INTRODUCTION.



  The Institution of the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of
the Cross was founded in Kentucky one hundred years ago
by the pioneer missionary, Father Nerinckx. The history
of his life and labors is known, and his good judgment and
prophetic eye are seen in the result of his work. He left
his footprints wherever he walked, and they have not been
blotted out. He was long alone in this great State with
the exception of a single companion, Father Badin, who
labored with him in the wilderness in the battle for souls.
The heroes sleep; their work endures. The volume here
presented gives an account of the work of Father Nerinckx,
particularly as regards the foundation of the community of
the Sisters of Loretto. The early records of this Institu-
tion are a treasured memory of which little is left but the
twilight. Who could then have imagined that Loretto ever
would become what it is now Tradition mainly tells the
story of its humble beginning; the historian tells what the
Institution has accomplished. One hundred years have
passed, and the Institution has grown from the grain of
mustard seed into a great tree, whose branches now extend
far beyond the spot where the corner-stone was laid. The
ashes of the Founder rest in the shadow of the convent
he established, and the heart of Father Badin, his com-
panion in labor, privation, and toil, watches near by, where
a relic is enshrined in the monument which pious hands
have erected to his memory. Those who read this centenary
volume will learn much of the history of Loretto from the
story that its pages tell.
                                 ( D. O'DONAGHUE,
                                 Bishop of Louisville.



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