Print, Photographic
Chestico Museum
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| Object Name: | Print, Photographic |
|---|---|
| Category: | Graphic Documents |
| Material: | paper ink |
| Accession Number: | CMP 20-9 |
| Earliest Production Date: | 2009-01-01 |
| Latest Production Date: | 2010-12-31 |
| Description: | Photograph of Bishop Alexander MacDonald in a cardboard photo frame. A gold border surrounds the image. He appears from the chest up. This is a colorized copy of an original photo. |
| Narrative: | Alexander MacDonald (1858 1941) was born at Southwest Mabou to Catherine (Beaton) & Finlay MacDonald. Bishop MacDonald received his early education at the South west Mabou School. He attended High School in Port Hood and went on to attend St. Francis Xavier University from 1873 to 1879. A testament to his ability and intellect is the fact that he was appointed to the teaching staff two years before he graduated. At the wish of Bishop John Cameron he went to Rome in the Fall of 1879 to study for the priesthood at the Urban College of the Propaganda Fide. He received his doctorate of Theology in 1884. On March 8, 1884 he was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Parocchi, Cardinal Vicar of Rome, in the Cathedral of St. John in the Lateran. He was only the second native Cape Bretoner to study for the priesthood in Rome. The first was Archbishop Neil MacNeil. At the end of June 1884, Bishop MacDonald returned to Nova Scotia. Rev. MacDonald taught at St. F.X. for nineteen years, teaching at various times Philosophy, English, Christian doctrine and advanced Latin. After his appointment as Bishop of Rome, Father Colin Chisholm, parish priest of Port Hood, accompanied him to Rome. On the eve of his departure from Antigonish he was presented with $3000. He was consecrated in the chapel of the Propaganda College in Rome on January 3, 1909 by his Eminence cardinal Gotti. In Victoria he was exceedingly homesick but threw himself into his work. He found various difficulties including a large debt against church property due to taxes. Bishop MacDonald sent his priests to raise money and he himself taught in a Catholic University with his stipend going against the debt. Bishop MacDonald felt the tax was unjust and took the case all the way to the Privy Council in London, England where the ruling was in his favour the church was exempt from taxation. He resigned in 1923 and was named titular Bishop of Hebron. After a short stay in Toronto with Archbishop Neil MacNeil, he retired happily to St. F.X. He was a prolific author, primarily of theological works. But he also penned his own autobiography, titled appropriately, A Bit of Autobiography. |
| History of Use: | Bob Martin colourized an old photo of Bishop MacDonald and gave it to the donor. |
| Length: | 20.3 cm |
| Width: | 15 cm |
| Institution: |
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| Institution City: | Chestico |
| Institution Province: | Nova Scotia |