Pope Pius VII wrote a personal letter to the Superior General (Bro. Gerbaud) on this date encouraging him to send Christian Brothers to the region which we know today as the Louisiana Purchase; Bishop Dubourg of New Orleans was the ecclesial authority in that vast area at that time. Several years later, three Brothers were sent to Ste. Genevieve (MO).

Brother Angelus Gabriel (FSC), The Christian Brothers in the United States 1848-1948: A Century of Catholic Education (NY: Declan McMullen, 1948), p. 49.