Thomas Galberry (May 28, 1833 – October 10, 1878) was an

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Augustinian

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and the fourth

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, serving from 1876 until his death in 1878.

Biography

Galberry was born in

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

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, to Thomas and Margaret (née White) Galberry. In 1836 he and his family moved to the

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, where they settled in

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. He studied the

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

at Villanova College from 1847 to 1851, and entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the

Order of St. Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

, more commonly known as the Augustinians, in January 1852. After making his

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully '' professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted b ...

on January 4, 1853, he remained at Villanova for three more years, studying

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and oratory and serving as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

and disciplinarian. Galberry was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood by Bishop

John Neumann John Nepomucene Neumann (german: link=no, Johann Nepomuk Neumann, cs, Jan Nepomucký Neumann; March 28, 1811 – January 5, 1860) was a Catholic priest from Bohemia. He immigrated to the United States in 1836, where he was ordained, joined t ...

on December 20, 1856. He then served as a professor at Villanova College until 1858, when he became

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of the Augustinian mission at St. Denis Church in Havertown. In January 1860 he was transferred to the mission at

Lansingburgh Lansingburgh was a village in the north end of Troy. It was first laid out in lots and incorporated in 1771 by Abraham Jacob Lansing, who had purchased the land in 1763. In 1900, Lansingburgh became part of the City of Troy. Demographics Lans ...

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, where Galberry tore down the dilapidated St. John's Church in 1864 and built the new St. Augustine's. He also introduced the

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and founded a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

for them;

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for a new

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; and established numerous

confraternities A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most ...

. He was named by the

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

as Superior of the Augustinian missions in the United States (known as the

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Our Lady of Good Counsel Our Lady of Good Counsel ( la, Mater boni consilii) is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after a painting said to be miraculous, now found in the thirteenth century Augustinian church at Genazzano, near Rome, Italy. Measuring the imag ...

) on November 30, 1866. In addition to his duties as Superior, in February 1870, Galberry was made pastor of St. Mary's Church in Lawrence,

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. He served as

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of Villanova College from 1872 to 1876, during which time he erected the center and west wings of the college building and reorganized the course of studies. When the Our Lady of Good Counsel Comissariat was formed into th
Province of St. Thomas of Villanova
in 1874, Galberry was elected Provincial Superior on September 14 of that year. On March 15, 1875, he was appointed the fourth

, by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

. Unwilling to abandon the

consecrated life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life ( religious and ...

, he sent the

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his declination of the appointment on the following April 19, but Rome did not accept and required him to obey on February 17, 1876. Galberry received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on the following March 19 from Archbishop

John Joseph Williams John Joseph Williams was an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, serving between 1866 and his death in 1907. Early life and education Williams was born in Bosto ...

, with Bishops

Patrick Thomas O'Reilly Patrick Thomas O'Reilly (December 24, 1833 – May 28, 1892) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts from 1870 to 1892. Biography Early life P ...

and Edgar Philip Prindle Wadhams serving as

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, at St. Peter's Church in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

. He designated St. Peter's to serve temporarily as his

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

while St. Joseph's Cathedral was under construction. He later laid the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

for St. Joseph's in April 1877. After Galberry returned from an ''

ad limina A quinquennial visit ''ad limina'', or simply an ''ad limina'' visit, is the required visit of Catholic residential diocesan bishops and certain prelates with territorial jurisdiction (such as territorial abbots) to the ''thresholds of the'' om ...

'' visit in 1876, his health began to fail and, seeking rest, he set out for Villanova College in 1878. While traveling through

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, he was stricken with a

haemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, v ...

and taken to the Grand Union Hotel at the corner of Park Avenue and 42nd St., near

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

, where he died a few hours later at age 45. He was buried initially in the Cathedral crypt; later his remains were moved to the Bishops' Plot at Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield, Connecticut."Thomas Galberry, O.S.A.", the Augustinians
/ref>

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford

Photo of Thomas Galberry, O.S.A.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galberry, Thomas 1833 births 1878 deaths People from County Kildare Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Augustinian bishops 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Villanova University alumni Presidents of Villanova University People from Lansingburgh, New York Roman Catholic bishops of Hartford Catholics from New York (state)