Patrick Power was born in Bantry, Ireland, the youngest child of Patrick Power and Mary Sullivan.
He was baptised in Bantry Catholic Parish on 20 October 1844. The Baptismal Sponsors were Jerh Regan and Honora Murphy. His baptism was on the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin. (Last on image)
Below is the typed entry on irishgenealogy.ie
When he was four years old, his mother and father died, and he was brought to the United States by his older brother, John. He was mentored by Father James Fitton, the pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston. He attended the Petit Seminary in Laval, Quebec and Saint Joseph’s Provincial Theological Seminary in Troy, New York, He was ordained a priest in the Cathedral Chapel of the Holy Cross by the Bishop of Boston, the Most Reverend John Joseph Williams on September 7, 1867, the eve of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The academic year of 1867-1868 found Father Power at the University of Louvain, Belgium where he studied canon law. Upon his return to the United States, he was assigned to parishes in Springfield and Chicopee, Massachusetts. When he left Springfield, after only six months, the parishioners presented him with a gold watch valued at $275, an amount equivalent to over $5,000 in today’s dollars. This gift was a measure of the esteem the parishioners had for the holy priest. However, Father Power’s constitution was always frail and in Chicopee he became seriously ill. He was moved to his brother, John’s home in the Fairmount Hill section of Brookline Massachusetts, where he died at age 25, on December 8, 1869, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Pilgrims have visited Father Power’s grave through the years, but in November 1929, sixty years after his death, prompted by an announcement by a local priest of a miraculous cure, an estimated one million people visited his grave seeking healing. Many of their prayers were answered. Indeed, the Boston Sunday Post of November 24, 1929, published a list of 150 cures.
The onslaught of visitors in November 1929 forced the cemetery to close for three months and move Fr. Power's body to a quiter area in the cemetery.
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An interesting and informative summary was pinned by Bill Lombardi in the "Hometown Weekly" on July 18, 2018 and it is included hereunder:
The grave in Holy Cross Cemetery
By Bill Lombardi, Correspondent
Hometown Weekly, Newspaper, Medfield, MA
In October of 1929, the stock market crashed. Millionaires became penniless overnight as the Great Depression began. In the absence of welfare programs, poverty ran rampant. It was in this context that local eyes began turning to a cemetery in Malden.
In late October, 1929 it was rumored that miracle cures of the sick and lame were happening at the gravesite of Father Patrick J. Power, a Catholic priest who had died 60 years before, in Malden, MA. The local media picked it up and the crowds grew larger every day. On November 4, six-year-old James Panora of Revere, MA, a deaf mute since childhood, was brought to the grave by his mother. After praying, they stood up. When his mother spoke his named, he answered, "What?" She then asked him to say “Father Power,” and he repeated the words. Mrs. Panora became hysterical with joy, and several hundred people dropped to their knees in thanksgiving.
The following day, nine-year-old Vincent O'Neill of Somerville, who lost his eyesight through an illness, was brought to the cemetery by his grandmother. After praying at the grave, they went to the small nearby cemetery chapel. Within a few minutes, he cried out: "Grandma, I can see tall white people!” He was staring at the statues in the chapel.
In the first week, ten people afflicted with various diseases claimed cures. Someone who had a vision problem an their eyeglasses with a note attached saying: “Cured, thank you Father Power.”
More and more automobiles appeared at the Holy Cross cemetery. Trolley cars were jam-packed. Rope barriers had to be installed to keep the crowd in order. After kneeling and praying at the gravesite, they would go to the chapel and continue meditating. The ground began to erode as worshippers scooped up handfuls of precious dirt. They touched and kissed Father Power’s headstone. They stood in the rain and knelt in the mud.
Six-year-old William Graul of South Boston was brought to Boston City Hospital in a dying condition. After a coughing spell, his throat was so contracted that a rubber tube was inserted to help his breathing. The boy’s parents went to the cemetery and stood in line for two hours. When his mother finally reached the tomb, she dipped her handkerchief into a chalice, in which water had accumulated from a recent rainstorm. They rushed back to the hospital and she applied the handkerchief to her son's throat. At first, the nurse ordered her to stop. When she explained it had been dipped in the water at the shrine, however, the nurse let her proceed. Later that day, the doctor came in to check the tube and discovered the boy could now breathe on his own.
The events began to appear in the national newspapers. On Sunday, November 17, over 200,000 people flocked to the cemetery. More trolleys had to be added and hundreds of cars were parked all around the cemetery. Many had out-of-state license plates from Arizona, Florida, Colorado, and even as far away as California. Residents living nearby offered lodging for a fee. Outside the cemetery were hot dog and souvenir vendors. The Malden police had a difficult time keeping the overwhelming crowd in order, and asked for assistance from police departments in the surrounding towns.
The physically handicapped and mentally ill pleaded to reach the grave of Father Power. Families became separated from each other. Jack Sharkey, the heavyweight boxing champ, stood in line to pray for his three-year-old daughter, Dorothy, who was boar blind in one eye. Boston Mayor-elect James Michael Curley knelt in the drizzling rain with his wife to pray for her failing health. A woman from New York, who had claimed her right hand had been paralyzed for years, began writing the words Father Power for the crowd. People from all over requested that some of the earth be sent to them, which cemetery officials refused to do.
