At the age of twelve, he began his studies at Collège Saint-Michel in the city of Fribourg, progressing through the classical courses of grammar, humanities, rhetoric, and philosophy.

[1] On September 30, 1835, having completed only the first of his two years of philosophy, Bapst was admitted into the novitiate in Estavayer-le-Lac, and entered the Society of Jesus.

After twelve years in Jesuit formation, Joseph left the order and eventually became the rector of Collège Saint-Michel.

[3] He began his four years of theological studies in 1843, and on December 31, 1846, was ordained a priest by Étienne Marilley, the Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva.

[5] He acquiesced, however, and left for Antwerp, Belgium, from which he sailed to New York City with 40 fellow Swiss Jesuits, arriving in late May.

As a result, he created a temperance society, which had many members, and announced that anyone who was found drunk would not be permitted to enter the church without publicly apologizing.

Generally, their judgment is sounder, their mind more masculine, their character more energetic and their passions stronger than the whites'.

[15]Unable to broker a peace between the opposing factions, Bapst met limited success in his mission to the Indians in Old Town, and in September 1850, the provincial superior directed him to leave for Eastport, Maine.

[16] From there, he would minister to the Irish and French Canadian emigrants,[16] as well as the Indian residents of the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation.

[28] By November 1863, Boston College and St. Ignatius Church had accrued a significant debt of more than $150,000, and Bapst anticipated a large financial deficit in the coming year.

[33] In 1864, Murphy's title was reduced from rector of the scholasticate to superior, to reflect the small size of the institution.

[36] He was sent to minister to the Penobscot Native Americans at Old Town, Maine, who had been without a priest for 20 years after ten of his predecessors were murdered.

Initially ignorant of the Abenaki language spoken in the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation he was able to learn it over three (3) years time.

His work immediately began to attract attention for its results among Catholics and for the number of converts who were brought into the Church.

Bapst died on November 2, 1887, at Mount Hope Retreat in Baltimore, and was buried in the cemetery at Woodstock College.