History of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

The Missionaries of the Precious Blood were founded in 1815 in what is now Italy by St. Gaspar del Bufalo, a gifted preacher who stressed to his priests and brothers that they were to draw strength from Jesus Christ and from each other, then go forth into the world to spread the Good News.

The Missionaries came to this country in 1844 when Father Francis de Sales Brunner, C.PP.S., brought a small band of priests, brothers and seminarians shivering into the wilderness of central Ohio in mid winter.

They had been invited by the bishop in Cincinnati to minister to German immigrants on what was then the frontier. From that very humble beginning, the Missionaries founded parishes and built mission houses in Ohio and Indiana.

Small beginnings and big dreams: that's the story of this congregation of priests, brothers and lay associates. Today, Missionaries minister in parishes, preach, sponsor two colleges, encourage the pilgrims at the Sorrowful Mother Shrine, work in hospitals and jails as chaplains, and carry out many other ministries.

Photograph: Bronze bust of Father Brunner in the CPPS Heritage Room at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio.