Archbishop Napoleon Perché died on January 8, 1884.  He was the bishop who invited Mother Maddalena to New Orleans.  Mother Maddalena had grown fond of the kind, elderly prelate.  It was said of him:
He was a man who understood the excellence of a life devoted to serving God and laboring among his fellow-men for the sake of God. He labored for his fellow-men, and for their highest interests, the interests of eternity. He had, as you know, talents and acquirements beyond what are enjoyed by the most of men, and powers to succeed in any work he might have undertaken. He chose those works which increase the glory of God.