AAMEN ESSAY WINNER: Lexi Synder

Laura Coronilla – November 2, 2023 1 Comment

The African Ancestry Ministry and Evangelization Network (AAMEN) invites you to join us in celebration of National Black Catholic History Month (NBCHM).   In 1990, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus designated November as NBCHM.  The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus chose Notre Dame University’s Theodore Hesburgh Library to entrust the archives.  These historical documents contain information about African-American Catholic priests, sisters, brothers, deacons, seminarians and lay people.  November also marks a time, when in loving remembrance, the church prays for all saints and souls, as well as a time to recall the saints and souls of Africa and African diaspora.

To celebrate NBCHM, St. Michael Chapter of AAMEN worked with St. Michael School to introduce the Middle School students to Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman, an African American convert to Catholicism.  She was a Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.  The students studied the life of Sr. Thea, her contributions to the Catholic Church, and were invited to write an essay.  The winning essays will be featured in the bulletins though-out the month of November.  Please take time to reflect on Sr. Thea Bowman as she awaits our church’s recognition as a Saint.

Sixth Grade – Lexi Snyder

Pierre Toussaint, a slave from birth, lived an extraordinary life full of selflessness dedicated to the church, and to those in need.  Born in 1766, in the French colony of Haiti,

Toussaint worked as a house slave for Jean Berard and his family (“Pierre Toussaint.”).  When the Berards moved to New York in 1787, due to political unrest in Haiti, they took both Pierre and his sister, Rosalie, with them to the big apple (“MAAP I Place Detail: Pierre Toussaint.”). During Pierre’s time in New York until his death in 1853, he performed many acts of kindness to those in need during and after enslavement that are worthy of attention and acknowledgement by the church.  Today, I will be sharing my insight of the life of Pierre Toussaint, pointing out periods during his lifetime in which he demonstrated true acts of sainthood, and why I personally believe that he should be recognized as not just a remarkable person but also as a saint.

During Toussaint’s life as a slave, he displayed some of his most selfless acts of kindness. The first occurred soon after the Berards moved to New York in 1787 due to a Revolutionary War in Haiti when his late master, Jean Berard, died. At the time, Pierre worked daily as an assistant to a well-paid hairdresser and earned an allowance that he was allowed to keep for personal use.  Instead, Pierre used his earnings to help the most unexpected person, his slave owner, Madam Berard.  He supported the now widowed lady and her children until she remarried and was no longer suffering as a single mother (“FaithND – Venerable Pierre Toussaint.”). This act not only shows Pierre’s love towards others but most importantly his love towards those who have treated him unfairly. Jesus once told us to forgive those who have sinned against you, just as your heavenly Father has also forgiven you (“Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis”).  By treating Madame Berard with such kindness, Pierre not only helped someone in need but was also literally living and fulfilling the word of God. After Pierre assisted Madame Berard, he then performed a second extraordinary act.  While still working as a hairdresser, Pierre started saving up his job money to buy his sister Rosalie out of slavery. Pierre put his sister’s happiness before his own to ensure that his sister could get married and bear children that wouldn’t have to carry the burden of enslavement (“MAAP”).  Despite the adversity that he faced, Pierre Toussaint set a great example of how there can always be light in the darkness, just by doing something good out of the kindness in your heart.

When Pierre Toussaint became a free man at the age of 45, he used his newfound freedom to continue to support and help his community. Toussaint gained his freedom upon Madame Berard’s death in 1807 and quickly sprang into action shortly after when he freed a young woman named Juliette Noel, whom he married in 1811 (“FaithND”).  Pierre and his wife were always focused on helping others, so when Pierre’s sister tragically died he and Juliette adopted her daughter, Euphimia, and raised her as their own (“Slavery and Remembrance”). Not only did Juliette and Pierre take in Pierre’s niece, but they also opened their house in Manhattan to orphans and homeless people where they provided them with food and shelter (“Pierre Toussaint”). Quickly, the couple became heroes in the Haitian community of New York as Pierre and Juliette continued to provide for people in need. Some of these gifts included employment services, establishing a credit union for new slaves arriving at the Port of Manhattan, and visiting the sick during the yellow fever epidemics when no one else would, knowing that the interaction could cost them their lives (“FaithND”) (MAAP).  Not only did Pierre and his wife support the sick, but they also contributed much to the Catholic Church community. They donated money to nuns and priests, supported local churches, raised money for the first Catholic school that taught free black children, and fundraised for the late Basilica of Old Saint Patrick (“FaithND”) (“MAAP”).

When Pierre Toussaint sadly died in 1853 at the old age of 87, the entire city of Manhattan mourned (“MAAP”).  Authors praised him in the papers and even the great revolutionary leader, General Phillip Schuyler, wrote a speech about him saying, “I have known Christians who were not gentlemen and gentlemen who were not Christians – but one man I know who is both – and that man is black” (“MAAP”).  Pierre’s remains were originally buried in the Old St. Patrick Cathedral next to his wife, but was later moved to the crypt in the new St. Patrick

Cathedral in 1990. Today, Pierre is the only person buried in the cemetery of St. Patrick that is not a cardinal or an archbishop (“Pierre Toussaint”). This shows just how important Pierre is to all of the people in Manhattan and how highly he is viewed in the Catholic community. Toussaint was officially recognized for his work and proclaimed venerable by John Paul the II in 1996 (“FaithND”). Today, he is hopefully on his way to slowly becoming the first African American saint.

Pierre Toussaint should always be remembered as the selfless and humble person that he was. For he put others before himself, used his own freedom for the greater good, and left our world to go join another with God while still leaving a lasting impact on all of us. Pierre sets the perfect example of how a true Christian should act, treat other people, and what it takes to fulfill God’s will.  In my opinion, because he consistently acted benevolently throughout his life, I believe he is worthy of being recognized and honored as a saint. Venerable Pierre Toussaint, the extraordinary soul that has influenced me and the rest of our community to treat everyone as a child of God, pray for us so that we may strive to be the person you repetitively embodied over and over again.

Works Cited

Archdiocese of Los Angeles II LA Catholics, https://lacatholics.org/. Accessed 11 October 2023.

Slavery and Remembrance, https://slaveryandremembrance.org/. Accessed 11 October 2023.

Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Home, http://www.archspm.org. Accessed 11

October 2023.

“FaithND – Venerable Pierre Toussaint.” FaithND,

https://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=44302. Accessed

2 October 2023.

“MAAP I Place Detail: Pierre Toussaint.” MAAP I Mapping the African American Past,

https://maap.columbia.edu/place/13.html. Accessed 2 October 2023.

“Pierre Toussaint.” Saints Resource, 27 May 2023, http://saintsresource.com/pierre-toussaint.

Accessed 2 October 2023.