settlement. He
administered the last rites to Susan Burgoon by lantern - light and received her
into the Catholic Church. The next
morning, Father Gallitzin celebrated the first Mass in McGuire’s Settlement. Happily,
Mrs. Burgoon rallied and it became evident she would live.
The gratitude of the settlers, their warm reception and the promise of
future growth in this beautiful countryside all made a profound impression on
the young priest. He resolved to
soon return. Part
Nine On
his return to his own mission at Conewago, following his 1795 sick call to
McGuire’s Settlement, Father Gallitzin petioned Bishop Carroll to appoint him
the pastor there. It would be four
years before he had an affirmative answer. Both
Bishop Carroll and Father Gallitzin knew that McGuire’s Settlement could not
support a priest, but Mitri had been receiving money from his mother, Princess
Amalia. Although he had forfeited
his right to his father’s fortune because of his conversion and ordination,
Father Gallitzin knew he could rely on his mother’s love and financial support
for his new mission. Gallitzin
made the trip to his mountain home in a two - horse prairie schooner, in which
were stored an altar, sacred vessels, vestments, altar wine, flour, coffee, a
bed, a bureau, and more than a hundred books.
He lived for some months in the log cabins of the settlers until his own
house was built, about a half - mile from the McGuire farm. In
a “Our
church, which was only begun in harvest time, got finished fit for service the
night before Christmas. It is about
44 feet long by 25 feet, built of white pine logs with a very good shingle roof.
I kept service in it at Christmas for the first time, to the very great
satisfaction of the whole congregation, who seemed very much moved at a sight
which they never beheld before. “There
is also a house built for me, 16 feet by 14, besides a little kitchen and a
stable. I have now, thanks be to
God, a little home of my own for the first time since I came to this country,
and God grant that I may be able to keep it.
The congregation numbers at present about 40 families, but there is no
end of Catholics in all the settlements about me.
What will become of them if we do not receive a new supply of priests, I
do not know. I try as much as I can
to persuade them to settle around me.” The
community Father Gallitzin had come to had been established by a Revolutionary
War soldier, Captain Michael McGuire, from The
first baptism to take place in McGuire’s Settlement after Gallitzin’s
arrival was that of Joseph Bradley, son of Charles and Mary Bradley on By
1803, the oridinal name, McGuire’s Settlement, was beginning to give way to
Father Gallitzin’s preferred name for the community, “Loretto.”
This name showed the depth of his devotion to the Mother of God. The
Prince - Priest took the name from that of the famous shrine of “Loreto” in Part
Ten The
Russian aristocrat turned Roman Catholic priest, Father Demetrius Augustine
Gallitzin became a naturalized American citizen in 1802; an 1809 act of the
Pennsylvania Legislature permitted him to resume the use of the name Demetrius
Gallitzin, thus casting aside forever the incognito identity of Father Augustine
Smith. The
“Russian” Prince - Priest was actually of royal Lithuanian descent,a
ccording to Stasys Maziliaukas, author of Pioneer Prince In The U.S.A.:
An Historical Account Of Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin And His
Eminent Relatives. Father
Gallitzin’s coat of arms, bearing the ancient emblem of a knight with a raised
sword, mounted on a white horse upon a red field, marks him out as a descendant
of King Gediminas of Gediminas
reigned from 1316 until 1341 from the capital city of Among
the King’s seven sons was Prince Norimantas, created Duke of Grand Novgorod
(near present day The
‘Russian” Gallitzin family originated by the marriage in 1408 of Prince
George of Starodub, a descendant of Patrikis, to Maria, daughter of Grand Duke
Vasili I of Moscow. Maria was
herself a descendant of King Gediminas, thus consolidating the Lithuanian
connection. Through
Princess Maria, Father Gallitzin is a direct descendant of Vytautus, who is 1398
was recognized as King of Lithuania, after liberating the country from the rule
of his cousin, King Jogaila of Another
descendant of King Gediminas was King Casimir IV who would rule both The
nickname “Golitz” (from “Golitza”) means a gauntlet, and the name became
synomous with military bravery. The
Prince’s family eventually adopted the surname “Golitsyn” which the father
of Father Demetrius Gallitzin changed to the present, westernized spelling, when
he became Ambassador to Father
Gallitzin ultimately descends from Prince Andrey Golitsyn, brother of a prince
who was offered the Russian imperial throne in 1584.
