Official Site: Cannonization of Prince Demetrius Gallitzin

(CRESSON, PA) — It was an evening to celebrate.

Twelve people received the Prince Gallitzin Cross Award Saturday at a dinner ceremony held at Cosgrave Center on the Mount Aloysius College campus. (Click here to read more)

___________________________________

Read the series of 6 articles from The Catholic Register on the Process of Canonization for Servant of God Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin. (Click here)

___________________________________

Servant of God Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin

(1770-1840)

Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin was born of a Russian prince of Lithuanuan roots and a German countess in the Hauge, Netherlands on December 22, 1770. He left his claim to nobility and came to America in 1792. Wishing to serve God as a priest, he became a student at Saint Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. On March 18, 1795, Bishop John Carroll ordained Father Gallitzin, the first priest to receive all his orders in preparation for priesthood in the United States of America.

He initially arrived in the mountains of west central Pennsylvania on a sick call to the McGuire Settlement. He persistently sought his bishop's permission to serve as this community's pastor. On March 1, 1799, Bishop Carroll assigned Father Gallitzin as resident pastor of the settlement in the mountains. The pioneer priest later renamed the place Loretto after the Marian shrine in Italy.

Click here to continue the story of Demetrius Gallitzin....