Last night, hubby and I were watching Finding Your Roots with Professor Henry Gates. The comedian Jim Gaffigan was the subject. In the discussion, Jim expressed his desire to know why his family came to Maine, to settle, yet ended up in Indiana. The answer was to escape persecution, as Catholics.
Professor Gates, to give Jim an idea of the frightening environment, in Maine at that time, told the story of Father Bapst. Father John Bapst was assigned to Maine. He worked with the Indians and Catholics. The Know Nothing political party was big, at that time. the Know Nothings tried to scare Father Bapst away. The Know Nothings were xenophobic, to the extreme.
The Know Nothings attacked Father Bapst, stole his money and watch, stripped him naked, tarred and feathered him and rode him out of town on a rail. Through the grace of God, Father Bapst lived but the traumatic stress affected him mentally. For the rest of his life, he had bouts of mental anguish where he thought the Know Nothings were coming to get him.
Even so, he managed to function. He built St. John's Church in Bangor, Maine. He served as superior in various Jesuit's houses and he was Boston College's first president.
I thank God for Father Bapst's witness. May he finally find peace with Our Lord and Savior.
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