Today is the feast of Blessed Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, 1799-1873, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Please click here for information about the 2007 edition of Gary MacEoin's 1962 biography of Fr. Moreau, and for a link to a clip of Fr. Jim Gallagher's appearance on WNDU Sunday Morning, in which he talks about the founder and about the events this week at Notre Dame to celebrate the feast.
Amazon provides a Look Inside feature for MacEoin's book, Basil Moreau: Founder of Holy Cross. For examples of the sufferings Moreau endured, read about his relationships with Bishop Jean-Baptiste Bouvier and others in the hierarchy; about the financial shenanigans of Br. Marie Julien and others in the congregation; and about the bitter conflicts with Fr. Edward Sorin and others at Notre Dame and at St. Mary's. The constant turmoil finally led to Fr. Moreau's resignation from his position as superior general.
Br. Joel Giallanza, in his Afterword, tells how Fr. Moreau was nearly forgotten after his death. There was "a silence that shrouded his memory among the members of Holy Cross, except for the Marianite Sisters whose fidelity never wavered. That silence spanned more than five decades". The silence and the "careless disposal of Moreau's personal effects" make scholarly work on the founder difficult still.
But at least Sorin admitted, years after Moreau's death: "I was wrong! It was Father Moreau who was wise; we were only ignoramuses."
