OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
(Slorie* of jWarp in
JSostfon
A Memorial History
OF THE
Cfwrcf) of ur Habp of perpetual Help
(Mission Church)
Roxbury, Mass.
18711921
BY
THE REV. JOHN F. BYRNE, C. SS. R.
Mission Church Press
Boston, Mass.
NIHIL OBSTAT
PATRICIUS J. WATERS, PH. D.
Censor Librorum
Die XXVIII Martii, MCMXXI
Imprimatur
^GULIELMUS CARDINALIS O'CONNELL
Arc hiepi scopus Bostoniensis
Die XXVIII Martii, MCMXXI
Cum permissu Supertorum
Copyright, 1921, by James Barren
S&fi
URL
PROTESTATION.
In obedience to the decrees of Pope Urban VIII,
the author declares that whatever is extraordinary
in this book is to be understood only in the -sense
sanctioned by the Church, whose judgment in all
matters he accepts with unreserved and cheerful
submission.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The author hereby acknowledges his deep debt of
gratitude to the many friends who gave him valuable
information on various points.
To
The Ever Gracious
of perpetual
Whose
Singular Favor
Has Blessed
The Mission Church
During All These
Golden Years
This Volume
A Labor of Love
Is Humbly Dedicated
By Her Unworthy Servant
The Author
JUBILEE HYMN.
CANTICLE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his hand-
maid; for behold from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to
me; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations,
to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm : he hath scattered
the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and
hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the
rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful
of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his
seed for ever.
' St. Luke, 1 :46-55.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
1 The Chronicles of the Mission Church.
2" The Town of Roxbury," by Francis Drake,
Boston Municipal Printing Office, 1908.
3" The Catholic Church of New England, Arch-
diocese of Boston," edited by James S. Sullivan,
M. D., Boston and Portland, 1895.
4" The Memorial History of Boston, 1630-1880,"
edited by Justin Winsor, Boston, 1881.
5 " The Apparitions and Shrines of Heaven's
Bright Queen," by William J. Walsh.
6 Bishop England's Works, vol. V, General
Appendix, Documents Relating to Charlestown
Convent.
7" The Story of Mt. Benedict," by B. F. De
Costa: Citizen Press, 1893.
8" Fannie St. John," by Mrs. Emily Pierpont
de Lesdernier.
9 "Rome," vol. IV, 1908.
10" The Queen's Work" (April, 1908).
11 " Reminiscences of Four Redemptorist Fathers,"
by the Rev. William G. Luecking, C. SS. R.,
Ilchester, Md., 1891.
12 The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. XII, "Re-
demptorists," by the Rev. Joseph Wuest, C. SS.
R. (pp. 683-685).
13 Donahoe's Magazine, vols. XXI and XXII,
" History of the Church of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help," by the Rev. Charles Warren Cur-
rier, C. SS. R.
1 4 The Files of the Boston Pilot, the Boston Post,
the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and of
the Republic.
15 Recollections of Old Parishioners.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
THE HISTORIC SITE ......... 25
THE SILVER LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR . 41
FIRST PERIOD:
THE PURPLE DAWN
Mother's Day ........... 55
Tantum Ergo Sacramentum ...... 58
THE REV. WILLIAM H. GROSS, SUPERIOR 62
The First Mission .......... 65
Generous Benefactors ......... 69
Father Gross Adorned with the Episcopal
Purple ............. 74
THE REV. LEOPOLD PETSCH AT THE HELM 76
The Foundations of the New Church ... 82
The Laying of the Corner-Stone ..... 83
THE REV. WILLIAM LOWEKAMP, RECTOR 90
4 ,THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
SECOND PERIOD:
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE
The Dedication of the New Church .... 9?
Description of the Church in 1878 . . . . 100
THE REV. JOSEPH HENNING BECOMES
RECTOR 107
THIRD PERIOD:
THE GROWING SPLENDOR
The Establishment of the Parish 115
The Battalion of Innocence 120
Father Henning's Silver Jubilee 126
THE REV. AUGUSTINE MC!NEENEY IN
COMMAND 130
The Establishment of the School ..... 134
Farewell to Father Mclnerney 146
IN THE DAYS OF FATHER FRAWLEY . . 148
Father Currier and the Carmelite Nuns . . 148
Silver Jubilee of the Miraculous Picture . . 153
The Blessed Sacrament Parish 154
The Beautifying of the Church 161
"The Second Spring" 165
The Mission Church When Renovated . . . 166
A Grand Triple Celebration 180
The New Organ 189
CONTENTS 5
St. Alphonsus' H^ll 197
The New Rectory 207
THE ADMINISTRATION OF FATHER HAYES 212
The Printing-Press 216
St. Gerard's Chapel 219
"A Great Sign Appeared in Heaven" . . . 226
The Blessing of the Bells 227
Eucharistic Triumphs 242
The Playground 248
Our Lady*s Golden Vesture 256
THE RECTORATE OF FATHER KENNA . . 260
The Flag-Raising 261
PART SECOND
SPECIAL TOPICS
THE SHRINE 281
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 331
THE SCHOOL ITS DEVELOPMENT AND TRI-
UMPHS 391
THE SCHOOL SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME . . . 396
CHURCH SOCIETIES 402
The Archconfraternity of the Holy Family . 402
The League of the Sacred Heart 411
The Altar Society 412
The Church Debt Society 412
The St. Vincent de Paul Society 413
The Society for the Propagation of the Faith . 415
6 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
PILATE'S DAUGHTER 416
THE ST. ALPHONSUS' ASSOCIATION .... 423
THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND .... 444
THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 454
THE GUILD OF OUR LADY 458
THE CHOIR 463
THE USHERS 467
SOME PARISH ACTIVITIES 468
Hospitals 468
Confessions of Nuns 468
Masses at Convents 469
Sunday Work 470
Lenten Sermons 1920 473
PARISH STATISTICS 475
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 476
THE FATHERS ATTACHED TO THE MISSION
CHURCH, 1871-1921 487
OUR DEVOTED LAY BROTHERS 489
ASLEEP IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 493
The Rev. Leopold Petsch, C. SS. R 493
The Rev. John O'Brien, C. SS. R 501
The Rev. John Beil, C. SS. R 508
The Rev. Michael Gates, C. SS. R 516
The Rev. William O'Connor, C. SS. R. . . . 518
The Rev. Joseph McGrath, C. SS. R. . . . 522
The Rev. Eugene Walsh, C. SS. R 525
The Rev. Bernard Cullen, C. SS. R 526
The Rev. Andrew Wynn, C. SS. R 528
Bro. George Meyer, C. SS. R 530
Bro. Louis Kirchner, C. SS. R. ..... 530
The Most Rev. William H. Gross, C. SS. R. . 532
The Rev. Joseph Wissel, C. SS. R 537
CONTENTS 7
The Rev. Augustine Freitag, C. SS. R. . . . 539
The Rev. William Lowekamp, C. SS. R. . . . 541
The Rev. Francis X. Miller, C. SS. R. . . . 543
The Rev. Peter Bausch, C. SS. R 544
The Rev. Joseph Henning, C. SS. R. . . . 545
The Rev. Augustine Mclnerney, C. SS. R. . . 546
The Very Rev. William G. Luecking, C. SS. R. 549
The Rev. Michael Corduke, C. SS. R. . . . 550
The Rev. Peter Corr, C. SS. R 551
The Rev. James Doyle, C. SS. R. .... 553
The Rev. John Phinn, C. SS, R 554
The Rev. Henry Murphy, C. SS. R 555
The Rev. Victor Burns, C. SS. R 556
The Rev. John A. B. Conroy . . . . . . 557
The Rev. John W. F. Power 558
Timothy Sheehan, C. SS. R 559
John P. Burns, C. SS. R 559
Edward Sephton, C. SS. R 561
Joseph DeCoste, C. SS. R 562
THE DEAR DEPARTED OF THE PARISH . . . 563
POEM ON THE COMMUNITY CHAPEL .... 566
POEM ON THE COMPLETION OF THE MISSION
CHURCH TOWERS 570
POEM ON THE ELECTRIC CROSSES 571
"THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 572
INTRODUCTION.
OSTON, once a hotbed of Puritanism, is now
a Gibraltar of Catholicism. Time was when
in this city the name of the Blessed Virgin
Mary was held in dishonor and contempt, but
today deep devotion is shown and sublime
honor paid to Her of whom was born the Sun
of Justice, Christ our God. A brief review of the
history of the Church in this diocese will, therefore,
give us the proper background and atmosphere for
our narrative of " The Glories of Mary in Boston."
The first name glittering with the tokens of im-
mortality in the annals of Catholic Boston is the
Rev. Francis Matignon, who came here, August 20,
1792 an exile from France. Although for two
years previously, the Rev. John Thayer, a convert
from Congregationalism, had exercised the ministry
in these parts, the history of the Church in Boston
begins, properly speaking, with the noble apostolate
of Father Matignon. He was a gifted, pious and
zealous ecclesiastic, with a meek and gentle disposi-
tion that endeared him to all who came within the
radius of his influence. In season and out of season
he labored with an eye single to the salvation of
souls and a heart attuned to the glory of God.
Filled with a holy enthusiasm for the cause he had
espoused, he invited to Boston his dearest friend,
the saintly priest, John Lefevre Cheverus. With
the advent of Father Cheverus a new light broke
on the horizon, and a new glory began to shine round
the infant Church.
John Lefevre Cheverus was born May 28, 1768,
at Mayenne, a town between Brittany and Nor-
10 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
mandy, in France. While still a little boy, he felt
within his soul the impulse to higher things, and
resolved to consecrate himself to God in the sacred
priesthood. He pursued his classical course with
honorable distinction at the College of Mayenne and
at that of Louis le Grand in Paris. Later, he was
admitted to the Seminary of St. Magloire, but before
he had finished his theology, his Superiors deemed it
advisable to admit him to Holy Orders, and, by spe-
cial dispensation obtained by the Bishop of Mans, he
was raised to the exalted dignity of the priesthood in
Paris, December 18, 1790, at the last public ordina-
tion before the French Revolution.
The first ministrations of Father Cheverus were
performed in the capacity of curate in his native city;
but as he refused to take the impious oath demanded
by the revolutionists, he was soon forced to abandon
his church. The following year, however, he was
appointed parish priest and Vicar General. Bright
as now seemed his prospects, his happiness was short-
lived, for the horrors of the French Revolution again
broke over his head. He was thrown into prison, but
escaped in disguise to England. After he had per-
formed priestly duties and taught school there for
three years, Father Matignon induced him to come
to America and cast his lot in Boston. Father
Cheverus arrived here October 3, 1796 a day
destined to become ever memorable in the history of
the diocese.
At that time there were only about 100 Catholics,
mostly French or Irish, in Boston; the condition of
the Church throughout New England was rude and
primitive in the extreme; and the need of the hour
was for priests of heroic self-denial. But Father
Cheverus was exactly that type of man, as may be
seen from the fact that immediately after his arrival
INTRODUCTION 11
at Boston, he wrote to Bishop Carroll: " Send me
where you think I am most needed, without making
yourself anxious about the means of supporting me.
I am willing to work with my hands, if need be, and
I believe I have strength enough to do it." Accord-
ingly, he was appointed to the Indian mission in
Maine. During the two years he labored in that
field, he found time to visit occasionally the settle-
ments in Massachusetts and in New Hampshire also.
In 1798 the Rev. James Romagne was sent to the
wilderness of Maine, and Father Cheverus returned
to Boston to assist Father Matignon.
During the plague which swept this city at that
time, the magnanimous charity of Fathers Cheverus
and Matignon commanded the respect and admira-
tion of even the bitterest enemies of the Church.
When the scourge had abated and the normal ways
of life had been resumed, many Protestants flocked
to hear the sermons of these devoted priests, and a
large number received the priceless gift of faith.
The Catholic population of Boston increased so
rapidly that the old Church of the Holy Cross be-
came entirely too small, and a movement to erect a
much larger edifice was set on foot. At a meeting of
the leading Catholics of the city held March 31,
1799, a committee was appointed to launch the new
enterprise. Funds were everywhere solicited, and
Protestants vied with Catholics in contributing
money for the prospective church. The members of
the congregation raised $16,000, to which John
Adams, president of the United States, and other
prominent non-Catholics added the handsome sum of
$11,000. Work was begun March 17, 1800. Three
years and a half later, September 29, 1803, the
church was dedicated under the title of the Holy
Cross by the Rt. Rev. John Carroll of Baltimore,
12 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
at that time the only Bishop in the United States.
The achievement of this great project further stimu-
lated the zeal of Fathers Cheverus and Matignon,
who labored so indefatigably in the cause of Christ
that in 1805, the number of Catholics in the city had
increased to 500.
The far-seeing Bishop Carroll, realizing what a
glorious future was in store for the Church in
New England, came to the conclusion that an
episcopal see should be erected at Boston as soon
as possible. His choice for the new bishopric fell on
Dr. Matignon, who was the older and had been the
longer in Boston, but this humble priest, well aware
of the superior fitness of Father Cheverus for the
office, earnestly advocated his appointment.
Father Cheverus was a priest on whom the Pente-
costal fires had descended in all their glowing ardor.
He was a priest whose motto was: " Give me souls;
take away everything else." He was a priest who,
like St. Paul, knew admirably how to become " all
things to all men, to gain all to Christ." In the full
sense of the term, he was an ecclesiastical superman.
By his boundless zeal, his exquisite tact, and his mag-
netic charm of manner, he disarmed to a great extent
the bitterly anti-Catholic spirit of New England
Puritanism, and made men look up to and admire the
Church. The noblest men in the community de-
lighted in honoring him. On one occasion, at a ban-
quet in Boston, he was invited to sit alongside of
President Adams. The famous Dr. Channing, the
leading exponent of Unitarianism in America, paid
him this just and generous tribute:
"Who among our religious teachers would solicit a com-
parison between himself and the devoted Cheverus? This
good man . . . lived in the midst of us, devoting his days and
nights and his whole heart to the service of a poor and un-
INTRODUCTION 18
educated congregation. We saw him declining in a great de-
gree the society of the cultivated and refined that he might be
the friend of the ignorant and friendless ; leaving the circles
of the polished life, which he might have adorned, for the
meanest hovels ; bearing with a father's sympathy the bur-
dens and sorrows of his large spiritual family . . . and never
discovering by the faintest indication that he felt his fine
mind degraded by his seemingly humble office."
Bishop Carroll, in proposing the name of Father
Chevems to the Holy See, declared him to be a man
"in the prime of life, with health to undergo any
necessary exertion, universally esteemed for his
unwearied zeal and his remarkable facility and elo-
quence in announcing the word of God, virtuous, and
with a charm of manner that recalled Catholics to
their duties and disarmed Protestants of their
prejudices." On April 8, 1808, the Rev. John
Lefevre Cheverus was named first Bishop of Bos-
ton; but owing to the troubled state of affairs in
Europe, the papal bulls twice miscarried, and
did not reach this country until two years later.
Finally, on the Feast of All Saints, November 1,
1810, Bishop Cheverus was consecrated at the Ca-
thedral in Baltimore by the Most Rev. Archbishop
Carroll; the co-consecrators were the Rt. Rev. Leon-
ard Neale, Bishop of Gortyna and coadjutor with the
right of succession to the Bishop of Baltimore, and
the Rt. Rev. Michael Egan, O. S. F., Bishop of
Philadelphia. The sermon was delivered by the Rev.
William Vincent Harold, O. P.
After preaching at the consecration of the Bishop
of Bardstown and assisting his metropolitan and
brother bishops in framing rules for their guidance,
Bishop Cheverus returned to Boston, and took up his
residence with Father Matignon on Franklin Square,
back of the Cathedral. His episcopal " palace " was
a single apartment, which answered alike the pur-
14 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
pose of reception-room and bedroom. When his few
plain chairs proved insufficient, his bed helped to seat
his company. He dressed plainly; was content with
frugal fare; employed no attendant; and even split
his own firewood; yet he was assiduous in the per-
formance of his duties, journeying miles by day to
administer the consolations of religion to the sick, or
to speak the word of counsel to the doubting.
At the close of 1810, there were 720 Catholics in
the city of Boston. As there are no data on which
to base an exact estimate, the number of faithful in
the entire diocese can only be conjectured. Those
living outside the city had to be content with an
occasional visit from the bishop or from Father
Matignon. Within the jurisdiction of Bishop Chev-
erus there were only three churches; the Cathedral,
St. Patrick's, Newcastle, and the log-chapel at Pleas-
ant Point, Maine.
Bishop Cheverus remained in Boston until the
spring of 1811, when he set out on the first visitation
of his diocese. Among the places brightened by his
genial presence were Salem, Newburyport, New-
castle, and Pleasant Point. At the last named
station he confirmed a class of 167.
On May 31st, 1817, he conferred the Sacrament of
Holy Orders on the first priest to be ordained in the
diocese, the Rev. Dennis Ryan, whom, the following
year, he assigned to the Indian mission in Maine.
In the death of Father Matignon, September 19,
1818, Bishop Cheverus suffered an irreparable loss.
The record of the interment, written in his own hand,
contains this testimony of his profound esteem for
his deceased friend, " He died as he lived a Saint."
In 1819 the Misses Mary and Catherine Ryan of
Limerick, Ireland, opened the first Catholic school
for girls in Boston. This undertaking had been
INTRODUCTION 15
proposed to them by the Rev. John Thayer, while on
a visit to their native land in 1815. Having com-
pleted their novitiate with the iUrsuline Nuns at
Three Rivers, Canada, these devout ladies addressed
themselves heart and soul to the laudable task, in
which, shortly afterwards, they were joined by two
companions, likewise of Irish birth.
During 1819 there were 700 Eastern communions,
in the city of Boston. If we take as a basis of calcu-
lation the record of 112 baptisms, 44 marriages, and
17 deaths, it is fair to assume that the number of
Catholics in the city was about 2,100. In the entire
diocese there were probably 4,000 souls.
Bishop Cheverus threw himself with all the su-
preme energy and superb devotion of his noble soul
into his episcopal duties, until, at last, his health
began to fail, and his physician advised him, in 1823,
to return to his native land. At first the zealous
Bishop refused. He was the last man in the world
to desert his post out of any consideration of self,
but the doctor insisted, strongly representing that an-
other winter in Boston would prove fatal to him.- At
length, the Bishop reluctantly yielded, and, at the
request of King Louis XVIII, he was transferred
to the see of Montauban.
All the property which had come into his posses-
sion as Bishop, he left in trust to his successor. He
made a gift of his private library to the diocese;
everything else he bequeathed to the needy or to his
priests. At his departure from Boston, he was as
poor as on his arrival, using even the same trunk in
which to take his wearing apparel. The Catholic
laity bade him an affectionate farewell, and the news-
papers carried lengthy articles, eulogizing his lofty
character and emphasizing the loss which Boston
was sustaining. On the day of his departure, the
16
sacristy was thronged with Protestants as well as
Catholics. Men and women of every class and
condition crowded round him, and with faltering
voice wished him bon voyage and expressed their
keen regret. They clung to him to the very last.
Three hundred vehicles containing a thousand or
more of Boston's most representative citizens fol-
lowed him many miles on the road to New York,
whence he embarked, October the first. After suffer-
ing shipwreck off the coast of France, he finally
arrived safe at Mayenne, his beloved home.
Bishop Cheverus presided over the see of Mon-
tauban until 1826, when he was promoted to the
Archbishopric of Bordeaux. Soon afterwards he was
raised to the peerage by Charles X, and on February
1, 1836, Pope Gregory XVI decorated him with the
crimson dye of the Cardinalate. While Holy Mass
was being celebrated in his room, July 19, 1836, his
beautiful soul winged its flight heavenward. His
remains repose in a splendid tomb in the Cathedral
of Bordeaux.
Serene peace to the sacred ashes, eternal rest to
the saintly soul of the first Bishop of Boston, John
Cardinal Cheverus Cheverus the Magnificent!
Before his departure from Boston, Bishop Chev-
erus appointed the Very Rev. William Taylor admin-
istrator of the diocese. This position the latter filled
with dignity and ability for more than two years,
until the new Bishop, the Rev. Benedict Joseph
Fenwick took possession of the see.
Benedict Joseph Fenwick was born September 3,
1782, at Beayerdam Manor, St. Mary's County,
Maryland, and was a descendant of Cuthbert Fen-
wick, one of the original settlers who came from
England under the protection of Lord Baltimore.
In 1793 young Fenwick entered Georgetown Col-
INTRODUCTION 17
lege, where, after finishing his philosophy, in 1802,
he taught for three years. In 1805 he began the
study of theology with the Sulpicians at St. Mary's
Seminary, Baltimore, but interrupted his course to
enter the Jesuit novitiate at Georgetown College.
Here he was ordained priest March 12, 1808, by the
Rt. Rev. Bishop Neale. Soon afterwards Father
Fenwick was sent to St. Peter's Church, New York,
where his promotion was so rapid^that he was virtual
administrator of the diocese in 1816, when Bishop
Connolly arrived to assume charge. The Bishop,
quickly appreciating Father Fenwick's solid merits,
appointed him Vicar General, but his Superiors had
other designs in his regard, and, in 1817, named him
president of Georgetown College. In the autumn
of 1818, at the request of Archbishop Marechal of
Baltimore, Father Fenwick was sent to Charleston,
South Carolina, where, pending the arrival of Bishop
England, he was charged with the task of restoring
quiet to that troubled diocese. In 1822 he was re-
called to Georgetown. While laboring at his old
post, he was named Bishop of Boston May 10, 1825,
and the following July received the papal bulls. He
was consecrated on the Feast of All Saints, at the
Baltimore Cathedral by the Most Rev. Archbishop
Marechal; Bishop Conwell of Philadelphia and
Bishop England of Charleston acted as co-conse-
crators. The Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick
was installed as Bishop of Boston, December 21, 1825.
According to his own statement, Bishop Fenwick,
on his accession to the see, found that the faithful
of his diocese, which embraced all New England,
lived principally in Boston; the number elsewhere
being comparatively small, though rapidly increas-
ing. Of the eight churches in the diocese, the
cathedral alone was worthy of the name, but even it
18 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
was inadequate to accommodate the congregation.
Bishop Fenwick, however, was not the man to be
daunted by obstacles or dismayed by a disheartening
outlook. With characteristic courage and vigor, he
plunged into the work of building up his diocese and
of implanting the faith deeply in the hearts of the
flock committed to his care.
His first thought was of the religious education
of the children, many of whom, for want of shepherds
to tend them, had strayed from the fold. He estab-
lished a Sunday school at the cathedral in which he
himself taught Catechism. He opened a day-school
also, which at its first session was attended by 100
pupils; he enlarged the cathedral, so as to provide
two spacious schoolrooms in the basement. He
purchased an extensive piece of property at Charles-
town for the Ursulines, upon which they erected a
new convent, commensurate with their growing
needs. After a residence of six years and a half in
Boston, the nuns on July 17, 1826, took possession
of their new home and school. In grateful remem-
brance of their noble friend and patron, they named
their estate Mount Benedict.
Bishop Fenwick graciously extended hospitality
to several young men who had signified their inten-
tion of studying for the priesthood. He lavished on
them great care and attention; his table was their
table; his time was at their disposal; he taught them
theology, until his duties had become too numerous
and exacting; then he sent them to seminaries abroad.
Bishop Fenwick visited the mission in Portland,
Maine, and encouraged the faithful there to build a
church. Under his leadership, places of worship
sprang up in Providence and in Hartford. Within
a few years the vigor of his administration had
made itself felt in every corner of the diocese.
His HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XIV
His EMINENCE, WILLIAM CARDINAL O'CONNELL
INTRODUCTION 19
New life was infused into old missions, and new
missions began to dot the land. In 1828 there
were 7,040 Catholics in Boston, and about 14,000 in
al] New England. The number of churches had
doubled, and educational institutions flourished
widely in Massachusetts.
Such marked progress naturally excited the envy
and hatred of the enemies of the Church, and, in
1829, the houses of Catholics in Boston were attacked
by a bigoted mob. The bitter anti-Catholic feeling
culminated in the burning of the Ursuline convent at
Charlestown, August 11, 1834. But even this das-
tardly crime served, in the end, only to accelerate
the onward march of Catholicism. In 1836 there
were 8,153 Easter Communions in the diocese, 1,792
baptisms, and 30 churches with 35 priests.
In 1843, Bishop Fenwick, then 61 years of age,
began to feel the weight of responsibility, and the
need of help in his onerous duties. He, therefore,
petitioned the Holy See to erect Rhode Island and
Connecticut into a separate diocese, and to grant him
a coadjutor. As Bishop of the proposed diocese he
recommended the Rev. John Tyler; as his own co-
adjutor, the Rev. John B. Fitzpatrick. His requests
were favorably received, and on March 24, 1844, in
the chapel of the Visitation at Georgetown, Father
Fitzpatrick was consecrated Bishop of Caliopolis
and Coadjutor with the right of succession to the
See of Boston.
The Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick died Aug-
ust 11, 1846, and was buried at Holy Cross College,
Worcester, which he had founded in 1843.
The Rt. Rev. John B. Fitzpatrick was born
November 1, 1812, and ordained June 13, 1840.
When he assumed the reins of government, in 1846,
the number of Catholics in the city was 32,000, or
20 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
one-fourth of the total population. The natural
increase in the ranks of the faithful had been aug-
mented by a large body of converts and by the 20,000
Irish immigrants who had settled in Boston since
1835. Catholicism advanced with such giant strides
that, within seven years after the induction of Bishop
Fitzpatrick, it became necessary to detach the States
of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont from the
diocese of Boston, thus leaving only Massachusetts.
In 1853 Pope Pius IX, acceding to the petition of
the First Plenary Council of Baltimore, constituted
Vermont the diocese of Burlington, and Maine and
New Hampshire the diocese of Portland. Boston
then had 48 churches completed, 15 in course of
erection, a first-class academy, and 110 priests.
Bishop Fitzpatrick's administration was marked,
on the one hand, by constant acts of hostility on the
part of the bigots, and, on the other, by the steady
expansion of the Church in all directions. A project
that dominated his thoughts was the erection of a
new cathedral. He had taken some preliminary
steps along that line, but did not live to see the work
of construction actually begun. On February 13,
1866, with the noble words, " I will follow the Cross
to the end," on his lips, he went to his eternal reward.
About a month before the death of Bishop Fitz-
patrick, the Rev. John J. Williams had been named
Bishop of Tripoli and Coadjutor with the right of
succession to the See of Boston. John J. Williams
was born in this city, April 27, 1822, and ordained in
May, 1845, at the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris
by Mgr. Afire, Archbishop of that city. His first
station was the Cathedral in Boston, where he served
as an assistant for ten, and as rector for two years.
In 1857 he was appointed pastor of St. James's
Church, and in 1859, Vicar General. He was conse-
INTRODUCTION 21
crated by Archbishop McCloskey of New York,
March 11, 1866.
At that time there were in the diocese 109 churches,
119 priests, 2 colleges, 2 orphan asylums, 2 hospitals,
3 academies, with 207 pupils, and 11 parochial schools,
with 5,400 pupils. The corner-stone of the new
cathedral was laid September 15, 1867. Within four
years, Bishop Williams was obliged, on account of
the tremendous growth of his diocese, to request its
division, and, in 1870, an episcopal see was created
at Springfield. Two years later, the southern por-
tion of the diocese of Boston was cut off, and added
to Rhode Island to form the See of Providence. In
1875 Boston was raised to the dignity of an arch-
bishopric, with the other New -England dioceses as
suffragans.
For more than forty years, Archbishop Williams,
the very personification of episcopal dignity, a shin-
ing example of administrative ability, and a saint in
every fibre of his heart, guided the destinies of the
Church in Boston. On August 30, 1907, the vener-
able old warrior, at the age of 85, laid down his arms
in dreamless sleep. At the time of his demise, the
diocese numbered about 600 priests, with a Catholic
population of 850,000.
The gage of battle was then taken up by the Most
Rev. William H. O'Connell, who, on February 8,
1906, had been designated Archbishop of Constantia
and Coadjutor with the right of succession to the
Archbishop of Boston. The reader knows the rest.-
To recount the new-born triumphs of the Archdio-
cese of Boston would be like gilding gold or painting
the lily. The reader knows the brilliant achieve-
ments of our Most Illustrious Prince of the Church,
our Most Eminent and Most Beloved Spiritual
Father and Leader, William Cardinal O'Connell.
Part First
General History
THE HISTORIC SITE.
HE Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
in Boston was established and is administered
by the Redemptorist Fathers. It is popu-
larly known as the " Mission Church," and is
situated in the Roxbury district of the city.
Roxbury was formerly a separate municipality,
but was annexed to Boston in 1868. It was settled
in 1630 by a party of English colonists under the lead
of William Pynchon. Most of them came from
London and the vicinity, a few, from the west of
England. They were people of moderate means,
and, according to their lights and standards, of stern
and upright morals. It is the testimony of an eye-
witness that, " One might dwell among them from
year to year and not see a drunkard, hear an oath,
or meet a beggar." The names of some of them are
still borne in Roxbury by their descendants, such as
Curtis, Crafts, Dudley, Griggs, Heath, Payson,
Seaver, Weld, and Williams.
Roxbury is so called because of its rocky and un-
even surface, of which the conglomerate or pudding-
stone is one of the principal constituents. "The
material composing this rock was laid down by
glaciers or other agent as stones and sediment which
have consolidated into rock."
Of Roxbury's fame and glory, the well-known
historian, Francis Drake, says :
26 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"Roxbury is a mother of towns, as many as fifteen pros-
perous New England communities, including the flourishing
cities of Springfield and Worcester, having been founded or
settled by her citizens. She can fairly claim to have been
the banner-town of the Revolutionary War, furnishing to it
three companies of minute men at Lexington, one of which
was the first that was raised for the defence of American
liberty, and having also given birth to three generals of the
Revolutionary army. She played a prominent part in the
siege of Boston and was greatly injured both by friend and
foe. No less than ten governors of Massachusetts have been
natives or residents of Roxbury."
Roxbury abounds in places of interest and glory,
but of all these interesting and glorious spots, none
is more so than the hallowed site on which today stand
the church and the home of the Redemptorist Fathers.
According to official records on file in the office of
the Register of Deeds at Dedham, Mass., the original
grantee of the property was George Alcock, who
came from England in 1630 with the first band of
Puritan settlers. When the officials of the Massa-
chusetts Bay Company, armed with a patent from
King Charles the First of England, apportioned the
territory of Roxbury, Mr. Alcock received, in 1637,
a grant of 242 acres, which included the land on which
the Mission Church and the rectory are located. On
the death of this gentleman, in October, 1640, the es-
tate passed into the hands of his son, John, a physician,
who was graduated from Harvard in 1646, and died
March 29, 1667. His administrator, Benjamin Frisco,
transferred the property in 1670 to Palsgrave
Alcock, son of John. When Palsgrave died, in 1710,
Joshua Lamb became the owner. In April, 1723,
the latter conveyed that portion of the land with
which we are concerned to Colonel Francis Brinley,
who shortly afterwards erected there "one of the
grandest houses in Roxbury." This palatial resi-
THE HISTORIC SITE 27
dence, called " Datchet House " after the family-seat
of the Brinleys at Datchet, England, stood a little to
the west of the sacred spot on which today the majes-
tic twin towers of the Mission Church rise gracefully
heavenward, wedding the quarry to the sky, and pro-
claiming "The Glories of Mary in Boston." This
stately old mansion, rich in historic associations that
reach back to the dim, distant, colonial past, and
famous even a whole generation before Bunker Hill
became immortal in American history, was for thirty-
two years the home of the Redemptorist Fathers, a
hallowed place to which fond memories will ever cling.
