Approximately 5,000 visitors walk through the doors of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart each month. 有些人在路易吉·格雷戈里(Luigi Gregori)精心绘制的天花板下参加弥撒, 而其他人来惊叹于伊万Meštrović的著名 Pietà 或者去听有5000个管风琴的莫迪家族风琴. Yet others still come to tour the reliquary chapel and learn about the rich history of the Basilica.
Surprisingly, many who pass through those grand double doors remain unaware of the modest chapel situated just one floor below. Here, 墙上没有精美的壁画，也没有令人眼花缭乱的彩色玻璃窗, 但依偎在木长椅之间, 你会发现一个大理石墓穴，上面刻着拉丁文:
“Here lies Orestes A. Brownson, 谁谦卑地承认真正的信仰, lived a complete life, 通过写作和演讲，他勇敢地捍卫了他的教会和国家, and, 就算他的尸体被死神带走了, 他心灵的努力是天才不朽的纪念碑.”
William Phelan (1793–1856), an early benefactor of Notre Dame and stepfather to Mother Angela of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, 也被埋在大教堂正下方的小教堂里. His crypt is less accessible and, therefore, better preserved than that of Orestes A. Brownson.
只有两个人被埋在大教堂下面, Orestes Augustus Brownson was neither a student nor a faculty member at Notre Dame. 事实上，没有他访问过这所大学的记录. Yet his final resting place conveys he played an important role in the history of Our Lady's University. 那么，他是如何在校园里找到这么一块令人垂涎的墓地的呢?
布朗森1803年出生于佛蒙特州，他并不是在天主教家庭长大的. In fact, over the course of his life, 他研究了许多不同的宗教, 在每个人身上寻找真理和意义. It wasn't until 1844, 在接受了圣十字学院创始人的洗礼之后, Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J.布朗森被天主教会接纳.
尽管他的成长环境平平，没有受过正规教育, 布朗森被认为是19世纪早期知识分子的领军人物. 作为一个多产的作家，布朗森写了惊人的2篇文章.5 million words for the Boston Quarterly Review and, later, Brownson's Quarterly Review从而巩固了他作为美国最多产作家之一的地位. 他早期的许多文章都以政治和民主为中心. However, after converting to Catholicism, 波士顿的菲茨帕特里克主教鼓励他更多地关注神学. His dedication to educating the masses earned him honorary degrees from both St. 约翰学院(后来的福特汉姆大学)和诺维奇大学.
Eventually, his work caught the attention of a young and ambitious French priest who had recently immigrated to America to open a Catholic university. Over the years, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C.和布朗森建立了一段异地友谊. 应索林神父的要求，布朗森为《电竞赌博平台》写了几篇文章 Ave Maria这是一本由圣十字教会的圣母玛利亚出版社出版的杂志. 其中一篇关于圣母的文章赢得了一场由 Ave Maria. (The prize was rumored to be $200 in gold; however, at the last minute, 索林神父决定选出两位获胜者，而不是一位, much to Brownson's chagrin.)
索林神父于1862年邀请布朗森到大学任教, 但他当时正在竞选美国国会议员席位.S. 并拒绝了这一提议. 当他竞选国会议员失败时, Brownson accepted Father Sorin's invitation despite being “appalled that his services be required daily from six in the morning to ten at night,并声明他的“健康状况不允许这样做”.” His letter included a date to meet in Chicago, but no records show that he ever made the trip. The next documented correspondence between the two men wasn't until 1865 and continued until shortly before Brownson died of pneumonia at the age of 72 in 1876.
他最初被埋葬在底特律, Michigan, but in June 1886, he was re-interred in the Brownson Memorial Chapel of the Sacred Heart Church, 后来被称为圣心大教堂的地穴教堂.
Father Sorin held Brownson in such high regard that he named one of the first residence halls, 位于主楼的东翼, Brownson Hall. 这里的学生年龄在17岁及以上, while the west wing, named Carroll Hall, housed students aged 13 to 17. Later, in 1945, 主楼的两翼被改造成办公空间, housing a variety of departments. 直到1965年，电竞赌博平台才有了布朗森大厅, when it quietly gave that name to Ave Maria Press's former space after the press moved to Douglas Road.
In 2019, this Brownson Hall was demolished so that the Remick Family Hall could be built. Today, it's the home of the Alliance for Catholic Education—fitting for a place that was once named after a man devoted to educating others on Catholicism. 2022年，从拆除中保存下来的砖块被用来扩建索林大厅.
And while it's clear that Brownson made notable contributions to furthering the Catholic faith in America, the question remains: Why him?
The Basilica's tour and hospitality coordinator, Katie Pelster, may have the answer. According to Pelster, Father Sorin's vision was to have American Catholics buried in the Basilica—particularly, academic American Catholics, “so that we could remember the work they had done in the Catholic Church in America,” she said.
“即使他们不是圣人，也不是什么受人尊敬的人,” she shared, “it was important for the University to have examples of Catholic lay people here.” It isn't clear, she said, why more American Catholic academics weren't buried in the Basilica.
Brownson had purportedly expressed his desire to spend his final days at Notre Dame but died before it could happen. 也许正是他对这所大学的钦佩，使他的儿子亨利. Brownson to donate his entire works—a 20-volume set that he collected and arranged between 1882 and 1887—to the Notre Dame Archives, writing “it is a pleasure and a consolation to collect them so that they may be preserved for future generations which shall better appreciate them.”
哈佛大学与布朗森家族的关系并没有就此结束. Henry's son Philip V.D. Brownson studied at the University and was suspended for a short period for attempting to attend more courses than permitted. 他于1888年毕业，并代表全班致告别辞, 在希腊哲学和道德哲学方面获得第一荣誉. 几年后，在1892年，大学授予亨利F. 布朗森因翻译弗朗西斯科·塔尔杜奇的著作而获得莱塔雷奖章 The Life of Christopher Columbus. Henry's daughter, Josephine D. Brownson, was also awarded the Laetare Medal in 1939 for her contributions to the Catholic Instruction League. To this day, Henry and Josephine are the only two related recipients of the Laetare Medal. In 1950, the University hosted a symposium commemorating the 150th anniversary of Orestes A. Brownson's birth.
布朗森多产的作品经久不衰, 在美国天主教的历史上留下了不可磨灭的印记. 他与大学的关系, 这是通过他与富有远见的索林神父的关系而形成的, 这是对更高使命的共同奉献. 留下的遗产提醒我们, to this day, seekers of truth and defenders of faith carry on Father Sorin's mission to be a continued force for good in the world.
