Ignatius Mrak
Ignatius Mrak (October 16, 1810 – January 2, 1901) was a Slovenian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette from 1869 to 1879. Biography Early life Mrak was born on October 16, 1810, in Hotovlja in the Duchy of Carniola in the Austrian Empire (present-day Slovenia). He was baptized Ignatz Mrack. He was one of six children of Mathias and Maria (née Demscher) Mrak. He received his early education at schools in Poljane and Kranj before attending the Bežigrad Gymnasium in Ljubljana. In 1834, he entered the diocesan seminary of Ljubljana, where he completed his theological studies with honors. Priesthood Mrak was ordained a priest on August 13, 1837, by Anton Aloys Wolf, the prince-bishop of the Diocese of Ljubljana. After passing a rigorous state examination, he was appointed a tutor to the son of Baron Peter Pirquet in Legnago, near Verona, where he remained for two years. He returned to Carniola in 1840 and served as an assistant pastor in Poljane and Slavina. Influenced by the missionary work of his fellow Slovene, Frederic Baraga, Mrak sought admission to the Diocese of Detroit and arrived in the United States in October