Welcome to The Catholic Gene – a blog dedicated to the faith of our fathers and mothers…and their ancestors.  This blog will feature articles by a diverse group of authors who share a strong Catholic identity and a love for genealogy. Join us as we share about genealogy, the Catholic faith, and anything in which those two worlds intersect.  Expect to find posts about a variety of topics such as saints, saints-to-be or famous Catholics in genealogy records, profiles of churches, Catholic communities, or archives. We will also write our memories and reflections of growing up Catholic. And naturally, we will share vintage photos of churches, priests, nuns, and more!

We are very excited to begin this project, and we hope our readers find information that is informative, useful, or just plain fun. Visit the Authors Page to learn more about our writers and About Us to learn more about this blog.

The authors of this project sought to find a patron, and while there is no “official” patron saint of genealogy, there are quite a few saints that we can call upon for help as we research our roots. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants, whom many of us have in our family trees.  Then there is St. Helena, the patron saint of archaeologists – after “digging up” information in piles of dusty books, sometimes she feels like an appropriate intercessor.  St. Anne and St. Joachim were the grandparents of Jesus, and St. Matthew wrote his earthly genealogy.  In desperate moments, we’re likely to call upon St. Anthony to find our lost and missing ancestors or St. Jude for those “hopeless” cases with elusive ancestors.  But St. Jerome seems to be the most all-encompassing patron for what genealogists do, for he is the patron of archivists, librarians, and translators.  St. Jerome, and all the saints, pray for us!

Thank you for visiting and God Bless! ~ De saeculis saeculorum ~

St. Jerome and Two Angels by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, 1617