Hugh F. Blunt


Monsignor Hugh Francis Blunt was a Catholic priest, author, poet, and apologist. He was born in Medway, Massachusetts, to Irish immigrants Patrick Blunt and Ann Mahon. Blunt began writing while attending St. Laurent College in Montreal.
After his graduation in 1896, he attended St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, to become a Catholic priest, and was ordained on December 20, 1901. He was appointed to churches in Stoneham, Dorchester, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and did a great deal of writing over the course of his career. His best-known books include The Great Magdalens: Famous Women Who Returned to God Following a Life of Sin, The Great Penitents and Great Wives and Mothers, all of which are still in print. He also served as chief editorial writer for The Pilot newspaper and editor of the Sacred Heart Review.
Blunt received the Marian Poetry Prize in 1919 and the Catholic Press Poetry Prize in 1929. In 1920, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Notre Dame for his contributions to Catholic literature.

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