Colonel Brinley, who commanded the Roxbury
regiment and was Deputy Survey or- General of the
Province, was naturally a man of high standing and
great influence in the community. During the years
he occupied the sumptuous house, it was the " scene
of many brilliant receptions and festivities at which
were present all the English officers and the dis-
tinguished residents of Boston, Roxbury, and Dor-
chester." He moved in the most exclusive social
circles, and was famous throughout New England as
a princely entertainer. He was accustomed to hold
annually, in springtime, a gay lawn-festival and
masquerade ball, which came to be known as one of
the most elaborate functions of the day. " His house
parties frequently brought together all the social
lions of New York and even of Virginia. The Eng-
lish nobility who visited America always spent some
time at the mansion, and thus its reputation grad-
ually extended across the ocean to the mother
country."
Colonel Brinley died November 27, 1765, at the
age of 75, and was buried in King's Chapel Cemetery,
of which he was one of the founders.
The next occupant of the Brinley house was the
28 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Rev. William Gordon, minister of the third church
in Roxbury and chaplain of the Provincial Congress
of Massachusetts, who resided there until the parson-
age at Jamaica Plain had been fitted up for his use.
This gentleman was the author of a work entitled,
" History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment
of the Independence of the United States of
America." He died in England in 1807.
In 1773 the heirs of Colonel Brinley sold the
mansion to Mr. Robert Pierpont, merchant, member
of the Boston Committee of Correspondence and
Commissary of Prisoners during the War of the
Revolution.
Mr. Pierpont's niece, Mrs. Gustavus Fellows,
who, it appears, owned the place conjointly with her
uncle, set her hand to the task of embellishing it.
Always gorgeous, it became under its new owners a
palace of surpassing splendor and was known to all
the country round as " Pierpont Castle." Mrs.
Emily Pierpont de Lesdernier, a descendant of
Robert Pierpont, in her little volume entitled
" Fannie St. John " thus describes it:
"It was situated in the midst of a large domain of park
and wooded hills, and presented a picture of grandeur and
stateliness not common in the New World. There were
colonnades, and a vestibule whose mahogany doors, studded
with silver, opened into a wide hall, whose tessellated floors
sparkled under the light of a dome of richly painted glass.
Underneath the dome two cherubs carved in wood extended
their wings, and so formed the center from which an im-
mense chandelier of glass depended. Upon the floor beneath
the dome there stood a marble column, and around it ran a
divan formed of cushions, covered with satin of Damascus,
of gorgeous coloring. Large mirrors with ebony frames
filled the spaces between the grand staircase at either side of
the hall of entrance. All the panelling and wood work con-
sisted of elaborate carving done abroad, and made to fit
every part of the mansion where such ornamentation was
THE HISTORIC SITE 29
required. Exquisite combinations of painted birds and fruits
and flowers abounded everywhere, in rich contrast with the
delicate blue tints that prevailed upon the lofty walls. The
staterooms were covered with Persian carpets, and hung with
tapestries of gold and silver arranged after some graceful
artistic foreign fashion."
Some of our readers, we presume, will consider the
foregoing description overdone, but the lady who
wrote it, stoutly maintains its truth and adds that
" traditions of the princely grandeur of the ancient
home have often been recalled at family reunions."
Moreover, several old residents of Roxbury who were
in a position to know, have assured the writer that
even in their childhood days the house was famous
for its magnificent mirrors. This much, however, is
certain: there was in Pierpont Castle a very famous
apartment hung with blue damask and known as the
" Blue Chamber."
At the outbreak of the Revolution, Mr. Robert
Pierpont was chosen lieutenant of a Roxbury com-
pany. In June, 1775, a division of the American
army was stationed at Roxbury under the command
of General Thomas. This division consisted of the
regiments of Thomas, Learned, Fellows, Cotton,
Walker, Read, Danielson, Brewer and Robinson of
Massachusetts, and Spencer, Parsons, and Hunting-
ton of Connecticut. The forces of the last three were
encamped on Parker Hill, on the slope of which the
Mission Church is situated. On July 3, George
Washington took command of the American army,
and shortly afterwards, according to an immemorial
tradition, attended a ball given in the dance-hall of
Mr. Pierpont's house, to celebrate the victory of
Bunker Hill. This hall, forty- four feet in length and
seventy-two in depth, occupied the entire space be-
tween the two wings.
30 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
After the arrival of Washington, General Artemus
Ward succeeded General Thomas in command of the
right wing of the army stationed at Roxbury. Dur-
ing the siege of Boston, Ward established his head-
quarters in Brinley Place or Pierpont Castle. ' The
Memorial History of Boston," a monumental work
in four volumes, says (vol. II, p. 340), "Ward's
headquarters were in the Brinley House ..." and
(vol. Ill, p. 116): "General Ward, while com-
manding the right wing after Washington had re-
organized the army, had his headquarters in the
Datchet or Brinley House, which stood near the
present church of the Redemptorists. . . ." Drake
also adds his testimony in these words: " During the
siege of Boston the mansion (Brinley Place) was the
headquarters of General Ward who commanded the
right wing of the army. ..."
In the reception-room to the right of the dance
hall, " were held the councils of officers, at which
Washington presided, and where the details of the
occupation of Dorchester Heights were arranged"
("Town of Roxbury," pp. 328-329).
But a greater glory still, is the fact that the old
Redemptorist rectory was one of the first places
where the idea of the Declaration of Independence
was advanced. On this point Mr. Drake writes:
" Under date of October 10, 1775, Rev. Dr. Belknap
records in his diary, that he ' lodged at Mr. Robert
Pierpont's, where Gen. Ward resides. In conversa-
tion with Mr. Joshua Ward, his aide-de-camp, I
found,' says Belknap, ' that the plan of independence
was become a favorite point with the army, and that
it was offensive to pray for the king. Ward appears
to be a calm, cool, thoughtful man.' This is one of
the earliest indications of a public sentiment favor-
able to throwing off allegiance to the British crown,
THE HISTORIC SITE 81
and shows that the people were upon this important
question far in advance of their leaders."
On the 17th of November, Washington wrote to
Ward as follows:
"Sir, As the season is fast approaching when the bay
between us and Boston will in all probability be close shut up,
thereby rendering any movement upon the ice as easy as if
no water was there, and as it is more than probable that
Gen. Howe when he gets the expected reinforcement will
endeavor to relieve himself from the disgraceful confinement
in which the ministerial troops have been all this summer,
common prudence dictates the necessity of guarding our
camps wherever they are most assailable. For this purpose I
wish you, Gen. Thomas, Gen. Spencer, and Col. Putnam to
meet me at your quarters tomorrow at ten o'clock, that we
may examine the ground between your work at the mill and
Sewall's Point, and direct such batteries as shall appear
necessary for the security of your camp on this side, to be
thrown up without loss of time."
"At a council of war held at Gen. Ward's head-
quarters, on March 13, 1776, it was determined that
if Boston were not evacuated the next day, Nook's
Hill in South Boston should be fortified the next
night. This was accordingly done on the following
Saturday night, and on Sunday Howe hastily evacu-
ated the town."
" During the stirring days of the Revolution,
many other plans against the Crown were laid under
the roof of the old 1 use, and for a year or so it was
practically the capilol of the unformed American
Republic." According to an old tradition which
bears the hall mark of truth, it was in the billiard-
room of the Brinley mansion that the movement on
the part of the Roxbury colonists to resist and
repudiate the Stamp Act was set on foot in the days
of Gov. Hutchinson.
After the Revolution, Brinley Place remained in
possession of the Pierpont family until October,
32 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTOtf
1802, when it became the property of the noted
abolitionist, Harrison Gray Otis, son of James Otis,
one of the leading spirits in the cause of American
independence. A few months later, Harrison Gray
Otis sold it to a group of Roxbury residents unknown
to fame, and for several years it passed through a
zone of shadow. There is no mention of it either in
Drake's " Town of Roxbury/' or in " The Memorial
History of Boston," until, in 1809, it was purchased
by General Dearborn, one of the most famous men
of his time, who enjoyed the confidence of four Presi-
dents; Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Mon-
roe. A new era of glory then dawned for Brinley
Place, which was thenceforth named the Dearborn
Mansion.
Henry Alexander Dearborn was born in March,
1751, at Hampton, New Hampshire. He was a
practising physician at Portsmouth, when, on April
20, 1775, hearing of the battle of Lexington, he
immediately set out with sixty volunteers for Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts (a distance of sixty-five
miles), arriving there early the next morning. On
his return, about four weeks later, he was made cap-
tain in Stark's regiment. At the battle of Bunker
Hill, he won high praise from his superior officers for
gallant fighting. He held the famous rail fence by
so camouflaging it with hay that it appeared to be a
redoubtable breastwork when in reality it afforded
the soldiers but little protection. He accompanied
Arnold on his expedition*through the woods of Maine
to Quebec, and in the attack on that city, December
31, was taken prisoner. He was afterwards released
on parole, and in March, 1777, was exchanged. At
the capture of Burgoyne, Dearborn served as major
under Gates, and in 1778, so distinguished himself
THE HISTORIC SITE 33
and his regiment by a brilliant charge at the battle
of Monmouth that Washington in his dispatches
gave him honorable mention. In 1779 he took part
in Sullivan's expedition against the Indians; in 1780
he was with the army of New Jersey; in 1781, at
Yorktown; and in 1782, on garrison duty at Sara-
toga.
After the war, General Dearborn settled in Maine.
In 1789 he was appointed marshal of that district
by President Washington. He was twice elected to
Congress, and from 1801 to 1809 was Secretary of
War under Thomas Jefferson. While he was hold-
ing that portfolio, Fort Dearborn, now covered by
the city of Chicago, was named after him. In 1809
President Madison made him Collector of the Port
of Boston, and on January 27, 1812, he was commis-
sioned senior major general in the United States
Army and Commander of the Northern Department.
In the spring of 1813, he captured York in upper
Canada and Fort George at the mouth of the
Niagara; but was recalled and soon afterwards
placed in command of the military district of New
York City. In 1815 he resigned his commission, and
in 1822 was designated Minister to Portugal by
President Monroe. After serving two years, he was
recalled at his own request.
In the summer of 1821, General Dearborn, then
residing within the venerable walls of Brinley Place,
was favored with a visit from the cadets at West
Point, who marched the entire distance from there
to Roxbury. They numbered about 250 and were
in command of Colonel William Worth, who was
afterwards promoted to the rank of general and dis-
tinguished himself in Mexico. The cadets encamped
on the hill opposite the house, and were the guests of
34 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the General at an elaborate dinner served in the
spacious garden, back of the mansion.
Dearborn was just the type of man whom soldier
boys would idolize, the very personification of dash-
ing and flashing bravery, a well-built, upstanding
man, fully six feet in height and over two hundred
pounds in weight, a champion wrestler and an all-
round athlete. He died June 6, 1829, and was buried
just in front of the main entrance of the present
Mission Church. Some of the very old parishioners
remember his grave well. It was located on a little
knoll, and round the plot was an iron railing. Some
years after General Dearborn's death, his remains
were removed to Forest Hills Cemetery.
After the death of the elder Dearborn, his son,
Gen. Henry Alexander Scammel, occupied the
paternal home until 1831, when he moved to the
Hawthorne Cottage, on Bartlett St.
The younger Dearborn was born in 1783 at Exeter,
N. H. When a very young man he practised law
for a few years at Salem. In 1812 he was appointed
brigadier general of militia commanding Boston
Harbor. For nearly forty years he held public
office, serving as Collector of the Port of Boston,
1812-1829; member of Congress, 1831-1835; adju-
tant general of Massachusetts, 1835-1843; and
Mayor of Roxbury, 1847-1851.
During his occupancy of the Brinley mansion, he
added much to the beauty of its gardens, in which he
raised some of the most majestic trees that today
adorn the superb cemeteries of Forest Hills and Mt.
Auburn, which he was instrumental in founding. A
man of pronounced literary tastes, he was the author,
among other works, of "Commerce and Navigation of
the Black Sea " and " Internal Improvement and
Commerce of the West." Like his father, he was
THE MOST REV. JOHN BONZANO, D. D.
Apostolic Delegate
MOST REV. PATRICK MURRAY, C. SS. R.
Superior General
THE HISTORIC SITE 85
tall and commanding in person. He had flowing
curly hair, and was remarkable for his manly beauty
and kingly bearing. When Collector of the Port, he
was accustomed to drive to his office in a stately car-
riage drawn by a double span of horses with postil-
lions, his elegant turnout exciting the envy of all who
saw it. In his day also, the old house was the con-
stant scene of courtly manners and aristocratic dis-
play. His doors were open; his hospitality was
unlimited; and his associations brought numbers of
the most prominent and highly respected men in the
country to his hearth. Among his guests and visitors
was the gallant Bainbridge, who, while commandant
of the Navy Yard, frequently came in his barge
manned by the blue jackets, and landed at the creek
which flowed up into the rear of the estate. Henry
Alexander Scammel Dearborn was remarkable for
his industry, and as a public officer established a high
reputation for patriotism, integrity and fidelity.
Unfortunately, he was a victim of the " reform " of
the civil service under Andrew Jackson's adminis-
tration, and in 1834 was obliged to forsake the
famous mansion for humbler quarters.
On August 11, 1834, a mob of rabid bigots
set fire to the Ursuline Convent at Charlestown.
Two months later, the saintly nuns in their sad
plight were kindly invited to Brinley Place by the
owners, Messrs. Stephen Fuller and David A. Sim-
mons. Drake says (p. 332) : "The Ursuline Sisters
after their cruel expulsion from Mt. Benedict on the
night of August 11, 1834, when the torch was
applied to the residence of a few women and children
by a cowardly mob impelled by fanaticism these
devoted women occupied Brinley House for about
a year."
The nuns came here in disguise, and thus for a
36 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
while escaped trouble; but when the news spread that
they had taken refuge here, an ill-bred gang of
rowdies, the " Black and Tans " of those days, threat-
ened to surround the house and set fire to it. How-
ever, the decent public sentiment of Roxbury was all
in favor of the Sisters, and the Selectmen took
prompt and drastic action to ward off the impending
disgrace to the town. For the purpose of coping with
the situation, they held a meeting on Christmas eve.
We subjoin a certified copy of the minutes of said
meeting:
(Taken from the Selectmen's Records of the Town of
Roxbury, Second Volume, dated December 24, 1834, and
recorded on page 160.)
December 24th, 1834. The Selectmen and Clerk met in the
forenoon. They offered the following reward in behalf of
the Town: of $500 and requested Mr. William Dove to
have the same published in the papers printed in Boston,
viz:
$500 REWARD.
Whereas, the Selectmen of the Town of Roxbury have been
informed that the house occupied by the Lady Superior, late
of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown, will share the same
fate with that of the institution ; and
Whereas, the inmates of said establishment are very much
alarmed, the Selectmen hereby offer the above reward of
five hundred dollars to any person or persons who shall give
such intelligence as shall be sufficient to bring the offender or
offenders to that punishment which such flagrant crimes may
merit from legal adjudication; provided that there shall be
any assault made thereon.
By order of the Selectmen,
NATHANIEL S. PEENTISS, Town Cleric.
Dec. 24, 1834.
They also established a nightly watch.
Dec. 25, 1834.
The Selectmen and Clerk met in the forenoon on special town
business. (To legalize watch, etc.)
Selectmen: John Champney, Chairman, E. Seaver, Wm.
Dove, Capt. Curtis, Mr. Whittemore.
*THE HISTORIC SITE 87
A company of soldiers under command of
Captain Spooner guarded Brinley Place, and Gen.
Bradley, gun in hand, patrolled the grounds, in order
to protect the nuns. By such uncompromising meas-
ures the would-be incendiaries were completely over-
awed, and all talk of molesting the Sisters vanished
into thin air.
The firm and noble stand of the Selectmen and
their respectable constituents was loudly applauded.
The Boston Sentinel said:
"We understand that in consequence of the threats thrown
out, that the rioters intended attacking and demoralizing the
house now occupied by the superior and nuns of the Ursuline
Community, in Roxbury, the inhabitants assembled at the
Town Hall on Tuesday last, which was filled to overflowing.
"After adopting some spirited resolutions, they chose a
committee of vigilance and protection, consisting of twelve
gentlemen, who, we are glad to learn, have taken such ener-
getic measures, that should any person or persons attempt
an outrage upon the building, now occupied by the Ursuline
Community, they will meet with such a reception as they de-
serve. This is as it should be, and we congratulate our
brethren of Roxbury upon their promptness and decision on
this occasion, which show that their hearts are in the right
place, and that their hands are ready to act when their
rights as citizens are threatened." ( Bishop England's Works,
vol. V, General Appendix, Documents Relating to the
Charlestown Convent, p. 264.)
According to a letter of the Mother Superior,
written from Brinley Place under date of November
5, 1 834 v six of the nuns were taken seriously ill as the
result of their terrible experience on the night the
convent was burned. A week after the arrival of the
stricken community at the old mansion, one of their
number, who had been sick unto death for a long
time, the saintly Sister St. Henry, a niece of the
Superior, received the final summons. Of her last
illness and death, Dr. Abraham R. Thompson, the
38 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
steadfast friend and vindicator of the outraged nuns,
wrote as follows in the Bunker Hill Aurora for
October 25, 1834:
"Died on the 18th instant, at the residence of the Ursuline
Community, Brinley Place, Roxbury, Miss St. Henry, aged
20 years and six months. This beautiful girl was sick at
Mount Benedict, when the convent was burned, and suffered
a dreadful shock in the horrors of that awful night, from
which she never recovered. On the following morning she
was removed to the house of the Sisters of Charity in Boston,
and lingered until the llth instant, when she was removed to
the place where she died. At this time she was so low that
she could not stand alone, and it seemed hardly possible to
move her, but she could not bear to be separated from the
beloved ladies of the community, and they literally took her
and carried her over like an infant in their arms. She was
pleased with their new situation and enjoyed the scenery
very much. The afternoon before she died her bed was
turned around so that she could see Mount Benedict from
her window. She viewed it a long time and seemed much
consoled by the fact that Mount Benedict could be so dis-
tinctly seen from Brinley Place. During the course of her
illness, so far from manifesting any ill will against the
ruffians, who, by demolishing the convent, had been accessory
to her death, she often expressed pity for them and prayed
that they might be forgiven. On the night of the 17th she
slept soundly, and on the 18th departed from this to a better
world."
Substantially the same account of Sister St.
Henry's last days at Brinley Place is given in the
"Life of St. Angela Merici of Brescia By the
Abbe Parenty" (pp. 241-242).
The funeral of Sister St. Henry was one of extra-
ordinary solemnity. The Marquis de La Fayette
had just died and arrangements had been made by
the public officials for elaborate obsequies, but at the
last moment the order was changed, and the honors
originally intended for the illustrious French soldier
were bestowed on the humble Ursuline. ("The
THE HISTORIC SITE 89
Story of Mt. Benedict," p. 11 By B. F. De Costa,
Citizen Press, 1893.)
While at Brinley Place the nuns led the regular
community life. With a courage worthy of the
highest admiration, they undertook to retrieve their
shattered fortunes, but were not successful, and, in
July, 1835, the community was disbanded. The
present Superior of the Ursuline Convent in Quebec
recently informed the writer that two of the nuns
were received into that community; two others, into
the community at Three Rivers, Canada; while three
offered themselves to the convent in New Orleans,
which accepted them.
The Brinley mansion was purchased in 1836 by
Mr. Samuel S. Lewis, manager of the Cunard
Steamship Line. In his time the captains of the ves-
sels, mostly officers of the English Navy, and many
of the passengers were frequent guests at the house.
In an article which appeared in the Boston Globe in
the summer of 1883, an old resident of Roxbury,
giving his reminiscences of Parker Hill for fifty
years, says that the famous English novelist, Charles
Dickens, on his first visit to this country, in 1842, was
entertained by Mr. Lewis at the celebrated mansion.
In 1843 Mr. John Bumstead acquired the owner-
ship of Brinley Place. His daughter, Frances,
married Lloyd W. Wells of New York, into whose
hands the place passed in 1862, two years after the
death of Mr. Bumstead. In 1866, Mr. Wells leased
it to a Mr. Grosinger, who converted both house and
grounds into a pleasure resort, which he named the
" Franklin Gardens."
Three years later, the Very Rev. Joseph Helm-
praecht, the Superior of the American Province of
the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, pur-
chased the far-famed estate from Mr. Wells.
40 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
In that blessed hour the Roxbury shepherds watch-
ing their flocks by night were visited by a multitude
of the heavenly army, and heard how the Lord had
been new born in their own city. On that day the
splendid old mansion of the Brinleys, the Pierponts,
and the Dearborns was lifted up for all time to a
heavenly plane. The house which had played such an
important part in the cause of American Liberty,
then became the home of those who by their mission-
ary labors, would bring to sin-enslaved souls the
glorious liberty of the sons of God. The place which
had once been the social center of cultured Boston
was converted by the wonderful ways of Divine
Providence into the mercy-seat of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, where the sacred fires of devotion to
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, should burn with ever
increasing brightness. On the ever memorable day
when the Redemptorist Fathers established them-
selves in Boston, once more were verified the pro-
phetic words which Our Blessed Mother uttered long
ages ago in the humble cot amid the rugged Judean
hills: "For, behold, from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed."
May He, who was born of the Virgin Mary,
breathe an eternal benediction on this magnificent
architectural pile, the Grand Old Mission Church, so
fair to our eyes, so dear to our hearts, so soothing to
our souls, so vocal and so vibrant with the praises and
" The Glories of Mary in Boston!"
THE SILVER LIGHT OF THE MORNING
STAR.
HE John Baptist of the Redemptorist foun-
dation in Boston was the Rev. James A.
Healy, pastor of St. James's Church in this
city, from 1866 to 1875, and Bishop of Port-
land, Maine, from 1875 to 1900.
Father Healy, having learned in the late sixties of
the work that the Redemptorist missionaries were
doing, requested them to preach a mission in his
church. His request was favorably received by the
Very Rev. Father Provincial Helmpraecht. The
mission was conducted May 2-25, 1869, by a band
of nine Fathers under the lead of the Rev.
Frederick W. Wayrich of St. Alphonsus' Church,
N. Y. Father Healy expected the mission to yield
an abundant harvest, and he was not disappointed;
on the contrary, the actual results far surpassed his
rose-colored anticipations. The people, responding
nobly to every appeal of the missionaries, showed
genuine fervor and unflagging enthusiasm. By the
great sacrifices they made to attend the exercises,
they proved conclusively their resolute purpose
thenceforth to labor for the " one thing necessary."
There were more than 11,000 confessions, and, at the
end of the mission, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Williams
confirmed 950 of the faithful.
Father Healy was so pleased with the work and the
spirit of the missionaries that he strongly represented
to the Rt. Rev. Bishop the immense advantages that
would flow from the establishment of a mission-house
42 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
in the diocese of Boston by the Redemptorist Fathers.
Although Bishop Williams was the last man in the
world to mistake sentiment for reason, to be swayed
by the enthusiasm of the moment or to draw hasty
conclusions, he heartily assented to the proposal, and,
sending for Father Wayrich, directed him to bring
the matter to the attention of his Superiors. The
Very Rev. Father Provincial, realizing what fine
opportunities for good the proposed foundation
offered, gave his hand and his heart to the cause.
Without delay he communicated to the Superior
General of the Institute, the Most Rev. Nicholas
Mauron, the Bishop's suggestion to found a mission-
house in the diocese of Boston. Father Mauron sent
an answer one hundred per cent prompt and affirm-
ative; and the terms of the contract between the Rt.
Rev. Bishop Williams and the Congregation of the
Most Holy Redeemer were soon arranged.
Some time afterwards Father Helmpraecht came
to Boston, in order to confer with the Rt. Rev, Bishop
and Father Healy as to the most suitable location for
a house. The Bishop named three places, among
them Roxbury, then called Boston Highlands. When
the situation had been thoroughly canvassed, the
kindly prelate expressed the opinion that from every
point of view, Roxbury would be the most desirable,
and Father Helmpraecht fully acquiesced in his
judgment. Father, Healy then pointed out that the
piece of property known as the " Franklin Gardens "
would make an ideal site. Messrs. Krim* and Benz,
prominent parishioners of the Church of the Most
Holy Trinity, who were well acquainted with the
place, were summoned to consultation.
Accompanied by these gentlemen, Father Helm-
*Mr. Krim was the father of the Rev. George J. Krim, S.J., who
died as president of Brooklyn College, April 1, 1920.
SILVER LIGHT OF THE MORNING STAR 43
praecht, disguised as a layman, went over to the
gardens to study the lay of the land. The three men
became engaged in what seemed like a casual conver-
sation with one of the waiters, who, in the course of
his remarks, told them that the lease expired that
very day, and that the lessee was on the point of re-
newing it. Father Helmpraecht, charmed with the
property, went at once to the agent and secured an
option on it. He then summoned his senior adviser,
the Rev. Thaddeus Anwander, C. SS. R., to Boston.
A few days later, both, dressed in lay garb, went to
the Gardens to talk over the pending problem.
Father Anwander agreed entirely with his Superior,
and a formal decision to buy the property was
reached.*
In the negotiations with Mr. Wells of New York,
the owner of the place, Mr. Stephen Rogers, a
representative Catholic of Roxbury, acted as the
agent of the Very Rev. Father Provincial, who on
September 25th, 1869, came into legal possession of
the property.
The estate acquired by the Fathers included, be-
sides the old Brinley House, about five acres fronting
on Tremont Street, which was then called Brookline
Road. To the north, it extended about 20 feet
beyond what is now the far side of Smith Street; to
the west, it ran about half way between the present
St., Alphonsus Street and Whitney Street; to the
east, and to the south, the boundaries were the same
as they are today. Directly opposite to the south,
was a large quarry of the famous Roxbury pudding
stone, which at the time was being worked for the
new cathedral. Due north, rose the graceful towers
*Just as they were leaving the grounds, two trim and bright
little girls came along the road. One of them, on seeing the two
men, said to her companion: "Oh, look at those two priests!"
44 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
of Cambridge; while to the northeast, were plainly
visible the noble proportions of Bunker Hill monu-
ment. To the southwest, rose in regal grandeur
Parker Hill, commanding a sweeping view of the
city and flashing to Bostonians the solemn message
of the everlasting hills.
FIRST PERIOD
THE PURPLE DAWN
FROM THE ERECTION OF THE OLD
CHURCH^ TO THE DEDICATION OF
THE NEW CHURCH
1871-1878
THE PURPLE DAWN.
"Who is she that cometh forth as the morning
rising . . . ?" (Canticle of Canticles, 6:9) Office
for the Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed
Lady.
In February, 1870, the Redemptorist Fathers
began to build a church and to transform the once
magnificent Brinley mansion to the purposes of a
religious community. Brothers Dennis, Theodore,
and Chrysostom, all skilled mechanics, superintended
the work of construction and of adaptation, which
was done by the firm of Quick & Klein of Phila-
delphia.
The old church, a frame structure, was erected to
the east of the house and a little to the west of where
the present church stands. Approximately, the en-
trance of the old church coincided with the entrance
of the new rectory. Exclusive of the altar space, the
church was 100 feet long, 48 feet broad, and 24 feet
high. It seated about 900. There were three altars;
the main altar was dedicated to Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, the Patroness of the church; the one to
the right, facing the sanctuary, to St. Patrick; the
one to the left, to the Holy Family. In all, there
were eight confessionals: two on each side, two
against the rear wall, one in the gallery, and one in a
room off the sanctuary, to the right. As the pews
in the central portion of the church were of double
width, there was no middle aisle; but the two side
aisles were fairly broad. There were 12 windows of
48 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
colored glass; and, above the gallery, to the height
of 80 feet from the ground, rose a graceful tower
furnished with a bell weighing one hundred and
forty-eight pounds. All in all, the church was plain,
yet pretty. In the language of the heart, it spoke of
the humble Virgin of Nazareth, who loved the lowly
things, and, therefore, " was exalted above the choirs
of angels in the heavenly kingdom."
The fine old residence of the Brinleys and the
Dearborns was so altered as to provide a sacristy, a
chapel, twelve living rooms, a large community room
or recreation center, a small library, a dining-room,
a kitchen, and bathrooms.
The first Redemptorist priest to celebrate Holy
Mass in the house was the Very Rev. Father
Helmpraecht.*
On Christmas Day, 1870, Father Helmpraecht,
who was ordained December 21, 1845, observed the
silver anniversary of his priesthood. An elaborate
celebration of the happy event had been planned at
the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in New
York, where some years previously he had been
Rector ; Father Helmpraecht, however, was a modest
man who shrank from the garish light of publicity,
and, accordingly, he stole away quietly to the new
foundation in Boston, where, without pomp, parade,
or pride of place, he offered up his silver jubilee
Mass in the future rectory. The scene of this Mass
was the room in which, according to tradition, meas-
ures were taken to nullify the Stamp Act.
The first Redemptorist priest to fix his abode in
the house was the Rev. Adam Kreis, who came from
Annapolis, Md., January 14, 1871. But the first
*We say the first "Redemptorist" priest because It is very
probable that during the time the Ursulines were here, Mass was
said for them by some priest who certainly was not a Redemptorist.
THE PURPLE DAWN 49
Superior of the Mission Church was the Rev. Joseph
Wissel, of Baltimore, who received official notifica-
tion of his appointment, January 7, and arrived at
Roxbury January 28. The Rev. William O'Connor
came from New York, January 19; the Rev. Tim-
othy Enright, from Baltimore, January 26 ; the Rev.
Louis Koch, and the Rev. Francis X. Miller arrived
February 3 ; the former, from New York, the latter,
from Baltimore. Arranging these names according
to dignity of office and seniority of religious profes-
sion, we find that the personnel of the original com-
munity the muster-roll of honor was as follows:
The Rev. Joseph Wissel, Superior,
The Rev. Adam Kreis,
The Rev. Timothy Enright,
The Rev. Louis Koch,
The Rev. Francis X. Miller,
The Rev. William O'Connor.
The first lay members of the Community were:
Brothers Dennis, Seraphicus, and Christopher.
They were the pioneers who blazed the path for
us. We had only to follow where their torches
lighted the way. It is hard for us to realize fully
the work they did. When they came to Boston
"they had nothing behind them but the flaming
zeal caught up from their founder, St. Alphonsus
Ligouri," but they wrought wonders, and we enjoy
the fruits of their labors. May these gallant
knights of Our Lady of Perpetual Help pray
for us, that amid all the changes and chances of life
we may faithfully follow in their footsteps, and
preserve inviolate the spirit they created and the
traditions they established fifty years ago!
On Sunday, January 29, Father Wissel, acting in
the name and by the authority of the Rt. Rev. Bishop
50 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Williams, blessed the church and dedicated it to the
Holy Mother of God under the beautiful title of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The historic event
was marked by a High Mass at half past nine.
