I’ve always been intrigued by epigraphs, those quotes or phrases, usually form other written works, at the beginning of books. It seems like a singular challenge to find that one or two (or in my case, three) quotes that set the stage and capture the spirit and tone of the book that lies ahead. As a lover of books and music, it also seemed fun. Over the course of researching and writing The Apostle of Tennessee — and reading a bunch of other things — I kept a running list of lines that jumped out as possible epigraphs. I narrowed it down to three for the beginning of the book: quotes from the United States Catholic Miscellany in 1828; missionary priest Fr. Roberto de Nobili, SJ (1577-1656); and author Willa Cather, from Death Comes for the Archbishop. I used two others, from the Acts of the Apostles and St. Thérèsa of Lisieux, at the top of individual chapters.

Here are the others that didn’t make the final manuscript, but easily could have.

Did holiness consist in waiting for God to give us what His saints had promised, without trying to obtain it through earthly means?
— Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

It is reasonable to suppose that only the wealthy and prominent got into the local histories, but how many more simple folk clung to the their faith without the benefit of clergy?
— Thomas Stritch, The Catholic Church in Tennessee

In the neighboring state of Tennessee there are about twenty-five families of Catholics who are deprived of the aids of the Church. Not yet has it been possible for me to call on them.
— Letter to Rome by the Bishop of Bardstown, the Right Reverend Benedict Joseph Flaget, 1815.

Trust in your calling, make sure your calling’s true
— REM, “I Believe”