“From the Archives” — First Confirmations at Saint Mary

The first recorded Confirmations at Saint Mary parish took place on June 12, 1797, with Bishop John Carroll, the first Bishop of Baltimore, officiating.

At that time, Saint Mary parishioners were still busy firing bricks and laying the founda- tion of their small chapel on the South Royal Street property that is now the parish cem- etery. Since the chapel was not yet finished, these first Confirmations likely occurred at the Alexandria home of parishioner Colonel John Fitzgerald, aide-de-camp to General George Washington. The large Fitzgerald home at King and Lee Streets – now the site of the Burke & Herbert Bank – was often used for the celebration of Mass.

These also may have been the first public Confirmations in Virginia. Although Bishop Carroll may have privately confirmed members of the Brent family in Stafford when he visited his two sisters, who married Brents, there are no records of such events.