Cardinal William O’Connell made his second appearance to the cemetery. He refused to make any comment on the activities that were happening and declined to acknowledge that miracles had taken place. Vigil candles glowed throughout the night as thousands stayed to pray.
A man on crutches, who claimed he was from Pennsylvania and had been crippled for years, discarded them after praying. He kept yelling with joy that he was cured and could walk again. He told the crowd gathered around him that he needed money to get back home. Holding his hat out, they began to toss in coins. Suspicious, police noticed his bandage and crutches were brand new. They took him aside and after careful questioning, were convinced that he was a fraud. The police threatened to arrest him as a vagrant if he didn’t leave the cemetery.
There were other cases in which people claimed cures, but witnesses who knew them verified that they never had any afflictions. Now it was becoming a circus. People were discarding their crutches. The paralyzed could walk, the deaf could hear, the mute could speak, and the blind could see. Many cars were reported stolen and also wallets, pocketbooks and purses.
On November 24, Cardinal O’Connell ordered the cemetery closed and the gates were locked. Only those in funeral processions were permitted inside. Father Power’s body was exhumed and moved to another site. A high, six-foot iron fence was erected to protect the grave from being disturbed. No one was allowed to stop at his grave.
People traveling from all parts of the United States were unaware that they would not be allowed to enter the cemetery. When they arrived, they found policemen stationed at every entrance. Heartbroken and disappointed, they knelt on the sidewalk facing the grave only 300 yards away and prayed. As time passed, people lost interest and the gates were reopened. From November 3 to November 24, it was estimated that a million people had visited Father Power’s grave.
After researching the story, I wanted to find out if there were any actual cures. It’s been a long time, but I was still able to locate a few distant relatives. One refused to talk to me, and another refused to reveal if there was an actual cure. I did talk to the sister of James Panora, the deaf mute who spoke Father Power’s name. She informed me that though she hadn’t been born at the time, as far as she could remember, her brother was always able to mumble a word or two.
It has been almost 90 years, and people continue to visit Father Power’s grave. It is protected by the fence and visitors toss coins onto the grave, making it not only a shrine but a wishing well.
Whether there were any actual cures is unknown. What is more important is that this extraordinary religious event had brought a million health-seekers together in prayer and hope.
Father Patrick J. Power was born in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, on October 20, 1844. he came to the United States and studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s seminary in Troy, NY. He was ordained at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston and served at the Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston. He loved to walk in the rain and it is believed that while recovering from an illness, he contacted pneumonia during one of his walks. On December 8, 1869, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, he died at his brother’s house in the Fairmount Hill section of Brookline. He was only 25 years old.
BIO: Bill Lombardi is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He is the grandfather of Emily, Ashley and Zachary Sullivan, and Cayce and Jimmy Lombardi - all Walpole residents.
Transcript from an unnamed newspaper:
PRIEST'S BIRTH, DEATH MARKED
Fr. Power's Anniversaries Today - Little Is Known Of Early Life
BORN IN IRELAND; ORPHANED WHEN 4
Today is the anniversary of the birth and death of the Rev. Patrick J. Power whose grave in Holy Cross cemetery drew more than 1,000,000 pilgrims seeking cures last month.
Had Cardinal Connell not banned the public from the cemetery pending a church investigation of the reported cures, today probably would have seen the largest crowd ever to participate in a religious pilgrimage. Possibly the throng would have been even greater than any group of crusaders of the middle ages.
Facts about the life of Fr. Power who died when he was 25, only two years after his ordination, are meagre.
He was born in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, a son of Patrick and Mary Power. His parents died when he was four years old.
An elderly brother John Power brought him to this country. There are extremely few facts about his boyhood extant.
William J. Cahill of 47 Royal street, Allston, recalls serving as altar boy many years ago with a boy named Patrick Power at the Holy Redeemer Church in East Boston. Mr. Cahill is more than 80 years old.
At that time Rev. James Fitton was rector at the East Boston Church. Fr. Fitton made a practice of educating worthy boys and it was through his guidance that many of them decided to study for the priesthood.
Fr. Power studied at Laval University in Quebec and in St. Joseph's Seminary at Troy, N.Y. From all reports he was an exemplary student.
He was ordained by Archbishop Williams in this city in 1867. He died in Brookline Dec. 8. 1869.
During his life he was unknown and unsung. For years a few Catholics knew that cures had been reported at Fr. Power's grave in Holy Cross cemetery. Malden. The rush to the grave, however, did not begin until November, last, when newspaper stories told of cures reported at the grave.
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Transcript from an unnamed newspaper:
BODY OF PRIEST LAID AT REST IN SPECIAL GRAVE
Thousands Sought Miraculous Cure at His Sepulchre
By Associated Press
MALDEN, Mass., Dec. 14 - The body of the Rev. Patrick J. Power, to whose grave hundreds of thousands of persons came recently to seek miraculous cures, lay today in a specially prepared grave in front of the cemetery chapel.
