A celebration of the 125th anniversary of the priestly ordination of Father Augustus Tolton will be held Sunday, June 5, in Quincy, beginning with Mass at 3 p.m. at St. Peter Church, 2600 Main St.

Following the Mass, a reservation-only dinner and program will follow in the Quincy University Student Center, 1810 Lind St.

The events are sponsored by the Father Tolton Guild of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Father Tolton was born to slave parents in 1854 in Brush Creek, Mo. During the Civil War, his mother escaped with her children to the free state of Illinois and settled in Quincy. Though no seminary in the United States would accept him, the young Tolton studied for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained there in 1886. He was the first acknowledged black priest in the United States.

After his ordination, Father Tolton served in Quincy, in what was then the Alton Diocese, until he was sent to Chicago in 1889. There he ministered to the black Catholic community until his death in 1897, at age 43.

In February, the Archdiocese of Chicago formally opened a cause for the beatification and sainthood of Father Tolton. The Father Tolton Guild was established to promote the cause and to sponsor programs commemorating events in the life of Father Tolton.

Father Peter Harman, pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and a native of Quincy, represents the Springfield diocese as a member of the guild.

“The Mass is open to the public, and we encourage any and all to attend,” Father Harman said. “This is an historic event, the first public celebration since the official opening of the cause.”

Reservations for the dinner and program are $30 per person; checks should be made out to the Archdiocese of Chicago and mailed to: Vicariate VI, PO Box 733, South Holland, IL 60473.

For more information, contact Father Harman at (217) 522-3342, or call the Office for Black Catholics of the Archdiocese of Chicago at (312) 534-8376.