Who was the Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli?

Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli O.P. was born on November 4^th, 1806 in Milan, Italy, and was the 16^th of 17 children. At the age of 17, he entered the Dominican Order and was ordained a priest in Cincinnati Ohio in 1830. He was asked by Bishop Edward Fenwick, a fellow Dominican, to come to America, and in 1828 arrived to serve in the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, which at that time covered the state of Ohio, and the Michigan Territory, including what is now Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Iowa.

Following his Ordination to the Priesthood in 1830, Fr. Mazzuchelli was sent to Mackinac Island, where he served both the Native American and European peoples. While assigned to Mackinac Island, Fr. Mazzuchelli was often away at various missions, taking him as far away as Green Bay. He would routinely serve the Winnebago and Menominee tribes, from which he won many converts to the faith.
           
In 1835, Fr. Mazzuchelli was sent to Dubuque, an area where he would spend his remaining years, both building churches and converting many. When he arrived in Dubuque, one of the first things Fr. Mazzuchelli did was build Saint Raphael’s Church, which would later become the Cathedral of the Diocese of Dubuque when it was established in 1837. Around the same time, Fr. Mazzuchelli built St. Michael’s Church in Galena, IL. Galena and Dubuque would serve as Fr. Mazzuchelli’s home base for the next fourteen years.
           
In 1836, Fr. Mazzuchelli addressed and led prayer at the first session of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature in Belmont. However, the demands of being a missionary priest saw Fr. Mazzuchelli departing Belmont after one week. Over the next few years, Fr. Mazzuchelli, embraced with the missionary zeal, established parishes in; Potosi (1838), Davenport, Iowa (1838), Prairie du Chien (1839), Burlington, Iowa (1840), Garryowen, Iowa (1840), Iowa City, Iowa (1841), Shullsburg (1841), Sinsinawa (1842), Muscatine, Iowa (1842), and Bellevue, Iowa (1842).

In 1843, finding himself short on funds, Fr. Mazzuchelli traveled back to Milan to raise funds for his missionary works. However, before departing for Europe, Fr. Mazzuchelli was able to participate in the Fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore in May of 1843. Following his return from Milan, Fr. Mazzuchelli immediately got back to his work. He would establish four more parishes; New Diggings (1844), Hazel Green (1847), Cuba City (1851), and Benton (1852). It was in Benton where Fr. Mazzuchelli would spend his last twelve years.

Establishing these four parishes, however, were not the only things that Fr. Mazzuchelli did in his remaining years. In 1847, Fr. Mazzuchelli founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary of the Order of Preachers, better known as the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Besides the Churches, he built, the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters would be one of Fr. Mazzuchelli’s longest-lasting legacies.

On a cold winter day in February of 1864, Fr. Mazzuchelli was called to visit the home of a dying parishioner. Knowing the seriousness of the need, he left without his cloak. Upon returning to his rectory in Benton, Fr. Mazzuchelli developed a severe case of pneumonia, which would prove fatal, and he died on February 23, 1864, at the age of 57. His dying words were from Psalm 84, which is included in the rite of the dedication of churches and altars.

"How lovely your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord."