Our Mission

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

"WE ARE a student-run organization dedicated to providing all students at Penn State with the richness and beauty of the Catholic faith and fellowship through ministry, service, and social events."

OUR PATRON SAINTS

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St. John Henry Newman

Mission

Newman lived half of his life as an Anglican. He was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized our debt to the Church Fathers and challenged tendencies to consider truth as subjective.

Extensive research led him to believe that the Catholic Church was the continuation of the Church that Jesus established. In 1845, he was received into the Catholic Church, and two years later, was ordained a Catholic priest, and joined the Congregation of the Oratory, founding Oratory houses in Birmingham and London.

Pope Leo XIII created him a cardinal in 1879. He took as his motto “Cor ad cor loquitur”, which translates, “Heart speaks to heart.” Newman wrote 40 books and 21,000 letters. He called for an educated, involved laity, which laid the groundwork for the Second Vatican Council.

Three years after he died, a Newman Club for Catholic students began at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In time, his name was linked to ministries and clubs at many public and private colleges and universities in the United States, including our own at Penn State.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Newman in London, and Pope Francis canonized Newman in October 2019. Saint John Henry Newman’s liturgical feast is celebrated on October 9.

SERVANT OF GOD DEMETRIUS GALLITZIN

More than 200 years ago Father Demetrius Gallitzin came to the Allegheny Mountains bringing the Catholic faith and Sacraments to the settlers living throughout central and western Pennsylvania.

Born into Russian nobility, Demetrius abandoned a life of royalty to live one of prayer, perseverance, and suffering in the Allegheny Mountains from 1796 to 1840. Becoming the first Catholic priest to receive all his Holy Orders at one time in the United States, he founded the town of Loretto as a Catholic settlement, funding roads, houses, sawmills, and farms. He cared for widows, housed orphans, and fervently defended the Catholic faith. For the majority of the years spent in the Allegheny Mountains, he was the lone priest serving a growing Catholic population, establishing missions in several counties along the way. Through his tireless and unceasing efforts, Gallitzin single-handedly pioneered the expansion of Catholicism westward.

In 2005, he was named Servant of God, the first step on the path to sainthood. Today, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown continues its efforts to have him named Venerable, meaning heroic, the second step of four needed for canonization.

St. John Henry Newman's 'Mission of My Life' Prayer:

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

St. John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Learn more about St. John Henry Newman here

Servant of God Demetrius Gallitzin Intercessory Prayer:

"God of mercy and love, your faithful servant, Father Demetrius A. Gallitzin, gave up everything to sow the seeds of faith among the people of the Allegheny Mountains.

Please listen to his intercession for us in our day, even as we ask that we be allowed to invoke him publically as our patron with you. Pour out your kindness and mercy upon us and listen to our prayer, as we humbly beseech you to grant us the favor (name your intention).

Give us the humble courage of Servant of God Demetrius, so that we may praise and bless you through service to our neighbor and thorough witness to the Gospel of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen."

Servant of God Demetrius Gallitzin, pray for us!

Find out more about the cause for canonization here

OUR CREST

Our crest draws from the crests of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, St. Vincent Archabbey, St. John Henry Newman, and William Penn.

On the left side, the black band with three silver discs comes from the crest of William Penn, founder of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The silver discs each contain a cross in the center. The band is in the shape of a V in honor of St. Vincent. The checkered background is drawn from the crest of St. Vincent Archabbey, which was drawn from the Arms of Bavaria. The blue and white also represent the colors of Penn State.

On the right side is the crest of St. John Henry Newman, which he adopted from his father. His episcopal motto appears at the bottom, which he draws from St Francis de Sales, to whom he had a special devotion. It reads 'Cor Ad Cor Loquitur', which when translated means 'Heart Speaks to Heart'.

The Cross of Servant of God Demetrius Gallitzin appears behind the crest. This cross is also featured on the lower half of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocesan crest.

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OUR LOGO

Our logo features a depiction of the Holy Family Chapel, located in the Paterno Catholic Student Faith Center. The Faith Center is where much of the fun fellowship and many of the social events of Newman take place. But on the sides of the Faith Center are branches of wheat, which remind us of why we are truly there, because of Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist, who is the Bread of Life that feeds us.

The colors featured are dark blue and light blue which are a part of the color palate of Penn State University. These colors, along with white and black, are the same colors that compose the color palate of this website.

OUR MISSION