Catholics in Libertytown were blessed to interact with some of the major pillars of early Catholicism in the United States. For example, the first US bishop, John Carroll, was involved in the initial discussions about the possibility of a church in Liberty. Fr. John Dubois, who would go on to become Bishop of New York had ministered to Catholics here, as did Fr. John McElroy who completed our first church and later founded Boston College. Very notably, they also interacted with the first American born saint! Some eight decades before St. Peter’s would open the Notre Dame Academy, and a decade before our first church building even got underway, a young lady from Libertytown would benefit from the fact that the first free Catholic school for female education staffed by religious women in the U.S. opened here in her county. “Received the sum of twenty five dollars for three months advance payment for the board + tuition of Miss Sarah Coale,” reads a September 1811 receipt signed by Mo

Bishop Jean (John) Dubois was born in Paris in August 1764. In 1791 he escaped the massacre of clergy during the French Revolution, by fleeing to America with the assistance of forged papers from classmate Maximilien Robespierre. Upon his arrival in Norfolk Virginia, he presented letters of commendation from Lafayette (whose wife was once one of Dubois’ parishioners) to prominent Virginians, including James Monroe with whom he resided briefly. He is reputed to have learned English from Patrick Henry; was a confidante of Thomas Jefferson; offered Mass in the Virginia statehouse and founded Mount St. Mary’s College (now University) and Seminary in Emmitsburg. He also helped Elizabeth Ann Seton establish the Sisters of Charity (known today as the Daughters of Charity) and became the third bishop of New York. In 1792, in the middle of those interesting if not impressive chapters of Dubois’ life, Bishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, appointed him to Frede

While the religious education of our children has always been the responsibility of their parents (and extended family), there is documented evidence that the Jesuits who visited Libertytown in early years of the Parish, and later the diocesan pastors, provided specific instruction to our young, prior to their receiving their First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Archive materials from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, however; provide us with our earliest window into the beginnings of formal religious education at St. Peter’s. From these records we learn that the religious women from that Order, beginning with Sr. Theophora Foley and Sr. Fidelis de Katow, moved into their new convent on October 25, 1892. This convent was adjacent to the school where they would be teaching – Notre Dame Academy (now occupied by the Parish office staff). Records don’t indicate how many sisters were teaching at the school at one time, but in 1935, the number of religious in the community were reduced t

“I’ve come to serve.” That was the response called out by John Martin in May 2009 and by Jerry Jennings and Michael Dvorak in May 2011 as each was called forward from the pews of Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary Our Queen to be ordained as deacons by then-Archbishop (now Cardinal) O’Brien. When asked today to talk about their roles as deacons assigned to St. Peter’s, they each summarize by saying “I’m here to serve.” Both Deacon John and Deacon Jerry have served in our military, and Deacon Mike works for the Employee Assistance Program for the Department of Defense.  Deacon John was in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves, while Deacon Jerry is a retired U.S. Army Colonel.  All are husbands and fathers, and Deacons John and Jerry are grandfathers. They each talk about how blessed they are to serve in our parish which values its deacons and allows them to exercise their full diaconal ministry through the liturgy, sacraments, preaching and outreach ministries.  Over the years, our d

Similar to Frs. Monteverde, McNulty and Farrell, none of these three priests were assigned to St. Peter’s for very long.   Combined, their pastorates at St. Peter’s totaled only 9 years; each serving about three years as our Pastor.   While Fr. White and Fr. Norton pre-date today’s parishioners, it is very likely that a number of today’s parishioners will recall Fr. Sargus, who was at St. Peter’s in the late 1950’s. Fr. John Paul White was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1860.   He graduated from Mill Hill College in England and was thereafter ordained by Cardinal Herbert Vaughan.   Cardinal Vaughan established St. Joseph College of the Sacred Heart in Mill Hill in 1866 and in 1870 the Mill Hill missionaries were directed by the Pope to do mission work in the United States with especial emphasis of service to the recently freed enslaved persons.   Here, in 1893, the Josephite Order was established. Fr. White was sent as a Mill Hill missionary priest to Louisville, KY, and in about

St. Peter’s hosted jousting tournaments from 1887 until 1953. Intended as fundraisers, the event at St. Peter’s typically opened the tournament and picnic season in Frederick County. Most were often held on the first Wednesday in August at Pine Mountain Park one half-mile south of Libertytown. Jousting was followed by picnicking, carnival games, and dancing to live music. Ring jousting was a popular social and sporting event in Maryland from the end of the Civil War into the 1950s. Although less common today, jousting is still a sport in Maryland in the 21st century and as of 1962, when it was signed into law, the official state sport of Maryland. Ring jousting is an individual sport in which the participant rides a horse at full gallop down an 80-yeard course while holding a lance and attempting to spear a ring measuring with an inside diameter of 1¾ inches down to ¼ inch mounted overhead at 20- and 30-yard intervals. A knight typically needs 9 seconds to complete the course. As