Only priests, cemetery officials and police attended the transfer yesterday. Cardinal O'Connell, of the Bos-ton archdiocese ordered the cemetery closed to all except funerals on November 23 to permit the Roman Catholic church to make an investigation.
In a wooden casket in which it had rested for 60 days, the body was taken from the grave to the chapel for a brief service. It then was placed in the new cement-lined grave about which is a seven-foot wire fence.
The pilgrimages started last fall following reports that a Boston cripple had prayed at the grave and been cured.
On one Sunday 200,000 came and on two other days crowds of 100,000 gathered. Many remained overnight.
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Transcript from The Boston Herald of Friday Nov 8, 1929 page 15
REPORT MORE CURES AT SHRINE
Over 25,000 Persons Visit Priest's Grave in Malden During Day
CEMETERY IS KEPT OPEN ALL NIGHT
Approximately 25,000 persons yesterday made pilgrimages to Holy Cross cemetery, Malden, the largest number on any day since the first reports were made public of miraculous cures at the grave of the Rev. Patrick J. Power. More cures or partial cures were reported yesterday than on any previous day.
From early morning they streamed through the gates, the curious and the believers, the crippled and blind, the deaf and dumb, those afflicted with various other forms of ailments, and those in good health who came to pray that some one dear to them and who lay on a sick bed, might be cured.
A detail of policemen was present to keep the crowd from lingering at the priest's grave, which now has taken on the importance of a shrine; a man was assigned to care for the thousands of vigil lights, small sacred candles which the visitors had placed in All Souls chapel on the hill overlooking the shrine.
And when sunset approached, end to the visitations, the cemetery officials decided that the cemetery should be kept open all night, so that none might be disappointed. Up to last evening it was always closed at 6 P. M.
Twice during the day some one looted the boxes, containing money offerings for the candles which were used as vigil lights in the chapel. The offerings there are to be used for a new St. Joseph's Church in the Maplewood district of Malden.
Many cures were reported, including that of 5-year-old James Panora of 31 McKinley street, Revere, who had been deaf and dumb since birth. He and his mother, Mrs. Anna Panora, visited the chapel in the afternoon and then went to the priest's grave.
They knelt and prayed and when they arose Mrs. Panora said, "Jimmie." The boy turned toward her and said, "What?" She then told him to say "Father Power," and after he had repeated the words, she became hysterical. She soon became calm, however, and she and her son and several hundred persons at the grave joined in prayer of thanksgiving.
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Newspaper cuttings
Some additional information
"Healing Power" film:
From https://tradcath.proboards.com/thread/1652/miracle-priest-fr-patrick-power?page=1 we include some extracts:
Pilgrims have visited Father Power’s grave through the years, but in November 1929, sixty years after his death, prompted by an announcement by a local priest of a miraculous cure, an estimated one million people visited his grave seeking healing. Many of their prayers were answered. Indeed, the Boston Sunday Post of November 24, 1929, published a list of 150 cures.
Healing Power is the story of the faithful who visited the grave of Father Power in 1929 and those who still visit his grave. They come to visit the grave of a priest who served only two years after ordination 150 years ago.
"Healing Power" was conceived by Victor Jenacaro, the step-son of the grand-nephew of Father Power. When his step-father died in 1955, Victor came into possession of two volumes of class notes that Father Power had written in Latin and French while attending the Petit Seminary in Quebec. Victor preserved these volumes for 55 years and in June 2010, presented them to the Most Reverend Robert Francis Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, so that they could be preserved in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Boston. Victor, however, felt called to do more to spread the knowledge of the life of Father Power and commissioned Larry Cappetto, a talented independent film maker to produce the film which became Healing Power. Larry is renowned as the producer of numerous documentaries.
Sandy writes: (Jan 17, 2021). - My stepfather Victor Jenacaro was the stepson of Harold Power, who was the grandnephew of Father Patrick Power. My stepfather had two books he inherited from his stepfather Harold Powers, to quote my dad in his letter to me about this.. “While in school Father Power wrote two books by hand in beautiful penmanship. One book was 800 pages written in perfect Latin, the other 1,200 pages written in perfect French. Harold Power passed away in 1955“. He then told me he kept these books for 50 years and then donated them to the archdiocese in Boston.
To quote him in his letter “In 2008 I decided to donate the books to the Archdiocese in Boston. I have attended his grave many times and amazed to see that 140 years after his death and 60 years of the incident at the cemetery in 1929 there were till well over 1,000 people visit his grave every month still seeking cures and healings. It was then that I decided to do Father Power's life story. I felt the whole world should know about this amazing priest who died at the very early age of 25. A film maker friend of mine and I completed the film after 18 months of interviews, scenes and the story of his life. I had the world premier of the film in Oct. 2009 at Boston College”.
2 minute video url on YouTube
https://youtu.be/r_-bGZgCyfQ
Location of Fr. Power's grave in Holy Cross Cemetery in front of Chapel
Image from Google