This branc of the family tree became known as the Great Golitsyns,
because of the number of statesmen, diplomats and military leaders they sired. Part
Eleven Although
accounts of Father Gallitzin’s holiness are many, there are few descriptions
of his personal appearance. During
his lifetime, it was taken for granted that he was a Prince in every way.
He never had his portrait painted; there is no authentic likeness of him
in existence. In
1834, Father Peter Henry Lemcke came to the mountain as an assistant to Father
Gallitzin. In his 1861 book Life
Of Gallitzin, Lemcke describes their first meeting:
himself on horseback and the Prince - Priest seated in a low sled,
wearing an overcoat and a shoulder cape and “a peasant’s hat.” The
best description of Gallitzin’s appearance was written by Sarah Brownson in
her 1873 work The Life And Works Of Reverend D.A. Gallitzin: “Mitri
was the very beau ideal of a stately young officer.
He was rather tall, being about five feet nine or ten inches high with
that peculiar reticent, dignified high bred air which has the effect of the most
imposing height. “He
had a slender figure and lithe yet compact figure, a fine clear complexion, not
too fair for manliness, and the handsomest dark eyes that ever glanced love or
anger from the shadow of a military cap. Masses
of shining black hair clustered around a delicately formed, haughtily set head.
A long, large nose gave character, force and dignity to his countenance. The
only thing wrong with Brownson’s description is that she had never set eyes on
the hero she worshipped! The Mitri
she described was largely a figure of her imagination.
But eyewitnesses to the Prince’s ministry did leave their impressions
of his appearance. Father
James Stillinger visited the Prince soon after his own ordination.
He wrote “In 1831 I went to see Father Gallitzin for the first time.
On entering the hall he met me, and took my hand with both of his, so
beautifully formed. “He
looked intently into my face with his dark hazel eyes, quick and penetrating.
His countenance beamed with benevolence and kindness.
His address was graceful, bland, fatherly and accomplished, as at once to
indicate the nobleman and the self - sacrificing convert and missionary.” Another
young, newly - ordained priest, Father James Bradley, wrote of his first meeting
with Gallitzin, “He received me then and always with true paternal kindness .
. . His manner was dignified, his language clear and impressive.
His trumpet voice could be heard at a great distance, although he had
accidentally lost all his teeth.” Daniel
Sargent, author of the Gallitzin biography Mitri writes “His tongue was
brisk, even brusque, but it did not offend.
His witty retorts became the delight of the settlers.
They were his mark by which he was loved.” In
1839 an attack of illness caused an outward change in Father Gallitzin.
Although his mind was clear, he lost some of his brusqueness.
Father Lemcke saw the change and wrote about it to a friend:
“When I first saw Gallitzin he was indeed very thin and his appearance
was frail. His voice was loud and
sonorous. His look was keen and
determined.” Lemcke
continued that after 1839 “He began to walk stooped and his step became
uncertain. Occasionally, during his
sermons, his voice would fail him, and his sermons passed over into soft
weeping. The whole parish wept with
him.” In
another letter, Lemcke wrote “Regarding social life, I do not receive much
from the aged and venerable Gallitzin. I
live 12 miles away from him. “For
42 years he was thrown upon his own resources.
He is the noblest, purest and most godly man I have ever met.
He now enjoys undisturbed peace and the angel already looks out through
his eyes. I know he could at any
time lie down and sleep away with a laughing countenance, like a tired child.” Part
Twelve With
the creation of every new Diocese in the After
the death of Bishop Michael Egan O.F.M. in 1814, the See of Philadelphia was
vacant for six years. It was
impossible to find a priest willing to accept responsiblity for the troubled
Dicoese. When considering candidates
for the office, Archbishop John Carroll forwarded the following judgment of
Father Gallitzin: “The
Reverend Mister Gallitzin has for many years lived so far distant that I cannot
speak with confidence of his present dispositions.
He has made sacrifices of worldly rank and performed actions of
disinterested zeal. His literary,
and I presume, his theological requirements, are considerable.
