Life of the Rev. Francis A. Baker: Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul

Life Of The Rev. Francis A. Baker: Priest Of The Congregation Of St. Paul by Augustine Francis Hewit. This memoir chronicles the life of Rev. Francis A. Baker, a 19th-century American priest and missionary who began as an Episcopal clergyman, moved toward Catholicity during the Oxford movement, and ultimately joined the Catholic Church. Hewit traces Baker's Baltimore roots, his family background, and his education at Princeton; his early religious formation in the Protestant Episcopal Church; his friendship with Dwight E. Lyman; his conversion process, the gradual shift toward Catholic doctrine, and his ultimate reception into the Church. The narrative covers his apostolic career across the United States and Canada, including St. Paul the Apostle in New York, the creation of the Congregation of St. Paul, and his missionary campaigns in Maryland, Savannah, Charleston, Quebec, and New England. The work includes Baker's sermons, letters, and reflections on Catholicity, clerical life, and devotion, culminating in his death in 1865 and the posthumous tribute to his sanctity. The portrait is of a man of austere, disciplined spirituality, missionary zeal, and a life of service to God and humanity.