In the United States, there was never a more influential Provincial Director than Father Francis Burlando.
The position of the Provincial Director is always held by a Vincentian priest. He is meant to invoke the spirit of the community’s founders in the Daughters within a province, play a role in the formation of the Sisters, have a vote in Council decisions, and ensure that the Daughters of Charity live the spirit of their vows of poverty. Father Burlando was born in Genoa, Italy in 1814. He volunteered to go to America shortly before his ordination as a priest in 1837. He taught in Perryville, Missouri, and was pastor at St. Vincent’s Parish in St. Louis, where important gatherings and Masses are still celebrated for the Daughters today.
In 1849, he accompanied Father Mariano Maller to Emmitsburg. Father Maller was set to take his position in 1850 as the first Provincial Director for the Daughters of Charity in the United States, after Mother Seton’s community formally merged with Daughters in 1850. Father Burlando was to be the Sisters’ confessor but returned to St. Louis for health reasons. In 1853, Father Maller was appointed as Director for the Daughters’ Province in Brazil, and Father Burlando was appointed as the Provincial Director in the United States.
Father Burlando had the responsibility of completing the transition of the Sisters of Charity into Daughters of Charity. Although the blue and white habit of the Daughters had begun to trickle into the United States, Father Burlando oversaw the completion of the change across the entire country through 1854. When the Civil War passed through Emmitsburg and the Sisters’ grounds became host to marching armies, Father Burlando worked to keep both Sisters and students safe, using their status as religious to make sure no accidental firing occurred. When the Battle of Gettysburg subsided on July 3, 1863, Burlando personally led the Sisters to Gettysburg to begin their nursing duties there. After the War, he helped shape the historical record by encouraging the Sisters to write their accounts of what they experienced. Today, these accounts are some of the greatest treasures in the Archives.
With regard to St. Joseph’s Academy, Burlando oversaw an expansion of the school and the construction of his namesake building. Having learned of architecture and building from his father in Italy, a plumber, he co-designed what would become his namesake building, which still stands as part of the FEMA Fire Academy.
Someone only identified as “An Old Pupil” described his relationship with the students at the Academy:
Father Burlando took the most active interest in the studies of the pupils of St. Joseph’s and in everything pertaining to their comfort and welfare, always planning how to give them increased pleasure in their recreation, and in return the pupils loved him with a sincere affection, regarding him as a most tender Father. His practical mind was always suggesting something new for their future benefit, and as he fully realized the influence of [a] woman in her home, he labored to direct the education of those under his care to that end, introducing the study of domestic economy at St. Joseph’s, that the young ladies might be trained to fulfil properly the important duties of life. For this alone he is entitled to everlasting gratitude.
Burlando also provided guidance on business matters, with his template for establishing ministries as incorporated institutions, which helped guide the community as it established some of its most long-lasting works. Drafted in 1870, his guidelines provided uniform structure and procedure for the next 80-plus years, ensuring the longevity and independence of the Daughters’ ministries.
Father Burlando died suddenly in 1873 of a stroke. Along with his importance, the suddenness of his death probably contributes to the voluminous accounts of his funeral. Father Burlando is one of the priests, or even non-Sisters, to be buried in the Old Cemetery in Emmitsburg, in a place of honor directly around the mortuary chapel.
The Provincial Archives contains much of his personal and business correspondence, the notes that he used to compile the history of the community mergers in 1850; and his notes that were used to re-construct the Provincial Annals for the 1850s, 1860s, and early 1870s; and many of his retreats, which began in 1856. Among the accounts of his death and funeral are poems written by Sisters and students alike:
docarchivesblog.org 