This week I gave a lecture, not to my students, but to the adult Lay Ministry and Permanent Diaconate Programs for the Diocese of Burlington.  The talk was presented at Blessed Sacrament Church in Stowe, VT.  The topic was the prehistory of Catholicism in Vermont through the death of our founding bishop, Louis de Goesbriand in 1899.  The study of Church history is fascinating, and like most historical subjects, very complicated, but what is thrilling about it is that there is always something more to be unearthed.  One aspect of the talk was the introduction of Catholic schools in Vermont during Bishop de Goesbriand's tenure, mostly during the 1870s--and that includes the arrival of our "ancestors"-- St. Gabriel's School and Mt. St. Joseph School, started respectively by the Brothers of St. Gabriel and the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. We are physically on that historic property today. I am in awe of those pioneering Brothers and Sisters who came to Vermont to begin Catholic education.  If they could see us now!

Written By: Father Lance W. Harlow 

Date Published: September 12, 2024