When John Burns was brought to the Brothers of the Sacred Heart orphanage in Mobile, AL, he was a bright, blue-eyed, red-haired seven-year-old lad. After graduation, he worked at the orphanage for a couple of years, and then he joined the community, making his novitiate at St. Joseph's in Indianapolis in 1872 and taking the name Brother Matthew.
Matthew trained himself over the years for many useful jobs: cook, minder, teacher, tailor, laundryman, infirmarian, and nurse. His cheerful disposition made him an exceptionally good infirmarian and nurse. He spent most of his apostolate at Indianapolis, IN; Bay St. Louis, MS; and Mobile, AL, where he directed the orphanage for six years.
Matthew's poverty was remarkable. One of his former pupils, Monseignor John Prendergast, vicar general of the Natchez diocese, made the point in his eulogy that Br. Matthew's "whole life was a cogent sermon."
Matthew trained himself over the years for many useful jobs: cook, minder, teacher, tailor, laundryman, infirmarian, and nurse. His cheerful disposition made him an exceptionally good infirmarian and nurse. He spent most of his apostolate at Indianapolis, IN; Bay St. Louis, MS; and Mobile, AL, where he directed the orphanage for six years.
Matthew's poverty was remarkable. One of his former pupils, Monseignor John Prendergast, vicar general of the Natchez diocese, made the point in his eulogy that Br. Matthew's "whole life was a cogent sermon."
When John Burns was brought to the Brothers of the Sacred Heart orphanage in Mobile, AL, he was a bright, blue-eyed, red-haired seven-year-old lad. After graduation, he worked at the orphanage for a couple of years, and then he joined the community, making his novitiate at St. Joseph's in Indianapolis in 1872 and taking the name Brother Matthew.
Matthew trained himself over the years for many useful jobs: cook, minder, teacher, tailor, laundryman, infirmarian, and nurse. His cheerful disposition made him an exceptionally good infirmarian and nurse. He spent most of his apostolate at Indianapolis, IN; Bay St. Louis, MS; and Mobile, AL, where he directed the orphanage for six years.
Matthew's poverty was remarkable. One of his former pupils, Monseignor John Prendergast, vicar general of the Natchez diocese, made the point in his eulogy that Br. Matthew's "whole life was a cogent sermon."
Matthew trained himself over the years for many useful jobs: cook, minder, teacher, tailor, laundryman, infirmarian, and nurse. His cheerful disposition made him an exceptionally good infirmarian and nurse. He spent most of his apostolate at Indianapolis, IN; Bay St. Louis, MS; and Mobile, AL, where he directed the orphanage for six years.
Matthew's poverty was remarkable. One of his former pupils, Monseignor John Prendergast, vicar general of the Natchez diocese, made the point in his eulogy that Br. Matthew's "whole life was a cogent sermon."
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