[ These notes are from the lips of Rev. Mother Vincent Hunk, O.S.F., Superior General of the Sisters of St. Francis, Joliet, IL ]

Fr. Francis Moening, O.F.M., was pastor of Trowbridge, Illinois, in 1871. He was a very zealous and fiery preacher and a great mixer. He loved especially to discuss religion with protestant ministers. On every occasion he invited and challenged them. Wherever Father Francis preached the people, especially the protestants, gathered in large numbers, so that the churches were too small.

John Hunk, of Trowbridge, the brother of Rev. Mother Vincent (Hunk), O.S.F., once met Rev. Miller of Neoga, Illinois, a strongly protestant and bigoted town. The minister began to discuss the passage where Christ said to St. Peter: "Peter, thou art the rock, and upon this rock I shall build my church." He contends that by "this rock" Christ meant Himself. Mr. Hunk, however, refused to argue, since he was no match for the minister, but offered to bring a Catholic who was willing to argue the point, namely Fr. Francis; and Rev. Miller accepted.

Fr. Francis called on the minister and soon refuted his fallacies, and answerd his objections so satisfactorily that the minister wished to take up instruction in the Catholic faith. When ready for baptism, Rev. Miller was bedridden with inflamatory rhumatism. That Sunday afternoon people from all the surrounding towns gathered around the home of Rev. Miller. Fr. Francis gladly satisfied the curiosity of the hundreds who covered the lawn and street. For this purpose Fr. Francis had Rev. Miller seated in his invalid chair placed upon a farm wagon before the house, and there baptised him. Mr. and Mrs. Hunk were sponsors. After the baptism Fr. Francis preached a powerful and fiery sermon to the multitude seated upon the grass.

Soon after Fr Francis Moening was replaced by Fr. Francis Albers, O.F.M., who prepared Rev. Miller for his First Holy Communion. "I, then only a girl," said Rev. Mother Vincent, Superior General of the Franciscan Sisters of Joliet, Illinois, to the priest, "I was told by Fr. Francis to go there and to prepare the table and so forth for Holy Communion. The wife of Rev. Miller and the rest of the family were as yet very bigoted and could not bear the sight of a Catholic priest coming into their house."

Rev. Miller received the last sacraments on a Saturday and died. He was to be buried on the following Tuesday. He had expressly requested his relatives to bury him in the Catholic cemetery. But hardly had he breathed his last, then his six brothers strenuously opposed Mr. John Hunk, who urged the Catholic burial. The relatives insisted that Rev. Miller be buried with his first wife and six children in one row upon the Protestant cemetery.

Fr. Francis hearing of the strong opposition consented to bury him upon the Protestant cemetery and to bless the grave, nothwithstanding that Mr. Miller had expressly requested to be buried upon the Catholic cemetery. "We have the soul", he said, "they may have the body."

Monday the relatives of Mr. Miller sent out to arrange for the grave, but could not find the headstones of his first wife and the six children. Others went out to look, but they also sought in vain. And again other relatives who were certain that they knew well where the graves were, and remarked that the first seekers must have been half asleep, went out in quest of the graves; but they too looked in vain. All that day, Monday, the relatives of the minister sought the seven graves, and on Tuesday morning early they repeated their search, taking with them picks and shovels, but again they failed to find them. Finally, when, on Tuesday morning, the funeral cortage was on its way to the Catholic church for the Requiem Mass, the relatives and the grave diggers with their picks and shovels met the funeral and said, "It is of no use for us to look longer; we cannot find the tombstones. We give up bury; him where you wish."

At once a grave was dug at the Catholic cemetery, and the funeral remained in church a long time after the Requiem Mass in order to give the grave diggers time to finish the grave. Crowds of people went out to see this grave. The Hunk family kept it in good condition.

At once after the funeral the relatives once more went out to the Protestant cemetery to look for the seven tombstones of the Rev. Miller's family; and to their surprise found them without difficulty! Fr. Francis claimed that by a special intervention, almighty God had granted the wish of this well-meaning and sincerely converted dying minister, despite the persistent opposition of his relatives.

Father Francis Moening was a good horse-back rider; and he loved to ride. No horse was too swift for him; and there was none that he could not manage. He rode in his Franciscan habit.

The farmers of Trowbridge, however, disliked to lend him a horse, for fear he would ruin it. Father had the reputation of "horse-killer". One Sunday, he was again about to ride home from Trowbridge to Teutopolis, fourteen miles. A farmer brought a horse, remarking: "Even if Father does kill this balky creature, well, there won't be much lost."

Fr. Francis arranged his pack, and fastened with special care the Sunday collection to the saddle. Then he mounted. But at once the beast stood on its hind legs, straight up into the air. The women screamed! Father Francis told the farmer to use a hickery hoopslab lying close by to start the horse. Then with one bound the animal darted off like an arrow - but Fr. Francis arrived home safely - with the Sunday collection!