Ignatian spirituality, Alcoholics Anonymous and the inspiring ministry of Father Ed Dowling
Edward Dowling, S.J., third row, far left, at St. Stanislaus Seminary, Florissant, Mo., on June 7, 1921. (Courtesy of Jesuit Archives & Research Ce...
Edward Dowling, S.J., third row, far left, at St. Stanislaus Seminary, Florissant, Mo., on June 7, 1921. (Courtesy of Jesuit Archives & Research Center) When 21-year-old Edward Dowling entered Florissant—or St. Stanislaus Seminary, as the Jesuits' novitiate in Missouri was officially named—on Sept. 23, 1919, he hoped to find the peace of mind that would come from the certain knowledge of whether or not he was called to the Jesuit priesthood. But what he actually found was quite different.Crossing the threshold of Florissant's venerable Rock Building marked the start of the greatest spiritual crisis the young man known to friends as 'Puggy' would ever experience.