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Català (Magin, O.F.M.) collection
MSS.1994.01.03  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Provenance
  • Preferred Citation
  • Publication Rights
  • Processing Information
  • Biographical History
  • Organizational History
  • Related Materials
  • Arrangement
  • Scope and Content of Collection

  • Language of Material: Multiple languages
    Contributing Institution: Archives & Special Collections, Santa Clara University Library
    Title: Magín Catalá, O.F.M. collection
    creator: Santa Clara College (Calif.)
    creator: Santa Clara University (Calif.)
    creator: University of Santa Clara (Calif.)
    Identifier/Call Number: MSS.1994.01.03
    Identifier/Call Number: 82
    Physical Description: 2.8 linear feet (6 boxes)
    Date: circa 1885-2009 (bulk 1885-1909)
    Abstract: The Magín Catalá, O.F.M. Collection, circa 1885-2009 (bulk 1885-1909), documents the life of Fray Magín Catalá. Often referred to as the "Holy Man of Santa Clara," Fr. Catalá was stationed at Mission Santa Clara for thirty-six years and was widely renowned for his piety and spiritual labors. In 1882, more than fifty years after Magín Catalá's death, Archbishop J.S. Alemany, O.P. initiated the process of his beatification. As of 2014, his Cause remained open. The bulk of the collection consists of reproductions of deposition transcripts taken circa 1885 and again in 1908-1909 during the beatification process of Fray Magín Catalá. The collection is arranged into three series: Series I. Process of Beatification, circa 1885-1909; Series II. Biographical Publications and Related Materials, circa 1909-2009 (bulk 1909-1964); and Series III. Relics and Devotional Materials, circa 1907-1962.
    Physical Location: This collection is located in Santa Clara University Library's Archives & Special Collections.
    Language of Material: English, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and some Catalan

    Access

    The collection is open for research.

    Provenance

    Beatification transcripts in Boxes 1 and 2 are reproductions of the original documents held in the Archivio Segreto Vaticano (Vatican Secret Archives) and were obtained by Santa Clara University Library Archives & Special Collections in 1993. Box 1, Folder 7 contains a photocopy of "Witnesses in Català Beatification," a deposition transcript. The original document is held in the Archdiocese of San Francisco Archives. Montblanc items were received from the Parroquia de Santa Maria in Montblanc, Spain.

    Preferred Citation

    The Magín Catalá, O.F.M. collection, MSS.1994.01.03, Santa Clara University Library Archives & Special Collections.

    Publication Rights

    Materials in the Santa Clara University's Archives & Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Santa Clara University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Santa Clara University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

    Processing Information

    Guide created by Shannon Hartman in 2014. Guide encoded by Shannon Hartman in 2015. Finding aid updated by Andrea Hoff in 2019.

    Biographical History

    Magín Catalá, O.F.M. (1761-1830) was born at Montblanc in the Spanish province of Catalonia in 1761. At age 16, he entered the Franciscan monastery in Barcelona and took his vows one year later. He was ordained priest in 1785. Fr. Catalá quickly volunteered to labor in the missions in America. In 1786, he set sail from Cadiz, Spain and eventually arrived in the capital of Mexico, where he joined the College of San Fernando de Mexico, a Franciscan missionary college. Fr. Catalá arrived at Mission Santa Clara in 1794 at the age of thirty-one, seventeen years after the institution's founding. Fr. Catalá was stationed at Mission Santa Clara for most of his life and was one of the earliest European colonizers of the Santa Clara Valley. He remained at Mission Santa Clara for thirty-six years. Fr. Catalá was intimately involved not only in the development of the Franciscan outpost at Santa Clara, but also in the construction of a church in the pueblo of San José and the establishment of The Alameda, a roadway linking San José and Mission Santa Clara.
    Often referred to as the "Holy Man of Santa Clara," Fr. Catalá's reputation for sanctity persisted long after his death in 1830. In 1882, Archbishop J.S. Alemany, O.P. began gathering the necessary information to initiate the process of Fr. Catalá's beatification. The first canonical process took place in Santa Clara in 1884-1885 and relied solely on the oral testimony of witnesses. The Sacred Congregation of Rites found the evidence collected to be promising but requested corroborative testimony. No additional evidence was submitted on Fr. Catalá's behalf, and the Cause was suspended. In 1908-1909, the Sacred Congregation of Rites reconvened the Cause, instituting the process to determine whether unauthorized public veneration of Fr. Catalá had occurred. As of 2014, his Cause remained open.
    Bibliography
    Engelhardt, Zephyrin. The Holy Man of Santa Clara: Or, Life, Virtues and Miracles of Fr. Magin Catalá, O.F.M. San Francisco: The James H. Barry Co., 1909. Print.
    McKevitt, Gerald, S.J. Letter to Members of the Sourisseau Academy. 8 Dec. 1994. The Magín Catalá, O.F.M. Collection: Accession File.
    Skowronek, Russell K, Elizabeth Thompson, Veronica L. Johnson, and Anita Cohen-Williams. Situating Mission Santa Clara De Asis, 1776-1851: Documentary and Material Evidence of Life on the Alta California Frontier: A Timeline. Berkeley, Calif: Academy of American Franciscan History, 2006. Print.
    Stern, Aloysius S., Amleto G. Cicognani, and Arthur D. Spearman. Magin Catala, O.F.M.: The Holy Man of Santa Clara. San Francisco, Calif: University of San Francisco, 1956. Print.

