February 17 is the anniversary of Bishop William A. Jones.

William Ambrose Jones was born in Cambridge, NY in 1865. He entered the novitiate at Villanova, PA in 1886, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1890 by Archbishop Ryan.

As a young priest, Bishop Jones served at Saint Augustine’s in Philadelphia, PA and then at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine in Atlantic City, NJ. In 1892 he was sent to Cuba, because of poor health. While stationed there he translated Camara’s “Life of Blessed Alphonse Orozco”, and edited the Augustinian Prayer Manual. He returned to the United States where, from 1896 to 1899, he was Master of Novices and Professed at Villanova. He then returned to Havana, Cuba where he opened the mission. He was consecrated Bishop William A. Jones, Bishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in Christo Church in Havana in 1907.

Bishop Jones died in Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Philadelphia on February 17, 1921 at the age of 56. He is buried in the Community Cemetery at Villanova.

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