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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Sept 29 2007 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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We went to a historical century village yesterday and started our tour in the church. My kids were wondering what the Catholics did back then as the church was Congregational I believe. Did they meet in homes? Where did Jesus live(i.e. the tabernacle)?
Anne
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aiereis
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| Posted: Sept 29 2007 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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I don't know for sure, but I think that it depends a lot on what area of the country you live in. In states like California and probably Maryland and Pennsylvania, physical churches have been there since colonial times. MD and PA were very open to Catholics so it was easier to worship publicly, although I think there still was anti-Catholicism. I was married in a church in California that was built in the 1780s, but of course it wasn't considered a colony.
In states like Connecticut and Massachusetts, I think it was against the law for a while to be a Catholic. In that case, Catholics would have had to meet secretly (probably in their homes) and the priest probably consumed all the remaining Hosts after communion since there was no church for a tabernacle. However, most Catholics probably would have lived in states/colonies that were more friendly to Catholics.
--Christina
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MaryM
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| Posted: Sept 29 2007 at 12:44pm | IP Logged
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This is from a recent article by my bil on his Catholic History website. It is from a piece looking at the history of the Liturgy in this country - Spotlight: Liturgy in America.
Liturgical settings, of course, were quite different under the circumstances of colonial life. There were very few established Catholic congregations through the colonial period and Masses in personal residences were common. Where there were churches, they tended to be of the log variety rather than the impressive Gothic structures that would come to characterize American parishes. With few priests to serve a widely scattered populace, Catholic faithful could expect to participate at Mass rarely, perhaps once every several months. In some colonies, the Mass was explicitly or virtually proscribed. For a period of thirty years in the mid-18th century, St. Joseph’s Church in Philadelphia was the only building in the British colonies where Mass could be conducted legally.
Even during the era of Revolution and the New Republic, itinerant priests such as Pierre Gibault, John Carroll, and Demetrius Gallitzin covered vast territories as they strove to provide the sacraments to the new nation’s tiny population.
I'm going to ask him to share more thoughts and resources on this topic with us.
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Macmom
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"Priest on Horseback" by Eva Betz is a historical fiction story about colonial times. Not too many Catholics here, and not too many priests.
Good read!
You might want to look up some stats on the net about the percentage of Catholics in America back then, and see why the numbers were so small and how they grew.
Peace,
Macmom
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MaryM
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| Posted: Oct 10 2007 at 7:50pm | IP Logged
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From my bil:
Christina's response pretty much captures the main ideas. There were very few established Catholic churches in the colonies before independence, even in relatively free places such as Pennsylvania. So it would have been: say Mass in a home (or rough chapel), consume the hosts, move on. Any book about early mission priests--even post-Revolution ones (e.g., Gallitzin, DeSmet)-- would give you a sense of how Catholics lived the sacraments in this situation. I read a great book not long ago about Pere Marquette that gives a nice sense of the wildness of life at the time. Agnes Repplier (sp?) is the author, from the 1920s or 30s. Anyway, that is an extreme case because he was accompanying explorers, not serving settlers--although he did some of the latter as well.
California was a Catholic culture from the beginning: as soon as there were Europeans, there were priests and churches. But that's a separate world from the British colonies.
Regarding the statistics, off the top of my head and therefore unreliable: I believe that at the time of the Revolution there were about 20,000 Catholics total in the 13 colonies, in a total population of a little over 2 million. So it's a tiny percentage. Of course, there was no census bureau at the time and population itself, let alone religious affiliation, would have been difficult to track accurately. Just estimates.
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Mary M. in Denver
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Oct 10 2007 at 8:22pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all for the enlightenment...I knew someone here could help me out.
Anne
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ALmom
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| Posted: Oct 11 2007 at 10:09pm | IP Logged
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There is a great little book by Theodore Maynard (oop) called Great Catholics in American History. Also a great oop historical fiction called The Marylanders (my copy is currently on loan so I cannot check for author) which describes the Maryland colony and the intrigue that wrested the government to the point that it was no longer tolerant of Catholics, though the colony was established by Catholics as a haven for Catholics persecuted in England. Neuman Press sells the Eva K Betz book. These address the Catholics in the British colonies. Of course you have the French and Spanish presence as well but in other parts of what is present day U.S.
I know I have some other books around as well - most scarfed up oop books. You will find a lot out about things if you read a good life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (she, of course, does not become Catholic till after the American revolution but the books do talk about the histories of some of the priests who were helpful to her and this goes into earlier periods of time). I used these names as a jumping off point as well to then find out what I could about these priests. It could turn into a great rabbit trail.
Janet
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Cindy Mac
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Janet -
You piqued my interest with your reference to The Marylanders. I am enthralled with historical fiction  . I tried to do a search online to see if I could find the author. Not sure if it's the same book, but I came across Mary's Land which looks rather interesting as well.
Off to find more money in the budget for books - this time for me! 
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Cindy - wife to Chris, mommy to my 4 sons!
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Where was the Catholic church?
