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 ~
geniaus said:
There are Catholic ancestors on both sides of my family. My Dad’s side is 100% Irish Catholic while my Mum has a catholic line from one of her English convict ancestors.
I look forward to reading your blog which will no doubt dredge up many memories of my schooldays with the Irish Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of Mercy in Sydney, Australia.
Sue Edminster said:
Looking forward to reading “The Catholic Gene.” My dad’s parents were from Ireland and Luxembourg, both families Catholic, however my dad didn’t embrace the faith so It’ll be interesting to read what your authors present. Sue Edminster
Lynn Palermo said:
I am intriqued, being a Catholic and having nothing but Catholics in my ancestry for a far as the eye can see. I will be following along.
Sue McCormick said:
My lines are mixed (including a protestant family from Noord Brabant who fled the Netherlands for fear of their neighbors — which I find as an interesting twist), but all lines appear to have some Catholics in them. So this site interests me greatly.
Cherie Cayemberg said:
Very excited to read your posts. Most of mine and my husband’s ancestors are Catholic. I can’t wait to see the posts!
Christopher Allen Shaw said:
Looks like it will be a great blog with a great line-up of authors. I look forward to following and learning from all of you. Thanks.
Julie said:
I am very interested. My Italian ancestry is of course Catholic, yet I know very little about the faith. Congratulations on your new blog.
mikeeliasz said:
Wow! I am anxious to see where this blog goes…
Blessings and Best of Luck to you all!
–Stanczyk
Karen Howes said:
What a great blog idea– I’m into my Catholic faith and genealogy, but I never would have thought to combine the two!
Genealogy-wise, my only Catholic family was my paternal grandmother’s (she was of Irish descent). My mom’s family haven’t been Catholic since the reign of Henry VIII, and my father’s family were Russian Jews.
Dad was raised nothing, Mom was attracted to the Church, so they converted to Catholicism. 🙂
Karen Howes said:
BTW, the url to my genealogy blog is http://theroadbackward.com
Hope you pop over to visit!
Melissa Spence said:
I will have to bookmark this blog! 🙂 I share about my Catholic faith and the faith within my family. Actually I just posted about my daughter wearing her grandmother’s 1st Holy Communion bracelet this year when she receives her 1st Holy Communion. http://spenceohana.blogspot.com/2011/09/joy-and-peace-in-believing.html
Look forward to all the posts on here!