    Organizational History

    Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College and is California's oldest operating institution of higher learning. It was established on the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the eighth of the original 21 California missions. The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank until 1853. The institution became known as the University of Santa Clara in 1912, when the schools of engineering and law were added. For 110 years, Santa Clara University was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates and Santa Clara University became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students and faculty tripled over the next decade and the university began the largest building program in school history with eight residence halls, a student union, and an athletic stadium. In the early 1970s, the Board of Trustees voted to limit the size of the undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for generations to come. In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name.
    Bibliography Santa Clara University. "About SCU – History." www.scu.edu/about/history.cfm (Accessed Nov. 23, 2010)
    McKevitt, Gerald, S.J. The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1979.

    Related Materials

    Arthur D. Spearman, S.J. papers, Santa Clara University Library Archives and Special Collections. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf6r29n8f2/
    The Mission Santa Clara manuscript collection, Record Group 1, Santa Clara University Library Archives and Special Collections. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c85d8v2g/
    Santa Clara University Artifacts collection. Santa Clara University Library Archives and Special Collections.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged into three series: Series I. Process of Beatification, circa 1885-1909; Series II. Biographical Publications and Related Materials, circa 1909-2009 (bulk 1909-1964); and Series III. Relics and Devotional Materials, circa 1907-1962.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Magín Catalá, O.F.M. collection, circa 1885-2009 (bulk 1885-1909), documents the life of Fray Magín Catalá. Often referred to as the "Holy Man of Santa Clara," Fr. Catalá was stationed at Mission Santa Clara for thirty-six years and was widely renowned for his piety and spiritual labors. In 1882, more than fifty years after Fr. Catalá's death, Archbishop J.S. Alemany, O.P. initiated the process of his beatification. As of 2014, his Cause remained open. The bulk of the collection consists of reproductions of deposition transcripts taken circa 1885 and again in 1908-1909 during the process ofbBeatification of Fray Magín Catalá. During these proceedings, sixty-two witnesses were called upon to provide testimony about the life and work of Fr. Català. While the documents focus primarily on canonical issues, they also contain information about life in the Santa Clara Valley in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Included are interviews with early Spanish colonizers who had knowledge of the Franciscan missionary and the era in which Fr. Catalá lived. Early Jesuit administrators and faculty from Santa Clara College involved with the Beatification process included Jesuit Fathers Joseph Bixio, Nicholas Congiato, Joseph Caredda, Henry Imoda, Benedict Picardo, John Pinasco, Paul Raffo, and Aloysius Varsi. Also included are biographical publications and related materials; correspondence about Fr. Magín Catalá's life; devotional materials; and relics.
    Note: Beatification transcripts in Boxes 1 and 2 are in Latin, Spanish, Italian, and English and have not been translated.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    California -- History -- Archival resources
    Beatification
    Catalá, Magin, 1761-1830
    Santa Clara Mission