Missionaries of the Precious Blood Cemetery



Saint Charles Center is the motherhouse of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Cincinnati Province. Located on 500 acres outside the tiny town of Carthagena, Ohio, Saint Charles has been a beacon of faith and powerhouse of prayer for over 150 years.



In 1844 the Missionaries of the Precious Blood were introduced into North America by Rev Francis de Sales Brunner CPPS, at the request of John Baptist Purcell, the Bishop of Cincinnati. They came to Ohio to serve the German-speaking Catholics. Fr Brunner's mother, Mother Maria Anna Brunner, established the Sisters of the Precious Blood, in Dayton. The Missionaries were first assigned to Peru, Ohio. From there, Fr Brunner commenced to serve the many German-speaking parishes in central and western Ohio, including in Mercer County, where he came in 1845. Along the way, he established a series of mission houses in these parishes to assist the Missionaries in their work. He also founded the Sorrowful Mother Shrine near Bellevue, Ohio, in 1850, and a seminary in Thompson, Ohio.



The Missionaries had outgrown that seminary by the time Fr Brunner died on December 29, 1859. The task of relocating to a larger seminary fell to Rev Andrew Kunkler CPPS. Fr Kunkler was given a dual directive by the moderator general in Rome, Rev Giovanni Merlini CPPS (now Venerable Giovani Merlini), the moderator general, to found a house to serve both as a seminary and a motherhouse. Through the efforts of Rev Joseph Dwenger CPPS (later bishop of Fort Wayne), the Missionaries purchased property in Carthagena, in 1861, and converted it to a seminary named after Saint Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of seminarians. There were 15 seminarians when Saint Charles opened its doors in June 1861, with Fr Dwenger as its first rector. The seminary / motherhouse has gone through numerous changes since it's foundations.



The cemetery is located adjacent to the motherhouse.