Ignatius Mrak
| His Excellency, The Right Reverend Ignatius Mrak | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette Titular Bishop of Antinoë | |
| File:Ignacij Mrak.jpg | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette |
| Appointed | September 25, 1868 |
| Term ended | April 28, 1879 |
| Predecessor | Frederic Baraga |
| Successor | John Vertin |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | August 13, 1837 by Anton Aloys Wolf |
| Consecration | February 7, 1869 by John Baptist Purcell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ignatz Mrack October 16, 1810 Hotovlja, Duchy of Carniola, Austrian Empire |
| Died | January 2, 1901 (aged 90) Marquette, Michigan, US |
| Motto | Unum est necessarium (There is need of only one thing) |
Ignatius Mrak (October 16, 1810 – January 2, 1901) was a Slovenian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette in Michigan from 1869 to 1879.
Biography
Early life
Ignatius Mrak was born on October 16, 1810, in Hotovlja[1] in the Duchy of Carniola in the Austrian Empire (present-day Slovenia). He was baptized Ignatz Mrack.[2] He was one of six children of Mathias and Maria (née Demscher) Mrak.[3] He received his early education at schools in Poljane and Kranj before attending the Bežigrad Gymnasium, a Jesuit school in Ljubljana.[4] In 1834, he entered the diocesan seminary of Ljubljana, where he completed his theological studies with honors.
Priesthood
Mrak was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ljubljana on August 13, 1837, in Ljubljana by Anton Aloys Wolf, its prince-bishop.[4] After passing a rigorous state examination, he was appointed as a tutor in 1838 to the son of Baron Peter Pirquet in Legnago, then also part of the Austrian Empire.[4] He returned to Carniola in 1840 to serve as an assistant pastor at parishes in Poljane and Slavina.
Influenced by the missionary work of his fellow Slovene, Reverend Frederic Baraga, with Native Americans, in the Diocese of Detroit, Mrak requested incardination there.[4] After being accepted, Mrak arrived in Michigan in late 1845. Bishop Peter Lefevere immediately assigned him to assist Reverend Francis Pierz, another Slovene, at the missions in the L'Arbre Croche area of the Upper Peninsula. Mrak quickly learned the Ottawa dialect; One month after arriving in America, Mrak preached an entire sermon in Ottawa.[3][4]
In 1847, the diocese assigned Mrak his own mission at St. Anthony's in Cross Village, Michigan, while also attending other missions in Michigan:
- St. Francis Xavier's in Readmond
- St. Leopold's on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan
- Immaculate Conception in Peshawbestown[5]
Pope Leo IX in 1853 erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Michigan, taking the Upper Peninsula region from the Diocese of Detroit, and appointed Baraga as its vicar apostolic. Mrak was incardinated into the new vicariate apostolic.[6]
Four years later, in 1857, Leo IX elevated the vicariate to the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie, with Baraga as its first bishop. He appointed Mrak vicar general of the diocese in 1859.[3] After returning from a European trip to recruit priests for the diocese, Mrak asked the Vatican to reassign him back to Carniola. to return to Slovenia. However, Baraga and Lefevere persuaded him to stay in Michigan.[3]
Bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette
On September 25, 1868, Mrak was named to succeed the late Bishop Baraga as bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette by Pius IX.[7] However, Mrak was reluctant to accept the position; he refused to respond to the letters announcing his appointment for several months. He finally yielded and received his episcopal consecration on February 7, 1869, from Archbishop John Purcell, with Bishops Lefevere and John Henni serving as co-consecrators, at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati, Ohio.[7]
Mrak attended the First Vatican Council in Rome (1869–1870), which was announced a few months after his consecration. Over the course of his tenure as bishop, the diocese saw slow development. He increased the number of churches from 21 to 27 and the number of priests from 15 to 20.[4] Two priests he ordained were Reverend John Stariha, a Slovene who would become the first bishop of the Diocese of Lead in South Dakota and Reverend Frederick Eis, a future bishop of Marquette.[7] At the same time, a depression in the Copper Country industry lead to a significant decline in the Catholic population. Two prominent schools, one in Sault Ste. Marie and the other in Hancock, Michigan, closed during his first year as bishop.[3] In 1874 he placed a church in Hancock under interdict after the congregation refused to accept their new pastor.[3]
Retirement and legacy