Father Wissel was the celebrant and preacher. In
that clear and simple style for which he was noted,
he explained to the congregation that the new church
was not a parish church, but a mission church. It
would have no territorial limits ; in it only the Sacra-
ments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist would be
administered ; and those who frequented it would still
be obliged to support their own pastors and parish
churches. Then in words instinct with love of the
Blessed Virgin, he dwelt on the beautiful meaning of
the title " Our Lady of Perpetual Help." In spite
of a heavy snowstorm, the church was well filled.
There was a large gathering of the simple folk of
other days, to whom the name of Mary was music to
the ear, honey to the lips, and joy to the heart. The
Mass was sung by the choir of the Jesuit Church of
the Immaculate Conception, and the Rev. Robert
Fulton, S.J., president of Boston College, kindly
furnished the cassocks worn by the boys who served
the Mass.
At the evening devotions, Father Enright preached
to a large and attentive audience on the " Origin and
Progress of the Devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help." His peroration, a noble specimen of elo-
quence, was a beautiful development of the prophetic
words of Our Blessed Lady, "For, behold, from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
With the vision of a seer, Father Enright must have
seen how fully the history of the Mission Church
would reecho the inspired prediction of the Queen
of Heaven. From that day to this, the very atmos-
phere of the church has been redolent of devotion to
MOST RF.V. JOHN JOSEPH WIMYTAMS, D.D.
Consecrated March nth, 1866; created first Archbishop of
Boston, Feb. i2th, 18/5; died August 3oth, 1907
VERY REV. JAMES BARRON, C. SS. R.
Provincial
REV. WILLIAM B. KENNA, C. SS. R.
Present Rector
REV. JOSEPH WISSEL, C.SS.R.
First Rector 1870-1871. Died in Philadelphia
Sept. 7, 1912
THE PURPLE DAWN 51
the Holy Mother of God. In the hymn of Marian
praise then so happily taken up, there has never been
any fall from concert pitch, and the grand harmony
has grown in volume as the years have flown.
It is a genuine pleasure to record that the morning
the church was dedicated, the Rev. Robert Ful-
ton, S.J., president of Boston College, called to pay
his respects and offer congratulations to the Fathers.
Father Fulton was a fine type of man, with a large
fund of common sense and genial humor in a big,
broad, well-balanced mind. In cordial terms he ex-
pressed the fond hope that the special blessing of
God and the maternal protection of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help might forever rest on the new foun-
dation. The following day, the Rev. Thomas
Magennis, pastor of the Church of St. Thomas,
Jamaica Plain, came over to the rectory, and in truly
fraternal spirit assured the community of his sincere
good will and heartfelt prayers for success in all their
undertakings. Then and there a warm friendship
sprang up between him and the Redemptorists of
Boston. That friendship, which lasted for more than
forty years, until the death of Mgr. Magennis, will
always be a treasured memory in the annals of the
community.
On Saturday, February 4, Father Wissel blessed
the bell in the church tower. Oh, that old
church bell! It has come down to us from the
golden days of 1871, yet its voice is as clear and
as sweet as ever. Even today, in the little belfry
above the sacristy, its silver tongue utters the
familiar call to prayer. " God bless the old mission
bell!" said one of the first parishioners to the writer
only a short time ago. What happy memories it
must awaken in the minds of those venerable men and
women who heard it in its youth, as its rich tones rang
52 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
out on the early morning air, amid the Sabbath still-
ness, in the dear old long ago! Today, as of old, it
serves as mentor and guide. It quickens the piety of
the fervent, and rebukes the sloth of the lukewarm.
Morning, noon, and night it sounds the glad tidings
of the Incarnation; in eloquent vibrations it renews
our faith in the stupendous mystery enacted in the
holy house of Nazareth.
The first Ash Wednesday in the history of the
Mission Church, February 22, 1871, is memorable
as the day on which the rectory was solemnly blessed
and placed under the patronage of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help. Father Wissel officiated in the
presence of the entire community. The day was one
of great joy for the Fathers and the Brothers; and
there was a note of triumph in the thought that those
walls which in by-gone days had rung with unseemly
sounds of mirth and revelry, would thenceforth be
resonant with the soft low cadences of the Litany of
Our Blessed Mother. In view of the patriotic back-
ground which the house enjoyed, it was a happy
coincidence that the community life was formally
established on Washington's birthday.
The Stations of the Cross in the church were
canonically erected on the evening of February 26,
the first Sunday of Lent. Before the pictures were
blessed and affixed to the walls, Father Wissel
preached a practical and popular sermon on "The
Nature and Origin of the Devotion of the Way of the
Cross." After the exercises, the aisles were crowded
with devout faithful who trod in spirit the blood-
stained path hallowed by the sacred footsteps of their
Crucified Saviour.
In the beginning, the hours of Sunday Masses were
8:00 and 9:30 (High Mass); sometimes there was
Mass at 5:30 also, according to the number of
THE PURPLE DAWN 53
Fathers at home; but even when there was no Mass
at that time, Holy Communion was distributed. On
holy days of obligation, Masses were said at the same
hours as on Sunday. At 3:30 on Sunday afternoon,
Vespers were sung and a German sermon was
preached. In the evening there was an English ser-
mon followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacra-
ment. During Lent there were two exercises of
devotion in the course of the week: on Tuesday
evening, sermon on the Passion of Our Lord followed
by Benediction, and on Friday evening, Stations of
the Cross and Benediction. On all holy days of
obligation there was an English sermon and Benedic-
tion in the evening. On Friday and Saturday,
confessions were heard from 3:00 to 6:00 and from
7:30 to 10:00 P. M., and on Sunday morning, from
5:30 until all who presented themselves had been
heard. At the beginning of September, some changes
were made in the foregoing schedule : Mass was said
regularly at 5:30 on Sunday; the preaching of the
German sermon was discontinued: Catechism class
for the children at 2:30 and conference for the men
at 4:00 P. M. on Sunday were introduced.
On the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 1871, the
first Solemn Mass in the history of the church was
sung. Father O'Connor was celebrant, Father En-
right, deacon and preacher, and Father Kreis, sub-
deacon. After enumerating the glorious prerogatives
of the Saint and his consequent claims to our love
and veneration, Father Enright dwelt with emphasis
on the dignity of honest labor, so beautifully illus-
trated in the life of the Foster-Father of the Child
Jesus. Although the feast was one not of obligation,
but of devotion only, the church was crowded with
pious clients of the Glorious Patriarch, who, a few
months before, had been formally declared the
54 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Patron of the Universal Church by Pope Pius the
Ninth.
When we say that the church was crowded on a
feast of devotion only, some of our readers may be
skeptical, and think that we are guilty of overstate-
ment. In support of our assertion, we shall, there-
fore, quote a work of high merit, which speaking of
the Mission Church (p. 156) says:
"The small bell summoned not only the neighboring
Catholics, but people from all over the city and the neighbor-
ing towns flocked to this new church where the sermons of
powerful speakers and veteran missionaries packed the edifice
Sundays and week days and wrought great good among the
people. So great and eager were the crowds that came to
hear the word of God that they were satisfied to sit in groups
before the doors and windows rather than return home again
entirely disappointed when they could not get into the
church. For seven years the people worshipped in this
humble church, during which time they became very much
attached to it. Although it was not a parish church, but a
mission church, where the Fathers preached and administered
the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion only to
those who frequented it, indiscriminately, the faithful clung
to it and seemed to think that it was sufficient to supply all
their spiritual wants." "The Catholic Church of New Eng-
land, Archdiocese of Boston."
THE PURPLE DAWN 55
MOTHER'S DAY.
"Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest; Help of All
Who Call on Thee"
Pentecost Sunday, May 28, witnessed an event
which may be justly considered the greatest land-
mark in this history of the Church the solemn
enthronement above the main altar of the picture of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It was "Mother's
Day" in the heavenly sense of that beautiful term,
and an ideal day for a grand ceremony in honor of
the Great Mother. Above, smiled a clear blue sky
without shadow or suggestion of cloud; the soft
atmosphere was filled with the fragrance of a thou-
sand fair and delicate flowers; in thicket and grove,
the birds of the air, Nature's Sistine Choir, were sing-
ing Nature's " Ave Maria" to the Virgin Most
Renowned, while far away to the east, on the golden
sands of Nantasket Beach, the sparkling wavelets
were murmuring " Hail Star of the Sea."
Long before the hour set for the sacred function,
a large crowd of people, some of whom had come a
great distance, lined Tremont Street and Bumstead
Lane. Promptly at half past nine, the procession,
' a thing of beauty and a joy forever,' began to move
from the rectory to the church. First, came a number
of young men wearing green sashes; secondly, four
venerable old men, who formed an escort of honor to
the picture ; thirdly, four girls dressed in white frocks
with blue sashes, who carried the Sacred Image
under a canopy held aloft by four other girls simi-
56 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
larly attired ; fourthly, the members of the choir, pre-
ceded by the band; fifthly and finally, the officers of
the rite: Father Wissel, celebrant, Father Enright,
deacon, and Father O'Connor, subdeacon. During
the procession the choir sang the Litany of Our
Blessed Lady, and the whole countryside rang with
her praises. In clear pure tones her glorious titles
rose heavenward like fragrant incense, then, as if by
marvelous transformation, they fell like delicious
manna on the devout multitude. Some of the specta-
tors actually wept for joy: an aged man with a de-
cidedly Jewish cast of countenance was seen to brush
away the tears that had sprung unbidden to his
eyelids.
After the procession the picture was blessed by
Father Wissel and raised to its place of honor by
Father Enright. Then down from the organ-loft and
up to the rafters and all round the church, floated the
exultant strains of the Magnificat, till those who lis-
tened were enthralled and felt as if Heaven had been
let down upon earth, as if the fell and foul fiends of
darkness had been driven headlong to their fiery
prison by the mighty power of Her who crushed the
head of the infernal serpent.
Solemn Mass followed, at which Father Wissel
preached. He was eloquent; not, perhaps, in the
academic or technical sense, not, perhaps, with the
eloquence of the schools ; but in the larger and higher
sense, with the eloquence of a man whose soul is on
fire with his subject. He was perfect master of his
theme; or rather, his theme was perfect master
of him. It thrilled his heart; it leaped from his eye;
it transfigured his whole countenance. For three-
quarters of an hour, he spoke on " The Nature and
Efficacy of Devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help," with an unction worthy of a St. Alphonsus.
THE PURPLE DAWN 57
What the effect of his sermon was, we can easily
imagine, for "heart speaks to heart." His auditors
were filled and fired with an intense love of Her who
on the crimson heights of Calvary became the Mother
of all Christians.
Of this historic event the official records of the
Community say: "The great numbers, some fr6m a
long distance, that lined the street through which the
procession passed, the splendid music, and the per-
fect decorum that prevailed will render it a day cele-
brated in the Catholic annals of Boston." As we
contemplate this great triumph of Our Blessed
Mother in the light of the subsequent history of the
Mission Church, the inspired words of Ozias, the
prince of the people of Israel, to Judith, come natu-
rally to our lips: "He (the Most High God) hath
so magnified thy name this day that thy praise shall
not depart out of the mouth of men."
This magnificent function marked the formal
opening of a Grand Triduum in honor of the Mother
of Perpetual Help. The three following days there
was Solemn Mass at 8 A. M., and at 7:30 P. M.,
sermon, with appropriate prayers and Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament. The Triduum was so well
attended that many had to wait for hours and hours
before their turn for confession came. Through the
gracious mercy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
souls innumerable were led to the feet of Him who
came to heal the contrite of heart. The reign of won-
derful bodily cures also, wrought through her inter-
cession, then began and has continued ever since.
Elsewhere we shall describe these prodigies.
At the close of the Triduum there was an elaborate
May procession, which was one of the golden glories
of the early history. The people had been keyed up
by the events of the three preceding days to a sub-
58 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
lime pitch of devotion to the Holy Mother of God.
She was the Queen of all hearts, and her fervent
lovers turned out en masse to serenade Her. The
appearance of her statue, which radiated an air of
chaste beauty, was the signal for an outpouring of
romantic love. The scene in and around the church
on that balmy afternoon in May beggars and baffles
description. Fully to grasp and correctly to inter-
pret the spirit that ruled the crowd, would require the
imagination of a Dante Alighieri and the heart of
Bernard of Clairvaux. Innocent little boys and girls,
sturdy youths and gentle maidens, stalwart men and
matronly women all were stirred and swayed and
swept heavenward by the overpowering impulse of
a burning love of Her who is the "Mother of Fair
Love." The boundless devotion to our Blessed Lady
shown on that occasion was like that manifested by
the early Christians of Ephesus, when the prelates
assembled there in 431, solemnly proclaimed, against
the impious heretic Nestorius, that Mary is the
Mother of God. The wonderful results of the
Triduum served as a powerful incentive and a keen
spur to the Fathers to prosecute with tireless energy
the noble work of proclaiming " The Glories of Mary
in Boston."
TANTUM ERGO SACRAMENTUM.
Mother's Day was followed closely by a grand
ceremony in honor of Him who is the " living bread,
which came down from Heaven." On June 11,
the Sunday within the octave of Corpus Christi,
there was an open-air procession in honor of the
Blessed Sacrament. According to a writer in the
Boston Pilot, this beautiful solemnity was utterly un-
known in Boston. To some of our readers this may
THE PURPLE DAWN 59
sound strange, but they must remember that in 1871,
the spirit of Knownothingism still prevailed, at
least as a latent force, in this section of the country ;
consequently, anything like a public manifestation
of faith in the Real Presence might easily have been
the occasion of sacrilegious outrages against the
Adorable Sacrament.
The unique spectacle drew a crowd estimated
at three or four thousand. An hour and a half before
the procession was scheduled to start, the hills to the
south and the roads adjacent to the church were
black with people. All traffic on Tremont St. had to
be suspended. The spectators were quiet, serious and
prayerful. They felt the Awful Presence of Him,
who, with shrouded radiance and bedimmed majesty,
dwells beneath the Eucharistic Species. Had a
stranger asked the reason of their assembling, they
would with one voice have told him that, " Jesus of
Nazareth was passing by."
After Solemn Vespers, at 3 o'clock, the procession
moved out of the church. As soon as the advance
guard came in sight, a dead silence fell on the
great throng, like that which brooded over the
waters of the Lake of Galilee when Christ, the
Mighty God, hushed the wild winds and stilled the
angry waves. In an instant, men, women, and chil-
dren were on their knees. They struck their breasts
and prayed with glowing countenances, as Moses
prayed on the mountain top in the days of old. The
Ages of Faith had come back to modern Boston.
Here on that day was enacted a scene not unlike
those which Catholic tourists tell us take place yearly
on the rugged slopes of the Austrian Tyrol or the
sun-scorched plazas of Seville, where love of the
Eucharistic King is woven into the hearts of the
people. The procession, in which about 400 of the
60 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
faithful took part, halted round a temporary altar
erected on the highest point in the Fathers' Garden.
The canopy was held above the little altar, and the
Blessed Sacrament enthroned. The band then
struck up the majestic hymn " This is the day which
the Lord hath made." In quick succession followed
the Tantum Ergo. Then He who in the olden days
blessed the eager multitudes round the bark of Peter,
was lifted up in benediction, while " the neighboring
hills seemed to bow down before their Creator and
all Nature appeared to pay profoundest tribute to
her Maker and Preserver.'
One of the altars at which Benediction was given
stood right on the spot where forty-two years before,
almost to the day, the elder General Dearborn had
been buried. Thus, the horrors of the tomb were
routed by the splendors of the Cenacle. During the
procession the celebrant, Father Wissel, heard some
one weeping. Instinctively he looked up and beheld
an old man trembling with emotion, the tears stream-
ing down his cheeks. Shortly after the procession
he met the man outside the church, and asked him
why he had been so deeply moved. The venerable
old gentleman then related that about sixty years
before, when he was a boy, a meeting of the promi-
nent citizens of Roxbury had been held in a hall in
town for the purpose of devising means to exclude
the Irish from the place. His father was confiden-
tially informed of the petty cabal, and determined to
find out all about it. By some clever ruse he managed
to get the boy into the hall and to secrete him in a
closet just off the room where the men met. In the
course of the evening, the lad heard Gen. Dearborn
remark, " The Irish are to be praised for their indus-
try, but hated for their religion." " Today," said the
old man, "I wept for joy when I saw the altar
THE PURPLE DAWN 61
erected right where that bigoted man had been
buried." In this connection it is interesting to note
that an elderly woman whom the writer asked what,
in her opinion, was the greatest event in the history
of the church, replied, " The grandest thing that ever
happened was the Benediction of the Blessed Sacra-
ment given during the first Corpus Christi procession
on the knoll where Gen. Dearborn had been buried."
Nearly all the old parishioners whom the writer
interviewed said they could never forget the first
Corpus Christi procession. It was a truly historic
event. Even in the lengthy perspective of fifty
years, the memory of it is still clear and distinct.
With mild reservations we may describe this fes-
tive function in the beautiful words of the eloquent
Archbishop Glennon of St. Louis:
"The twelfth century brings the great feast of Corpus
Christi and the day of the Blessed Lord's Eucharistic pro-
cession is inaugurated. Watch the doors of the great Middle
Age Cathedrals swing open. See come forth the long array,
cross-bearer and acolyte, youth and maiden. They carry
banners and bear torches and strew flowers in the way.
Here come the old and rulers with bared heads. Now they
give no command ; they bow to one greater than they. Here
come in long array priests and prelates, all united in the
democracy of a common devotion. And now we hear from
the dim aisles the voice of song, 'Tantum Ergo Sacramen-
tum' ; it is taken up by those without ; it is answered by the
chiming bells; it reverberates from the hillside where the
cannon boom. Everywhere is exultation and reverence.
Well, indeed, may the people exult; well may they exclaim
there is no other nation so great which hath its gods nigh
unto it, as God is present to us.' For, lo, from the portals
of the temple is now seen the golden canopy, beneath which
is carried the Holy Eucharist; the Saviour comes to His
own, and from His moving throne, He blesses the city and
the world. Around the city the Blessed Sacrament is borne
in triumph, amid prayer and hymns and flowers. He is verily
the King. This is His feast day. The Fete Dieu, the feast
of Corpus Christi."
62 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
After the procession, a delegation of prominent
Catholic laymen of Boston, headed by Mr. Patrick
J. Donahue, the Founder and Editor of the Boston
Pilot, called at the rectory to congratulate the
Fathers and to express their admiration of the work
they were doing.
THE REV. WILLIAM H. GROSS, SUPERIOR.
There was no happier man in the city of Boston
than the humble Father Wissel, when, on July 20,
he was freed from the heavy cross of the Superior-
ship, and took his place as a subject in the ranks. He
was succeeded by the Rev. William H. Gross,
C. SS. R., who four months before had been assigned
to the church as an assistant. At the time of his pro-
motion Father Gross was a vigorous young man, 34
years of age, able, eloquent, and of charming per-
sonality. Although Father WisseFs tenure of office
was brief, he crowded a great deal of work into a
short space of time. Even to this day he is lovingly
remembered by the older generation as the faithful
husbandman who planted the tiny acorn which soon
developed into the sturdy oak. Fortunately, however,
he remained a member of the Boston Community
until September, 1872, when he was transferred to
St. Mary's Church, Annapolis, Md., and appointed
Master of the Second Novitiate a position of honor
and trust.
The first outstanding act of Father Gross's admin-
istration was to inaugurate a grand Triduum in
honor of St. Alphonsus, the founder of the Congre-
gation of the Most Holy Redeemer, who, on July 7,
had been solemnly declared a Doctor of the Universal
Church by Pope Pius the Ninth of saintly memory.
THE PURPLE DAWN 63
To be enrolled among the Doctors of the Church is a
lofty honor and a comparatively rare distinction be-
stowed on those Saints only who have been preemi-
nent for the unsullied purity of their teaching, as well
as for the heroic sanctity of their lives. It was,
therefore, a source of inexpressible joy to Redempto-
rists the world over, to see their Holy Father and
Founder adorned with the brilliant crown of the
Doctorate. Father Gross, loyal son of St. Alphonsus
that he was, put forth every effort to make the
Triduum first, a fitting testimonial to the great Saint
of modern times, and secondly, a fruitful source of
spiritual blessings to the faithful.
The exercises began on Sunday, July 30, with a
Solemn Mass of which Father Miller was celebrant,
Father Enright, deacon, and Father O'Connor, sub-
deacon. The sermon was preached by a Jesuit
Father, who, with an eye to the practical, built up his
discourse on the characteristic virtues of the Saint:
his spirit of constant prayer, his seraphic love of
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and his flaming zeal for souls. The
reverend preacher's conclusion, on which was lavished
all the wealth of his fine oratorical powers, was an
impassioned plea to his hearers to live the life of
prayer as the Saint had done.
At the evening exercises, Father Gross himself
discoursed on " The Wonderful Dispensation of
Divine Providence in Regard to St. Alphonsus." He
began by laying down the general principle that in
every age of the Church's existence Almighty God
raises up great men and sends them forth fully
equipped to combat and conquer the moral evils of
their time. Then by easy stages he led his auditors
down the long aisle of the centuries, pointing out
how St. Athanasius was chosen to slay the dragon of
64 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Arianism, St. Cyril, to impale the hydra-headed
monster of Nestorianism, St. Dominic, to draw the
fangs of the serpent of Manichaeism, St. Ignatius, to
be the David against the Goliath of Luther anism, and
lastly, St. Alphonsus, to detect and neutralize the
subtle poison of Jansenism, which was barricading the
door of the Tabernacle and driving the faithful away
from the Communion rail. Father Gross then drew a
beautiful picture of the life of St. Alphonsus, with its
lights and its shadows, its triumphs and its trials, its
Thabors and its Gethsemanes, and showed how for
sixty years, with ringing voice and trenchant pen, the
Saint had fought Jansenism and smoothed the path
that leads to the Eucharistic Table. Finally, Almighty
God had set the seal of his approval on the valiant
labors of Alphonsus by conferring on him the trans-
cendent glory of the Doctorate.
At the Mass the following morning, Father Miller
laying special stress on the Saint's tenderness towards
the most miserable sinners, portrayed him as an
enlightened director of souls. At the evening exer-
cises, Father Finotti, pastor of St. Mary's Church,
Brookline, sketched the history of the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer, emphasizing sharply
the zeal of its members for the salvation of souls. At
the close of his sermon, he spoke in the highest terms
of the self-sacrificing labors of the band of Redemp-
torists, who, some time previously, had given a mission
at his church.
On Tuesday morning, August 1, Father Gross
preached on "The Powerful Intercession of the
Blessed Virgin." One who heard him said that no
pen could do justice to the orator in describing his
sermon; it would be necessary for one personally to
see the animation which lighted up the face of the
speaker, and the beauty and grace of his delivery fully
THE PURPLE DAWN 66
to appreciate its excellence. Father Gross dwelt in
touching terms on the boundless faith of Our Blessed
Mother from Bethlehem to Calvary. His profoundly
pathetic description of her soul-piercing agony during
the Passion of Christ drew tears from the eyes of his
audience, while his magnificent eloquence in portray-
ing the tender devotion of Alphonsus to the Holy
Virgin melted the hearts of those who had the good
fortune to hear him. Years afterwards, the mere
remembrance of the sermon was sufficient to kindle
piety in the soul.
On Wednesday morning the 8 o'clock Mass was
celebrated by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Williams, and
Father Gross again occupied the pulpit. In a short
but meaty and pithy sermon on the ardent love which
St. Alphonsus always cherished for Our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament, he begged the parents to
show good example to their children by approaching
the Sacraments regularly and by frequently visiting
the church. After expressing his genuine pleasure at
the large number of communicants, he fervently
besought St. Alphonsus to bless the congregation, the
city, and the diocese of Boston.
During the Triduum about 800 people partook of
the Eucharistic Banquet, and the Rt. Rev. Bishop
expressed himself as gratified beyond measure at the
consoling results of the sacred exercises.
It is pleasant to note that the church was estab-
lished the same year that the honor of the Doctorate
was conferred on St. Alphonsus.
THE FIRST MISSION.
Another event of commanding interest and impor-
tance in the history of the old church was the first mis-
sion. In order to create the proper spirit and temper,
66 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the Fathers announced the mission 4 weeks ahead.
During the intervening time, the Hail Mary and the
Glory be to the Father were recited nine times every
day after the five-thirty and seven o'clock Masses.
The women's mission opened January 7, 1872, and
closed on the sixteenth. The missionaries were the
Rev. Fathers Wissel, Henning, Meredith, and Burke.
Father Henning struck the right note in the introduc-
tory sermon, and, as the sequel showed, met with a
hearty response. Although the church seated only
about 900, nearly 1500 women were present every
evening. Not only was every available inch of space
in the body of the church taken, but the sacristy and
the sanctuary also were overcrowded, the women sit-
ting on the altar-steps. During the early days of the
mission, according to an eyewitness, some of them
entered even the confessionals, and took possession of
the seat which the priest ordinarily occupies. Those
who could not possibly edge or wedge their way into
the church, remained outside till the end, in the hope
of catching a sentence here and there. The faith
manifested by the women was worthy of the primitive
Christians. They left all things to hear the saving
truths of religion and to be "renewed in the spirit of
their mind." Although many of them had to walk
miles to the church, such was their sturdy and sublime
devotion that they did not miss a single exercise. The
few of them who are still living love to recall the
blessed days of the first mission. Through the mist of
the crowded years, they can still see the missionaries
in the pulpit, now threatening the impenitent with
the terrible judgments of an angry God, now encour-
aging the contrite with the thought of the all-prevail-
ing power and mercy of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help. In all, 1,803 women made the mission.
The men's mission began on January 18. After
MOST REV. WILLIAM GROSS, D.D., C.SS.R.
Rector 1871-1873. Consecrated Bishop of Savannah
1873 : appointed Archbishop of Oregon City, 1885 ;
died in Baltimore, Md., November I4th, 1898
REV. LEOPOLD PETSCH, C.SS.R.
I'cctor 1873-1877. Died in Boston
June 20, 1882
THE PURPLE DAWN 67
reading the above description of the women's mission,
one could hardly imagine that the men's, could surpass
it in point either of numbers or of enthusiasm, but
such was in reality the case. Nearly five hundred more
men than women made the mission ; the total number
of men's confessions was 2,297. This figure repre-
sents the number of men who honestly made the
mission to the best of their ability; for, you may be
sure, the missionaries had no time to hear the confes-
sions of any others. An old gentleman who attended,
speaking of the crowds, said to the writer: " Not only
was the church packed full, but the men were up on
the lamp-posts outside, looking into the church. I saw
that with my own eyes." "Father," said another,
"let's go across the street, and I'll show you the
spot where, seated on a stone wall, I listened to the
sermons." More than one man was heard to say that
had the church been three times as large, it would
certainly have been filled. Many of the men quit
work at four o'clock in the afternoon, in order to make
sure they could get to church in time to find a seat ;
some of them sent their little boys every evening at
six o'clock, to hold a place for them till they arrived.
In addition to the eight ordinary confessionals, two
were improvised ; yet the total proved entirely inade-
quate; the doors of the rectory were then thrown
open; and confessions were heard in the rooms of
Fathers Wissel, Meredith, Koch, Miller, O'Connor,
and Burke, in the library, under the main staircase,
and even in the apartments reserved for the Very
Rev. Father Provincial. Far and wide the mission
was the only topic of conversation; the men talked
about it at jwork, and invited their Protestant friends
to swell the crowd. Even the non-Catholics took a
lively interest in the wonderful "revival," as they
termed it. One of them said to a Catholic friend,
68 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
" Can you tell me what inducement is offered to the
men to go out at 5 o'clock in the morning? Why,
down at our church, if it rains a little, even the
minister does not come."
The mission was brought to a close, January 28,
with a thrilling sermon by Father Henning, "the
priest with the golden palate," as the people called
him. As he stood in the pulpit that memorable night,
and looked out over the immense gathering united as
one man in a high and holy purpose, he was stimulated
to extraordinary eloquence, and with trip-hammer
blows drove home the salient points of his discourse
on " The Means of Perseverance." . His forceful
words sank deeply into the souls of the men and filled
them with that sublime enthusiasm which can be in-
spired only by the "faith once delivered to the
Saints." When Father Henning called on them at
the end of his discourse to renew the baptismal cove-
nant, they responded in an emphatic and deep-toned
"I do renounce," "I do believe," that sounded like
the voice of many waters. While the preacher was
imparting in elegantly chosen words the last blessing
of the missionaries, big strong men with rugged
hearts and iron nerves, men of sturdy fibre and
extraordinary self-command, were seen to tremble
with emotion. The final ceremony was one of touch-
ing and inspiring beauty; and the lesson taught by
the whole mission was the marvelous and mysterious
power of the grace of God. It showed how " He who
could walk the waters, could also ride triumphantly
upon what is still more fickle, unstable, tumultuous,
treacherous the billows of human wills, human pur-
poses, human hearts."
THE PURPLE DAWN
Generous Benefactors.
One of the many beneficial results of the mission
was to increase a hundredfold the love of the devoted
people for the " little church " and the " Mission Fath-
ers." This affection, deep and true, found expression
in a noble generosity worthy of all praise. The faith-
ful could never do enough either for the Fathers
or for the church which had become to them the vesti-
bule of Heaven. With a lavish hand they gave their
services and their substance for the comfort of the
community and the beautifying of the church. Men
who were too poor to contribute money, would, after
working hard all day, present themselves at the rec-
tory in the evening, and offer to do chores round
the church grounds. A gentleman of only modest
means provided a carpet for the Sanctuary, a large
desk for use in the office of the priests' house, and
beautiful paintings for the corridors. A lady who
Jived far away donated a magnificent set of vestments
and certain furnishings for the Sanctuary. "Two
Friends of the Mission Church" presented two
statues of the Mother of Sorrows. One of these
splendid gifts was a work of art so superbly wrought
that when unveiled in the Sanctuary, March 10, it
brought tears to the eyes of many of the beholders. A
few days afterward, one gentleman sent a fine sanctu-
ary lamp, and another, a carpenter by trade, offered
to put in gratis a new flooring in the community
room. On March 16, Father Gross received as a per-
sonal gift a splendid writing desk with all the proper
appurtenances. A little later, he was called away on
a mission, and during his absence, a devoted worker
did so much to improve the house that Father Gross
on his return said he had to look twice to make sure
he was in the right place.
70 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
And not only in the church's youth, but also in every
other era of her existence, her devoted children
have given her the best they had, and the supercrown-
ing merit of their generosity has been not so much
the material value of what they gave, as the spirit in
which they gave it. Purely out of love of Our
Blessed Mother, they have contributed unstintingly
to every cause calculated to promote " The Glories of
Mary in Boston." Without waiting to be asked, still
less urged, they have come forward on all occasions,
and placed at her feet their little or their much,
according as their fortune lay. Their gifts and
services to the church have been a brilliant reflection
of their touching devotion to Her whose sweet name
is the very warp and woof of the Mission Church.
To give a complete list of our benefactors would be
impossible. Many of them would never reveal their
identity; they wished to be known only as "Clients of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help," or "Friends of the
Mission Church." Others gave their names, but
would never allow them to be published. But even of
those to whom we might by name give thanks, the
number is so great as to preclude individual mention.
The point, however, which we wish to emphasize is
that, for the most part, the benefactors of the church
have been hard-working men and women, the plain
people who go through life without fanfare of trum-
pets, without frills or furbelows. It was they who
made possible the erection of the stately group of
buildings of which the parish may be justly proud.
