A photo depicting Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen and headline are seen from the November 1939 issue of ‘The Mount’ publication from Mount Saint Joseph. COURTESY OF MSJ ARCHIVES
‘So often heard and loved’
Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen visits Mount Saint Joseph
BY EDWARD WILSON, ARCHIVES
The article I had originally prepared for this month has been four years in the making. I was excited about it, and it has been a long time coming. However, due to a recent announcement at the time of writing, I am replacing that article with this one. The announcement is much more exciting and has been a much longer time coming: it has been announced that Venerable Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification has been approved. I have been refraining from writing any articles about him until these happy days were upon the Church.
So, in celebration, let us recount when then-Msgr. Sheen visited Mount Saint Joseph.
The November 1939 issue of The Mount, Mount Saint Joseph Academy’s newspaper, proclaimed “A never to be forgotten happiness came to Mount Saint Joseph on Wednesday, November 8th, in the visit of Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen, noted Catholic writer and radio speaker.”
The night before the event, Msgr. Sheen stayed the night and was hosted by the Mount’s chaplain, Fr. Andrew Zoeller. Though he had yet to reach the monumental heights of popularity he would later achieve, Msgr. Sheen was a favorite among the community and the academy girls. Sr. Mary Jean Cotter, in July of that year, had been in correspondence with Msgr. Sheen about how much his radio program meant to her. Likewise, Mother Gabriel Hayden, whose intentions Msgr. Sheen had prayed for earlier that year, made her way back to the Motherhouse from Cincinnati with other MSJ Ursulines to catch the lecture.
On Wednesday morning, before the program, Msgr. Sheen was the concelebrant at Mass with Fr. Zoeller in the Mount’s chapel. The program followed later that morning.
It is hard to imagine how surreal the event must have been. The voice they had listened to so many times was given form. He moved about in “scarlet robes portraying his dignity as a churchman.” Accounts describe the crowd as “thrilled” and Msgr. Sheen’s eyes as “piercing.”
His words were even more impassioned than usual as only two months prior, war was declared in Europe. Msgr. Sheen spoke of his meeting with Pope Pius XII, leaving Italy only three days before war was declared. Msgr. Sheen told the crowd that the Italians were certain they would not enter the war. Little did anyone in that room know that Italy would indeed enter the war and fight alongside Adolf Hitler.
Community records note that following the event, Msgr. Sheen requested that a full holiday be granted to the students that day. When Mother Theresita Thompson went to offer Msgr. Sheen payment for the presentation, he graciously said he would accept no money. He then said his goodbyes and made his way to Louisville.
If it surprises you that this soon-to-be saint visited our diocese, then it will really surprise you to find out that he was here more than once! But that is a story for another article, perhaps when we are referring to, now-Venerable Fulton J. Sheen as St. Fulton J. Sheen in the future.
Until then, Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, pray for us!
Edward Wilson is the director of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Archives and the Archives of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. Comments and questions may be sent to [email protected].
Originally printed in the March 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
