Address of Mr. Thomas M. Mulry, president of the Particular Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of New York, delivered before the faculty and students of Saint Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, N.Y., on the evening of April 7, 1899 w^: uJf'^ t AttC'SliO ADDRESS OF MR. THOMAS M. MULRY, Pi'eside7it of the Pa7'ticular Council of the Society of St, Vi7ice7it de Paul of New Yo7'k, DELIVERED BEFORE THE FACULTY AND STUDENTS OF SAINT yOSEPH'S SEMINARY, Dunwoodie, N. Y., ON THE EVENING OF APRIL 7, 1899. PRESS OP THE MISSION OF THE IMMACULATE VIRGIN, Mount Loretto, Staten Island, N. Y. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/addressofmrthomaOOmulr ADDRESS. Rev. Fathers and Gentlemen : When first invited to address you, I was strongly tempted to decline. I hesitated for many reasons, but, upon second thought, I gladly accepted your invitation, knowing that my listeners were earnest men, having at heart the best interests of the Church, and anxious to make Her future a glorious one in American history. This hesitancy does not make me appreciate any the less the privilege of addressing those who are to be the future shepherds of the flock, and I hope that what I say this evening will create a desire within you to learn more of the great Society of St. Vincent de Paul, so that, when you go forth upon your grand mission, each one of you will become an earnest advocate of its advancement, wherever his duty will call him. I doubt if there ever was a time in the history of the Church in this country when it was more incumbent on us, as Catholics, to stand together, work together, and use every talent and every advantage given us by our 4 Creator in order that we may take no step backward in the wonderful progress, which has so far marked our pathway. In this great battle, every force will be needed, every energy required, every man will have his work. There is a spirit of unrest abroad. Discon- tent is increasing. The lines between the classes are becoming more marked, and, if nothing is done to check this growing evil, the result will be most disastrous to the future of this country. It is not a battle of sect against sect which is to be waged, but of order against anarchy, of religion against infidelity. The Catholic Church will be the one to whom the country must look for protection against these ills. She alone has the power to control these contending forces. She alone by Her God-given right can subdue the spirit of pride, of rebellion, of envy, and mould the people into one God-fearing, contented people. Let us not deceive ourselves with the thought that we are unscathed in this struggle. No priest need be told that material prosperity is dangerous to the growth ol the Church. No student of Catholic history, no close observer of passing events can fail to note 5 the fact that the Church is suffering from “ leakages.” This loss is noticeable in the two extremes — the wealthy and the very poor. The craze for social life, the intermarriage with those of other sects, and the spirit of worldliness pervading what is called “ society” soon poison the springs of religion, and draw away from the Church many whose means and opportunities could be of such great service in advancing Her interests. On the other hand, humanitarianism or philanthropy, or whatever you please to term it, is rampant. This modern product seeks to benefit the poor by devising means to abolish poverty. It makes destitution a crime, a disgrace, and, while pointing out all the evils of poverty, it engenders discontent and bitterness in the hearts of the poor, because it leaves out of the question the only factor that can make the poor man contented with his lot—the hope of a hereafter, the existence of God. P'ar be it from my mind to belittle the great work being done by so many noble men and women of all denominations, who are working intelligently and earnestly to better the condition of their feliowmen. Frequently 6 it makes me blush to find them taking up the work neglected by us. They are working with us, and, strange as it may appear, often appreciate and admire the Society of St. Vincent de Paul much more than many of our Catholic people. I have often thought that if the Catholic laymen were more familiar with the workings of our Society, it would be the means of increasing our sphere of usefulness, and that, possibly, while it is commendable to retain that spirit of humility and retirement, which is so necessary to the permanency of our work, there are times when it is well, in the interests of charity, to make knowm the purposes and works of our Society, in order that others may be privileged to partake of the spiritual and temporal advantages which it offers. Again, I maintain that the clergy are absolutely necessary to secure the advancement of this great work ; and, if the Church is to advance, the closer the union between the priest and the layman, the more glorious will be its future, and one of the most effective agencies to carry out this object is the Society of St Vincent de Paul. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, dear 7 friends, first saw its existence in the backroom of a dingy newspaper office in the City of Paris, in the month of May, 1833. There was gathered one evening a small band of young men, with M. Bailey, an elderly man, and the editor of the Tribune Catholique. These young men were students, but, unlike the majority of their class in Paris, they were devout Catholics, filled with a deep love for their Faith, and indignant at the many attacks made upon it by their comrades. The soul of the gathering was Frederic Ozanam (then but 18 years of age), a law student of brilliant talents, which were only equalled by his intense devotion to his Church. These young men had frequently defended Christianity before their infidel companions, and Ozanam, by his eloquence and learning, had compelled even his professors to be more careful in their attacks on teachings which had such brave and able advocates. Living at that time when to be practical in religion was looked upon as a sign of weakness, it required great moral courage to openly live up to the teachings of the Catholic religion. But, they felt that something more than the 8 profession and practice of their religion was necessary to silence their adversaries. They were told that Christianity was dead, a thing of the past, its mission ended. The infidel student cried : Show us your works and we will believe you have some reason for your faith.” It was to refute this charge, to prove that the Church was still a live, active force, that this meeting was held, and the first Conference ot the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was started. Frederic Ozanam and his followers, inspired with the one all absorbing idea of proving the faith that was in them by their charity to God’s poor, never realized that from that small room would go forth a message to Catholic laymen the world over, a call to be up and doing, a forcible reminder that they were neglecting the opportunities placed in their way for advancing the interests of Catholicity. To-day we are amazed at the courage and faith of those men in overcoming such apparently insurmountable obstacles, and placing the Society, in a few years, on such a permanent and prosperous basis. To-day, advanced students in philanthropy hail as new discoveries, ideas which were the very u foundation-stones of the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. M. Bailly, in a few words, gives the best mode of dealing with the poor. He says : “ If you intend the work to be really efficacious, if you are in earnest about serving the poor as well as yourselves, you must not let it be a mere doling out of alms, bringing each your pittance of money or food ; you must make it a medium of moral assistance, you must give them the alms of good advice.” And, to those who consider the giving of relief degrading, we would point to the eloquent words of Ozanam : “ Help is humiliating when it appeals to men from below, taking heed of their material wants only, paying attention but to those of the flesh, to the cry of hunger and cold, to what excites pity, to what one succors even in the beast. It humiliates when there is no reciprocity, when you give the poor man nothing but bread or clothes or a blundle of straw ; what, in fact, there is no likelihood of his ever giving you in return. But it honors, when it appeals to him from above, when it occupies itself with his soul, with his religious, moral and political education, 10 with all that emancipates him from his passions and from a portion of his wants, with those things that make him free and make him great. Help honors when, to the bread that nourishes, it adds the visit that consoles, the advice that enlightens, the friendly shake of the hand that lifts up the sinking courage ; when it treats the poor man with respect, not only as an equal but a superior, since he is suffering what we, perhaps, are incapable of suffering, since he is the messenger of God to us, sent to prove our justice and our charity, and to save us by our works. Help, then, becomes honorable, because it may become mutual, because every man who gives a kind word, a good advice, a consolation to-day may, to-morrow, stand himself in need of a kind word, advice and consolation ; because the hand that you clasp, clasps yours in return, because that indigent family you love, loves you in return, and will have largely acquitted themselves toward you when the old men, the mothers and the little children shall have prayed for you. “ Do you suppose you pay the priest to whom the State gives a hundred crowns a year to be the father, the schoolmaster, the 11 comforter of the poor village lost in the mountain, or the soldier who gets five sous a year to die under the flag? “Why, the soldier gives the alms of his blood to his country, and the priest of his words, his thoughts, his heart ! Don’t tell me, then, that I humiliate the poor man when I treat him as I treat the priest who blesses and the soldier who dies for me ! Alms are the retribution of services that have no salary. And let no one say that in treating poverty as a priesthood, we aim at perpetuating it. The same authority that tells us we shall always have the poor with us, is also the authority that tells us to do all we can that there may cease to be any .... When you dread so