DAY, VICTOR

Diocesan administrator; b. Desselghem, Belgium, March 29, 1866; d. Helena, Mont., Nov. 7, 1946. He was the son of Henry and Fébronie (De Brabandère) Day. He was educated in Belgium at the college of Saint-Amand, Courtrai; the minor seminary of Roulers; and the major seminary of Bruges. Day was ordained on May 23, 1891, and spent two years in Bruges before leaving for the Diocese of Helena where he was to spend the remainder of his life. In 1894, he was appointed rector of the Cathedral of the Sacred Hearts by John B. Brondel, first bishop of Helena. Brondel also named him vicar-general of the diocese, an office he held for 45 years under five bishops. Day had the further distinction of acting four times as administrator of the diocese during periods when the See of Helena was vacant. He also helped to plan and build the Gothic-style Cathedral of St. Helena, begun in 1908 and completed in 1914. On June 19, 1911, he was made a domestic prelate by Pius X. Among Day's published works were his translations of Gottfried Kurth's The Church at the Turning Points of History (1918) and What Are the Middle Ages? (1921). He also compiled An Explanation of the Catechism (1924) and translated part two of Jacques B. Bousset's Discourse on Universal History (1928). He was an occasional contributor to journals and periodicals, and a life member of the American Catholic Historical Association and a member of the Medieval Academy of America.

[t. m. o'donnell]