The Red Lacquered Gate: The Early Days of the Columban Fathers and the Courage and Faith of Its Founder, Fr. Edward Galvin

by William Edmund Barrett, The Columban Fathers

Fr. Edward "Ned" Galvin was born in Ireland in 1882, the oldest in a family of seven children. After he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood, he realized that there were more priests in his native land than parishes. So Ned Galvin immigrated to the United States and turned a struggling church in Brooklyn into a thriving parish. But Father Galvin had a secret desire to do missionary work. He was especially attracted to China and had read all the books on the subject his local library could provide. Finally, his wish was granted and he set out with a group of dedicated helpers on a mission to the Far East. William E. Barrett created this colorful, dramatic portrait of an unusual man whose strong Catholic faith helped him survive the horrors and heartbreak of his demanding mission to China.

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2002

About the author

Willam Edmund Barrett was born in New York City in 1900. He was Roman Catholic which is reflected strongly in his works. On February 15, 1925 he was married to Christine M. Rollman.

He attended Manhattan College. In 1941 he became an aeronautics consultant for the Denver Public Library.

He was a member of PEN and the Authors League of America, and also the National Press Club of Washington, D.C. He was president of the Colorado Authors League from 1943–1944.

Three of his novels were the basis for film productions: The Left Hand of God, Lilies of the Field, and Pieces of Dream which was based on The Wine and the Music.

Reviews

[Lynne King · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the dire Covid-19 virus, now is the time to take stock and this book has all the right ingredients to put life into perspective, i.e. that life is chance.

This exquisite book is about Father Edward Galvin, who was the founder of the Columban Fathers, whose faith and courage took him from Cork in Ireland when he was ordained as a priest in the early twentieth century. Finding out that there were more priests in relation to parishes available in Ireland, he went off to Brooklyn in New York when he started as an assistant and ended up as priest of a very good parish.

Chance intervened via another priest and the possibility of going to China was becoming very real. Father Galvin had become fascinated whilst in the US of becoming a missionary in China of all places. He went to libraries all over the place and devoured as many books as he could on the subject. Well his chance came and off to China he went. He lived through periods of poverty whilst converting the pagans to the catholic church with the help of Irish and American nuns. The latter were from Kentucky and they worked like beavers and achieved remarkable things.

These were dreadful times of wars, bandits throughout China, war lords, communism, being overrun by the Japanese, floods, ransoms and the like. Father Galvin survived all of this due to his remarkable faith in God. God was leading him throughout. He was finally forced out of China by the communists and I don't want to spoil what happens then but at the end of the book I had tears in my eyes, which is rather unlike me, and felt most upset that I had finished the book.

I do hope that you read this book too as it will enrich you.

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Galvin was ordained a priest in Ireland in the early 1900s. It was a time when so many men were graduating from seminary, they needed to find their own places abroad, i.e., become missionaries, or be redundant in their own local parishes. Edward’s parents didn't want him to become a missionary, but after his father's death, young Galvin, followed his dream—to China no less—after hearing about the country’s millions of un-catechized souls. This was the beginning of the Missionary Society of St. Columban Fathers who now serve the poor in nine countries, none of which are in China today.

As the horrors of the Corona Virus have unfolded in Wuhan, China, I have been reading about the same locale approximately one hundred years earlier, when an intrepid young man led hundreds of priests and nuns into the heart of China to bring souls to Christ. Father Galvin met with success and failure but turned both into more success. He raised huge amounts of money through tireless traveling all over the world, was recognized by the Vatican, established and built seminaries in Ireland, America, Australia and China, and was awarded territories in China to catechize, built and cultivated parishes and schools in China. He recruited only priests in the beginning, but soon learned that sisters would be vital to deal with the Chinese women as the culture would not let the priests come near them.

Father Gavin dealt with rats, new insects, drought/floods, lack of privacy, poverty, language and cultural differences and extreme variances in temperature with aplomb and creativity. For example, to counter the killer heat in the summer months, he had a mountain retreat built for the priests and nuns, which he visited, but seldom used for himself. It proved vital in later times of flood and other disasters. When it came, he accepted his appointment to bishop but saw himself as shepherd and servant which is why he commanded respect from everyone, both his own as well as the those who never became Catholic. When the terrible floods of 1931 came, he was right there to help deal with everything, the million or so who died, millions more who were displaced, the massive destruction, pillaging, wandering refugees, cholera outbreaks, and other health problems and extensive subsequent rebuilding efforts.

The growing Communist presence he recognized for what it was, yet he always hoped that Chiang Kai-shek would prevail right up to the end. Bishop Gavin remained an important leader through World War II, respected by the Japanese, even while the country was occupied. Unfortunately, after the war, the Communists prevailed and after a brief internment, the Bishop was deported, went back to America with one last project to accomplish, though he was dying of leukemia. He toured all the bishops of America asking for their endorsement of St. Columban, Ireland’s greatest missionary saint to be the first to be included on the Universal Calendar of the Church. I’m not so sure he succeeded as when I tried to find a definitive date for the saint’s feast, I get either November 21st, 23rd, 24th or 26th. St. Columban died on November 21st; that seems to be generally agreed and the Society seems to have settled on the 23rd for their preference.

As for the good Bishop Gavin, he died February 23, 1956 in his beloved Ireland yet with a touch of China at hand, ten Chinese Catholic students of the University College, Dublin who had journeyed to bring mourning scrolls and pay tribute to a man who had spent his life for their country. Aside from this, Bishop Galvin possessed a few things: some underwear, a few pair of stockings, a few books, a few cheap pens (he was a prolific letter-writer all his life), and an inexpensive watch that he’d probably had all his life.

If there were more bishops like him, the Catholic Church would have less problems. But then if more ordinary Catholics were more like him, the Church would also be much stronger… What are we waiting for?!

Amazingly inspirational story! The book has some minor typos and could use a bit of punctuation editing, but these do not detract from the overall story.

[Margaret Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressed by all the hardships they went through and disappointments as well as triumphs. Food for thought and admiration.

[MissyB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though your not religious, you should read this book. When you think your life is torcher and messed up, read this book. Pease is really hard to find. There is always somewhere or some people worse off. No one is alone.