John Wayne, the icon of American manliness and one of the most important film stars of all time, once called himself a "cardiac Catholic." He meant that he intended to become Catholic on his deathbed. Born Marion Morrison he was raised a Presbyterian, but all three of his wives were Catholic. We're not sure how that worked out, since none of them predeceased him, but we leave that to God's grace and the wisdom of the Church. However, the example of many Catholics in his life, particularly his first wife, had a deep impression on him. Despite serious problems with infidelity, John Wayne did manage to become Catholic and make his amends with God before his death.

Since shortly after he died in 1799, questions have circulated about whether George Washington converted to Catholicism on his deathbed. The evidence isn't conclusive in either direction, but a number of factors point to this possibility. Chief among them is that Washington requested that a Catholic priest come to his bedside as he lay dying. One of the Neale brothers who was a Jesuit priest in Piscataway, Maryland, right across the Potomac from Mount Vernon, attended Washington and was with him for nearly four hours. If Washington became a Catholic convert many would not be surprised, as he had displayed an affinity for Catholics and for the Catholic Church for most of his adult life. In this episode we consider all of the evidence for the potential deathbed conversion of the Father of America.

Julia Greeley was born a slave in Missouri. After Missouri abolished slavery she moved to Denver, Colorado where she worked for the family of the first governor of Colorado. She became Catholic in 1880 and developed a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She devoted her life to helping anyone who needed assistance. She would give to others from her own meager earnings, any anything she couldn't afford she would beg for. She was a daily communicant and a prayer warrior. At least one couple overcame infertility through her prayers. She loved children and would organize days in the park for children who didn't have the opportunity. One special ministry was to firefighters. She would go around every First Friday — the day of devotion to the Sacred Heart — and bring pamphlets about the Sacred Heart devotion to all of the firehouses in Denver. She died on the feast of the Sacred Heart in 1918. She did so much good for so many that her funeral was massive. Her cause for canonization opened in 2016, when her body was exhumed and reinterred in the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. She is the only person buried in that church, which opened in 1912.