James T. Connelly, C.S.C., is the congregational archivist for the Congregation of Holy Cross. He is the author of a number of books, including The University of Portland: A Century of Teaching, Faith, and Service and Basile Moreau and the Congregation of Holy Cross, and editor of many more, including The Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac by Edward Sorin, C.S.C. (University of Notre Dame Press, 1992).

"In 1837, Basile Moreau, C.S.C., founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (C.S.C.), a community of Catholic priests and brothers to minister to and educate the people of France devastated by the French Revolution. During the centuries that followed, the Congregation expanded its mission around the globe to educate and evangelize, including the establishment in 1842 of the Congregation's first educational institution in America-the University of Notre Dame. This sweeping book, written by the skilled historian and archivist James T. Connelly, C.S.C., offers the first complete history of the Congregation, covering nearly two centuries from 1820 to 2018. Throughout this volume, Connelly focuses on the ministry of the Congregation rather than on its ministers, although some important individuals are discussed, including Jacques-Franðcois Dujariâe; Sr. Mary of the Seven Dolors, M.S.C.; Andrâe Bessette, C.S.C.; and Edward Sorin, C.S.C. Within a few short years of founding the Congregation, Moreau sent the priests, brothers, and sisters from France to Algeria, the United States, Canada, Italy, and East Bengal. Connelly chronicles in great detail the suppression of all religious orders in France in 1903 and demonstrates how the Congregation shifted its subsequent expansion efforts to North America. Numerous educational institutions, parishes, and other ministries were founded in the United States and Canada during these decades. In 1943, Holy Cross again extended its work to South America. With the most recent establishment of a religious presence in the Philippines in 2008, Holy Cross today serves in sixteen different countries on five continents. The book describes the beatification of Basil Moreau, C.S.C, on September 15, 2007, and the canonization of Andrâe Bessette, C.S.C. on October 17, 2010. The book will interest C.S.C. members and historians of Catholic history. Anyone who wants to learn about the origins of the University of Notre Dame will want to read this definitive history of the Congregation"--