Mission Memories 1862

December 15, 2009
Mission at St. John’s Church, Orange, NJ, February 2-9, 1862.
Missionaries: Fathers I. Hecker and C. Walworth.

The Mission was attended by many Prot[estant]s of the most respectable class, some of them sending notes to the Pastor requesting to be accommodated with seats. One of them, a merchant in the place on the first day of his attendance, at passing out of the door, declared the whole affair a “damned humbug.” He escaped a broken head through the interposition of the Pastor, but still continued to attend. Towards the close he said to the Pastor “If this thing goes on much longer, you’ll have the whole village Catholic.” Only two were received into the Church, but that the Prot[estant]s of this country are accessible to Catholic influence was thoroughly demonstrated.

Communions: 1000
Converts: 2