Br. Luke of Mary

James Reilly was born the son of Hugh and Mary McDonnell Reilly on May 25, 1834 at Colestoon, Ireland. He emigrated to the United States where at age sixteen he entered the Novitiate in St. Louis. There on June 8, 1850, he received the habit and religious name of Brother Luke of Mary. His first teaching assignment brought him to Christian Brothers Academy in St. Louis but after only a few years he became ill and was sent to the infirmary in Montreal where he died a painful death at the age of twenty one, having been a De La Salle Christian Brother for only five years.