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The observer | Friday, FEBRUARY 10, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Fr. Benjamin Petit: Notre Dame’s hidden spiritual cornerstone On the evening of this Feb. 10, at 7: 00 p.m., a special Mass w ill be celebrated at the Log Chapel by Father Paul Doyle, C.S.C. to honor Fr. Benjamin Petit, the great missionar y to the Potawatomi, who died on this date in 1839. He died of illness and ex haustion after accompanying his Indian parishioners on their forced removal march to Kansas. For the last two years on Feb. 10, a small group of friends have gathered at the Log Chapel, where he is buried, to remember his remarkable life and his early death. This year, we are welcoming anyone from the Notre Dame communit y who w ishes to join us. Father Benjamin Marie Petit was a young man, a former law yer, a Frenchman, a missionar y to America, a Catholic priest and mart y r of charit y who gave his life in ser v ice to the Potawatomi Indians of northern Indiana. I w rite this short article to make his remarkable stor y more know n among the Notre Dame family. Three good sources for the life of Fr. Petit that I have consulted are: “Potawatomi Trail of Death: 1838 Removal from Indiana to Kansas,” by Shirley Willard and Susan Campbell (2003), “Walking the Trail of Death,” by Keith Drur y (2007) and a historical novel, “The Last Blackrobe of Indiana and The Potawatomi Trail of Death,” by John William McMullen (2010). In 1835, while study ing at the Seminar y of St. Sulpice in Paris, Benjamin Petit was recruited by Bishop Brute of Vincennes, Indiana to come to America, finish his priestly training and then ser ve as a missionar y priest in the diocese of Vincennes, which comprised all of Indiana and part of northern Illinois at the time. In 1837, the Catholic Potawatomi people of northern Indiana, facing the threat of imminent forced removal to Kansas, desperately needed a new priest. Bishop Brute cut short Petit’s studies and ordained him to the priesthood early, assigning him to the Potawatomi mission. He ministered at Tw in Lakes near Ply mouth, Indiana, and at St. Mar y of the Lake, outside of South Bend (the future site of the Universit y of Notre Dame). W hen the removal order came in September of 1838 for the forced march to Kansas, Father Petit obtained the Bishop’s permission to accompany the Potawatomi on their long, sad march. After accompany ing the surv ivors to their new home in Kansas, he started his journey back to Indiana in Januar y of 1839. Being ver y ill by that time, he stopped in St. Louis, where he stayed at the Jesuit college. He
said his last Mass there on Feb. 2, and died on Feb. 10 ; he was not quite 28 years old. In 1856, Father Sorin brought his body back to Notre Dame. First buried in Sacred Heart Basilica, his remains were later transferred in the 1970s to a grave in the Log Chapel, alongside fellow missionaries Father Stephen Badin and Father Louis DeSeille. Fr. Petit was a man w ith w isdom, who made an incredible journey of faith which ended on Feb. 10 in 1839. He is fittingly buried under the Log Chapel at Notre Dame because this saint, this mart y r of charit y, is truly Notre Dame’s spiritual cornerstone ! He demonstrated his w illingness to lay dow n his life by traveling the Trail of Death simply because he loved his Potawatomi parishioners. His sacrifice prov ides us w ith a rich example of a Christian life well lived. Fr. Petit endured the depredations of the government of the State of Indiana and the federal government as well. He also endured the disease-ridden conditions caused by the forced journey of 660 miles cross countr y in drought and extreme heat and exposure to extreme cold on his way home to Indiana. He eventually succumbed to an early death caused by this trauma. Fr. Petit was trained as a law yer in France before he became a priest, and from his correspondence, one can see both his legal abilities as well as his practical w isdom. For example, he was ver y adept at managing money. At the beginning of his work w ith the Potawatomi, he made ver y serious efforts to appeal to the Federal authorities on their behalf, so they could stay on their ancestral lands in Indiana. But all legal efforts were useless, and he had to accept that his parishioners would be removed. He clearly gave himself ver y wholeheartedly to his mission to the Potawatomi. He was able to master all three languages he needed to use — his native tongue, French, the English spoken by the Americans and the language of the Potawatomi. With his characteristic mercy, zeal and compassion — he was able to “pass over” (as Notre Dame’s late theologian Father John Dunne put it) from the different cultural standpoints represented by these three languages and return to his ow n standpoint of faith enriched by the encounter. Fr. Petit worked tirelessly throughout his time on the trail to help the Potawatomi. Years later, in lov ing remembrance of the sufferings endured
by the Potawatomi and Fr. Petit, a group of people made up of historians, Potawatomi, boy scouts, girl scouts and Catholics came together from 1976 till 2003, and placed 80 markers on the “Trail of Death.” It was now possible to travel this whole trail and to remember this tragic journey. In 2006, a theologian from Wesleyan Universit y in Marion, Indiana, Keith Drur y, walked the entire 660 miles and w rote the compelling book mentioned above. “Blessed are they who mourn, for they w ill be comforted.” The Trail of Death is a trail of grief and loss, however marked by hope. The hope of the emergence of a gathering of the people of God, a “young Christendom” as Fr. Petit called it. May I make a suggestion here about the vocation of the Universit y of Notre Dame as it relates to this journey of Fr. Petit and his companions? It seems to me we are caught in a crisis of w isdom, where we might well cr y out w ith the title of one of the philosopher A lasdair MacInt y re’s books, “W hose Justice, W hich Rationalit y? ” In the midst of the sharp div isions and political, social and ideological polarization of our societ y today, Fr. Petit prov ides a strong example of how to actually embody the love and ser v ice of the Gospel. In these present conditions, I see fear play ing a greater role in our lives than I could have ever imagined, driven by narratives that are often only half true. In the face of this, Fr. Petit stands out to us for the manner in which he poured out his life for those in his care. And that love — the love of God, issued in the desire to ser ve God’s glor y and the salvation of all people. His desire then bore fruit in practical deeds done for others. Fr. Petit was w illing to take the injustice done to others w ithout going into either rash v iolence or paralyzing despair. He was w illing to patiently wait out the weaknesses of others to whose policies he was radically opposed, not simply to conduct, or to w in, a debate. Rather, he acted as he did so he could more effectively ser ve the common good — beginning w ith his Potawatomi parishioners. We are grateful for his example as he faced his trials and endured to become truly Notre Dame’s hidden spiritual cornerstone. Fr. Benjamin Petit pray for us.
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Gus Zuehlke ‘80 Jan. 25