A strong objection to his preferement is a great load of debt, incurred
rashly through excellent and charitable purposes.” Father
Gallitzin received letters from friends in On
two occasions, Archbishop Louis DuBourg advanced Gallitzin’s name as eligible
in 1815 for Bardstown, and in 1820 for A
Michigan missionary, Father Gabriel Richard bequeathed his entire estate to the
Prince - Priest, expecting that Father Gallitzin would become Bishop of Detroit:
“I hereby give and bequeath all my real and personal estate, lands,
household goods, books, chattels, etc. of any kind or nature whatsoever of which
I will be possessed of in the United States at the time of my death, to the
Reverend Demetrius Gallitzin . . . elected Bishop of Detroit . . . to enable him
to found the Bishopric of Detroit and a seminary for the instruction of his
young clergymen.” In
1827 when Archbishop Ambrose Marechal of Baltimore asked him if he would
consider accepting the See of Detroit, Father Gallitzin wrote his reasons why he
could not leave Loretto: “If you
knew the mission of Loretto, you would agree with me that it is one of the most
important in the United States, and it would ruin it and ruin me to remove me
from this mission. . . . Now, to form my establishment I have been to great
expense . . . I have part of my fund in tanneries, etc., and it is impossible to
draw them suddenly without runining many families.” The
rest of Gallitzin’s letter to the Archbishop gives evidence that his plans for
his mountain town went beyond tanneries and grist mills, but envisioned it as
the center of local Catholicism: “Several
years ago I formed a plan . . . to form a Diocese for the western part of Part
Thirteen In
1839, Father Gallitzin made the acquaintance of a young physician, Aristide
Rodrigue, a Frenchman, practicing medicine in Ebensburg.
Dr. Rodrigue was to care for the Prince - Priest during the last year of
his life. Father
Gallitzin was a man grown old before his time.
In the summer prior to his death, Father Lemcke wrote of Gallitzin “he
began to walk stooped and his step became uncertain.”
Gallitzin himself commented on his failing health to his spiritual son,
Father Thomas Heyden: “The
account you have had of my illness was not founded in fact.
What may have given rise to it is that I was for one Sunday only
prevented from appearing at the holy altar, by pains in the lower joints, which
perhaps alarmed some of those who being in the habit of seeing me there every
Sunday concluded I must be very ill. In
Father
Gallitzin was increasingly lame after falling from his horse.
Excruciating pain afflicted him, but he refused to listen to Dr.
Rodrigue’s advice that he should rest. Throughout
the winter of 1839 - 1840 the zealous missionary continued to make sick calls
throughout the mission territory, and to travel on a round of errands to clear
his remaining debts. Consulting Dr.
Rodrigue at the end of Lent, Gallitzin promised to take time for bed rest
following Easter. Easter
Sunday 1840 was the last time Father Gallitzin would celebrate Mass at Saint
Michael Church in Loretto. He spent
the early morning of the feast in the confessional, and by On
Easter Monday morning, Father Gallitzin was unable to rise from bed.
Word of his illness began to spread by word of mouth, and the news was
sent to Father Heyden that “our dear and much revered Doctor Gallitzin is fast
approaching his last end.” On
Easter Saturday the Prince - Priest drafted a new will in which he bequeathed to
the Bishop of Philadelphia his church, farm, lands “and all appurtenances
thereunto belonging” including six lots on which to build a new church.
The rest of Father Gallitzin’s estate consisted of five horses, three
cows, a two - horse wagon, two violins, 574 books, several sleds and some
articles of furniture. This
remainder he left in trust to his executors to divide in four units:
1) for the relief of poor widows and orphans; 2) for Masses to be said
for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed; 3) for the erection of the
new church; and 4) for disbursement to Suzannah Christy, Sarah Durbin, Ann Storm
and Francis and Hugh McConnell, “all of whom were raised by me.” When
Father Lemcke arrived at the dying man’s bedside, Gallitzin said to him “My
will is made. I trust that so far as
I am concerned, I can depart in peace and that no one will lose anything through
me, but there may be even something left over.
Now I wish above all to receive the last Sacraments, and then do with me
what you like.” Immediately
after On
May 4, Father Heyden, Gallitzin’s protege - - the first priestly vocation from
The
dying man now took leave of all who were close to him.
One by one the people of Loretto passed by his bedside for a final
blessing. One man, the town
drunkard, was greeted with a raised finger and a shake of the Prince’s head.
The man fell to the floor in contrition, and was forgiven by Father
Gallitzin, who regretting that he had no money to give to him said “Poor
fellow, if it is still possible, do not forget him.” On
the evening of May 6, Father Heyden was reading the prayers for the dying when
Father Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin died at
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