Hello. It’s Elizabeth again, and this is the first in our Saint-spiration series--where we highlight the lives of Saints and how they resonate in our modern lives. Since this is our first post and it is Black History Month, we are talking today about Augustus Tolton: Servant of God and the first African-American priest. Fr. Tolton was born a slave and--even after his escape to freedom and fighting in the Civil War--encountered racism in his schooling, his quest to enter seminary and fulfill his vocation, and his life as a priest. So affected his life so greatly that he was forced to move to another diocese just to be able to act as a pastor. His story is one of perseverance in acts of service and the pursuit of holiness.