After suffering an attack of rheumatism, Mrak submitted his resignation as bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette to the pope. It was accepted on April 28, 1879, by Pope Leo XIII, who gave him the titular see of Antinoë.[7] After his health improved, Mrak served as a pastor at parishes in Negaunee and Menominee, Michigan. He then resumed missionary work, accepting a post in Peshawbestown. Mrak returned to Marquette in 1891 and finished his days as a chaplain at St. Mary's Hospital in that city.[4]
Ignatius Mrak died at St. Mary's Hospital on January 2, 1901, at age 90.[8] He is buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Cathedral.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Ignatius Mrak — The second Bishop of Marquette, U. S. A., born 16 October, 1818, in Hotovle, in the Diocese of Laibach (Carinthia), Austria; died at Marquette, 2 Jan., 1901. He made his classical studies in the gymnasium of Laibach and his theology in the local diocesan seminary. On 13 August, 1837, Prince-Bishop Anton Aloys Wolf raised him to the priesthood. To qualify for a tutorship in the house of Field-Marshal Baron Peter Pirquet, the young priest passed a rigorous state examination, and sojourned two years at Legnago near Verona, Italy, then an Austrian possession. In 1840 he returned to his native diocese, and occupied several positions as assistant before emigrating to the United States five years later. Bishop Lefebre of Detroit received him cordially, and sent him immediately to Arbre Croche to assist the celebrated Indian missionary, Father Francis Pierz. For two years the missionaries worked fruitfully together, and, when in 1851 Pierz removed to Minnesota, Mrak retained charge of the Indian mission. For his devotion to the red race Baraga appointed him his vicar-general, and upon the death of Baraga he was created second Bishop of Marquette. For a long time he refused to accept, but, finally yielding to the urgency of Archbishop Purcell, he was consecrated at Cincinnati on 9 February, 1869. After ten years' devotion to the administration of the diocese, although he was not unaccustomed to hardships, his health began to fail, and he was permitted to resign in 1879, and was made titular Bishop of Antinoe. For some years he remained with his successor, Bishop Vertin, and, when necessity required, performed the duties of an ordinary pastor. With the return of his health, his love for the Indians awoke, and he returned to the Indian missions, which he had left so reluctantly to accept the episcopate. Bishop Richter of Grand Rapids most cordially welcomed him, and at his own request gave him the Indian mission at Eagle Town, Leeland County. Here he lived a simple life sharing his small annuity of eight hundred dollars with the two Dominican Sisters whom he had induced to open a school for his charges. In his eighty-first year he retired to Marquette, and filled thenceforth a chaplaincy at St. Mary's Hospital to the last day of his life. His charity was as proverbial as his humility. He outlived his successor in the episcopate, and saw the election of the fourth bishop, whom he himself had raised to the priesthood. His body rests in the vault under the cathedral beside those of his predecessors, Baraga and Vertin.
REZEK, History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (Houghton, Michigan. 1906); VERWYST, Life of Bishop Baraga (Milwaukee, 1900); Berichte der Leopoldinen Stiftung im Kaiserthume Oesterreich (Vienna, 1832-65); Diocesan Archives (Marquette).
References
- Back to citation "Ignatius Mrak". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16 November 2012; Savnik, Roman, ed. (1968). Krajevni leksikon Slovenij. Vol. 1. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije. p. 362; Taufbuch. Poljane nad Škofjo Loko. 1809–1825. p. 10. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- Back to citation Taufbuch. Poljane nad Škofjo Loko. 1809–1825. p. 10. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Back to citation occurrence 3.2 Back to citation occurrence 3.3 Back to citation occurrence 3.4 Back to citation occurrence 3.5 Rezek, Antoine Ivan (1906). History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette. Chicago: M. A. Donohue & Co.
- Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 Back to citation occurrence 4.2 Back to citation occurrence 4.3 Back to citation occurrence 4.4 Back to citation occurrence 4.5 Back to citation occurrence 4.6 "Ignatius Mrak". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- Back to citation "The American Catholic Quarterly Review". Philadelphia: Charles A. Hardy. 1897.
- Back to citation "Marquette (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- Back to citation occurrence 7.0 Back to citation occurrence 7.1 Back to citation occurrence 7.2 Back to citation occurrence 7.3 "Bishop Ignatius Mrak". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
- Back to citation "Useful Life at an End". The Minneapolis Journal. Minneapolis, MN. January 3, 1901. p. 3. Retrieved June 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.