Venerable Father Augustus Tolton

Born: April 1, 1854
Death: July 9, 1897
Cause for Canonization Opened: 2019
Declared Venerable: June 2019

Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, born in Missouri in 1854, was the slave of a white family during the Civil War. Baptized and raised Catholic alongside his mother because their captors were Catholic, Augustus had a deep love of God in his heart, despite his circumstances in life. In 1863, his mother led his family to freedom by crossing the Mississippi River. In 1868, after working in a tobacco factory and trying another Catholic school, Fr. Peter McGirr allowed Augustus to attend St. Peter’s Catholic School, an all-white parish school in Illinois. In this parish, Augustus received his First Communion and was confirmed. After high school, he attended Quincy College and began his studies for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained in 1886 age 31. Fr. Augustus, the first Black priest in America, was lovingly known as “Good Father Gus,” as he lived a life of service to the poor and sick, feeding the hungry and evangelizing. He passed at age 43 unexpectedly while on a retreat, leaving behind a legacy of gentleness of spirit.

Read his story of strength and charity, even amidst racism and injustice here. 

Resources:

• Prayer for the Canonization of Venerable Augustus Tolton
• Watch EWTN’s They Might Be Saints Episode on Augustus Tolton