much to lay an obligation on him who accepts your alms, I fear it is because you have never experienced the obligation it confers on him who gives.” I hope you will pardon this long quotation, but the language is so truly Christian, so full of charity that it is refreshing to compare it with the pagan spirit which permeates so much of modern philanthropy. Is it any wonder, then, that with such a 12 man at the helm, we find eighteen years after the first meeting, 2,000 members in Paris, caring for 5,000 families, while in other parts of France were also 500 Conferences, not to speak'of those being formed in Belgium, Spain, England, and America ? The last census taken, something more than a year ago, placed the estimated number of Conferences, in all parts of the world, at 5,500, with about 100,000 members. To-day, the Vincentian will find comrades in almost every land. The soldier disciple of Ozanam who went to Cuba, found fellow members carrying on the good work there. In Mexico the Society flourishes, in Hong Kong, in Egypt, New South Wales, or Africa, in South America, or Australia will be found Conferences living under the same rules, and reporting to the same head in Paris, as do the Conferences of the United States, or France, or Ireland. In Canada, Belgium, France, and, in fact, all parts of the world, are to be found working-boys’ homes, night schools, offices for medical or legal advice, in short every conceivable form of charitable work, fostered, inaugurated, and supported by the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul. 13 Nor need we fear comparisons with our work in this country. In the United States, where the priests and people have so many calls upon them, there has been found time to organize and build up the Society, and the Report of last year shows, at present, about 9,500 active members. In this country, as in all the other parts of the world, where the Society exists, it does not confine itself to visiting the poor at their homes. In New Orleans they have established a working -boys’ Home, as they have also done in Brooklyn. Washington has a Home for the temporary care of unemployed men, while in Boston, Providence and Spring- field, and all through the Eastern States, thous- ands of dollars are paid, annually, for the board- ing of children in families, who otherwise would be certainly lost to the Church. Regarding our own great Archdiocese, I think it is safe to assert, that in no part of the United States has the Society a better record ; and, if I appear to be rather certain in its'praise to-night, it is because I believe it is well for Catholics, and especially Catholic priests, to realize the almost unlimited possibilities of such an organization, when it has the active support 14 and encouragement of the Catholic people. Perhaps because ot that great cardinal principle of the Society, which forbids publicity of our works, even the members do not realize the splendid record of the last half century. Yet, encouraging as it is, I must confess that the Vincentian, who comes in contact with the needs of the hour, must feel sad when he reflects' on all the work left undone, because of the paucity of the laborers in the field. The first Conference organized in New York City was that of St. Patrick. In the year 1848, it was affiliated to the Society in Paris. *In 1856, the Conferences of the city were organized into a Particular Council. Scarcely had this Council commenced its work, when the members, realizing the great loss to the Church from children picked up by the Children’s Aid Society, and placed in non- Catholic homes, appealed to the ecclesiastical authorities for permission to establish a “House of Protection for Destitute Catholic Children.” Mr. Jamme, for many years the zealous secretary of the Superior Council, writes on the subject : “The time did not seem to have arrived for 15 carrying out this project, and for five years more, our children were, more or less, at the mercy of the proselytizing societies. It was not until 1863, when the evil having become intolerable, that the president and vice-president of the Council were successful, and the active co- operation of his Grace, the Archbishop, culminated in the establishment of the House of Protection in 86th. Street, which grew to the Catholic Protectory of the present day at Westchester.” About the time the Council was formed, (1858), the traffic among the Catholic children sent to Randall’s Island was carried to the greatest extreme. They were sent West and East, North and South, and placed, invariably, in Protestant homes. A priest was allowed on the Island. He was just tolerated, and enjoyed no privileges. The children were compelled to attend the Protestant services, after having finished their catechism classes. A committee of members of the Society was formed, which visited Randall’s Island every Sunday, taught the children, formed the choir, and did everything possible to assist and encourage the good priest. u Through the persistent work of this committee, backed by the influence of the Council, the priest was allowed to celebrate Mass, to visit the Island at his pleasure, and, finally, was retained as chaplain. Through the good o