Historic St. Patrick's Cathedral, located in the middle of New York City, is one of the most iconic and frequently visited cathedrals in the United States. It is also the final resting place of nine New York archbishops, who are buried in the crypt below the cathedral's main altar.
In the midst of these illustrious archbishops and cardinals is a single layman, Venerable Pierre Toussaint.
Why is he buried there?
From slavery to sainthood
Born into slavery in Haiti, Toussaint was allowed access to the family library, where he began reading The Imitation of Christ. As tensions increased in Haiti, the family he worked for moved to New York City.
When they arrived in New York, he was apprenticed to a hairdresser so that he could help financially support the family. The father of the family eventually died and Toussaint took care of his widow until her death. Before she died, she released Toussaint from slavery.
Toussaint's clientele increased and he ended up becoming a very successful entrepreneur in the city. He was able to purchase freedom for many of his relatives, as well as for other enslaved people he encountered. He and his wife raised several homeless African American children and he is often credited as a father of Catholic Charities in New York.
One of the reasons why he is connected to St. Patrick's Cathedral is that he played a role in securing funds for the building of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral. This church was the precursor to the current St. Patrick's Cathedral. After his death in 1853, he was buried in the cemetery at Old St. Patrick's.
When Cardinal John J. O'Connor introduced Toussaint's canonization cause in 1991, he was reinterred at the new St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Pierre Toussaint was an instrumental Catholic in New York City and his inspiring legacy lives on today.
