“From the Archives” Father James Aloysius Martin, S.J.

From 1983 to 1989, Saint Mary Church had a unique parochial vicar. Unlike the usual young assistants, Father James Aloysius Martin, S.J., came to Alexandria after a long, outstanding life in the Jesuit order. An excellent athlete, he turned down an offer to play professional football to become a priest. His early assignments after being ordained included assistant dean and assistant athletic director at Georgetown University and athletic director at Saint Joseph’s College in Philadelphia. When World War II began, he served as a chaplain with the Army Air Forces in North Africa, Italy and France. Following the war, he helped raise funds to rebuild Jesuit churches and schools in war-torn Europe.

After spending a number of years teaching, including several years at Gonzaga, Father Martin was responsible between 1955-1964 for planning and building Loyola Retreat Center on the Potomac River in Charles Count, MD. For most of his later years he led retreats and outreach missions.

In 1983, at age 81, long after most people have retired, Father Martin responded to a request to assist at Saint Mary. After nearly a century, a Jesuit had returned to the parish. For six years, he worked zealously. During these years, the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) were very much in the news. The Church had not authenticated the apparitions, but Father Martin became a true believer. Inspired by a pilgrimage he made to Medjugorje, after his return his sermons were so full of faith in the apparitions and Mary’s messages that he was brought to tears.

A lifelong sports fan, Father Martin knew many professional athletes, including former Navy and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Roger Staubach. Saint Mary parish at the time hired teenagers to answer the phone in the rectory office while the priests were busy or across the street for activities in the parish Lyceum. Father Martin soon became a favorite as he regaled the teens with sports stories and joined them in many lively discussions and arguments over the week’s games.

When Father Martin finally retired at the age of 87, he  moved to the Jesuit residence on Georgetown University’s campus in Washington, DC, but he remained active. Before his death in 2007 at the age of 105, Father Martin was the world’s oldest living Jesuit.   

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

Throughout 2020, the Basilica of Saint Mary will present “From the Archives.” It is a weekly feature online and in our bulletin spotlighting the history of the parish. All of our “From the Archives” features are located here.