SOG Demetrius Gallitzin: the Saints of Home

First: an announcement.  I'm still looking for your Saint reflections.  Just tell me what saint inspires you, why, and what you think makes a saint!  They will be posted!

Second, a Saint reflection myself:  This past year I have been leading a Saints discussion group at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and some of my most requested Saints to talk about were Americans.  If they were from Pittsburgh, then that was even better. 

Well, my roommate introduced me to another wonderful saint for all the yinzers out there.  Servant of God (or as I like to abbreviate it, SOG) Demetrius Gallitzin. Born as the Prince of Russia in 1770, he became Catholic at the age of 17.  He tried a military career, but that didn't work out, so he decided to travel to see America.  His first stop was in Baltimore, and was amazed at how much need there was in the Churches there.  Thus he resolved to devote his life to the salvation of American souls.  To the despair of his family, he was one of the first students of the Seminary in Baltimore, and was ordained a priest in 1795.  He was the first person to go through all stages of formation to become a priest in America. 

Demetrius began his ministry in Baltimore, but then moved his way into Southern Pennsylvania.  Seeing that there was no Catholic Church in the wilderness of the Alleghenies, he decided to start one and built his first church as a log house.  Eventually, he spread his missions, and was ministering in churches from Erie, to Pittsburgh, to Harrisburg, and everywhere in-between.  He was literally the priest of Pennsylvania.  His name was the "Apostle of the Alleghenies"

There's more cool stuff to his story that I can't quite fit in here, but look him up!  Here is the link to the website of the cause of his canonization: http://www.demetriusgallitzin.org/index.htm. 

For all of my Pennsylvania friends, how cool is this saint!  Even for those outside of PA, there is a lot of attraction towards the saints that lived where we dwell, and rightly so.  We can say that we have walked -- literally -- where a saint has walked.  Also, we have the reassurance that there is someone who has walked our same steps who did become a saint, so we can too! Also cool is the bragging rights that we can say "Saint so and so was here". 

SOG Demetrius, may you watch of all of us in the Alleghenies.  May all people follow in the footsteps of Saints from the place they call home.