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The Old Cathedral of St. Louis, Missouri, was the first cathedral west of the Mississippi and Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell its story, which is the story of the growth of Catholicism in the Louisiana Purchase territory. Now a basilica, the church is a testament in stone and glass to what and who came before us.

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In her life, Clare Boothe Luce was a Congresswoman, ambassador, playwright, war correspondent, and advisor to presidents. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how this remarkable woman went from a dissolute socialite to a woman of deep Catholic faith brought about by a personal tragedy that caused her to re-encounter Christ.

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Annie Chambers Ketchum started life as a stereotypical antebellum Southern lady, but as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, by the end of her life she’d converted to Catholicism, was an accomplished poet and scientist, and had become a Dominican tertiary.

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A special announcement: In 2021, Tom & Noëlle Crowe will lead a pilgrimage to important sites in American Catholic History in Kentucky, including several distilleries in the home of Bourbon that are part of that history.

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In part 2 of the story of Sr. Blandina, Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how the Italian-born nun returned from the Wild West to Cincinnati and spent decades helping Italian immigrants realize the American dream while holding onto their faith and aiding women and children of the streets.

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Sister Blandina was a tiny Italian-born nun in the late 19th century sent alone to bring the Gospel to the Wild West. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how she was a force for good, calming lynch mobs, gaining the respect of the notorious Billy the Kid, and earning the nickname Fastest Nun in the West.

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In 1824, a Catholic widow in Washington, DC, experienced a miraculous healing of a debilitating cancer that had kept her bedridden for six years. Tom and Noëlle Crowe explain that the miracle ignited a controversy that divided Catholics and inspired anti-Catholic prejudice with wide-ranging consequences.

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In the early 1800s, John McLoughlin was in charge of essentially all of the Pacific Northwest as local head of major trading company. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us he was also a devoted husband, father, and Catholic whose drive and vision formed the foundation for the entire region of the United States.

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Alfred Hitchcock was a master filmmaker who created some of the most compelling movies of the 20th century. Tom and Noëlle Crowe also tell us that Hitchcock was a Catholic for whom the Catholic worldview pervaded his films and informed his view of good and evil and justice.

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Fr. Vincent Capodanno was a chaplain with the US Marines in Vietnam and a Maryknoll priest. As Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us in this very personal episode, he was known as the Grunt Padre for how he served his Marines. His ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield led to him receiving the Medal of Honor and being placed on the path to canonization.

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John Fitzgerald was a Catholic and one of George Washington’s aides de camp. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that Fitzgerald helped Washington avoid a coup during the war and remained close to his old general after. He may even have gotten the President to donate to building the first Catholic church in Virginia.

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Before he was the first president of Boston College, Jesuit Fr. John Bapst served Catholics as a pastor in Maine. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how Fr. Bapst ran afoul of the anti-Catholic Know Nothings, courageously standing up for his faith and his people to the point of tarring and feathering.

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Surviving the French revolution, Rose Philippine Duchesne’s dream was to go to the New World and become a missionary to the native peoples. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that after finally come to the United States, it wasn’t until she was over 70 years old that her dream finally came true.

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Fr. Eusebio Kino, S.J., was a 17th century Jesuit who ministered tirelessly to the native people of Arizona and Sonoran Mexico. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how the multi-talented missionary provided not just for the spiritual needs of his flock, but also advocated for their rights and established an economy to ensure their material welfare.

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In 1836, the Potawatomi native Americans, many of whom were Catholic, were forced off their land in Indiana and force-marched to Kansas. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us the tragic story that resulted in much suffering, but also included much grace, including from their pastor, Fr. Benjamin Petit.

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While Padre Pio was not American, as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, he did have some interesting interactions with US servicemen during and after WWII, including reports of a flying friar waving off bombers over San Giovanni Rotondo and rescuing a US pilot over the Pacific whose parachute didn’t open.

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Every student learns the poem “Trees” in school. But now Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us the story of its author Joyce Kilmer Catholic convert who wrote that and more poems, including his heroic sacrifice of his life as a soldier in France in World War I.

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Dorothy Day famously asked not to be called a saint in her lifetime. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us this Catholic champion of the rights and dignity of the poor and laborers was lauded for her holiness even as others decried her former roots in Communist beliefs. Who was this founder of the Catholic Worker Movement?

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Irene Dunne was one of the most successful and famous actresses of Hollywood’s golden age. But as Tom and Noëlle Crowe recall, she was also a down-to-earth wife and mother and a devout Catholic who spent her retirement years in numerous charitable works.