Faith & Fortitude: Mary Jane's Story Concludes
The read this series of posts from the beginning, click here: https://myleavesonthetree.blogspot.com/2025/03/from-buffalo-to-evans-new-york-mary.html . As Mary Jane Sheridan Cassidy navigated the waters of widowhood and single parenting after her husband Philip’s death , she likely relied on her faith to hold her family together and to provide a framework to her life. It was still her job as a Catholic parent to be the first teacher of her children and she no doubt felt a keen responsibility for their faith lives. Coming of the Christian Brothers One outside force which might have helped her in this regard were the Christian Brothers, a Catholic religious order which was founded by Jean Baptiste de La Salle in 1680 in France. 1 The Brothers arrived to minister in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1876, just a few years after Philip’s death, and took over a parish school there. The Brothers focused on education, and they trained their pupils to be faithful Cat...