God bless these grand souls of simple faith and golden '
heart ! It will be a source of gratification and conso-
lation to them to learn that every day just before
noon the Fathers and the Brothers recite in common
the Litany of the Blessed Virgin for the benefactors
of the church and of the community. From the sweet
THE PURPLE DAWN 71
eyes of Our Mother Mary, from her gracious smile,
from her serene brow, may ten thousand blessed
influences rain down on the generous friends of the
Mission Church to brighten their lives in this land of
exile, and to enhance their glory in the eternal king-
dom of her Son!
The beautiful month of May, 1872, with its green
foliage and its bright blossoms, with its balmy days
and its mild temperature, with its sweet, yet forcible
suggestion of the Mystical Rose, was one prolonged
carnival of praise to Mary and of blessings to her
faithful children of the Mission Church. Day after day
they came to tell Her that they loved Her, the little
ones especially being conspicuous by their presence.
They came in troops to pay their earthly homage to
the Mother of the Innocent. Kneeling at the altar
rail, they looked up wistfully at her Sacred Image,
and with trembling lips and melting hearts poured
forth their souls in simple prayer that She might take
them to her sheltering bosom. The octogenarian also,
"for whom the shadows and illusions of life were
over," might have been seen telling his beads, as they
do in the old country, when the darkness of night has
fallen and the blustering winds are shrieking round
the cabin door. Every evening during the month, a
short sermon on Our Blessed Lady was preached, and
brought forth abundant fruit; the confessionals were
thronged with those who, with Mary's help, had deter-
mined to rise from the death of sin to the life of
grace. At the close of the month, Father Wissel
delivered a forcible sermon on "The Admirable
Effects of Devotion to the Mother of God." His key-
note was: "By our constant devotion to the Blessed
Virgin we must convert this country, after converting
ourselves and obtaining for all Catholics the grace to
72 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
be such Christians as they ought to be." In tones
that rang out like a pistol shot, he urged parents to
cultivate this devotion in their families, and to bring
up their children "in the true Catholic way, by build-
ing Catholic schools, so that next to the church with
its lofty steeple surmounted by the Cross, we may
behold a splendid school where the young may be
properly instructed in their religion and taught the
beauty, the efficacy, and the necessity of devotion to
Mary, the Mother of Jesus."
Grand and imposing as was the Corpus Christi
procession of 1871, it was surpassed in several points
by the one held the following year. Of the latter, the
Boston Pilot said in part :
"The procession was formed by the members of the two
societies established by the Redemptorist Fathers, that of
the Holy Family for married and single men, and the Altar
Society for young girls and women. The whole made an im-
posing line of a mile and a half in length, under the marshal-
ship of Mr. John C. Shayer, and must have numbered nearly
2,000 men, women and children.
"The procession wound through the grounds of the
church, in which two altars were erected for the benediction,
one in the hollow and the other on the summit of the hill, and
when the winding procession had massed on the slope before
the altar, on which knelt the priests swinging incense before
the Blessed Sacrament, with thousands of people kneeling
with bowed heads, the scene was one never to be forgotten."
The number of spectators was larger than in 1871,
so large that ten policemen were detailed to prevent
accident. Quite a few Protestants were present,
who, far from manifesting any disrespect or creating
any disturbance, showed themselves most respectful
and reverent, and seemed deeply impressed by what
they saw and heard.
As the Mission Church became more widely known,
the number of those who came to consult the Fathers
THE PURPLE DAWN 78
about the affairs of their souls, or to present their
non- Catholic friends for instructions in the faith, con-
stantly increased. Father Gross, therefore, found it
necessary, in the spring of 1872, to make three addi-
tional reception-rooms, where, night after night, the
Fathers engaged in the same heavenly work as
our Divine Saviour, when He sat down by Jacob's
well to instruct and convert the woman of Samaria.
Moreover, Father Gross did much to beautify the
community garden: a strong wall was built round it;
a large number of trees were planted, and two or
three walks laid out.
On Sunday, June 9, a lecture which compelled the
attention of Catholic and, to some extent, of Protes-
tant Boston also, was delivered at Music Hall by the
Rev. Father Henning. In a full-column article on
the masterly discourse, the Boston Herald said
among other things :
"Music Hall was crowded last evening, on the floor and in
both balconies, with an audience, which for over an hour
listened with the most profound attention to a lecture by
Rev. Joseph Henning, C.SS.R., on the subject of 'Infalli-
bility in the Catholic Church.' The lecture was given for the
benefit of the Redemptorist Church, Roxbury. Patrick
Donahue, Esq., presided over the assembly and introduced
the lecturer. ... At frequent intervals throughout the lec-
ture, which was delivered without notes or memoranda, the
speaker was heartily applauded."
At the beginning of July, the Irish Band, then
touring the United States, paid a visit to Boston.
While in the city, they offered to play at the High
Mass at the Mission Church on Sunday, the seventh,
the Feast of the Precious Blood. Father Gross
courteously informed them that he would be delighted
to have them do so. Bright and early on the appointed
day, the Band in full regalia was on hand. The dis-
74 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tinguished musicians fully sustained by their fine per-
formance the high reputation they enjoyed. Under
the direction of the organist, Dr. Hart, the choir sang
Mozart's Twelfth Mass, with solos by Mrs. Hart,
Miss Kohler, Mr. Donovan, and Mr. Bock. The ser-
mon was preached by an illustrious guest of the
Fathers, the Rt. Rev. Ignatius Persico, Bishop of
Savannah, former Vicar Apostolic of India, later
(1874) Apostolic Delegate to Canada, and finally
(1896) Cardinal Priest of the title of St. Peter in
Chains.
After the Mass, luncheon was served at the rectory
to the Band and a few other invited guests. During
the flow of coffee, Father Wissel entertained the com-
pany with an interesting historical sketch of the house
in which they were. The gentlemen were intensely
surprised when he told them that in a room nearby,
about a hundred years before, the opposition to the
Stamp Act had been organized, the idea of the Decla-
ration of Independence first suggested, and many
other measures against the Crown devised. On behalf
of the Irish Band, Mr. Dwyer responding to the
words of welcome spoken by Father Gross, thanked
his hosts sincerely for the very cordial reception ten-
dered him and his colleagues, and said they would
never forget their visit to the Mission Church of
Roxbury.
FATHER GROSS ADORNED WITH THE EPISCOPAL
PURPLE.
In 1873, a most signal honor was conferred on the
whole American Province of the Redemptorists, but
especially on the Boston Community and on the Mis-
sion Church: Father Gross was chosen by the Holy
THE PURPLE DAWN 75
See to be Bishop of Savannah. Five years before,
the eloquent Redemptorist had given a series of mis-
sions in that diocese, and had made so favorable an
impression on Bishop Persico that when the latter
resigned, in 1872, on account of ill health, he sug-
gested to the Roman authorities the name of the Rev.
William H. Gross, C. SS.R., as his successor. The
recommendation was adopted, and on February 2,
1873, Father Gross was preconized Bishop of
Savannah.
Although the Catholics of Roxbury were delighted
to see this lofty honor bestowed on one who was in
every way worthy of it, nevertheless, they felt keen
regret at the thought of losing a priest who had so
endeared himself to them. Father Gross, on his part,
while humbly submitting to the will of the Holy
Father, was filled with sorrow at the reflection that
his elevation to the episcopacy would take him away
from the people he esteemed so highly, from the work
he liked so well, and from his brethren in religion, to
whom he was united by so many ties of love. But strict
obedience to the Pope was an imperative duty, and
accordingly he prepared to say "Farewell" to the
people, to the community, and to the little church on
the hill "the home of his heart and his love."
Father Gross left Boston, April 14, for the Redemp-
torist Seminary at Ilchester, Md., in order to make
the retreat which the Church prescribes for bishops
before their consecration. He was consecrated at the
Baltimore Cathedral, April 27, by the Most Rev.
Archbishop Bayley of that see, with Bishop Becker
of Wilmington and the late Cardinal Gibbons (then
Bishop of Richmond, Va.) as co-consecrators. The
sermon was preached by the Rev. Frederick W.
Wayrich, C.SS.R., of St. Alphonsus' Church, N. Y.
76 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE REV. LEOPOLD PETSCH, C.SS.R., AT THE HELM.
About three weeks after the departure of the
Rt. Rev. Bishop Gross, the Rev. Leopold Petsch,
C.SS.R., was appointed Superior of the Mission
Church. Father Petsch, formerly of St. Alphonsus'
Church, Baltimore, arrived here May 8, and after
his formal induction into office, took up his new
duties with zest and enthusiasm.
When the month of June came round, the faithful
began to look forward eagerly to the Corpus Christi
procession. The imposing rite was held on the fif-
teenth, the Sunday within the octave of the feast. So
many of the people sought a place in the grand
Eucharistic train, that more than 1,800 were admitted
to the line. The canopy bearers were: Mr. Patrick
Donahue, Founder and Editor of the Boston Pilot,
Captain Emery, president of the Boston Savings
Bank, and Messrs. McAuley and Rogers four
proud and happy men. The celebrant was the Rev.
Thomas Magennis, pastor of the Church of St.
Thomas, Jamaica Plain, the deacon, the Rev. Alfred
DeHam, C.SS.R., and the subdeacon, the Rev. Fran-
cis X. Schnuettgen, C.SS.R. About 8,000 people
witnessed the procession.
Within two years and a half after the establish-
ment of the Boston foundation, the activities of the
Mission Church had grown to such an extent that it
became necessary, in the early summer of 1873,
greatly to enlarge the rectory. Father Petsch, there-
fore, built a wing running north on Bumstead Lane,
on the western side of the house. This addition
provided eleven living apartments, bathroom, and
spacious dining room. The last apartment was ready
for use on September 27; the others were ready
towards the end of December.
THE PURPLE DAWN 77
On Sunday, Aug. 24, 1873, the Rev. Augustine
Freitag, C. SS. R., of the Mission Church preached at
the laying of the corner-stone of St. Peter's Church,
Dorchester, which was destined to become one of the
grandest edifices in the diocese. The pastor then, and
for forty-four years subsequently, was Father
(afterward Monsignor) Peter Ronan. The present
pastor is the Rt. Rev. Joseph G. Anderson, Titular
Bishop of Myrina, Vicar General and Auxiliary to
the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston.
Another high light in the picture of the olden days
was the arrival from Rome, December 23, 1873, of
the relics of the holy martyr, St. Nazarius, which
were to find their future resting-place in our far-
famed sanctuary of Mary. The precious treasure
was obtained by Father Wissel through his brother,
Father Raphael, a Benedictine monk of Subiaco,
Italy. The historic deposition, December 28, was
invested with elaborate ceremonies befitting the
solemnity of the event. The Boston Globe carried
the following account of it:
"At the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
under the direction of the Redemptorist Fathers at Boston
Highlands, the solemn translation of the body of the martyr
Saint Nazarius, which lately arrived from Rome, was cele-
brated Dec. 28. About 9:30 A.M., as announced, the
ceremonies commenced with a procession in which the relics
of the Saint were borne round the interior of the church.
The procession consisted of the members of the Archcon-
fraternity of the Holy Family, wearing medals, and number-
ing about forty men; the Redemptorist Fathers attached to
the church, viz., Fathers Petsch, Freitag, Wissel, Bohn,
Xavier, Enright, and Kuper; the Rev. R. Fulton, S.J.,
president of Boston College; the Rev. A. Sherwood Healy,
rector of the cathedral ; and the Rt. Rev. J. J. Williams,
bishop of the diocese. The relics, which consisted of some
bones of the saint, were imbedded in a wax figure, represen-
tative of his form and costume, and were borne by the clergy
78 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
in the procession, after which they were deposited in a cavity
in front of the altar, where they will remain in view of the
congregation. During the procession, the Litany of the
Saints was chanted by the priests. After the exposition of the
relics by the officiating clergy and their return to the sanctu-
ary, a grand high mass was sung, the Rev. R. Fulton, S.J.,
acting as celebrant; the Rev. A. Freitag, C.SS.R., deacon;
the Rev. M. Bohn, C.SS.R., subdeacon ; the Rev. A. Sherwood
Healy, master of ceremonies. The choir sang Haydn's first
mass in B flat with Farmer's 'Gloria,' Lambillole's 'Veni
Creator,' and, at the offertory, the 'Venite Adoremus.'
Miss Nellie McGowan presided at the organ, and the singing
was conducted by Mr. Quich, tenor, the soprano being sung
by Miss Mooney, alto, Miss Crosby, and the bass, Mr.
Rogers. At the close of the mass the *Te Deum' was sung
by the clergy and choir, responding alternately. The church
was tastefully decorated with evergreens and, notwithstand-
ing the snowstorm, was filled in every part.
"The sermon was preached by the Rev. J. Wissel, C.SS.R.,
on the life and martyrdom of St. Nazarius. He began by
giving a brief history of the times in which the great martyr
figured, and showed the principal causes of opposition to the
Christian religion, from the Roman emperors. The latter,
he said, claimed the people's homage, and were jealous of
any person who would be likely to get any portion of it.
Marcus Aurelius, who was Emperor at the time of St.
Nazarius's persecution, was not personally at enmity with
the Christians, but, like most earthly princes, he was the
slave of his Ministers and compelled to do their behests.
"The principal object of the tortures inflicted on the poor
victims was to try to extract some confession, or some blas-
phemy against the faith which their persecutors were trying
to crush. They were stretched on racks and made to sit on
iron chairs heated to the highest possible point, and when
they were almost reduced to the lowest extremity of human
weakness, they were questioned about their belief. This,
said the speaker, is the history of the early martyrdom of
Rome; and what are the lessons we should derive from it?
We should derive the example of purity and stability in
faith, and perseverance in the practices of our religion.
St. Nazarius died for the same faith which we profess; he
was a member of the same holy Catholic and Apostolic
THE PURPLE DAWN 79
Church in which we have the privilege of worshipping. He
died 1700 years ago, when the Church was in its infancy and
before it had attained to the prominence which it possesses
in our day, and yet his faith in it was so firm that he will-
ingly laid down his life in its defence. We have the same
laws and the same infallible guide at our head that the church
then had ; there is no difference and no change in the doctrine,
and our duty is the same. We may not be called upon to lay
down our lives in profession of our faith, but if that be nec-
essary, we ought to be prepared for it. Let us pray for
firmness in faith and purity in morals, and if we cannot ob-
tain that bright crown of martyrdom, we will surely gain the
reward promised and prepared for those who do the work of
the Lord well and faithfully."
The presence of the relics of St. Nazarius served
to strengthen and intensify the faith of the people by
bringing home vividly to their minds the bitter days
of persecution through which the infant Church was
obliged to pass, when no less than eleven million
Christians, rather than renounce the faith, allowed
themselves to be hanged, drawn and quartered or
thrown to wild beasts on the glittering sands of the
Roman amphitheatre. One of the early parishioners
said that he was more impressed by the ceremonies
attending the deposition of the relics of Saint
Nazarius than by any other event in the history of
the church. " We knew the relics were coming," he
added, "and there was a great deal of excitement
over the idea of having the remains of a Saint in
the church."
Before the Solemn Mass on the Feast of St. Pat-
rick, 1874, a statuary group representing the Glori-
ous Apostle of Ireland baptizing the King of Tara,
was blessed in the presence of a large congregation.
The group, which may still be seen above the altar of
the Saint, was once the property of King Ludwig of
Bavaria. He presented it to a priest in the West,
80 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
who sold it to Benziger Bros., from whom the Fathers
purchased it.
The Corpus Christi procession of 1874 attained
splendid preeminence by reason of the fact that
3,000 of the faithful marched in the ranks, and two
companies of the famous Ninth Regiment of Massa-
chusetts formed a guard of honor round the Blessed
Sacrament. The number of non- Catholics who wit-
nessed the inspiring scene was greater than ever, and
after the procession a highly educated man came to
the rectory, and asked to be received into that Church
whose members showed such lively faith in the Real
Presence. Scarcely had he gone, when a woman of
culture and refinement entered, and told one of the
Fathers that she had been so deeply impressed by the
procession of the previous year that it had led to her
conversion; that she was now, thanks to Our Lord in
the Blessed Sacrament, a humble child of the Church ;
that at last she had reached the Harbor of Truth,
safe from the tumbling and tossing of the waves of
doubt and infidelity.
In the summer of 1874, the Fathers sold a piece of
property to the north to the city of Boston, for the
purpose of forming a new public road to be called
" Smith Street." However, they still retained a nar-
row strip of land on the far side of the proposed
street. The portion sold was 40 feet, the part
reserved, 19 feet wide.
On the fourth Sunday of October, to the three
Masses at 5:30, 7:00 and 9:30, a fourth, at 8 A. M.,
was added.
Although the church at this time had been less than
four years in existence, it had become hopelessly
inadequate to accommodate the immense crowds that
frequented it. Its fame had spread not only through-
out Massachusetts, but throughout all New England.
THE PURPLE DAWN 81
This may sound like a sweeping conclusion based on
slender premises, like a vain boast without foundation
in fact ; nevertheless, it is the simple truth. Many
instances in point might be given, but one or two will
have to suffice: as early as 1872, a man suffering from
a severe physical handicap, came all the way from
Vermont for the sole purpose of going to confession
to one of the " Mission Fathers," and a woman, frail
and delicate in health, journeyed 200 miles with the
same end in view. Non-Catholics likewise came from
afar to rest in the shadow of the " fair olive tree in
the plains." Our Lady of Perpetual Help was con-
stantly enlightening souls that had long groped in
the darkness, and leading them to her favored Shrine.
There were in many places "thrilling hearts, trem-
ulous pulses, and eager eyes" looking towards the
spot "whence came that concord of sweet and holy
sounds," that majestic anthem of praise to Mary, of
whom was born the King of Eternal Glory.
Father Petsch, ever since his installation, had been
devoting to the question of a larger church careful
and prayerful thought, serious and profound study.
Quietly he had been maturing his plans for an edifice
that should be, to some degree at least, worthy of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, who had deigned to make the
Mission Church the center of her glories in New Eng-
land. At length he determined to erect a grand,
lofty and stately temple that should be a never-fading
light to guide the feet of Mary's children " o'er moor
and fen, o'er crag and torrent till the night is gone."
" I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a
cypress in Mount Sion; I have stretched out my
branches as the terebinth, and my branches are of
honor and of grace." * The voice of the turtle " was
to be heard in this Boston land ; " the glory of Libanus
. . . the beauty of Carmel and Saron" were to be
82 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
bestowed on the Virgin Mother of God. The people
hailed with delight the idea of a new church; at the
first suggestion of it, the devout clients of Mary
exclaimed, " Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my
beautiful one, and come."
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW CHURCH.
At 8:30 A. M., September 21, 1874, a bright and
beautiful day at the gateway of autumn, the first sod
was turned for the foundation of the new church by
the Rev. Father Petsch. That was an event full of
heavenly joy for the devout faithful; that was an
event that told of gilded palaces in the blessed land
where the God of Infinite Goodness has prepared
many mansions for those who love Him. "Day after
day and in the still night ... as constantly as sun and
moon and stars go forth in heaven," the pious clients
of Mary raised their hearts in fervent prayer to Our
Divine Lord for the success of the great undertaking.
About nine months later, June 8, 1875, the first
stone was laid. The work of construction was begun
at the northwestern buttress, where the wall of the
sanctuary meets the wall of the sacristy. The founda-
tion, which was four feet and a half thick, was laid on
solid rock. " This is the house of the Lord, firmly
built, it is well founded on a firm rock." How
significant that the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help should be built on a rock, like the Universal
Church founded by Christ on the Rock of Peter, nine-
teen hundred years ago !
THE PURPLE DAWN 83
THE LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE.
"Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice
and sing."
On May 28, 1876, just five years to the day after
the Sacred Image of Our Lady had been enthroned,
the corner-stone of the new church was solemnly
blessed and laid by the Most Rev. Archbishop
Williams.
The ceremonies began with a procession of the
people, about 1,200 being in line. They were escorted
by companies E and F of the Massachusetts Volun-
teer Militia under command of Capt. John B.
Reardon of the Grattan light infantry; the First
Lieutenant was Patrick H. Cronin; the Second, Pat-
rick B. Murphy (now the Rev. Patrick B. Murphy,
pastor of the Church of Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary, S. Boston) .
"Among the priests present were: The Reverend
Fathers Blenkinsop, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul's,
South Boston; McGlew, pastor, Chelsea; O'Brien,
pastor, East Cambridge; Brennan, pastor, Dedham;
Corcoran, pastor, Hyde Park; Byrne, pastor of St.
Mary's, Charlestown; Supple, pastor of St. Francis
de Sales', Charlestown; Brady, S.J., St. Mary's,
Boston; Duncan, S. J.; Peters, S. J.; Galvin, Fitz-
patrick, McQuaide, M. X. Carroll, McMahon, Mil-
lerick, Barry of Jamaica Plain, and Anwander,
C. SS.R., Rector of St. Joseph's Church, Roches-
ter, N. Y."
The sermon was preached by the Rt. Rev. James
84 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
A. Healy, Bishop of Portland, Maine. Taking his
text from Josue, 23:27, "Behold this stone shall
be a testimony to you that it hath heard all the words
of the Lord which he hath spoken to you," the
Bishop said:
"Most Rev. Prelate, Rev. Fathers and Brethren: When at
the end of their pilgrimage the Israelites had at last arrived
at the Promised Land, their leader, Josue, before his death,
assembled the people, renewed their covenant with the Lord
and addressed them in the above words. He set up a stone,
and this stone was to be a testimony and a sign of their
covenant, lest they might deny the Lord, their God. In the
same manner the corner-stone which is laid to-day will serve
as a testimony to future times of the dedication of this
church to the service of the Lord. I know not at what epoch
the ceremony of laying the corner-stone originated; in the
ages of persecution the worship of God was often confined
to the crypt or the room, and did not cease to be secret until
after the triumph of the church and the conversion of the
emperors. As from the earliest ages this has been a striking
and significant ceremony, with us it is made a testimony and
a covenant of what the Lord spake to the people of the Lord.
To us the ceremonial becomes a figure not merely of adapta-
tion, but of full and solemn significance. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is the corner-stone. For He, rehearsing the words of
David and Josue, tells us, "The stone which the builders
rejected, hath become the chief stone of the corner." And the
Saints Peter and Paul tell us, that "He is the chief corner-
stone, chief foundation of the Temple." The corner-stone
which forms, as St. Paul tells us, the bond by which Jew and
Gentile are united ; by this corner-stone saint and sinner are
made fellow-members of that spiritual temple of which they
are living stones. Using the same figure Our Lord, address-
ing the Prince of the Apostles, declares : "Thou art Peter,"
that is, a rock ; so Peter and all the Apostles became stones
of that spiritual temple, the Church, but all founded on one
corner-stone Our Saviour, the Foundation of all. Again
St. Paul, addressing the early Christians, tells them that,
whether Jew or Gentile, Barbarian or Scythian, they were
all made members by one temple. Do you not see here an
influence, a union, a spirit acting on us also? Here we are
THE PURPLE DAWN 85
to-day of many countries, of many nationalities, but of one
faith ; and to-day this corner-stone is to be laid, and it shall
be a witness and a testimony to other times of what words
it hath heard, and in this stone to-day, as in the Ark of the
Covenant, is testified a solemn declaration that shall last for
ages. Should time, whose march destroyeth all things, de-
stroy also this temple, then the documents placed under this
stone shall declare the founding of this church in the pon-
tificate of Pius IX, the successor of St. Peter, by the Most
Rev. Archbishop Williams, the angel of the city ; and it is to
be remarked that in the ritual of the prayer used to-day,
special reference is made to this, in order that the grace
which is diffused by the Sacraments may continue to abound
and the faithful to assemble to hear the words of salvation.
"Rev. Fathers, you who revive the primitive fervor and
humility of the apostolic ages, see what a mission is here; to
watch that no error shall enter, to inculcate the fear of God
for the 'fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom'
and from this sanctuary to minister to the wants of the
faithful. This is the sacred fire of which Our Saviour speaks,
and which shall inflame the faithful in the way of salvation.
"Let the walls of this church then arise ; let it spring from
a foundation of living stone ; let it rise high, surmounted by
a cross, and stand as a sign and a monument for our covenant
with God. May the name of the Saviour herein continue to
be invoked and His worship to be practised ! As the inspired
writer says of the Heavenly Jerusalem, 'Jerusalem, thou city
built of living stones,' so let us form one temple, that shall
grow ever towards the blessed abode of one faith, one hope,
one charity, and become partakers of the reward promised
to those who to the end stand firm in the hope of all He has
promised."
At the conclusion of Bishop Healy's scholarly dis-
course, the ceremony proper began. Amid profound
silence the age-old psalms of the church were heard:
" How lovely are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts!"
" Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain
who build it." It was a solemn moment when the
Archbishop, setting the stone, said in grave and
measured tones : " In the faith of Jesus Christ, we lay
86 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
this corner-stone on this foundation: In the name of
the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost ..." At the end of the services, while His
Grace was pronouncing the benediction, the immense
crowd that had assembled in, around, and on the rocky
heights reverently knelt and made the Sign of the
Cross.
The festivities were over. History had been made.
It had been a day of triumph and exaltation for Our
Lady of Perpetual Help. The fragrance of the
Glories of Mary hung around the corner-stone, as
clouds of incense float round the sanctuary after the
God of the Eucharist has withdrawn behind the
door of the Tabernacle. The sun had set on as fair a
day as ever issued from the creative hand of Him
" who dwells in light inaccessible." In a rich velvet
sky, the serene and silent stars had taken up their
faithful vigil before the sapphire throne of Her who is
the Queen of Heaven. In the peace and quiet of the
domestic chapel, the Fathers and the Brothers had
lifted up their voices in that grand old prayer, " Hail,
Holy Queen!" Fatigued from the labors of the day,
they had retired to rest. They were dreaming,
dreaming of the glories that were to come, dreaming
of the " Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
beneath her feet." But, alas! their dreams were
doomed to be broken by an appalling reality.
In dead silence the night was wearing on, when
suddenly, at half past eleven, out on the still air rang
the terrible cry of " Fire! Fire!" Brother Chrysos-
tom, a light sleeper, smelling smoke and hearing the
crackling of flames, gave the alarm : the rectory was
on fire. Making a mad rush for the community bell,
he rang it frantically until all his brethren had been
aroused from sleep. Out into the corridors they
THE PURPLE DAWN 87
staggered, half dazed and terror-stricken. The
flames were leaping in big sheets from the library
and the adjoining staircase. " Make sure that all are
awake!" cried out one. "Save what you can!"
shouted another. In a few seconds, one of the Fath-
ers succeeded in reaching the church, and began to
ring the bell as a sign to the neighbors that fire had
broken out. As the church was in danger of catching
fire, he at once removed the Blessed Sacrament and
the sacred vessels to the home of a devout Catholic
family nearby.
As soon as our good loyal people heard the
jerky, nervous ringing of the bell, they surmised
what the trouble was. Men, women, and children,
impelled by deep faith and fond love of Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, fairly flew to the rectory,
many of them reaching there even before the firemen.
The first thought of these devoted souls was of the
Fathers. Women as well as men had to be restrained
from plunging into the burning building to rescue
the members of the community. Everyone who
could be of any material assistance, worked with
feverish energy to save whatever was possible. The
children, the aged, and the infirm knelt in the garden,
on Bumstead Lane, and on the ledge, and prayed
aloud, " O God save the little church!" " O Mother of
Perpetual Help, save the Fathers." Groups of
women recited the Rosary in common until the fire
had been extinguished. Had it been their own houses
that were burning, these noble men and women
scions of a brave and generous race could not have
done more than they did. At half past two in the
morning, the flames were subdued, but not until the
rectory had been literally flooded with water. Thank
God and His Blessed Mother, however, the little
church, so dear to everyone, was saved !
88 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
While the fire was at its height, Father Kuper
ordered one of the firemen to play the hose on a cer-
tain spot. The answer, brief and blunt, was " Go
to ." In an instant half a dozen brawny men set
upon the uncouth fellow, and had it not been for the
merciful interference of Father Kuper, they might
have done him serious personal injury.
The fire started in a little closet or storeroom on
the first floor, and destroyed the central portion of
the house together with the eastern wing. Fortu-
nately, there was no wind to fan the flames,
otherwise the whole house and the church also might
have been consumed. The origin of the fire was
never determined, though at the time there were
strong suspicions that it was the work of an incendi-
ary, and such was the firm belief of many of the
people. However, it is quite probable that it was due
to spontaneous combustion. The only one to sustain
any injury was Father Miller, who, in jumping from
a window, sprained his ankle.
At 7 o'clock the next morning, one of the Jesuit
Fathers of Boston College called at the rectory, and
invited the entire community to take up their resi-
dence at that institution for as long a time as they
wished. For a period of five days. Fathers Mclner-
ney, Bausch, John Lowekamp, and John Rebhan
availed themselves of the kind invitation. Father
Miller stayed one week at the house of a nearby
Catholic family. For quite a long time, the doors of
every home in the neighborhood were wide open to
the Fathers, but most of them preferred to remain at
home, and there make the best of their lack of
accommodations.
The faithful brought to the rectory articles of food
and clothing in abundance. The poorest were the
most generous. Laboring men, widows, servant-
THE PURPLE DAWN 89
girls who lived on a mere pittance, offered the Fath-
ers five, ten, twenty, and even fifty dollars. Father
Stuhl, who at the time wrote an account of the fire,
said: "May the Redemptorists of Boston never for-
get the extraordinary generosity of these good people,
and may those who come after us never neglect the
poor for those who are well-off in the goods of this
world."
As soon as the turmoil occasioned by the fire had
subsided, Father Petsch began to make the necessary
repairs and alterations to the building. The floors
and the ceilings which had been damaged were quick-
ly restored. In the rear of the house, where the porch
formerly stood, a new sacristy was built. The little
church was moved from its original site to the place
previously occupied by that section of the house which
had been destroyed by the fire. Father Stuhl, describ-
ing the moving, says with a fine touch of humor:
"It was wonderful to be sitting in the confessional
and listening to the bedlam of noises beneath the
church; the clanking of iron bars, the grinding of
screws, the creaking of beams, and the smothered
sound of human voices, was sufficient to frighten any
sinner into contrition." Not the least accident hap-
pened during this work; but when the old sacristy
was being demolished, two men fell a distance of
about 20 feet. Although considerably shaken up,
they were not seriously injured and were able to
resume work shortly afterwards.
Father Petsch now turned his attention to the new
church, and with indomitable energy, lofty courage
and sublime confidence sped the construction from
day to day. His overmastering love of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help made him almost omnipresent. He
was here, there, and everywhere else ; guiding, direct-
ing, and superintending the mighty task to which he
90 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
had dedicated all the resources of his mind and all
the powers of his soul. Under his keen and watchful
eye, the mallets and the chisels sang a roundelay in
Mary's honor, and the gray walls of the majestic
edifice began to rise, eagle-like, towards her starry
mansion. As time went on, difficulties presented
themselves, but Father Petsch met and mastered
them successfully; for he was a man who knew how
to change stumbling-blocks into stepping-stones. As
soon as the building was under roof, the nimble
plasterer hung his scaffold in the dizzy height and
merrily plied his trade; and the spry carpenter, rule
and level in hand, hastened from vestibule to nave,
from nave to apse, and from the eastern to the
western transept; everywhere busy, everywhere
bringing into being new forms of beauty.
THE REV. WILLIAM LOWEKAMP, C. SS.R., RECTOR.
In July, 1877, when the regular triennial appoint-
ments of Redemptorist Superiors were made, Father
Petsch was succeeded by the Rev. William Lowe-
kamp, C. SS. R., former Superior of St. Patrick's
Church, Quebec. Father Petsch, however, remained
attached to the Boston Community, and, in recogni-
tion of his distinguished services, was appointed offi-
cial Monitor to the new Rector.
Father Lowekamp, a priest consumed with zeal for
the honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, was a
worthy successor of Father Petsch, whose plans he
followed in the construction of the church. As the
rough, heavy tasks had already been accomplished,
he was able to proceed without setback or delay.
The first assemblage of the faithful in the new
church was held August 15, 1877, when the children
THE PURPLE DAWN 91
who had contributed to the rose window, met to
receive the prizes awarded them for their generous
cooperation.
Twelve days later a mission for the children, truly
remarkable in its results, was begun in the old church.
At every exercise nearly 1,400 were present. Many
of the children came from Cambridge, Lynn, and
other places farther away, and boarded with Catholic
families in the neighborhood during the mission. For
two days seven Fathers were kept busy hearing their
confessions. The general communion at the close of
the exercises, on August 30, was a beautiful sight.
The parents of the little ones, as well as the Fathers,
took the keenest interest in the mission and spared
no pains to make it an event which the children
would remember to their dying day.
On December 2, the last Sunday Mass was cele-
brated in the old church. It was a Solemn Mass of
thanksgiving for all the graces bestowed on the
people within those sacred precincts so dear to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help. A sermon in harmony
with the touching occasion was preached, and the edi-
fice was crowded to the very doors. The faithful were
loath to part with " the little church on the hill." It
was the light of their eyes and the delight of their
hearts. They loved it with a deep and tender love.
They loved its modest portals. They loved its every
beam and rafter. They loved its very shadow, as it
lengthened in the gathering dusk. To them it spoke
with thrilling eloquence of the better land and the
brighter world, where the Mother of Perpetual Help
is Queen forever. The sanctuary rail was thronged
with loyal sons and daughters of the Mission Church
who wished to receive a last Holy Communion within
the holy place that had helped to brighten and
hallow their lives. Before leaving, some of them
kissed again and again the floor, the walls, and the
Communion rail. Others hunted for souvenirs and
found them. Even to this day several of the old
families guard as sacred treasures the mementoes
which they then obtained. Others went to the Fath-
ers and asked if it were possible to have just one more
Mass said in the old church before it would be aban-
doned. On all sides a holy sadness was visible, a
sadness like that which makes the heart of affection-
ate children sink, when for the last time they look on
the pallid features of the mother they revered and
adored.
On December 7, confessions were heard for the first
time in the basement of the new church. The follow-
ing day, the glorious Feast of the Immaculate Con-
ception, the first Holy Mass was said there. At the
same time the wonder-working Image of Our Lady
of Perpetual Help was transferred to its new abode.
On this occasion the little boys' choir, which had just
been organized, gave its initial performance. The
day after, the relics of St. Nazarius was borne to their
temporary repository, beneath the high altar in the
basement.
At the close of 1877, the Mission Church had fully
justified its popular name. The Chronicler of the
community wrote:
"Our labors in the church may justly be called a per-
petual mission because of the tremendous crowds who come
here, because of the immense number of confessions (espe-
cially general confessions) we hear, and because of our con-
stant labors in preaching the word of God. Truly, the bless-
ing of Our Lady of Perpetual Help rests visibly on the
church."
The name of the Mission Church had become as
"oil poured out." 'Glorious things were said of
her this city of God.' 'The Lord possessed her
THE PURPLE DAWN
93
in the beginnings of her ways.' ' He that is mighty
had done great things to her.' "Her spirit was
sweeter than honey and her heritage than the honey-
comb." Her mercy was destined to extend from
generation to generation; yet, to the powers of dark-
ness, she was to be for all time as " terrible as an army
set in battle array."
But, the old church had grown into the new, even
as the purple dawn brightens into the golden sunrise.
Ana
MARY
ARMY
gram
How well her name an army doth present
In whom the Lord of Hosts did pitch his tent.
GEORGE HERBERT.
SECOND PERIOD
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE
FROM THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW
CHURCH TO THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF THE PARISH
1878-1883
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE.
" Who is she that hath gone forth like the sun, and
as beautiful as Jerusalem?" General Office of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW
CHURCH.
On Passion Sunday, April 7, 1878, in the presence
of several thousand people, the magnificent new
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was solemn-
ly dedicated by the Most Rev. Archbishop Williams.
Promptly at ten o'clock the procession, composed
of the altar- and the choir-boys, the attendant
clergy, and the Most Rev. Archbishop, began to move
round the church. After the sprinkling of the walls
and the singing of the prescribed psalms, His Grace
celebrated Pontifical Mass. The assistant priest was
the Rev. John Barry of Concord, N. H., Vicar Gen-
eral of the diocese of Portland ; the deacons of honor
were the Rev. W. A. Blenkinsop of Saints Peter
and Paul's Church, S. Boston, and the Rev. T. H.
Shahan of the St. James's Church; the deacon of the
Mass, the Rev. James E. O'Brien of St. Peter's
Church, Cambridge; the subdeacon, the Rev. L. J.
Morris of Brookline; the master of ceremonies, the
Rev. Theodore A. Metcalf, Chancellor 'of the
Archdiocese,
98 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
" Among the other clergymen present were the Rt.
Rev. P. T. O'Reilly, Bishop of Springfield, Mass.,
with the Rev. M. Moran of St. Stephen's, Boston,
and the Rev. D. O'Callaghan of St. Augustine's, S.
Boston, as chaplains; the Very Rev. Elias F.
Schauer, C. SS. R., the Superior of the Baltimore
Province; the Rev. Henry Dauenhauer, C. SS.R., of
Baltimore; the Rev. Thaddeus Anwander, C. SS.R.,
of New York; the Rev. John Lowekamp, C. SS.R.,
of Annapolis, Md.; the Rev. Aegidius Smulders,
C. SS. R., of St. Louis; the Rev. Theodore Lamy,
C. SS. R., and the Rev. Frederick Favre,
C. SS. R., of New Orleans; the Rev. Augustine
Stuhl, C. SS.R.. of Baltimore; the Rev. William
Lowekamp, C. SS. R., the Rev. Augustine Freitag,
C. SS. R., the Rev. Leopold Petsch, C. SS. R., the
Rev. Louis Dold, C. SS. R., the Rev. Francis Miller,
C. SS. R., the Rev. Michael Oates, C. SS. R., the
Rev. Charles Sigl, C. SS. R., the Rev. Philip Ross-
bach, C. SS.R., and the Rev. Peter Bausch, C. SS.R.,
of the Mission Church ; the Rev. James Fitton, of the
Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, E. Boston;
the Rev. John O'Brien, of E. Cambridge, the Rev.
Thomas Magennis, of Jamaica Plain; the Rev. J.
Delahunty, of St. Francis de Sales' Church, High-
lands; the Rev. Peter Ronan, of St. Peter's Church,
Dorchester; the Rev. James McGlew, of St. Rose's
Church, Chelsea; the Rev. John D. Tierney, of St.
Francis de Sales' Church, Highlands; the Rev. J.
Dompieri, S. J., of the Church of the Immaculate
Conception; the Rev. F. X. Nopper, S. J., of the
Church of the Holy Trinity; the Rev. W. H. Dun-
can, S. J., of St. Mary's Church; the Rev. J. B.
O'Hagan, S. J., president of Holy Cross College,
Worcester; the Rev. P. H. Toner, S. J., of Boston
College; the Rev. J. McGrath, O. M. I., of Lowell;
REV. WILLIAM LOWER AMP, C.SS.R.
Rector 18/7-1880. Died in St. Louis, July 2Oth, 1899
REV. JOSEPH 'KENNING, C.SS.R.
Rector 1880-1887. Died in New York City July 3, 1912
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 99
the Rev. Joachim Geueniri, O. S. F., of St. Leonard's
Church; the Rev. Vincent Borgialli, O. S. F., of the
Church of the Gate of Heaven. In the congregation
were many prominent citizens, among whom was His
Excellency Governor Rice."
The sermon was preached by the Rev. James
Fitton, of East Boston, the oldest priest in the dio-
cese, who the previous December had celebrated the
Golden Jubilee of his ordination. Referring to the
marvelous growth of Catholicity in Boston within his
own time and to the many beautiful edifices recently
erected in evidence of that growth, Father Fitton
said :
"Another grand monument of Catholicity in Boston, the
Cradle of Liberty ! What an interesting page of ecclesiasti-
cal history remains to be written of this Archdiocese, aye,
and of New England ! What extraordinary revolution does
time effect !
"How short the time is since a Catholic priest, in those
days termed a 'popish' priest, would scarcely have dared to
raise his voice in this colony of Massachusetts. Seventy-five
years ago, the first Catholic Church was erected in Boston,
and was dedicated by Bishop Carroll of Baltimore, there
being then only two priests in Boston, Fathers Matignon
and Cheverus. Twenty-five years subsequently, under the
administration of the saintly Bishop Fenwick, Saint Mary's
and Saint Patrick's Churches were erected. Look around
now ! In the place of one small church of seventy-five years
ago, then ample, now we have our monumental Cathedral,
St. Mary's, Endicott St., the Immaculate Conception, St.
James's, St. Stephen's, St. Patrick's, Holy Trinity, SS.
Peter and Paul's, St. Augustine's, Gate of Heaven, St. Vin-
cent's, St. Joseph's, St. Francis de Sales', Most Holy Re-
deemer, the Assumption, Sacred Heart, Star of the Sea, St.
John Baptist's, St. Leonard's, St. Peter's, and the magnifi-
cent edifice, a gem of architecture, and a masterpiece of
mechanism, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the church this day
dedicated to the holy service of Catholicity and, without
enumerating chapels, all erected within the past half of a
century."
100 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
After mentioning the various institutions estab-
lished by the Catholics of Boston within the same
period, the reverend preacher continued: "Within a
stone's throw of where I now stand, there was in the
days of my boyhood, one of those red-painted school
houses, in which I learned my first lesson from Lind-
ley Murray's grammar. On the spot on which I now
stand, or near it, Washington proclaimed liberty to
every son of Ireland, of France, or any other land
a happiness which we now enjoy." After drawing a
bright picture of the future of Catholicism in Boston,
he concluded his discourse by emphasizing in eloquent
language the essential grandeur of a Catholic Church
as the Tabernacle of God Himself.
Under the direction of Mr. Joseph Kohler, the
choir sang Volger's Mass, with the Misses M. A.
Murphy and T. McAuley as sopranos; Miss Mary
Callaghan, alto; Joseph W. Byrne, tenor; Abraham
T. Rogers, bass; assisted by a chorus of twenty-five
voices and sustained by the organ, at which Miss
Nellie McGowan presided. At the evening exercises
the Rev. Robert Fulton, S. J., preached. The music
was plain Gregorian chant sung by a chorus of sixty
boys and girls.
Description of the Church in 1878.
The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a
Romanesque structure built of Roxbury pudding-
stone trimmed with Quincy granite. It is cruciform
in plan, with a vestibule, nave, two aisles, and tran-
sept. The nave terminates in a semicircular apse; at
the western end of the transept, there is another
apse, but of smaller dimensions.
As the church stands fifty feet back of the building
line, the observer gets a clear view of the exterior,
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 101
the dominating feature of which is the octagonal-
shaped dome raised over the crossing of the nave and
the transept. The dome, whose inner diameter is
forty feet, is surmounted by a gilded cross, which
rises 165 feet above the ground. The three principal
entrances are in the gable end wall of the nave, facing
Tremont Street. On the east and west sides, there
are two additional entrances leading into the transept.
The ceiling of the vestibule has a groined-vaulted
appearance ; at the eastern end of the vestibule is the
baptistry; at the western, the stairs leading to the
organ loft, and the passageway to the rectory.
On entering the nave from the vestibule, the ob-
server is struck with surprise at the slenderness of the
columns supporting the whole upper structure.
These columns, five distributed on each side and four
clustered at the crossing of the nave and the transept,
have bases and capitals of fine-grained sandstone of
warm grayish color, and shafts constructed of a single
piece of polished granite, twenty-one inches in
diameter and fourteen feet in height. The color of
the shafts is very dark gray alternating with red.
The carving of the capitals is rich and bold; each
bears the symbols of the four Evangelists. The strong
heavy abacus so characteristic of the style ex-
presses well the ability of the capitals to support the
great weight imposed on them. Arches with deep
soffits, and mouldings at the edges, stretch from
column to column supporting the walls of the nave
and clerestory. On the face of the nave wall, over
each column, is a circular wall-shaft with ornamental
capitals, which receive the transverse arches and ribs
of the vaulting and divide the nave into bays. In
each bay, above the arches over the columns, the nave
wall is pierced with triple openings which have semi-
circular tops, columns and pilasters: through these
openings the observer gets a glimpse into the trifo-
rium. Above the openings, are ranged the clerestory
mullion windows, which, with their simple Roman-
esque tracery in the upper part, admit a flood of light
into the nave.
The design of the triforium is carried around the
side walls of the transept and of the apse; thus are
formed niches with flat walls. The transept gable
walls and the nave gable wall have rose windows of
Romanesque design.
The bays of the aisles have a groined-vaulted-ceil-
ing effect, with transverse arches and diagonal ribs.
The walls are pierced with mullion-windows adorned
with simple tracery in the upper parts. Under these
windows, are the ten confessionals; they are of black
polished walnut and are partly recessed into the walls.
The walls of the octagonal dome rest on the four
arches spanning nave and transept, and on the
pendentives which serve as a medium for the trans-
formation of the square form into the octagonal.
The ceiling of the dome also, has the form of a groined
vault; the gallery of the dome is furnished with har-
moniously proportioned double openings with semi-
circular tops. Columns and pilasters run round the
base of the dome. Above the gallery, in each bay,
is a rose window of simple design. In the angles of
the octagon, are placed circular shafts resting on
ornamental brackets, and surmounted by capitals
which receive the ribs of the dome vault.
By the substitution of granite columns for the
heavy piers of masonry common to most Roman-
esque churches, the architect succeeded in giving to
the congregation an almost unobstructed view of the
altars and of the pulpit, while preserving in the treat-
ment of the bases and of the capitals the essential
character of the style.
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 103
In the northwestern corner of the cross formed by
the plan of the church, are the sacristies, with a stair-
case connecting the upper and lower church.
The principal dimensions of the church are as
follows: Total length, 214 feet; width, 82 feet; ex-
treme width of transept, 119 feet; clear width of nave
and of transept, 38 feet; of aisles, 17 feet. The
interior heights are: Nave and transept, from floor
to apex of ceiling, 67 feet ; in the aisles, 32 feet ; from
floor to ceiling of dome, 110 feet. The granite col-
umns are 21 feet 6 inches from floor to top of abacus,
and the springing-line of the vaulting of the nave
ceiling is 47 feet above the floor. The aisle- windows
are 11 feet from the floor, and are 15 feet high and 5
feet wide. The clerestory windows are 49 feet from
the floor, 12 feet high and 6 feet 6 inches wide.
There are seven altars: The High Altar, which is
situated in the semicircular apse in which the nave
terminates; the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help or the Shrine, in the smaller apse at the west-
ern end of the transept; and the altars of the Sacred
Heart, the Holy Family, St. Joseph, St. Patrick,
and St. Alphonsus, distributed on both sides.
The beauty and gracefulness of the architectural
lines, when considered in connection with the spiritual
wealth of which the church is the visible symbol and
repository, fling round the beholder a mystic spell
which eludes and defies the power of words. The
charm felt is of that subtle and sublimated character
which is too deep and too vast in its sacred influences
to be contracted within the narrow limits of halting
and feeble human language. The only adequate and
correct interpreter of the beauty of the edifice, is the
pure heart filled with love of Our Blessed Mother,
and the soul lifted up by prayer above the sordid
things of earth and transported to the regions where
dwells the Queen of Beauty.
104 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
On Friday, June 28, the Feast of the Sacred
Heart, Holy Mass was celebrated for the first time
at the corresponding altar. The number of Holy
Communions eclipsed all previous records for a week
day. The following month the two temporary altars
of the Holy Family and of St. Patrick were dedicated
to divine service.
For a few months after the new church had been
opened, the old church remained where it had been
moved subsequently to the fire; but on August 22,
the steeple was torn down, and the remainder of the
building was swung round to the right and joined to
the rectory, of which it then became part. This
annex was so remodelled as to afford room for a com-
munity chapel and several living apartments. Be-
tween the rectory thus constituted and the church, a
covered passageway was built.
The Feast of the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady,
1878, is memorable as the day on which the first Mass
at the Shrine was said. The celebrant was the
designer of the altar, the Rev. Louis Dold, C. SS. R.,
a member of the community. Father Dold devised
the plans for the High Altar also, and the altars of the
Sacred Heart, of the Holy Family, and of St. Pat-
rick. A little later he designed and built the beautiful
marble pulpit, which to this day adorns the church.
The manifold parts, which he had obtained from 24
marble-dealers, Protestant as well as Catholic, in
New York and in Boston, he constructed with his
own hands. The pulpit is composed of varicolored
marbles and built along devotional as well as
aesthetic lines. The face presents six panels on which
are engraved symbols expressive of various points of
Catholic doctrine. The Eternity of God is typified
by the Greek letters, " Alpha and Omega"; the teach-
ing office of the church, by the open Bible and the
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 105
two tablets of the law; the Primacy of the Pope, by
the tiara and the keys ; and the victory of the martyrs,
by a sword, a dagger, and a torch. On November
24, Father Dold had the honor of preaching the first
sermon from the pulpit.
On Sunday, December 1, just at the beginning of
the Advent season, the first mission in the new church
was inaugurated. The sacred crusade was conducted
by the Rev. Fathers Lowekamp, Freitag, Dold,
Petsch, Wissel, Burke, Rossbach, Oates, Bausch,
Trimpel, and Kolb; all of whom, Father Burke ex-
cepted, were members of the Boston Community.
About 2,000 people attended the formal opening,
which took place with fitting solemnities at the High
Mass. In the evening, more than 2,300 women were
present. While the women's mission was in progress,
the Very Rev. Father Provincial, Elias Frederick
Schauer, C. SS. R., a flaming torch of apostolic zeal,
arrived from Quebec. On seeing the tremendous
crowds, he became so enthusiastic that he took his
place in the confessional, and heard until the close of
the women's mission. As many as 4,100 women made
the mission.
The men's mission, which began December 11, was
marked by extraordinary manifestations of faith and
fervor. 3,100 confessions were heard, 74 men re-
ceived their first Communion, and 6 converts were
left under instruction. The large Crucifix, bearing
the date, December 22, 1878, which to this day one
sees affixed to the western wall of the vestibule, was
erected as a perpetual memorial of this mission.
About 4 P. M. July 16, 1879, a disastrous tornado
swept over the city. The rose window of the western
transept and several other windows on the same side
of the church and in the dome, were badly damaged.
The confessionals on the Gospel side were flooded
106 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
with water, while terror-stricken penitents clamored
for absolution, as if at the point of death. The light-
ning struck in several places in the neighborhood; a
great many vessels in the harbor were wrecked; and
more than fifty corpses were washed ashore next
morning.
On December 14, 1879, for the first time in the
history of the church, a newly ordained priest, the
Rev. John A. B. Conroy, celebrated his First Holy
Mass. He was born in this city, and was graduated
from St. Mary's School in the North End. He then
entered Boston College, where, being both studious
and talented, he always stood high in his class.
Subsequently, he was admitted to St. Francis'
Seminary, Milwaukee, where he was ordained for the
diocese of La Crosse by its Bishop, the Rt. Rev.
Michael Heiss. As Father Conroy in his student
days had been a familiar figure around the Mission
Church, his First Mass was very well attended.
The energetic Father Dold, who was always evolv-
ing new schemes to add to the beauty of Our Blessed
Mother's temple, determined, early in 1880, to pro-
cure marble steps for the pulpit which he had erected.
For this purpose he wrote to his sister in Belgium,
who was in comfortable circumstances, to solicit her
aid and cooperation. He received a prompt reply
in the shape of 1,500 francs, which sum enabled him
to achieve his project. The steps were built in the
spring, and gave to the pulpit an added air of solidity
and stability. Smitten with love of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, he could not rest until he had done
everything possible to enhance the splendors of the
church. His fine perception of the fitness of things
suggested to him that the side altars in the sanctuary
looked rather bare and were susceptible of much
adornment. From the Rev. Father Rector of the
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 107
Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, N. Y., he pro-
cured two tabernacles, which he set up with his own
hands. He made elegant frames for the two large
paintings of St. Joseph and of St. Alphonsus, which
graced their respective altars. When his keen sense
of proportion dictated to him that the candlesticks
were too small for the altars, he set his busy brain and
deft hands to work; and in a short time we had on
each of the altars in the sanctuary six large wooden
candlesticks cleverly turned, carved, and bronzed.
His next move was to procure new frames for the
Stations of the Cross. We ordinary mortals should
have considered them in perfect keeping with the
other appointments of the church, but to a man of his
highly-developed artistic taste, they did not appear
fully worthy of the stately edifice. With all the skill
of a master, he fashioned frames which harmonized
nicely with the whole architectural scheme.
Father Dold was a man of rare attainments. He
was not only a fervent priest and a zealous mission-
ary but also a skilled mechanic, a gifted artist, and
an accomplished linguist. His versatile talents,
moreover, were sharpened and refined by extensive
travel and wide reading. To him the lovers of the
Mission Church owe a lasting debt of gratitude for
his noble exertions to heighten her beauty. His activi-
ties in this direction ceased only when he was trans-
ferred to other fields.
THE REV. JOSEPH HENNING, C. SS. R.,
BECOMES RECTOR.
In July, 1880, the Rev. William Lowekamp was
succeeded as Rector by the Rev. Joseph Henning,
former Superior of St. Patrick's Church, Quebec.
108 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Father Lowekamp, during his three years in
office, finished the church, enlarged the rectory, and
greatly beautified the community garden. By his
kindly manner and deep solicitude for those com-
mitted to his care, he endeared himself to his brethren
in religion and to the people. With the good wishes
and prayers of all, he left Boston, July 14, for Que-
bec, where he was to take Father Henning's place.
With the advent of Father Henning, the curtain
rose on the golden age of eloquence in the Mission
Church. By common consent he was a pulpit- and
platform-orator de luxe and naturally his sermons
and lectures drew great crowds. One such lecture,
delivered in the basement of the church, March 20,
1881, had for its subject "The Great Grievance of
Ireland." The house was thronged with passionate
lovers of the Emerald Isle the Niobe that weeps
by the sounding sea. Father Henning, of course, did
not stoop to any cheap oratorical tricks ; yet he played
on the emotions of his hearers as a skilful harpist
sweeps his strings. He had his audience swaying
between tears and cheers. At one moment they sat
in pensive silence, mourning over the seven bitter
centuries of bloody persecution ; at the next, they were
on their feet, hailing with rapturous delight the bliss-
ful day when the old land shall be governed by the
ballots of freemen, not by the bayonets of the oppres-
sor; when Right shall succeed Might; and when the
morning sunbeams shall caress the glorious banner
of Ireland free and independent.
On the Feast of Pentecost, 1881, the following
announcement was made from the pulpit : " On the
Sunday after Trinity Sunday, June 19, the Rev.
John J. Frawley, C. SS. R., who will be raised to the
priesthood in our Order next Sunday, will celebrate
his first Mass in this church. We know that you will
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 109
all take part in the joy of this day, as the young cele-
brant is a child of this church, and, I may say, one of
your own."
The day dawned bright and beautiful an ideal
day for so gladsome an event. Promptly at 10
o'clock Father Frawley, assisted by Father O'Brien
as deacon and Father Kreis as subdeacon, began the
celebration of Holy Mass. The high altar was ablaze
with a myriad of lights and bedecked with a rich
profusion of flowers. The church was packed with
relatives, friends, and boyhood companions of the
young priest, who, after years of absence, had come
back to them again, crowned with the honor and glory
of the eternal priesthood. Father Hennlng preached
on the sublime dignity of the priesthood, its marvel-
ous powers, and its tremendous responsibilities. In
his peroration he made a fervid appeal to the con-
gregation to pray for the success and perseverance
of the newly ordained priest.
In the afternoon Father Frawley was celebrant at
the Solemn Procession in honor of the Blessed Sac-
rament, the day being the Sunday within the octave
of Corpus Christi. More than 2,000 of the faithful
were in line, of whom 1,200 were members of the
Holy Family Association. The crowd of spectators
was so large that 15 policemen were on hand to pre-
serve order, but the only thing they had to do was
to admire the faith and devotion of the people. A
special musical program with a highly artistic flavor
was rendered. The day was one of unalloyed happi-
ness for Father Frawley, who was No. 1 among many
newly ordained Redemptorists who have said their
first Mass at the Mission Church.
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Gross, C. SS. R., of Savan-
nah, came to Boston, July 20, 1882, in order to spend
a few days with the Fathers. It goes without saying
110 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
that he received a most hearty welcome, and that his
visit was a source of genuine pleasure. His merry
laugh, his keen wit, and his fine courtesy delight-
fully beguiled the passing hours. The following Sun-
day, the 23d, he preached at the High Mass. The an-
nouncement to that effect drew a great crowd to the
church long before the appointed hour. His Lordship,
in pontificals, preceded by the cross-bearer, twenty
sanctuary boys, and the Fathers of the community,
marched from the front door of the rectory to the
main entrance of the church, where a large delegation
of the men's Holy Family Society knelt to receive
his blessing. The Mass was sung by the Rev.
Augustine J. Weisser, C. SS. R., of New York. The
Bishop, who occupied an improvised throne on the
Epistle side of the sanctuary, was attended by the
Rev. Fathers Gates and Schmidt, members of the
community, as deacons of honor. He took for his
text the wor<Js of the Archangel Gabriel to Our
Blessed Lady, "Hail, full of grace!" With all his
old charm and all the old wealth of his love for Mary,
he spoke of her transcendent greatness and of the
sublime encomium bestowed on her in the exultant
greeting of the Archangel, a greeting that sprang
not from enthusiasm, but from the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost. Those words of the celestial messenger
proved her real intrinsic holiness and her worthiness
of the unique honor conferred on her. She it was,
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, who had lavished so
many favors on the Mission Church, and who, since
his last visit to Boston, had enabled her devoted serv-
ants, the Redemptorist Fathers, to erect this magni-
ficent cathedral, as he might justly call it. He
concluded his sermon by exhorting his hearers to
cherish a tender and childlike devotion to the Blessed
Virgin, especially under the title of Our Lady of
THE GOLDEN SUNRISE 111
Perpetual Help. When the Bishop was passing out
of the church after Mass, an edifying incident
occurred: a horsecar crowded with passengers
approached the church; the driver, on catching a
glimpse of the Bishop, at once stopped his car, and,
though the conductor pulled the bell vigorously for
him to go on, would not start it again, until on
bended knee he had received the prelate's blessing,
which was cordially given.
The same evening, the Rt. Rev. Bishop, drawing
inspiration from the parable of the unjust steward,
preached on " The Value of Time." On July 27,
followed by a thousand benedictions, he left for
New York.
A mammoth fair for the benefit of the church was
opened in the basement, March 26, 1883. The first
night, the Adjutant General of the Governor with
his staff, Mayor Palmer, and several other gentlemen
prominent in the official life of the State and the city
were present. Had not a previous engagement of a
pressing nature necessitated his absence, the Gover-
nor himself would have attended. Father Henning
made the opening address, and his appropriate re-
marks won the admiration and enlisted the enthusi-
astic cooperation of his audience. The Adjutant
General, in the name of the Governor, then spoke
briefly, after which Mayor Palmer delivered a very
appreciative speech. With evident sincerity, he
praised the work which the Fathers were doing, and
pointed out that the Mission Church had become a
mighty force for good not only in the religious but
also in the civic life of Boston. The fair lasted a
whole month, and received so much newspaper notice
that enormous crowds attended it, and, pleased with
its novel and ingenious attractions, showed the
greatest generosity.
112 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Within five years after the dedication of the
church, the Catholic population of Roxbury had in-
creased by leaps and bounds. Almost over night,
new houses sprang up in all sections of the district.
As if by magic the country aspect of the place
changed, and it began to assume the appearance of a
populous city.
A new era was about to dawn for the Mission
Church. She was soon to witness a marvelous expan-
sion of her activities, as when the sun fully risen
grows in splendor as it mounts the heavens, and the
broad light of day floods every hill and dale, and
quickens into fuller energy every living thing on
earth. Our Lady of Perpetual Help was preparing
fresh triumphs for the sanctuary so dear to Her, and
" The Glories of Mary in Boston," were about to take
on that dazzling lustre which befits Her whom Holy
Church salutes as " House of Gold."
Nor Bethlehem nor Nazareth
Apart from Mary's care,
Nor Heaven itself a home for Him,
Were not His Mother there.
REY. JOHN B. TABB.
THIRD PERIOD
THE GROWING SPLENDOR
FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
PARISH TO THE PRESENT TIME
1883-1921
00
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SACRED HEART ALTAR
THE GROWING SPLENDOR.
" I made that in the heavens there should rise light
that never faileth." (Ecclesiasticus, 24:6) Office
for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
PARISH
On April 6, 1883, the Most Rev. Archbishop Wil-
liams accorded the Mission Church the full rank of
a parish church.
4 When the district surrounding the church had
become thickly populated, whereas the people could
not receive all the necessary spiritual assistance
from the Mission Church, as it was not a parish
church, His Grace Archbishop Williams, recogniz-
ing the need of such a church in the vicinity,
proposed to the Fathers the erection of their church
into a regular canonical parish. The proposition
was received with favor by the Fathers, who, on
April 8, 1883, announced to the people the limits of
the parish and forthwith took their entire spiritual
care into their hands " (Catholic Church of New
England, Archdiocese of Boston, Parish of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, p. 162).
The Mission Church Parish was formed from St.
Francis de Sales', Roxbury, St. Mary's, Brookline,
and St. Thomas', Jamaica Plain.
It must be clearly understood that after the
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help had been
placed on a parochial basis, it did not by any means
116 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
cease to be a mission center; on the contrary, the
work of giving missions was prosecuted with the
same zeal as theretofore.
A few weeks after the establishment of the parish,
the welcome news was received that His Holiness
Pope Leo XIII had granted to those who should
pray before the seven altars in the Mission Church,
during the month of May, the same indulgences that
could be gained by visiting the seven altars in St.
Peters' Church in Rome. The prayers were to be
said for the intention of the Holy Father, and the
indulgences might be gained as often as the visits
were made. With pious avidity, the faithful availed
themselves of this fine opportunity of partaking of
the Church's rich spiritual treasures; and the gra-
cious concession of the great Pontiff served wonder-
fully to stimulate the devotion of the Catholic masses
of Boston to the thrice Blessed Mother of God.
More than ever, the Mission Church became the
haven and home of those who sought surcease of sor-
row and freedom from sin at the feet of Her who has
never been invoked in vain. Every day from morn-
ing till night, loving children of the Mother of
Mercy could be seen making the rounds of the altars.
About the middle of June, an able sculptor began
the work of carving above the main entrance of the
church a beautiful bas-relief representing Our Lady
of Perpetual Help bearing the Divine Infant in her
arms, with the Archangel Gabriel on the right and
the Archangel Michael on the left, exhibiting to
the frightened Child the instruments of His future
Passion. The work was done under peculiar
difficulties, and its clever execution was a clear proof
of the genius of the artist.
On Sunday, Sept. 23, the Rev. John B. Daily,
C. SS. R., of Danvers, Mass., celebrated his first
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 117
Mass at the Mission Church. He was assisted by
the Rev. Eugene Walsh, C. SS. R., as deacon, and
the Rev. Patrick McGivern, C. SS. R., as sub-
deacon. The sermon was preached by the Rev. John
O'Brien, C. SS. R. Father Daily was ordained the
day before at the Redemptorist Seminary, Ilchester,
Md., by Hjs Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, at that
time Archbishop.
When Pope Leo XIII of blessed memory issued,
in 1883, the first of his luminous encyclicals on the
Devotion of the Rosary, Father Henning made use
of the occasion to fan into brighter flame the love of
the people for Our Blessed Lady. Every evening
during October, he himself preached on some phase
of her sublime dignity and exalted prerogatives.
The result was highly gratifying. His eloquent
sermons, full of childlike confidence in the Holy
Virgin, acted like a heavenly magnet in attracting
hearts to Her. At all hours of the day, the church
was frequented by the devout faithful, who knelt
before her altar and recited the Rosary. Not only
that, but there was also a marked increase in the
attendance at the week-day Masses and in the num-
ber of Communions. Several non-Catholics, more-
over, made inquiries about the teaching of the Church
concerning the Mother of Jesus, and asked how they
might obtain her powerful patronage under the title
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The ever - growing charm which the Mission
Church exercised over the people of Boston, is
reflected in an article which appeared in the Catholic
Herald about the beginning of December, 1883.
Under the caption, " A Visit to the Church of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help," the writer said:
118 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"Saturday morning was cold and dull, with a drizzling
rain. The sky was dark with clouds, and altogether the
morning was uninviting, especially to the aged and feeble.
"In the Mission Church in Boston Highlands the Church
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help all was warm, bright,
beautiful and inviting. That glorious pile of Roman archi-
tecture was full of life, while a summer atmosphere swept
through chancel, aisle and nave. The church was thronged
with devout worshippers as early as half-past five o'clock.
Think of it ! While Boston had barely arisen from its bed,
ere the tireless stir and worry and noise and jostling of the
day had begun with all its sorrow, sin and misery, this great
church was filled with great throngs of people, but the altar
dedicated to her who is venerated as Our Lady of Perpetual
Help was most thronged of all. ... A visit to the Church
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help can be made most profit-
able."
On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a
magnificent new chalice was used for the first time.
It had been presented to the church in September by
a group of loyal clients of the Blessed Virgin. The
cup was of pure gold, the base and stem of solid
silver; among the many splendid ornaments of the
chalice were a cross of diamonds and other precious
stones, and cameos of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
The year 1883 was one of extraordinary blessings
for the church. The establishment of the parish
served to unite the faithful more closely than ever to
the Fathers, who, on their part, were never weary of
laboring for their spiritual charges. A considerable
percentage of the people began to assist at Holy
Mass and to receive the Bread of Angels every day.
Every feast of Our Blessed Mother, whether of obli-
gation or of devotion only, was the signal for a spon-
taneous manifestation of genuine love of Her; and,
judging by the wonderful favors She obtained for
those who delighted to honor Her, Our Lady of
Perpetual Help was guarding with sleepless vigil
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 119
her chosen sanctuary. " I love them that love me."
"And so in Sion was I established, and in the holy
city I likewise rested, and in Jerusalem was my
power. And I took root in an honorable people,
and in the glorious company of the Saints was I
detained."
Early in March, 1884, His Grace Archbishop
Williams announced that His Holiness Pope Leo
XIII had granted a plenary indulgence to all the
faithful who having devoutly received the Sacra-
ments, should, on the Feast of St. Patrick, visit any
church or public oratory and there pray for his inten-
tion. On the eve of the feast, from early in the
afternoon until ten o'clock, there was not the slight-
est ebb in the tide of penitents that flowed round the
confessionals. Great numbers, of course, had to
return home unheard. At 5 o'clock the next morn-
ing, as soon as the church was opened, there was a
great hurrying of feet up the side aisles and an inten-
sive rush for the confessionals. At all the Masses,
three Fathers were kept busy distributing Holy
Communion during the greater part of the Adorable
Sacrifice. About 2,500 people approached the Holy
Table.
This day is memorable also by reason of the fact
that Father Henning delivered a scholarly lecture on
" The Papacy in History," to a very select audience
at the rooms of the Catholic Union of Boston. The
Most Rev. Archbishop Williams presided. His
Grace was accompanied by the Very Rev. Vicar
General, the Rev. Chancellor, and other prominent
priests of the diocese. Father Henning's address
was listened to with rapt attention and punctuated
with frequent applause.
120 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE BATTALION OF INNOCENCE.
As the Mission Church had heretofore been with-
out parochial standing, there had been no such beau-
tiful and touching function as first Holy Communion
for the children. That happy event took place for
the first time on May 18, 1884. A graceful writer
in the Boston Catholic Herald thus described it:
"Last Sunday was a bright and sunny and happy day for
some 300 boys and girls at the Church of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help. Rev. Father Luecking and other Redemptorist
Fathers had been busy for some time preparing the chil-
dren of the parish for their first Holy Communion. Sunday
was the day appointed for the young communicants, and
every preparation that could add to the beauty and solemn-
ity of the occasion was made, regardless of toil or cost. The
high altar was a mountain of flowers and lights, terrace after
terrace of flowers and plants were so arranged as to form a
perfect bower around the Tabernacle. This stroke of art
was the work of Bro. James of the Redemptorist Order, who
did full justice to himself and the occasion. At the appointed
hour the little communicants left the basement, preceded by
the Rev. Father Rector the Christian general at the head
of his army a sight not easily to be forgotten. Slowly the
march was made up the center aisle ; the boys first, all beau-
tifully dressed in black with white gloves nd buttonhole
bouquets ; these were the gifts of a gentleman of the parish.
Next came the girls, a moving cloud of fleecy whiteness, the
Living Representation of Raphael's Angels.
"The girls, who outnumbered the boys, were dressed in
white veils and wreaths a column of living flowers. At a
signal from the Rector, the children made their genuflections,
and entered the pews in perfect order. The pews had been
specially prepared for them, a neat fixture ran along the
breast of each pew, in which was inserted a beautifully orna-
mented waxen candle opposite each child. The bright colors
of the candles, with their twinkling golden lights like stars,
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 121
mixing with the wreaths worn by the girls, formed a coup
d'oeil, bright, solemn and happy. The sun tried to peep in
through the stained glass windows, but failed ; he succeeded,
however, in throwing streams of golden and purple light over
the heads of the young Christians, and bathing them in a
radiance that at times assumed the aspect of the super-
natural. It was, indeed, a sight on which the heavens kindly
smiled, those pure dear children, surrounded by all the wealth
and glory and
Power of the Church of God,
performing the first act of their lives on which everything
here and hereafter depends. The vestments worn by the
officiating priests were rich and dazzlingly beautiful. As the
procession entered the sanctuary, headed by acolytes dressed
in cream colored Roman cassocks with red sashes, the organ
burst forth with a triumphal processional voluntary. The
full choir took part, and, under the spirited direction of the
organist, Miss N. E. McGowan, gave an excellent rendition
of Mozart's Mass No. 1. After the first Gospel, Father
Luecking ascended the pulpit and delivered a beautiful ad-
dress to the children. At the Offertory Mme. Ladowiska
Murray sang MiUard's "Ave Verum" with rare excellence
and power, the notes reverberating throughout the great
church like trumpet tones of power and joy. At the Pater
Noster Father Luecking again ascended the pulpit, and
under his guidance the children repeated the prayers pre-
paratory to Communion.
"It was An Edtfying Spectacle Indeed!
those strong fresh young voices speaking in unison their
adoration of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. The
order observed in approaching the altar and in retiring from
it was perfect. The Very Rev. Rector, attended by the
deacon, subdeacon, and acolytes, administered Holy Com-
munion to all the children and subsequently to others of the
congregation. The church was densely packed chiefly by the
parents and friends of the young communicants, and many
an eye dimmed with tears of joy followed the movements of
the dear little ones, as they left the altar with faces radiant
with the happiness of Heaven. The male members of the
Holy Family Sodality acted as an escort to the children as
122 THE GLORIES OP MARY IN BOSTON
they entered and left the church. The renewal of baptismal
vow* and other exercise* kept the children engaged during
the greater part of the day. Sunday was a red-letter day in
the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help."
In November of this year, one of the parishioners,
who would not allow her name to be published,
donated to the church a superb monstrance heavily
gilded, 30 inches high and 15 inches wide. The
lunula was of solid silver, and around the rim were
inscribed the words, " Tantum Ergo Sacramentum,
Veneremur Cernui," with four precious stones set in
the intervening spaces. Ranged in a large circle
round the receptacle for the lunula, were beautiful
symbols of the four Evangelists. Immediately be-
neath the gilded rays, in the center, was the figure
of Our Lord with the globe in His left hand, and His
right hand raised to bless His creatures. On one
side was the Apostle Peter; on the other, the Apostle
Paul. On the base of the monstrance were repre-
sented the Royal Psalmist with his harp, Abraham
with the knife of sacrifice, Melchisedech with the
chalice, and Moses with the Tables of the Law. This
magnificent ostensorium was used for the first time
at Solemn Benediction on the Feast of the Immacu-
late Conception.
On Sunday, March 15, 1885, the Rev. Joseph
Cunningham, C. SS. R., celebrated his First Mass.
The Rev. Father Henning preached on the occasion.
Father Cunningham had been ordained eight days
before at Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence Cardinal
Gibbons. On the Feast of St. Patrick, the Rev.
John McXamara, C. SS. R., a classmate of Father
Cunningham, also had the ineffable happiness of
offering up the Holy of Holies for the first time.
He was assisted by the Rev. William G. Luecking,
THE GROWING SPLKNDOH 128
C. SS. R., as deacon and tlie Rev, Joseph Cunning-
ham, C. SS. R., as subdeaeon. The Rev. Franeis X.
Delargy, C. SS. R., preached.
On April 27, 1885, the people of the parish mani-
fested their extraordinary love and esteem for
Father Henning by presenting to him a superb set
of vestments, consisting of chasuble, dalmatics, cope,
humeral veil, stole, and burse; to which were added
an antependium and a tabernacle veil. The burse
was inlaid with a square of gold containing a gen-
uine diamond.
The formal presentation took place in the base-
ment of the church; admission was by ticket; about
1,300 people were present. Father Wynn made a
few introductory remarks as follows:
"The occasion of your assembling this evening is no
other than to give testimony of your love and esteem for the
first pastor of your parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
This mark of esteem was to have been shown on his name day,
but unavoidable circumstances prevented our doing so. We
have, therefore, chosen the first day after the Feast of the
Patronage of St. Joseph, to perform this duty of love and
gratitude. As this token of good will and loyalty proceeds
from you, the members of the parish, I have selected from
your number one who will express your sentiments in all the
purity and simplicity of childhood."
A bright boy of thirteen, a well set-up, manly
lad then stepped forward, and with fine abandon
addressed Father Henning in part as follows:
"In obedience to the summons of the reverend clergy, I,
though so young in years, appear on the stage to-night, in
order to express to you, Reverend Pastor, the sentiments of
the congregation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. . . .
"During the five years you have labored for us your /eal
and prudence portray the faithful steward whom Our Lord
delights to see at the head of His household. Spiritually
and temporally, the Mission Church has improved under
124 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
your guidance. The Church has not only preserved its noble
and majestic appearance, but has also added splendor to
splendor. It is under you so many tearful eyes became dry ;
so many hearts healed. . . . From far and near strangers
turn their steps to the Mission Church, to witness the grand
ceremonial of the Catholic Church as it is carried out in the
temple of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. . . . An ever increas-
ing Sunday school in which the little ones of your flock re-
ceive all possible attention; the societies that exist in the
parish, the crowded confessionals, the vast number of com-
municants that approach the Holy Table every Sunday of
the year, are sufficient evidence that the spiritual care of
those under your charge is not neglected. . . .
"May the day of your departure from your present chil-
dren be far, far away. May you remain long enough among
us to see the children of the parish grow into man's estate.
May young and old, boys and girls, men and women, prosper
under your priestly guidance. And whenever you stand at
God's holy altar, robed in these beautiful vestments that
will be sacred to the service of God, by the blessing of holy
church, we earnestly beg that you will recommend us all to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus."
When Father Henning, normally a man of great
self-command, rose to reply he could hardly control
his emotion. Modestly disclaiming all credit he
attributed to Our Lady of Perpetual Help whatever
good he might have done. In feeling words he
thanked his devoted friends and parishioners and
exhorted them to manifest the same good spirit in
the future by contributing to the erection of a new
high altar and by at least beginning, if not complet-
ing, the building of a parochial school.
On Trinity Sunday, May 31, 1885, the Sacrament
of Confirmation was administered for the first time.
After the 9:30 Mass the Most Rev. Archbishop
Williams conferred the Sacrament on a class of 259
men and boys and 310 women and girls.
The Rev. Michael J. Sheehan, C. SS. R., cele-
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 125
brated his first Mass on the fourth Sunday in Lent,
Laetare Sunday, April 4, 1886. The Rev. William
O'Connor, C. SS. R., officiated as deacon and the
Rev. Mr. Pancratius Schmidt, C. SS. R., a semi-
narian, as subdeacon. The Rev. Andrew Wynn,
C. SS. R., preached. Father Sheehan was ordained
on March 25, the beautiful Feast of the Annuncia-
tion, at Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence Cardinal
Gibbons.
As an evidence of the growth of the parish, it may
be noted that in May, 1886, two new confessionals
were installed ; one on each side, in the rear of the
church. The number was thus increased to twelve,
exclusive of the one in the baptistry.
The first parish picnic was held at Centennial
Grove, August 26, 1886, under the auspices of the
St. Vincent de Paul Society. As early as 8 A. M., a
carefree, jolly crowd lined both sides of Tremont
Street, from the church to Roxbury Crossing.
Twenty- seven horse cars taxed to the limit of their
capacity, conveyed the picnickers to the Boston &
Maine Station. The trains started at 9:30, carrying
to the Grove 2,000 people. All kinds of sports and
diversions were provided, and some valuable prizes
were awarded the winners in the various contests.
The principal feature of the program was a scull
race by the champion scullers of New England.
Five oarsmen entered the race, on the pond adjoin-
ing the picnic grounds. Mr. Conley, a member of
the parish, was the winner. He received a gold
medal valued at $25, donated by Captain Twombly.
On September 21, 1886, the Rev. Adam Kreis,
C. SS. R., first assistant at the Mission Church, and,
as our readers may remember, one of the pioneers of
the Boston Community, celebrated the silver anni-
versary of his priesthood. As he was widely known
126 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
and universally esteemed, every seat in the church
was taken, and many people were standing in the
aisles before the Jubilee Mass began. Father Kreis
was assisted by Father Henning as deacon and
Father Werner, of the Church of the Most Holy
Redeemer, 1ST. Y., as subdeacon. In token of thanks-
giving to Almighty God for all the graces bestowed
on Father Kreis during the twenty-five years of his
priesthood, several hundred people received Com-
munion from his hand. At dinner Father Henning
read a poem specially composed for the occasion by
the Rev. William Bond, C. SS. R., of Detroit, Mich-
igan. Father O'Connor also invoked the Muses.
Two Bishops, the Rt. Rev. P. T. O'Reilly, of
Springfield, Mass., and the Rt. Rev. John J. Keane,
of Richmond, Va., sent telegrams of congratulation.
The venerable parents of the reverend jubilarian, as
well as his sister, journeyed from Baltimore, in order
to take part in the festivities. Father Kreis was the
recipient of many valuable presents, including a
handsome set of breviaries, the gift of Father Hen-
ning; but what pleased him most was the emphatic
assurance given him that he had the good will and
affection of all who knew him.
Father Henning' s Silver Jubilee.
The memory of Father Kreis's Silver Jubilee was
still fresh in the minds of the people when the be-
loved Father Rector Henning approached the
twenty-fifth milestone of his priesthood, and, of
course, a grand celebration, the grandest a loving
people could give a pastor whom they idolized, was
projected. Because of his remarkable eloquence
Father Henning was known throughout Boston, and
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 127
without stretching the facts it may be said that people
from all over the city joined in the movement to do
him honor, though naturally the people of the parish
were the principal actors.
Far in advance of the jubilee day, June 11, elabo-
rate plans were made for the celebration. The out-
standing features of the program were: first, the
presentation of a new biretta and cassock by the
sanctuary boys, on the evening of June 10 ; secondly,
a mass-meeting of the parishioners in the basement of
the church ; thirdly, the Solemn Jubilee Mass, fol-
lowed by a grand reception by the school teachers.
The newspapers, especially the Boston Globe, de-
voted a great amount of space to the celebration. In
its issue for June 11 it said in part:
"A reception was tendered Rev. Joseph Henning, C. SS.
R., Rector of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
Boston Highlands, last evening, by his parishioners, in honor
of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination to the priest-
hood. A large number of the congregation, headed by Rev.
Father Rathke, have worked quietly and energetically for
some days past, and the result of their work was the re-
ception last evening. The basement of the church in which
the reception was held was literally packed long before the
hour appointed. ..."
Mr. M. J. Dwyer, now the Rev. M. J. Dwyer of
Rensselaer, N. Y., delivered the address of congratu-
lation on behalf of the people. He reviewed Father
Henning's busy, active life as missionary and as
Rector of the Mission Church; he voiced the admira-
tion, love and reverence which the parishioners enter-
tained for him ; and he expressed the hope that Father
Henning might live to see one of his dearest ambi-
tions realized, namely, the erection of a magnificent
parochial school. At the conclusion of his address
Mr. Dwyer presented Father Henning with a purse
of $1,600.
128 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Father Henning, after speaking of the trials and
consolations of the priest, assured his people how
deeply touched he was by this substantial proof of
their esteem and love, and stated that his three great
aims were : The erection of a new altar, the establish-
ment of a parochial school, and the founding of a
society for the young men of the parish. These high
aims, he hoped, with the generous assistance of his
devoted and loyal parishioners, to carry forward to a
glorious consummation.
The following morning the whole atmosphere of the
Mission Church was redolent of joy and gladness.
Young and old, radiant with spiritual happiness, were
seen bright and early wending their way by the hun-
dreds to the imposing temple of Our Holy Mother.
No one that saw that crowd could doubt for a moment
of the sincere and deep-seated love and esteem which
the people of the parish cherished for Father Hen-
ning, the man of the hour and the central figure of the
occasion; nor could one doubt of the grand deeds the
reverend jubilarian had wrought in the interests of his
flock, for only a pastor who had spent himself for his
people could have been the recipient of such a heart-
felt demonstration.
At 8 o'clock Father Henning sang Solemn Mass.
assisted by the Rev. Eugene Grimm, C. SS. R., Rector
of the Redemptorist Seminary at Ilchester, Md., as
deacon and the Rev. Jeremiah McCarthy, C. SS. R.,
of Quebec, as subdeacon. The juvenile choir, under
the direction of Miss Kate Kroesen, rendered with
fine effect a select musical program.
After the Mass the reverend rector was con-
ducted to the basement of the church, where a hearty
ovation was tendered him by the Sunday school teach-
ers and pupils. As he entered, the children's choir
saluted him with a beautiful song composed for the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 129
occasion. He was then escorted by two of the
Fathers to an improvised throne covered with silver
cloth and silk damask. In the name of all the Sunday
school teachers, Mr. Thomas Kelley delivered an
elegantly phrased address of fealty and felicitation,
which he brought to a fitting close by presenting
Father Henning with a handsome purse. The differ-
ent grades of the Sunday school were represented by
twenty-five girls and an equal number of boys. The
girls were dressed all in white and carried costly
bouquets ; the boys were suitably attired. At a given
signal they grouped themselves round the Rector,
and offered him the tributes of all the children. Master
John G. Cleary, the spokesman of the boys, acquitted
himself of his task in a creditable manner, Father
Henning listening with the closest attention. At the
conclusion of his speech young Cleary handed the be-
loved priest a large purse collected by the boys as a
token of gratitude to their reverend pastor for all
he had done for their spiritual and temporal benefit.
An appropriate poem was then read by Miss Nellie
Lyons, after which the girls, one Jby one, laid at Father
Henning's feet the floral tributes they had brought.
One little tot, eight years old, offered him a huge
basket of rare and delicate flowers in which was con-
cealed a substantial sum of money.
Between the addresses the choir sang appropriate
songs, for the most part original compositions. When
Father Henning rose to respond, he was greeted with
repeated rounds of enthusiastic applause. Pro-
foundly touched by the affection shown him by the
children, who were the apple of his eye, he thanked
them most cordially, and, speaking to them words of
encouragement and praise, dismissed them with his
blessing.
At the jubilee dinner the Rev. Father Delargy
130 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
read a poem from the pen of the Rev. Augustine Mc-
Inerney, C. SS.R., Rector of St. Mary's Church,
Annapolis, Md., and Father O'Connor sang a Latin
hymn. Father Henning received numerous messages
of congratulation from his Redemptorist brethren all
over the country, to whom his piety as a priest, his
fidelity as a religious, his zeal and eloquence as a mis-
sionary, and his tact and prudence as an executive,
were well known.
When the gray twilight had deepened into night,
when the chill breezes were sweeping in from the Back
Bay, and the restless lights were coming out on the
hills of Brookline, Father Henning felt that he had
reached " The End of a Perfect Day."
A day or two after the celebration, Father Henning
was officially notified that he had been appointed
Rector of St. Patrick's Church, Toronto, Canada.
On June 23, to the universal regret of the people, he
left for his new station.
In the history of the church of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, the Rev. Joseph Henning, C. SS. R.,
will always be remembered as the one who nurtured
the infant parish and laid the foundations of those
wonderful activities which in our day excite such just
admiration.
THE REV. AUGUSTINE J. MC!NERNEY, C. SS. R.,
IN COMMAND.
The new Rector, the Rev. Augustine J. Mcln-
erney, C. SS.R., arrived from Annapolis, June 23,
and the following day assumed formal charge of
affairs. Father Mclnerney was no stranger in Bos-
ton, as he had been stationed here as far back as 1876,
just after the completion of his studies. In those days
he did splendid work on the missions until ill health
ST. JOSEPH'S ALTAR
BANNER OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 181
made it necessary for his Superiors to transfer him
to an easier field.
His first important official act was to announce a
Solemn Triduum in commemoration of the centenary
of the death of St. Alphonsus. On June 16th, His
Holiness Pope Leo XIII had granted a plenary
indulgence to all the faithful of both sexes, who, dur-
ing the Triduum, being truly penitent and strength-
ened by Holy Communion, should visit any church in
charge of the Congregation of the Most Holy Re-
deemer, and there pray devoutly for his intention ;
likewise, an indulgence of seven years and seven times
forty days, one each day, to those who with contrite
heart should visit said church and pray as above indi-
cated. The publication of these indulgences proved a
powerful inducement to the faithful to make the
Triduum in such a manner as to realize the ends for
which it had been proclaimed.
The specific aim of the sacred exercises was to make
the Saint, his personality and his works, better
known to the people. In this Father Mclnerney
saw a distinct advantage ; for such is the charm of St.
Alphonsus' character that whoever learns to know
him, feels strongly impelled to imitate him as far as
human frailty and difference of condition allow. We
feel that the Saint is near to us, because he lived, we
may say, in our own time, and because he fought for
God and wrought for Heaven under practically the
same conditions which surround us to-day. Hence,
he has been called "the Saint of Modern Times."
His great achievements should appeal forcibly to us
because they have a direct bearing on our lives. By
his well-tempered system of Moral Theology, holding
the golden mean between laxism and rigorism, he has
made the Sacrament of Penance a consolation, not a
torture. By his just and sane views concerning the
dispositions necessary for the frequent reception of
the Holy Eucharist, he helped wonderfully to revive
the practice of daily Communion, and by his golden
work, " The Glories of Mary," he charted the way for
the present-day devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help; hence the great good that would flow from
making known to the people such a Saint as Alphon-
sus de Ligouri.
The opening sermon of the Triduum, which began
July 31, was preached by Father Mclnerney him-
self. The subject was " The Youth of St. Alphon-
sus." Did you ever hear the fascinating story of the
young Neapolitan nobleman who was endowed with
such keenness and brilliancy of intellect that when a
mere boy of sixteen he had won the degree of Doctor
of both Civil and Canon Law ? Have you ever heard
that one day while arguing a case in the courts of
Naples he unintentionally made a statement not in
strict conformity with the truth, and on being in-
formed of his error, was so filled with horror at the
thought that he might have told a lie that he aban-
doned the practice of law, renounced all his brilliant
prospects, and resolved to give himself entirely to
God ? Father Mclnerney told the story in his own
impressive and forcible way. He drew a captivating
picture of the youthful days of the Saint and pointed
out with clearness and emphasis how the young men
of our day might imitate him. The following even-
ing Father Kautz preached on "The Manhood of
St. Alphonsus," bringing out in bold relief his ex-
traordinary courage and confidence even in the midst
of the overwhelming misfortunes which marked his
mature years. The third and last evening Father
Luecking discoursed on "The Old Age of St. Al-
phonsus," showing in particular his spirit of morti-
fication, prayer, and detachment from the false and
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 133
fleeting goods of this world. At the solemn close of
the Triduum the Rev. Father McCarthy, S.J., spoke
on "The Authority of the Church." In simple yet
beautiful language he proved the infallibility of the
Pope, and reminded his hearers that even a century
before it was defined as a dogma of the faith by the
Vatican Council, St. Alphonsus had been its ardent
champion and fearless defender. The celebrant of the
Mass was the Very Rev. William Byrne, Vicar Gen-
eral of the diocese, the deacon, the Rev. F. Himmel-
heber, S.J., and the subdeacon, the Rev. M. Moran.
Present in the sanctuary were : the Rev. Joshua
Bodfish, Rector of the Cathedral ; the Rev. F. F.
Delahunty, of St. Francis de Sales', Roxbury ; the
Rev. F. Glavin, of Somerville, and the Rev. F. Char-
lier, S.J. The Boston Pilot said :
"The Triduum closed at 7 : 30 P. M. with solemn Vespers
and Benediction. The church was magnificently decorated
all through the Triduum. On the shrine of St. Alphonsus,
erected in the sanctuary to the left of the high altar, was
displayed a fine oil painting of the Saint. The Shrine was
lavishly decorated with the rarest flowers and was ablaze
with wax-lights. The attendance at the exercises was very
large, considering the extreme heat of the weather, and
great numbers approached the Sacraments."
In the early fall of 1887, through the efforts of the
Rev. Father Luecking, who was an enthusiastic
worker for the children, the Juvenile Library was
established. The initial catalogue shows 400 books.
One young man contributed $100 to the project, and
a keen interest in its success was generally manifested.
Although the library was organized chiefly for the
little ones, before long their parents also began to
apply for books, and thus it developed into a general
parish library. At present it contains several thou-
sand volumes, and the intellectual advantages which
it affords are highly appreciated by the people.
134 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SCHOOL
Father Mclnerney's overshadowing achievement, a
monumental triumph for which all future generations
of the parish owe him an eternal debt of gratitude,
was the building of the fine parochial school of which
we may all be so justly proud. To him belongs the
credit of having, amid contradictions and setbacks
and heart aches, inaugurated, prosecuted, and con-
summated this noble work which has contributed so
wonderfully to the upbuilding of the parish and the
strengthening of the faith among the people.
We say " amid contradictions and setbacks and
heartaches " because he met with considerable oppo-
sition, even on the part of some otherwise good peo-
ple. It is hard for us at this late date to understand
how such a spirit could ever have manifested itself in
a parish whose people were remarkable for their strong
faith, but we must bear in mind that a full generation
ago the necessity and the advantages of parochial
schools were not so clearly understood as they are to-
day. At that time, 1887, there were comparatively
few parochial schools in Boston, and it was difficult
to convince many of the older people who had never
attended or perhaps even heard of such schools that
they were an urgent moral necessity. Others mis-
understood just what a parochial school was. They
conceived it to be an institution from which all pro-
fane knowledge would be excluded and religion alone
taught. Now as the Mission Church had an excel-
lently conducted Sunday school, these men and
women could not see just where a parochial school
fitted into the scheme of . education.
THE GROWING. SPLENDOR 135
With Father Mclnerney, however, parochial
schools for Catholic children were " the whole law and
the prophets." He had no quarrel with the public
schools as far as they went, but their essential defect
was that they did not go far enough. Their fault was
a negative rather than a positive one. In the system
of education which they sponsored and propagated,
no account was taken of the eternal truth that the
child is endowed with an immortal soul made by God
to His image and likeness and created for everlasting
happiness. They ignored the great principle laid
down by the Infinite Wisdom twenty centuries ago,
" What doth it profit a man to gain the whole world
and suffer the loss of his own soul ? " By their failure
to teach religion the public schools ruled out of court
the supreme end of all education to lead the soul
back to the God who created it. They trained the
mental, at the expense of the moral faculties. As
far as the knowledge of things temporal goes, they
might turn out bright and clever children, but not
children of sound moral and religious principles.
Religion alone is and can be the basis of morality, be-
cause without religion the moral law has no adequate
sanction. How then can any system of education
which excludes religious training develop aright the
moral nature of the child ? It is idle to say that the
child can receive sufficient religious instruction from
the parents at home or from the teachers in the Sun-
day school, for since man's duty to God should be his
supreme consideration, it follows that the child should
be surrounded by a religious atmosphere every day
of the week ; but it is precisely in this religious atmos-
phere that the public schools are lacking. If day after
day during school hours, the child is subjected to in-
fluences that set aside religion as something of no
consequence, how can the terrible evils thus resulting
136 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
be offset by the brief religious instruction imparted
during the sessions of the Sunday school ? The Cath-
olic child is educated aright only when it " lives and
moves and has its being " in a thoroughly Catholic at-
mosphere. The late Bishop McQuaid, in 1893, said
to the point : " Experience has also demonstrated
that Catholic children brought up in State schools
lose the spirit of the Catholic religion ; their thoughts
are tinctured with a liberalism that borders on in-
fidelity. A common remark among this class is ' All
religions are good enough, or one religion is as good
as another. ' '
When the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, in
1884, inculcated the necessity of parochial schools,
Father Henning at once determined to put into effect
the injunction of the Prelates, and began collecting
funds for the building of a school, but he was trans-
ferred from Boston before he had the opportunity of
starting the work. Father Mclnerney, accordingly,
on assuming office, at once set his hand to the task,
and on August 19, 1887, ground was broken for the
school. He was not daunted by the opposition that
had arisen ; he knew that he was fighting the battle
of the Lord and that in God's own time victory must
be his. But there was another difficulty to be over-
come the financial problem. To erect a school
worthy of the parish and commensurate with its needs,
would require a vast sum of money. Would it be
forthcoming ? Again, Father Mclnerney's indomi-
table courage and unwavering confidence told him
that by dint of hard and persevering efforts he could
and would, with God's help, raise the necessary funds.
Father Henning had already collected over $5,000
for the purpose, and a recent census had netted $2,000
more ; but, after all, $7,000 was only a drop in the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 187
bucket. Still it was something to start with, and
Father Mclnerney went ahead bravely.
In the early autumn of 1887, he organized among
the Sunday school children a Juvenile Collecting So-
ciety, which about 600 boys and girls joined. Each
collector received a book with several rows of "bricks"
pictured in it, and was expected to sell fifty " bricks "
at ten cents each. The children raised $1,400, which
they formally presented to Father Mclnerney at an
entertainment held December 26, in the basement of
the church. The speech of presentation was made by
a boy dressed for the occasion like a hod-carrier,
Master Cornelius J. Warren, now the Rev. Corne-
lius J. Warren, C. SS.R., of St. Clement's College,
Saratoga Springs, New York.
In order to make perfectly clear to the people what
their attitude towards the public schools should be,
Father Mclnerney invited the Rev. F. T. McCarthy,
S.J., to deliver a lecture in the church, December 22,
on " The Position of the Catholic Church in Regard
to State Schools." The reverend lecturer proved
that not the State, but the parents have the right to
educate the child ; and that, if the parents freely con-
fer this right on the State, the State must educate the
child according to their wishes. As to the duty of the
parents in the matter, he quoted a decree of the Sacred
Congregation of the Council, June 30, 1876, to show
that they are forbidden to send their children to the
public schools except in case of necessity, of which
necessity, not the parents, but the Bishop is to judge ;
and that even when through necessity the children
attend such schools, the danger of their perversion
must be rendered remote. Father McCarthy's lec-
ture, by reason of its bold and uncompromising stand,
attracted considerable attention and was given almost
in full by the Boston Morning Journal. His pres-
entation of the case was so cogent and masterful that
it put the opponents of parochial schools completely
on the defensive.
Father Mclnerney determined to crown the victory
thus gained, and during the Lent of 1888 preached a
course of sermons on the necessity of parochial schools.
Large crowds came to hear him, and by his unassail-
able logic he not only silenced his adversaries but
also won their ardent support. The very people who
at first would not countenance the idea of a parochial
school, became its enthusiastic advocates and began
to look forward joyfully to the day when the School
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help would take its place
beside the church, as an effective agency for the salva-
tion of souls. In the retrospect we of this generation,
viewing the matter calmly and dispassionately, can
readily see that the opposition to the parochial school
was due not so much to bad will as to lack of knowl-
edge, for when the light had pierced the darkness,
the disaffected followed where the bright rays pointed.
On Low Sunday, April 8, 1888, just ten years after
the dedication of the present church, the corner-stone
of the school was laid by His Grace Archbishop Wil-
liams. Of this epochal event the Boston Globe said
in part :
"Yesterday was a gala day for the parishioners of the
Mission Church. As this parish strives to be foremost
among the Catholic parishes, it is natural that it should
be among the first to erect a Catholic school. Several weeks
ago an illustration of the intended parochial school appeared
in the Globe. Yesterday the corner-stone of this building was
laid by Archbishop Williams of Boston. At 3 o'clock in
the afternoon, the societies of men of the parish, number-
ing 600, proceeded to the ground adjoining the church, and
when they reached the foundation of the school, the Master
of Ceremonies, Rev. William Luecking, divided them into two
files, forming a guard, through which the Archbishop, pre-
ceded by members of the clergy and the altar-boys of the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 189
Mission Church, passed. The grounds and the surround-
ing house were filled with spectators. When the corner-
stone had been laid, the procession returned to the sanctuary,
where Solemn Vespers were chanted by Rev. Father O'Toole,
assisted by Rev. Fathers Neagle and Barry, in the presence
of the Archbishop. After Vespers Father Henning delivered
an eloquent sermon appropriate to the occasion. ..."
The framework of Father Henning's discourse was
as follows : The education of the child must be the
product of three agents : First, the parents, who by
their precepts, admonitions, and examples are to give
the first impressions to the child's mind ; second, the
Church, which, in a higher way, enlightens, strength-
ens and trains the youthful mind to the practice of
virtue ; and third, the Catholic school, which, con-
ducted five days of the week by efficient teachers,
brings to full fruitage and perfection the education
of the child.
On October 2, 1888, ground was broken for the
Sisters' convent to be erected alongside of the school,
to the west.
Work on the school progressed so favorably that
on November 12, the basement was in fit condition
to be the scene of a large fair, the proceeds of which
were to be devoted to defraying the cost of the two
new buildings. The first night of the fair, the Boston
Oratorio Society and the Boston Symphony Orches-
tra, under the direction of Mr. E. J. McGoldrick,
gave a grand concert. Every evening an entertain-
ment was conducted. The admission fee was ten
cents, which included a chance on a lady's and a
gentleman's gold watch. A prominent feature of the
fair was a contest for a set of vestments, between
Father Daly of St. Francis de Sales' Church, Rox-
bury, and Father Mclnerney. There was also a con-
test for a gold chalice, and for a beautiful crayon por-
trait of the community. The people showed keen
140 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
interest in the fair and worked unselfishly for its
success. All day long and far into the night, the
various committees in charge devoted themselves en-
ergetically to their allotted tasks. The extraordinary
success that crowned the fair was profoundly grati-
fying to Father Mclnerney and reflected great credit
on the director, Father Beil. When it was announced
that Father Mclnerney had won the set of vest-
ments, his courteous and high-minded opponent was
among the first to rejoice.
On Shrove Tuesday evening, March 5, 1889, the
school hall was formally opened. The happy event
was signalized by the performance of the well-known
drama, " The Celebrated Case," under the auspices
of the Young Men's Holy Family Association. The
Boston Globe thus spoke of the celebration:
"The close of the festive season was marked in the Mis-
sion Church Parish by the grand opening of the New Hall
of the Mission Church school, which took place last eve-
ning. Had the hall been twice as large it would have been
filled, so great was the demand for tickets. Hundreds
could be seen hastening in the direction of the hall, and
when the curtain rose the building was literally packed, all
available standing room being occupied. The hall was
brilliantly lighted and elaborately decorated with bunting
which hung from the center of the ceilings in various col-
ored streamers, which were caught up at different points
making a very effective picture.
"The entertainment last evening was given under the
auspices of the Young Men's Sodality, and was a reproduc-
tion of the well-known drama, *A Celebrated Case.' The
cast of characters was composed of popular young men,
and, while all sustained their parts admirably and fully
merited the generous applause which greeted their efforts,
John H. Creagh's impersonation of John Renaud was re-
markably fine and worthy of a professional. T. J. Morton,
as 'an Irish sergeant,' fairly brought down the house and
convulsed the audience with laughter. George H. Finneran
and Louis Munier, in their several characters, captured the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 141
audience. The souvenir programs were especially tasty
in design and finish and were arranged in tablet form.
Among the invited guests were Rev. Fathers Murty and
Lane of St. Patrick's Church, and also the members of St.
Bernard's Lyceum Dramatic Club of West Newton. Robert
W. Hurley, director and stage manager, has won for him-
self golden opinions for the efficient performance of his
duties, the stage looking superb with its rich and appro-
priate appointments and scenes. At the close of the enter-
tainment, the Rector, Rev. A. J. Mclnerney, C. SS. R.,
entertained his guests in royal style, a sumptuous repast
being served in the dining room which was prettily deco-
rated for the eventful occasion."
On August 18, 1889, the new school was solemnly
dedicated by the Most Rev. Archbishop Williams.
The Boston Globe, fully alive to the historic signifi-
cance of the occasion, detailed one its most efficient
reporters, who gave the following complete and cor-
rect account of the event :
"Yesterday was a never-to-be-forgotten day in the annals
of the Mission Church, Roxbury. There was a two-fold
attraction, a powerful sermon at the morning service by
Rev. Francis X. Miller of Buffalo, who was one of the first
Fathers to be stationed at the Mission Church; and in the
afternoon the large school that has been erected through
the untiring efforts of Rev. A. J. Mclnerney and the liberal
contributions of the parishioners, was solemnly dedicated
by Archbishop Williams. Hundreds of people came from
adjoining towns and cities to witness the ceremony. The
Church was crowded. At 3 o'clock the members of the
archconfraternity of the Holy Family comprising 350 men,
wearing badges and carrying banners, formed in double
line and escorted the Archbishop and the clergy to the
school, where, with uncovered head they formed in double
line allowing the procession to pass through. The cere-
mony of the dedication began when the Archbishop accom-
panied by the Bishops and priests marched around the
school, chanting appropriate psalms and sprinkling the
exterior of the building with holy water, the choir mean-
while singing the Asperges. The blessing of the interior
142 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
of the building then took place with the usual ceremonies,
and the procession of prelates and clergy with the guard of
honor returned to the church, where the Archbishop occu-
pied the magnificent throne, over which was a canopy of
crimson velvet with gold fringe, that had been specially
erected for the occasion. On either side of the Archbishop
were Rev. Father Magennis of Jamaica Plain and Rev.
Father Moran of St. Stephen's Church, North End. Rt.
Rev. Bishop McGovern of Harrisburg was attended by
Rev. R. Neagle, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston
and Rev. J. J. Reilly of the diocese of Harrisburg. Vespers
were then chanted by the Rev. Father Lambert of the Mis-
sion Church, assisted by Rev. Father Farrell and Rev.
Father Gareis, as deacon and subdeacon. The sermon was
preached by Rev. Chas. Sigl, C. SS. R., of St. Peter's
Church, Philadelphia.
"The following is an abstract of his discourse: You
must remember, Christian parents, that when God gave you
children, He entrusted a great treasure to your care a
treasure so precious that all the gold of California and
Australia and all the islands of the ocean, amount to noth-
ing compared to it. He did not give you that treasure as
an absolute gift, so that you can do with it as you please;
nor did He sell it to you. After he has bought it with His
own Precious Blood, He will not part with it for any con-
sideration. He merely entrusted it to you for a time and
will demand it back. Why did He entrust it to you? That
you might bring up that child for Heaven. You should
teach it to know and to serve its Maker. Your principal
duty, therefore, is to educate the child properly.
"What do we mean by education? Plato says to educate
is to give the body and soul of man all the perfection of
which they are capable. This definition, though given by
a heathen, covers the ground so entirely, that even in the
standard dictionary of our day we find essentially the same
definition given. Worcester defines the word to educate,
to bring forth, develop and form the physical, intellectual,
and moral faculties of man. Hence education to be perfect,
must develop these three faculties. An education that
would let the child grow up puny and sickly for want of
healthful exercise and play, would be defective. An edu-
cation that would fail to cultivate the intellect and judg-
ment of the child would be no education. But though those
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 143
three faculties of man must be developed by education, it
does not follow that all three are equally important. In-
tellectual training is superior to mere physical culture, be-
cause intellectual acquirements are the sources of nobler
and more exalted enjoyments, than physical strength, health
and comfort. But moral training is the most important,
for you know that your child has an immortal soul and will,
therefore, live eternally a life either of ineffable bliss or of
untold misery. The circumstance that will determine the
decision of this judgment of God, is not the degree of physi-
cal or intellectual training but the behavior of the soul.
The question that will be asked there is, 'Has the child lived
according to the laws of God and the practices of the
Church?' If so, eternal life will be its reward, if not, eternal
damnation. Now this moral training can best be taught in
a Catholic school, because their religion will be taught them
systematically and practically.
"The speaker then answered some of the more common
objections brought against separate Catholic education and
spoke at length on the patriotism and love of country that
is instilled into the minds of the children in Catholic schools.
Father Sigl concluded by exhorting his hearers to send
their children to the splendid parochial school now estab-
lished.
"Among the prelates and clergymen present were: Most
Rev. John J. Williams, Archbishop of Boston; Rt. Rev.
Thomas McGovern, Bishop of Harrisburg; Very Rev. Will-
iam Byrne, V. G., of Boston ; Rev. R. Neagle, Chancellor of
Boston; Rev. Charles B. Rex, President of the Seminary at
Brighton; Rev. M. Moran of St. Stephen's Church, Bos-
ton; Rev. J. W. Supple of Charlestown; Rev. H. Smith of
the Highlands, Rev. Thomas Magennis of Jamaica Plain,
Rev. Peter Ronan of Dorchester, Rev. Wm. P. McQuade,
Rector of St. James's, Boston, Rev. T. X. Nopper of Boston,
Rev. Wm. Fitzpatrick of Milton, Rev. P. J. Daily of the
Highlands, Rev. Eugene Grimm of Ilchester, Md. ; Rev. Al-
bert Stern of Ilchester, Md. ; Rev. P. H. Barrett of Sara-
toga Springs, N. Y. ; Rev. Peter Ward of Saratoga Springs,
N. Y. ; Rev. Henry C. Gareis of New York, Rev. Stephen
Krein of St. John, N. B. ; Rev. F. X. Miller of Buffalo, Rev.
R. Barry of Boston, Rev. Thomas Briscoe of Providence,
Rev. L. O'Toole of West Newton, Rev. James J. Chittick of
Hyde Park, Rev. J. Farren of Harrisburg, Rev. J. J. Riley
144 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
of Harrisburg, and Rev. Father Wakeham of St. Charles's
College, EUicott City, Md."
On the night of August 30, the pioneer band of
teachers, members of the order of the School Sisters
of the Notre Dame, arrived at Boston by boat from
Baltimore. Early the following morning Father Mc-
Inerney went down to the pier and conducted them
in carriages to their new home, where he celebrated
Holy Mass for them. There were seventeen nuns in
the party, namely, Sr. M. Elise, Superior; Sr. M.
Aloyse, Sr. M. Alphonse, Sr. M. Austin, Sr. M. Ber-
lindis, Sr. M. Bridget, Sr. M. Cornelia, Sr. Mary of
God, Sr. M, Egwina, Sr. M. Grace, Sr. M. Rita, Sr.
M. Thomasine, Sr. M. Wilfred, Sr. M. Wunibald.
After two long years of wearing anxiety, hard
struggle and uphill labor, Father Mclnerney saw the
hilltops crowned, when on September 3 the Mission
Church School was duly opened. The joyful day was
marked by a Solemn Mass, of which Father Beil was
celebrant, Father Lutz, deacon, and Father Sheehan,
subdeacon. The church was crowded with 1,200
children and their happy parents. After Mass the
doors of the school were thrown open to the little ones.
Six out of every seven children of school age in the
parish attended the first session. The work of assign-
ment to grades was begun at once, and two days later
the school was in full running order.
The school, a large and imposing structure four
stories high, faces on Smith Street and towers above
the houses which surround it. It is 166 feet long,
including the wings, and 70 feet wide. It contains
24 classrooms and accommodates more than 1,200
pupils ; one-half of the building is occupied by the
boys; the other half, by the girls. The school hall,
which is 18 feet high, extends through the entire lower
floor. The ceiling is of iron, upheld by massive pil-
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 145
lars. In a niche above the entrance to the building, is
a statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The Sisters' convent, like the school, fronts on
Smith Street. Originally it was only two stories
high ; but in 1901, owing to the increase in the number
of nuns, Father Frawley added another story. The
house is surmounted, for recreation purposes, by a
modest roof -garden.
The opening of the parochial school caused such a
great falling off in the attendance at the neighboring
public schools that the authorities became quite dis-
concerted. One of the Boston papers thus commented
in part on the situation :
"The greatest inroad has been upon the Martin School
of which Mr. Chas. W. Hill is Master. He has reported the
loss of about 200 pupils, which is about one-third of the
total number that the school had at the close of the last
season. The Comins grammar school is next on the list, as
it loses about twenty per cent, or one hundred and twenty-
five pupils. . . . The primaries, however, have met
with proportionately greater losses still, as the Philips St.
school, which is a part of the Comins School system, has
lost about fifty per cent of its membership, and the Smith
St. school, which is a part of the Martin system, has lost,
it is estimated, sixty per cent of its pupils. But this school
is but a small two-room building."
On March 12, 1889, the Rev. Charles Rathke,
C. SS.R., rounded out twenty-five years as a "chasu-
bled soldier" of the Most High God. The happy
event was, of course, appropriately celebrated ; both
the parishioners and the members of the community
did all that lay in their power to show their esteem
and affection for the noble priest who had spent seven
years and a half among them. As a token of grati-
tude and good will, his many friends presented him
with a large mission cross inlaid with a thousand silver
dollars. Among the numerous messages of congratu-
146 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
lation which he received, was one from the Carmelites
of far-off Leon, Spain. The jubilee preacher was the
Rev. Frederick W. Wayrich, C. SS.R., Rector of St.
Alphonsus' Church, N. Y., who had delivered the
sermon at Father Rathke's first Mass.
During the autumn of 1889, the Rev. Charles W.
Currier, C. SS.R., of the Mission Church, preached
a course of doctrinal sermons which received wide and
favorable comment from the Boston papers. The
Globe, in its issue for September 30, said :
"A single announcement that appeared in yesterday's
Globe, telling its many readers that a series of sermons
would be begun last evening at the Mission Church, Rox-
bury, by Rev. Charles Warren Currier, C.SS.R., drew many
strangers from Boston and other places to hear the distin-
guished orator. His discourses in the same church last year
will be remembered."
Father Currier's subjects were : 1, The Need of
Faith ; 2, The Temporal Power of the Pope ; 3, The
Characteristic Features of the True Church ; 4, The
Doctrinal Unity of the True Church ; 5, Unity of
Government in the True Church.
Farewell to Father Mclnerney.
Since assuming the duties of Rector of the Mission
Church, Father Mclnerney had labored so unremit-
tingly for the welfare of his parishioners that in the
early part of 1890, it became evident that he should
have to be assigned to an easier post. When, there-
fore, his term of office had expired, in June, 1890, he
was transferred as Rector to St. Patrick's Church,
Toronto, Canada.
The magnificent school which he erected, even at
the sacrifice of his health, stands as an imperishable
monument to his name ; and the deeds which he
RKY. Arci'STixK MCTNKKNKY, C.SS.R.
Rector 1887-1890. Died in Annapolis |uly 23, 1914
REV. JOHN J. FRAWLEY, C.SS.R.
Rector 1890-1904
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 147
wrought, the principles for which he fought, entitle
him to a conspicuous place in the history of the Mission
Church. At the time of his departure, Donahue's
Magazine voiced the universal sentiment in the fol-
lowing just appreciation:
"The Mission Church has lost its pastor, Rev. A. J.
Mclnerney. He has been appointed to Toronto, Canada,
and severely felt by his flock is this sudden bereavement.
Never was a pastor more deservedly loved by a congrega-
tion; never did a pastor work harder for the welfare of a
parish.
"No ordinary man was he ; hidden under that humble Re-
demptorist garb was a perfect mint of rarest talents; and
as he pursued the white path of his calling, gems from his
brilliant mind dropped plentifully by the wayside, and bore
much fruit. He was not only a guide among his people, he
was an educator ; he not only tended to spiritual wants, but
sought with unabated zeal to refine and elevate the mind and
impart rare knowledge.
"One must necessarily be a parishioner to understand
the richness of his saintly character. He was a worker in
the severest sense; he was practical, prudent, careful, one
who constantly weighed results. His favorite talks were on
charity; lack of charity in the human heart he would define
in his incomparable way, as 'the secret of ill success in life.'
"When in good health and voice his sermons were scholar-
ly marvels ; his conference talks in the basement chapel will
long be remembered by those who had the pleasure of hearing
them. On these occasions such an analyist of human nature
did he prove, that his discourse and humor adapted itself to
the particular needs of each present, and consequently no
more efficient instructor or director of souls could be im-
agined. His manner towards his people was gentleness
itself, as one, to use his own graceful term, studying to
imitate more nearly the 'God of Sweetness.'
"An inspiration, an incentive to perfection, a light in the
path of the darkened, Rev. A. J. Mclnerney's name will
remain written deep in the hearts of the people, whom he has
gathered and indefatigably tended, as a faithful gardener,
using all his wonderful gifts, eloquence, sparkling wit, timely
satire, all as vehicles for the safe carrying of souls. He has
148 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
suffered considerably in health while in the parish, but even
so it will be hard for a parishioner to recall a time when he
did not wear his usual encouraging smile, and drop his ready
word of cheer.
"Since his short stay of three years, he has erected a splen-
did parochial school and convent, monuments of his hard
work and severe cares. He has left for Toronto followed by
the blessings and tears of an inconsolable people."
IN THE DAYS OF FATHER FRAWLEY.
The sorrow caused by the transfer of Father Mc-
Inerney was mitigated by the glad news that his place
was to be taken by one whom the people of the parish,
as was said at his first Mass, might justly call their
own, the Rev. John J. Frawley, C. SS.R. Father
Frawley, who at the time of his appointment was an
assistant at St. Alphonsus' Church, N. Y., arrived at
Boston, June 23, and the following day, the Feast of
St. John Baptist, his holy patron, was formally in-
stalled as Rector.
In order to make the school self-supporting, Father
Frawley, on October 15, organized the School Fund.
The parish was divided into thirty-three districts, to
each of which were assigned two collectors, whose
duty it was to solicit ten cents a week from every
family in their district. Those who contributed the
prescribed amount were entitled to a share in a Mass
celebrated every Monday morning. The appeal met
with a cordial and encouraging response.
Father Currier and the Carmelite Nuns.
It is pleasant to recall the prominent part which
the Rev. Charles W. Currier, C. SS. R., played in the
establishment of the foundation of the Discalced Car-
melite Nuns in Boston.
During the Catholic Congress held in Baltimore,
Md., in November, 1889, one of the Boston delegates
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 149
who called at the Carmelite Convent in that city,
learned that the community there had twenty-one
members (the limit allowed by the rules of the order) ,
and that applications, some of which had come from
New England, were being constantly refused. Full
of zeal for the glory of God, he conceived an ardent
desire of founding in Boston a monastery of Mt.
Carmel, where these souls and others might be per-
mitted to follow so holy a vocation. Upon his
return to Boston, after the adjournment of the Con-
gress, the delegate laid the matter before the Most
Reverend Archbishop. Meeting with no objection,
he proceeded to call the attention of Catholic friends,
clerical and lay, to the project. At several confer-
ences held by the members of the Catholic Union of
Boston, the subject of the foundation of a Carmelite
convent in the city was discussed, and all expressed
themselves in favor of such a foundation.
The Rev. Charles W. Currier, C. SS. R., a true
friend of the Carmelite Order, who was then engaged
in writing a work entitled, " Carmel in America,"
was carried away by the idea, and at once resolved to
further the good cause by every means in his power.
He informed the Prioress in Baltimore that a house
was offered for sale in Brighton for $20,000, which,
in his opinion, would answer all requirements. The
answer was that the Carmelites could not afford to buy
any property, as they were too poor, and that all they
desired was to have the rent of a small house paid for
them.
As Father Currier was always seeking to bring the
Order to the notice of those with whom he came in
contact, he determined to read a paper on his favorite
subject at one of the meetings of the Catholic Union,
so as thus to intensify the enthusiasm of the members
for the proposed foundation. Upon further reflec-
150 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tion, however, he decided that an address would
be more suitable and effective than the mere reading
of a paper. Mr. Samuel Tuckerman gladly seized
upon this idea and proposed it to the members of the
Catholic Union. The Rev. Robert Fulton, S.J., of-
fered the use of the Boston College Hall for the lec-
ture, at the same time promising to give $100 towards
a fund for the establishment of a monastery. Father
Currier was requested by Mr. J. McCloskey, in the
name of the Catholic Union, to deliver the address,
and invitations to the number of 1,600 were sent out.
On April 10, in the presence of the Most Rev. Arch-
bishop, many priests, and a large body of the laity, the
lecture was given. In substance and in tone, Father
Currier's address was a classic. Setting forth in mas-
terly style the aim and end of the Order, he captivated
the audience and enkindled a warm aif ection for the
saintly daughters of the illustrious Theresa of Jesus.
The address was afterwards published in pamphlet
form and together with a circular signed by nine
prominent laymen, was sent to about 800 Catholics
(250 clergymen and 550 laymen) with an urgent
appeal to contribute to the foundation. Many favor-
able answers were promptly received, and on May
31, 1890, His Grace Archbishop Williams was noti-
fied that $5,000 had been promised in aid of the pros-
pective establishment, and that a most cordial feeling
towards the Carmelites had been generally mani-
fested. Shortly afterwards the Archbishop invited
the nuns to begin a foundation in Boston.
On their arrival here, Father Currier was among
those who met them at the railroad station and con-
ducted them to their new home at Centre and Cedar
Streets. On August 28, he said the first Holy Mass
in the monastery and immediately afterwards spoke
briefly, recalling how providentially the foundation
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 151
had been established, and how wonderfully all ob-
stacles had vanished when once the work had been
undertaken. He then made a tour of the house and
blessed every room.
The Fathers of the Mission Church count it one of
"The Glories of Mary in Boston," that a former
member of their community was among the instru-
ments chosen by God to bring upon this city the
great blessing of a Carmelite foundation. They
confidently believe also that the success of their labors
has been due, in some measure at least, to the fervent
prayers of the devoted daughters of St. Theresa.
On Low Sunday, April 5, 1891, the Rev. Peter
Doyle, C. SS.R., who had been ordained the day be-
fore at Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence Cardinal
Gibbons, sang his first Mass. The Rev. Andrew
Wynn, C. SS. R., was deacon, the Rev. Henry
Gareis, C. SS. R., subdeacon, and the Rev. William
Luecking, C. SS. R., Prefect of Students at the Re-
demptorist seminary, archpriest and preacher.
On October 4, a grand mission of three weeks'
duration was opened in the church by four Redemp-
torists from the St. Louis Province ; the Rev. Fathers
James McLoughlin, John B. MacGeough, Thomas
Brown, and James Mayers. At 10:30 A. M. the
Rev. Father Rector Frawley and the officers of the
Mass, preceded by the cross-bearer, the acolytes, and
the other altar-boys, entered the sanctuary and pro-
ceeded down the aisle to the vestibule, where they met
the missionaries, whom they escorted to the altar ; all
the priests meanwhile singing the Benedictus. Sol-
emn Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Michael Cor-
duke, C. SS.R., assisted by the Rev. Henry Gareis,
C. SS.R., as deacon, and the Rev. Alexander Klau-
der, C. SS. R., as subdeacon. To the right of the high
152 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
altar, a large black cross lightly draped in white linen
lifted its sombre form, typifying the Mercy of God,
which blots out the sins of the truly contrite.
Of the dedicatory exercises in honor of Our Blessed
Lady, the Boston Globe said:
"The dedication services were of an unusually solemn and
impressive character. The vast basilica was brilliantly
illuminated from basement to dome, the lights of the latter
shining far out in the darkness and forming a radiant circle,
which, with the flood of golden light streaming from the
stained glass windows, could be seen at a great distance.
"The interior of the church had been elaborately deco-
rated, and presented a beautiful scene. A shrine, erected at
the Gospel side of the altar in honor of the Blessed Virgin,
was about 40 feet high by 20 feet wide. Designed by Rev.
Henry Gareis, C. SS. R., it was a marvel of taste and beauty
and harmonized perfectly with the Romanesque architecture
of the church. Hundreds of twinkling lights upheld by
golden candelabra, gleamed amid a wealth of choice exotics
and other potted plants artistically arranged, while in front
and on either side of the shrine, was a profusion of brilliant
flowers, mingled with palms and potted plants, and from the
sides depended festoons of smilax.
"Surmounting the shrine was a magnificent oil painting
of the Madonna and Child, a copy from DeSchwanden,
which was encircled by an arch of lights, making a halo
around this exquisite work of art.
The harvest reaped was 7,563 confessions and five
converts.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 158
SILVER JUBILEE OF THE MIRACULOUS
PICTURE.
A solemn Triduum was held, December 6-8, to
commemorate the 25th anniversary of the restoration
to public worship of the miraculous picture of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help in Rome. In its past his-
tory, famous for big events, the Mission Church had
held many tremendous crowds, but never any so
tremendous as those which assembled on this occasion.
Never before had there been such a widespread mani-
festation of devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
During the Triduum several wonderful cures, which
will be described elsewhere, were wrought. The ser-
mons were preached by the Rev. Frederick W. Way-
rich, C. SS. R., Rector of St. Alphonsus' Church,
New York. In an article on the close of the Triduum,
the Boston Pilot for December 19, after giving the
name of the preacher, said :
"There was much to inspire him. The Triduum had
brought out a marvelous display of the faith in the hearts
of the Catholics. By the thousands they flocked to the
church during the three days' devotion, not only from every
section of the city, but from every state in New England.
Not less than 20,000, all told, visited the shrine
during the day (Dec. 8) God rewarded this remarkable
faith with remarkable favors."
On March 9, 1892, the church was visited for the-
second time by the dreadful spectre of fire. At half
past three in the morning, Bro. Chrysostom saw
flames issuing from the two large windows in the lower
sacristy, and at once awakened the other members of
154 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the community ; Bro. Xavier sent in an alarm for the
fire-engines. In about ten minutes the firemen suc-
ceeded in getting the fire under control, but it took
them nearly three hours to extinguish it completely.
The flames entirely destroyed both the upper and lower
floors of the boys' sacristy, and approached so near St.
Joseph's altar as to consume the woodwork beneath
the bricks. How the fire originated would be hard to
say. The damage to the sacristy was estimated at
$9,000; to the vestments, at $6,000. The former loss
was fully covered by the insurance ; the latter, only
partially. The sympathy manifested by the people
was widespread and practical. The men of the parish
held a meeting in the basement of the church the fol-
lowing Sunday, March 14, and projected a movement
to raise the balance necessary to cover the total loss.
The Very Rev. Ferdinand Litz, Superior of the Balti-
more Province, headed the list with $300. Within
three months the requisite sum had been realized, and
on May 15, a Solemn Mass was offered in thanksgiv-
to God for having preserved the church from fire.
Happily, the firemen who had worked among the
burning timbers escaped uninjured. This remark-
able fact Father Frawley attributed to the special
protection of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The Blessed Sacrament Parish.
At this juncture in the history of the Mission
Church, an event of distinct importance took place,
namely, the birth of her fair daughter, the Blessed
Sacrament Parish.
"In the last ten or a dozen years the number of Catholic
residents of Roxbury had largely increased. By 1891 the
need of further church accommodations was severely felt,
and Archbishop Williams saw it was necessary to create
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 155
another parish. This step had its objections, and he ac-
cepted, as a temporary expedient, the proposal of the
Redemptorist Fathers to build a school chapel for the
suffering district within their lines and attend it from the
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. With a view to
future necessities, the Fathers secured a lot situated at the
junction of Creighton and Centre streets, measuring about
three acres. Here upon a site some rods to the rear of
Centre street, a tasteful frame structure of two stories was
erected. On the first floor were an office and six classrooms
suitable for a school. The upper floor was devoted to a
chapel, which, well lighted and ventilated, was capable of
seating 1,000 people. On May 22, 1892, the building was
dedicated under the name of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacra-
ment. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop,
assisted by Rev. Thomas Magennis, Rev. Arthur Connolly,
and Rev. Michael Sheehan, C.SS.R. Father Magennis was
celebrant of the High Mass, Fathers Connolly and Sheehan
acting as deacon and subdeacon, respectively. The Rev.
Joseph Wissel, C.SS.R., the first superior of the Mission
Church, preached the dedicatory sermon." (History of
the Catholic Church of New England, Archdiocese of Bos-
ton; Blessed Sacrament Parish, p. 165.)
Divine Providence, however, had its own wise de-
signs in regard to the new church, and shortly after-
wards unforeseen circumstances compelled the Fath-
ers to ask to be relieved of their charge. The request
was granted, and, thereupon, the parish of the Blessed
Sacrament was formed. On June 19, the Rev. Arthur
Connolly, who had been appointed pastor of the new
parish, was introduced to his flock by Father Frawley,
and at once assumed full charge.
The section of the Mission Church parish thus de-
tached, lay south by southwest, and extended from
Fisher Avenue to the line of the Jamaica Plain parish.
Another event of 1892 that stands out prominently
was the blessing, on September 25, of the statue and
the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the community
156 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
garden. About three thousand people witnessed the
ceremony. Father Frawley was celebrant, Father
Corduke, deacon, and Father Gareis, subdeacon. The
procession, which was composed of representatives of
the five divisions of the Holy Family and 100 girls
dressed in white, moved down the middle aisle of the
church to the street, and through the large gate to the
grotto. After the singing of the Litany of Our
Blessed Lady and the Magnificat by the juvenile
choir, the statue was blessed by Father Frawley.
Father Sheehan preached from an improvised pulpit
near the grotto. He began his discourse by giving a
short historical sketch of the Apparition at Lourdes ;
he then showed the designs which Our Blessed Mother
had in view in deigning to appear to the little shepherd
girl, and concluded by stating that the motive which
prompted Father Frawley to erect the statue was one
of thanksgiving to the Mother of Perpetual Help for
having preserved the church from fire. For an hour
or two after the services, hundreds of people remained
round the grotto, in order to admire its beauty and to
pray to Our Lady of Lourdes.
During the historic celebration in Boston of the
fourth centenary of the discovery of America, the
Mission Church parish sustained, especially in the
monster parade of October 21, her reputation for
doing things in a creditable manner. The people
were carefully trained up to the spirit of the occasion
and to the part they were to play. At a conference to
the married men of the Holy Family Association in
the early part of the month, Father Sheehan depicted
in graphic style the life and the immortal achievements
of the great Columbus. On Sunday, the sixteenth,
in another talk somewhat similar in trend and tenor,
he called on all the men to celebrate in an appropriate
manner the glorious anniversary. A day or two later
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 157
a mass meeting was held, and an elaborate program
devised.
On the eve of the parade, the church and the rectory
were tastefully decorated with flags, bunting, and
shields emblematic of Spain, Portugal, the United
States, and the State of Massachusetts; in the midst
of the gay display hung a large portrait of Columbus.
In accordance with the wishes of the Most Rev. Arch-
bishop, an exhibition was given that night in the school
hall. Before an appreciative audience of 1,200 peo-
ple, the school children, arrayed in gorgeous costumes
especially designed for the occasion, presented an
inspiring tableau vivant. The entertainment, in
which the children showed remarkable proficiency,
consisted of songs, recitations, and symbolic repre-
sentations.
The following morning the Mission Church divi-
sion, comprising over 1,000 men, assembled in front
of the school, where the various units took their ap-
pointed places as follows :
1. The Band, consisting of 24 pieces.
2. 475 married men of the Holy Family Association,
wearing badges and aligned in columns four deep.
8. Six drummers with tambourines.
4. Six barouches, in which rode Father Frawley, the
other Fathers, and certain representative men of the parish.
5. Another contingent of men 350 in columns of four,
wearing badges.
6. A beautiful float, with the "angel" choir of the parish,
consisting of young women attired in costumes that sym-
bolized the sun, moon, and stars. Above the float was
suspended a large American eagle.
7. 150 boys dressed in white blouses and black knicker-
bockers, each boy carrying the National Flag.
8. A float representing Columbus, with his hand on the
Globe, the aboriginal redman, Washington, Franklin, and
other national celebrities.
158 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Interspersed in the procession were a number of
standard bearers and marshals on foot and in saddle,
each man wearing a green badge with a golden rosette.
On reaching the church, the marchers halted with
uncovered head to admire the decorative scheme.
Two large pennants, representing the United
States, were objects of general appreciation. They
were suspended gracefully from the upper win-
dows of the rectory, while two green flags with a gold
harp in the center, flanked both sides of the main en-
trance. From the church the men marched to the
cathedral, where, in the presence of the Most Rev.
Archbishop, the clergy of the diocese, and a great
number of the laity, a statue of the famous discoverer
was unveiled. Eloquent speeches were made by Col.
Appleton, and the Portuguese and Italian consuls.
On Sunday, December 11, the Rev. John Cook,
C. SS.R., celebrated his first Mass. The Rev.
Michael J. Sheehan was deacon and the Rev.
Michael Corduke, C. SS. R., subdeacon. The Rev.
William G. Luecking was archpriest and
preacher. Father Cook was ordained December 7, at
Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
In May, 1893, a periodical entitled " The Monthly
Messenger of the Mission Church Parish" was
launched, with the Rev. Alexander Klauder,
C. SS. R., as editor. Its subject-matter was declared
to be " church announcements, notices of celebrations
during the coming month, the monthly calendar of
feasts, indulgences to be gained, notices of entertain-
ments in connection with the parish, accounts of the
activities of the various institutions and societies of
the church, short instructions on Catholic faith and
practice." The prospectus further said : " The Mes-
senger is to consist of 16 pages, half of which is to be
devoted to church matter, the other half to advertise-
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 159
ments. The parish neither gains nor loses financially
by the enterprise ; the advantages, however, of put-
ting notices in print and of circulating them among
the people are of incalculable value. 3 ' On the last
Sunday of every month, 4,000 copies were distributed
gratis. The Messenger soon proved to be a success
and became a permanent institution in the parish.
Its present circulation is 5,500, an average of two
copies for every family in the parish ; thus it is a very
effective means of communication between priests and
people.
Father Frawley was originally informed, May 21,
of his reappointment as Rector. As might be ex-
pected, the news was highly gratfying to the com-
munity and to the parish.
The Rev. Maurice Bonia, C. SS.R., who had been
ordained priest August 29 at Ilchester, Md., by His
Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, celebrated his first Mass
September 3. Father Frawley was the preacher on
the occasion.
In October the Redemptorist Fathers of Boston,
represented by Father Frawley, addressed a petition
to the Honorable Board of Aldermen to change the
name of Bumstead Lane to St. Alphonsus Street.
About two months later, to the great gratification of
all concerned, the petition was courteously granted.
One of the results of this appropriate move was that
within a short while several new houses were built on
the west side of St. Alphonsus Street. Attracted by
its hallowed name, a number of good Catholic families
took up their residence there, and the surroundings
began to assume an air of decided respectability. In
order to heighten the beautiful aspect of the street,
Father Frawley made improvements in that section
of the community property that faced thereon. One
or two outhouses, unseemly relics of a former day,
160 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
were razed ; the old fence was torn down, and for it
was substituted a new one extending to the gate ;
above the gate-entrance, the ground was nicely lev-
elled ; below, it was beautifully terraced.
On Sunday, June 17, 1894, the Rev. Eugene Mul-
heran, C. SS. R., sang his first Mass. He was assisted
by Father Frawley as deacon and the Rev. Thomas
Galvin, C. SS.R., as subdeacon. Father Henning
preached with all his old-time force and eloquence.
Father Mulheran was raised to the dignity of the
priesthood June 14, at Ilchester, Md., by His Em-
inence Cardinal Gibbons.
In September Father Frawley procured from
"The Little Church Around the Corner," in New
York, a hydraulic organ, which he installed in the
upper church. The old organ, which had thrilled
many a heart and spoken the language of the angelic
hosts, was then gently relegated to the basement.
On November 19, once more and for the third time,
Father Frawley was designated Rector of the Mission
Church. His second term was a short one, because
the new Superior General of the Redemptorists, the
Most Rev. Mathias Raus, made the appointments as
soon as feasible after his election on March 1, 1894,
to succeed the Most Rev. Nicholas Mauron, who died
July 13, 1893.
At the invitation of the reverend pastor of old St.
Patrick's Church, Northampton Street, Father
Frawley said Mass there, where, 45 years before, he
had been baptized. The venerable church was built in
1836, when bigotry was rife and rampant in Boston.
The Know-nothing mob tried hard to prevent its erec-
tion, and, when it had been finished, declared that no
priest should ever celebrate Mass in it ; as a result it
was guarded night and day by men of the parish. In
1894, it was abandoned for the present St. Patrick's
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 161
Church, at the junction of Dudley and Magazine
Streets, in the Mt. Pleasant district of Roxbury. The
Mass offered up by Father Frawley was attended by
about 500 people, who came to bid adieu to the old
church where they had worshipped so long.
The Beautifying of the Church.
"All the glory of the king's daughter is within in
golden borders, clothed round about with varieties."
In 1893, Father Frawley, in his great devotion to
the Mother of Perpetual Help, conceived the idea of
decorating and thoroughly renovating the church.
His views on this point were clearly expressed in the
following lines which appeared in the Messenger for
July, 1894:
"The architectural beauty of the Mission Church is be-
yond question. Everybody who beholds the church for the
first time is struck with surprise and wonder, but the usual
exclamation follows, 'What a grand church it will be when
finished!' The members of the Mission Church parish are
proud of their church, but all seem to think, and most admit,
that there is a great deal of room for improvement.
"Yes, we must begin now to improve the church. The
walls, which in some places have been shedding their plaster,
must be painted or in other ways secured against that defect.
The once white walls that have become unsightly must be
tinted and decorated. But what is most important of all
is the building of new altars, especially of a grand high
altar. Nothing temporary must be put up. It would be a
waste of money. Nothing that would be an apology for a
grand altar, in imitation of something better, would be
satisfactory. Only a genuine article of the largest and
grandest design and of the best material, all in keeping with
the noble architecture of the church, will answer the expecta-
tions and purposes of the Mission Church people.
"The improvement of the choir and the building of a
162 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
first-class organ are further requisites of the general scheme
of embellishing the church."
As Father Frawley viewed the church in its bare,
rough finish, he felt that if placed in the hands of an
able and experienced artist, it would be transformed
into a magnificent temple; and since the field for
decorating was so fertile in fine possibilities, it would
be a shame to neglect a work which would enhance so
much "The Glories of Mary in Boston." But, as
we have already implied, the decoration of the church
was only one item of the comprehensive plan of im-
provement. Other points, not previously men-
tioned, were : the execution of mural paintings, the
inlaying of the floors of the sanctuary and the sacristy
with mosaics, the marbleizing of the walls, the erection
of new Stations of the Cross, the installation of new
stained-glass windows, the addition of electric fixtures
for lights to be used on extraordinary occasions, and
last, but by no means least, the beautifying of the
Shrine of Our Lady.
The task before Father Frawley was no child's
play; on the contrary it was a man's job of staggering
magnitude. No one realized this better than he, but,
being a man of initiative and courage, he did not
shrink from the responsibility. Naturally prudent
and foresighted, he carefully studied and weighed
every phase and element of the great undertaking.
He realized clearly that part would have to answer
to part, and all details combine to form one mighty
whole. He grasped the entire situation perfectly and
went about the work scientifically. There was no
blind guesswork, no trusting to luck, no leaping in the
dark in the foolhardy hope of somehow or other land-
ing safely.
Competitive bids were opened. After lengthy con-
sultation with experts and patient and exhaustive
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THE GROWING SPLENDOR 163
study of the many plans and specifications submitted,
Father Frawley awarded the contract for the decorat-
ing to the firm of L. Haberstroh & Son of Boston ;
the mural painting was entrusted to Mr. William
Lamprecht of New York, the greatest portrait-artist
in America ; the contract for the marble altar went
to V. A. Fucigni of New York; and, for the mosaic
work to C. J. Purcell of New York. The marbleizing
of the walls was given to L. O. Garrett, and of the
pilasters and columns to L. Haberstroh & Son.
On Easter Monday, April 15, 1895, the carpenters
began to erect the staging in the church, preparatory
to the work of decorating. The Sacred Image of the
Mother of Perpetual Help was privately removed to
the basement, where at the same time were set up five
confessionals which had been used in the old church
in the early seventies.
A Collection Committee was organized August 18,
under the direction of the Rev. Henry Gareis,
C. SS. R., and it was announced that those who would
contribute the desired amount to the erection of the
high altar would have their names inscribed in a silver
heart. The Monthly Messenger said:
"We desire very 'much to have the names of all those who
contribute to the erection of the altar placed in a beautiful
niche in the altar, near the Tabernacle. Two hearts of
silver lined with gold will be deposited in this niche. One,
the larger of the two, is to represent the Sacred Heart of
Jesus ; the other, the Sacred Heart of Mary. . . ."
The two hearts were made by the Gorham Manu-
facturing Co. of Providence, R. I. On both are en-
graved the words, "Mission Church" and "God
bless the donors." They were both imbedded in the
altar itself, as an eternal memorial of the generosity
of those who gave the stated sum to the Church Dec-
164 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
oration Fund. Every week Holy Mass is said for
those whose names are inscribed in the Hearts.
With the blessing of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
the great work begun for her honor and glory pro-
gressed smoothly and rapidly. On November 7, the
first shipment of the high altar was received from
Italy. The same day Mr. Alcan, an artist of recog-
nized ability, began the execution of the mosaics.
About three weeks later, the staging was removed
and all the manifold beauties of the decorator's art
were revealed. The Stations of the Cross arrived
February 14, 1896, and a few days later were canoni-
cally erected by the Rev. Father Leonard, O. S. F.
On the 16th, the Communion rail came from Italy,
and the handsome crystal crucifix, the gift of Senator
John F. Cronan, from France. From February 24
to March 6, the marble- workers were engaged in
erecting the Communion rail.
On March 9, the old wooden high altar was dis-
mantled and demolished. Although it had been in
existence only eighteen years, many happy recollec-
tions clustered round it. At it more than 20,000
Masses had been said, and nearly 3,000 of the younger
generation had received their first Holy Communion;
while to souls unnumbered it had been what the Pillar
of the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night
were to the chosen people of God wandering through
the desert. The last Mass at the altar was celebrated
by the Rev. Maurice Bonia, C. SS.R., of Quebec.
Canada.
TttE GROWING SPLENDOR 165
"The Second Spring"
" The winter is now past, the rain is over and gone
. . . Arise, my love, my beautiful one and come."
v
As we have previously mentioned, during the reno-
vation of the upper church the wonder-working pic-
ture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was relegated
to the basement. She who is " as fair as the moon "
had suffered an eclipse. A dreary winter had settled
over Her whose sweet presence brings springtime in
the life of the soul. But with the advent of the month
of May, the shadows were lifted, the frost was
loosened, and Our Blessed Mother came forth from
the gloom and the rime, to take her place of honor
again at the Shrine. Father Frawley determined to
invest the re-enthronement of the Sacred Image with
the most impressive and magnificent ceremonies, so
as to make it an event that should never fade from the
memory. For Our Lady of Perpetual Help it was
to be the " coming in of a Second Spring." The flow-
ers were to appear in our land ; the fig-tree was to
put forth its green figs ; the vines in flower were to
yield their sweet smell.
Sunday, May 3, was the date set for the apotheosis
of the Blessed Mother. At 7:30 P. M., the head of
the procession emerged from the basement ; the or-
chestra struck up a soul-stirring piece, every light was
flashed on, a splendor almost like that of noonday
prevailed, and the church became the Enchanted
Palace of Mary. Father Corduke was celebrant of
the rite, Father Galvin, deacon and Father Corr,
subdeacon. Twelve girl graduates of the parochial
school carried the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual
166 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Help, and immediately behind it walked the two griz-
zled veterans, the Rev. Father O'Connor and the Rev.
Father Gates, who were preaching the glories of Mary
in the days of the old church. As the procession moved
gracefully up the aisle, the sweet, clear, silvery voices
of 600 children were raised heavenward in praise of
the Holy Virgin, and every heart was stirred with
love of Her who has a mother's heart for all. The
splendid music of the orchestra, the deeply devotional
hymns, the dazzling array of banners, nodding as if
in prayer, the immaculate white dresses of 300 little
girls, who radiated the delightful charm of childish
simplicity, the happy, innocent faces of 300 little boys,
the richly-robed priests, and, above all, the burning
love and devotion strikingly manifested by nearly
2,700 loyal clients of Our Blessed Lady all con-
tributed to make the event one which the heavenly
host and the Queen of Heaven must have been de-
lighted to contemplate. The sermon, a beautiful
tribute to the peerless Mother of God, was preached
by Father Frawley. He was truly eloquent because
he spoke the language of the heart, the language
which Our Lord Himself used when He conversed
with His Holy Mother in the quiet seclusion and
blessed peace of Nazareth. The coronation ceremony
was brought to a fitting close with the singing of
"Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."
The Mission Church When Renovated.
By the end of August, 1896, the renovation of the
Mission Church, excepting the installation of the new
organ, was complete. At that time art critics of wide
experience and sound judgment gave it as their pro-
fessional opinion that in every respect the church was
entitled to be called very beautiful. The artists, after
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 167
a careful study of the architecture of the edifice,
judged aright the greatness of their opportunities,
and, in the event, rose fully level to them. The high
altar, the Stations of the Cross, the stained-glass
windows, the dado and the marbleized work, the mural
decorations, and the figure paintings were all con-
ceived and executed in perfect liarmony with the
noble architectural lines of the church.
The high altar is of pure white Carrara marble
wrought in Italy, especially for the church. Its deli-
cate tracery, which reveals the deft touch of the
master, at once excites admiration. In the central
niche is a statue of the Mother of Sorrows holding a
crown of thorns. Her sweet countenance is eloquently
expressive of tender love of her Divine Son and of
deep grief over His sufferings and death. The atten-
tion of the observer is instantly attracted by the won-
derful expression of the eyes, which tell so graphically
the story of the seven-edged sword of sorrow. Other
noteworthy points are the naturalness of each fold of
the garments, the gracefulness of each curve of the
limbs, and the precision of each facial lineament.
This statue, like the altar, is of Carrara marble and
is chiselled from one block. On the Gospel side of
the altar, is a statue of St. Michael with drawn sword ;
on the Epistle side, a statue of St. Gabriel holding a
scroll with the device, "Ave Maria." The niches are
finished in mosaic and gold leaf and when illuminated
present a splendid appearance.
The floor of the sanctuary is inlaid with mosaics
and ornamented with two elegant designs : first, the
grapevine and the wheat, emblematic of the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass ; and, second, the angel, the
eagle, the ox, and the lion the conventional symbols
of the four Evangelists. The Communion rail is of
white marble delicately carved and is supported by
168 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
columns of onyx. The Stations of the Cross are
carved in relief, and are tinted with cream and gold.
The stained-glass windows, the typical high-grade
Munich product, are in complete accord with the other
beauties of the church.
The Cronan window (gift of Hon. John F. Cro-
nan) portrays the 'apparition of Our Lord to St.
Mary Margaret Alacoque. The Saint is seen on her
knees, her humble countenance filled with astonish-
ment at the thought that she has been se-
lected for the sublime task of propagating de-
votion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The scene of
the manifestation, the convent garden, adds life and
animation to the picture. The observer sees the birds
fluttering in the trees, while at the feet of the Saint
the scarlet rose and the immaculate lily, apt symbols
of love and purity, are gracefully blooming with a
beauty caught from the Eternal Gardens. Our Divine
Saviour is represented pointing to His Sacred Heart,
while explaining to His chosen servant the priceless
treasures of His Infinite love. His majestic coun-
tenance reveals His deep grief over the black ingrati-
tude of men, in spite of His boundless and all-embrac-
ing love for them. Nearby are angels adoring Him
who has made man "a little less than the angels."
The Children's Window. The school children, not
to be outdone by their elders, donated a beautiful win-
dow representing one of the most touching scenes
spoken of in the Gospel, Jesus blessing the children
who had been brought to Him by their parents.
" Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to
come to me, for the kingdom of heaven is of such."
Our Lord is pictured sitting alongside of a well. Two
naive little tots approach Him ; the one puts its hands
on the lap of Christ ; the other kneels at His feet.
The two men standing to one side are Peter and John.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 169
Jesus lays His sacred hands on the children, and two
pure hearts are filled with joy, and two fond mothers
beam with delight.
The Hanley Window (gift of Col. P. T. Hanley)
depicts in vivid colors that sombre mystery in which
were concentrated all the mental sufferings of Our
Lord His Agony in the Garden. The Comforting
Angel, with the chalice in his hands, is seen hovering
over Jesus, who has just waded through the Red Sea
of His Blood, but is calm and tranquil again and per-
fectly resigned to the Adorable Will of His Heavenly
Father. Our Divine Saviour welcomes the Heavenly
Messenger and nerves Himself to drain the bitter cup
to the very dregs. A short distance away, we behold
the disciples fast asleep. " Could you not watch one
hour with me?" The ever-impetuous Peter is repre-
sented with his sword at his side ; John is slumbering
soundly, with His head on the lap of James, whose
arm is thrown round the neck of the Beloved Dis-
ciple.
The Connolly Window (gift of Bartholomew Con-
nolly) shows Mary Magdalen immediately after she
has finished anointing the feet of Jesus. She has just
heard the blessed word of forgiveness, and appears the
very personification of humility and contrition. In
striking contrast with her demeanor, is the attitude of
Simon, who holds up his hands in horror at the thought
that Jesus should allow such an infamous sinner to
approach Him. Even the Apostles, one of whom is
evidently St. John, are astonished at this act of infinite
mercy and condescension on the part of their Master.
The Holy Family Window (gift of the Archcon-
fraternity of the Holy Family) presents a beautiful
scene in the humble house at Nazareth. The day's
work finished, Mary is engaged in holy meditation.
The Boy, John Baptist, who is visiting his Cousin, is
170 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
frolicking with a pet lamb ; the Divine Child is play-
ing with chips of wood which have fallen from Jo-
seph's bench. Suddenly Jesus becomes thoughtful.
Apparently by accident, but really by design, He has
formed a cross, the sight of which awakens in His
mind the awful thought of His bitter Passion and
Death. A sudden silence falls on the little group.
Mary suspends her reading and gazes with sympa-
thetic and loving interest at her Divine Son. Joseph
looks intently at the expressive symbol which will one
day claim the Heavenly Child as a Redeeming Vic-
tim. Even the little John stops his childish pranks,
in order to study the strange figure fashioned by the
hands of his Cousin. St. Elizabeth is just about to
enter the room, and; noticing the grave looks of the
sacred circle, understands that something unusual has
occurred. In a moment she, too, will learn the reason
of the pensive silence ; she, too, will see the ominous
miniature of Calvary's Cross.
The Hynds Window (gift of Ann Hynds) has for
its subject the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to her
cousin Elizabeth. A smiling landscape, diversified by
hills and vales and swelling uplands, and arched by
a clear blue sky, is unfolded to our view. In the fore-
ground we behold two women ; the one, long past the
meridian of life ; the other, still in the early morning
of her earthly career. Elizabeth has seen the Holy
Virgin crossing the hills, and knowing by divine revel-
ation what great wonders God has wrought in Her,
goes out to meet Her, and falling on her knees, greets
Her for the first time as the Mother of the Redeemer.
Mary, filled with joy at the thought of the marvels
that have been accomplished in Her, extends her arms
in affectionate greeting, and in an ecstacy of love,
sings the praises of God in the sublime canticle of the
Magnificat.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 171
The Conroy Window (in memory of the Rev. John
A. B. Conroy) delights the eye with the famous ap-
parition of Our Blessed Mother at Lourdes. Her rai-
ment suggests the splendors of heaven; the mantle is
of purest white ; round it is a girdle of blue, falling in
two long bands to within a short distance from the
feet, which are adorned with two roses of golden hue ;
a white veil covers her head, and a chaplet hangs from
her hand. The little girl to whom she appears, Berna-
dette Soubirous, has fallen on her knees, and with
wonder and awe contemplates the entrancing vision.
At the feet of the Immaculate Queen is seen the mir-
aculous spring whose waters have brought health and
strength to millions of stricken ones the world over.
Some distance away, we behold the beautiful church
erected in honor of the Blessed Virgin by the faithful
of France.
The Kennedy Window (gift of John J. and Louisa
J. Kennedy) portrays the Annunciation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. The Archangel Gabriel is
represented in the act of entering the room of the
humble Virgin at Nazareth, and making known to
Her the glad tidings that She has been chosen to be the
Mother of the Redeemer. Mary, engaged in prayer,
is aroused from her meditation by the entrance and
the salutation of the celestial courier; She is startled
and troubled at the tremendous import of his words.
Her difficulty settled, She gives her consent, and a ray
of light from the Holy Spirit is seen descending on
Her. " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Most High shall overshadow thee."
The Archangel, clothed with the majesty of Heaven,
bears a scroll with the words " Hail Mary." His fiery
wings, symbolizing his burning love of God, intensify
the magnificence of the sublime picture.
The Carberry Window (gift of Hon. William G.
172 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Carberry and Wife) perpetuates the memory of a
famous incident in the life of St. Alphonsus. When,
in 1731, the town of Foggia, in Naples, had been
ravaged by a terrible earthquake, the saintly Bishop
of the diocese was anxious to have his people profit
spiritually by the calamity. In the place, there was
venerated a very ancient and wonderful picture of the
Mother of God. St. Alphonsus, who had been preach-
ing a mission in the neighborhood, was invited by the
zealous Bishop to conduct a novena in her honor at
Foggia. The crowd that came to the exercises was so
immense that many could not gain admission to the
church. The picture was then placed on a temporary
altar at the door, where the Saint preached so as to be
heard by those outside. One day, thinking himself
alone, he went to examine the miraculous painting
more closely, but he had scarcely begun to do so when
his heart became so inflamed with love for Her who
had lavished on him so many favors, that in an instant
he was rapt into ecstasy. He was raised several feet
from the ground and remained suspended in the air,
while a dazzling shaft of light issuing from the pic-
ture, suffused his countenance with a heavenly glow.
This extraordinary manifestation lasted fully an hour.
The original picture is still preserved in the Redemp-
torist house at Ciorani, Italy. A study of the window
shows that it reproduces with the greatest fidelity
every detail of the marvelous occurrence.
The Sproules Window (gift of Thos. F. and Ann
Sproules) brings home to us the ever-blessed scene of
the first Christmas. With exquisite charm it por-
trays the Incarnate Beauty of the Divine Infant, who,
though suffering keenly from his miserable surround-
ings, reveals not the slightest trace of pain on His
sweet face. A heavenly smile plays about His lovely
lips ; His little arms are outstretched in welcome ; we
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 173
can almost hear Him inviting us to come and rest on
His bosom. In rapturous delight Mary is kneeling
at the side of Jesus. For very joy She cannot speak,
but her look expresses the ineffable bliss that fills her
soul. Joseph, beside himself with awe and wonder-
ment, profoundly adores the Great God of Heaven
and Earth, in the guise of a helpless Babe. The Angel
near the Crib is lost in admiration at the infinite hu-
mility of his All-powerful King. The two lowly shep-
herds are the picture of innocence and simplicity ; the
one has quickly removed his hat and thrown aside his
crook ; the other, having brought along his flute, is
regaling the Heavenly Babe with a tune familiar to
the shepherds of Judea.
The Whelton Window (in memory of Bartholomew
Whelton) depicts the Finding of the Child Jesus in
the Temple. In vivid form we behold Him, a beautiful
Boy, explaining to the Doctors in the Temple the
meaning of some obscure passage in the Law. One of
them holds an open book, while gazing in admiration at
the Youthful Prodigy ; two others, lost in wonder, are
intently studying the Child; while a fourth, appar-
ently not fully convinced, is vainly striving to find a
passage which will contradict the explanation of the
Infinite Wisdom. At the entrance of the Temple,
we see the familiar figures of Mary and Joseph, who,
at last after three days' search, have found the ob-
ject of their fond love.
The Gately Window (gift of Rose and Bridget
Gately) exhibits Our Divine Lord in the act of con-
ferring on St. Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of
Heaven. The three figures standing to one side rep-
resent the disciples who were with Peter. They are
closely watching him, and seem to be greatly affected
by his humility ; they show evident signs of deep
reverence for him, whom Jesus is investing with the
174 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
authority of Prince of the Apostles. In the distance,
one sees clearly the outlines of St. Peter's, in Rome,
resting on a rock, and is thus reminded of the words
of Christ to Peter, "Thou art Peter, and on this
Rock I will build my Church." This window was the
last to be put in.
Although, at this writing, the entire decorative
scheme of the church is being changed, nevertheless,
the artists did excellent work in 1896. In order to
emphasize the structural beauties of the edifice, the
decorators made it a fundamental principle to retain
the keynote color : a warm, opalescent gray and ivory,
which is seen especially in the variegated Scotch
polished granite columns which support the arches of
the church.
The color of the walls, above the scagliola
wainscoting, was a soft gray, which, as it approached
the ceiling, gradually shaded off into a pleasing ivory-
tint. The nice gradation thus achieved required great
technical skill and a highly-developed sense of color.
The sharply-groined ceiling of the nave was beauti-
fully decorated, the numerous panels having been
bordered with elegant designs, each filling exactly its
appointed place, and all maintaining a perfect bal-
ance. The panels were of an atmospheric grayish
green a tint restful, soothing and serene. The
borders were of soft ivory, with excellent tracery in
mild iridescent tones emphasized in gold. The ribs
of the arches, which were of a delicate ivory, served to
furnish sharp outlines against the borders on each
side. At the intersection of the ribs were bas-reliefs,
ivory-tinted and enriched with bands of gold. The
ceiling of the dome constituted a very striking feature
of the decorative scheme ; the color was exceedingly
light, with a heavy gold treatment, the beauty of which
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 175
was enhanced by the delicate amber- and rose-tint of
the stained-glass windows.
The design of the ceiling was a rich silvery green
ground, with bright stars modeled in low relief and
gilded. The four pendentives beneath the dome con-
tained paintings of the four Evangelists, in deep colors
on a background of pure gold. The borders of the
panels were of a light cream color, with detached
ornaments in red, peacock-blue, and gold; the sur-
rounding architectural moldings were of light ivory.
Round the base of the dome were columns of mild
sienna, with old ivory capitals gilded.
In the clearstory, above the big granite columns
which extend round the entire nave and support the
arches of the triforium, were beautifully marbleized
columns of sienna and onyx, of soft roseate hue, dec-
orated with pure gold and surmounted by carved capi-
tals of old ivory. The spandrels of the clearstory
arches were adorned with emblematic tracery in soft,
tranquil color. The arches, architectural cornices and
moldings were of a quiet ivory, while the soffits of the
main clearstory arches bore a beautiful design painted
in light warm colors, with deep, richly tinted back-
ground. Above the triforium arches were stained-
glass windows with elegant borders of painted mosaic.
The portrait- or figure-paintings contributed won-
derfully to the impressive beauty of the church. The
most striking painting was the Crowning of the
Blessed Virgin as Queen of Heaven, which graced the
whole chancel arch or dome of the sanctuary. The
central figures were, of course, Jesus and Mary.
Seated on a throne of clouds in an atmosphere of
golden glory, God the Son was portrayed in the act
of placing the crown upon the head of His Immacu-
late Virgin Mother, who was kneeling at His feet.
176 THE GLORIES OP MARY IN BOSTON
The contrast of the colors was remarkably fine. Under
the eye of the observer, the background of fervid
gold seemed to grow richer. It presented a scene akin
to those sometimes witnessed in glorious sunsets, which
instinctively raise the heart to things divine. The
spell of the golden background was intensified by the
rich red mantle of Jesus and the azure blue robes of
the Blessed Virgin. God the Holy Ghost, under the
form of a dove, could be seen with outstretched wings
immediately above Jesus and Mary. From the dove
a flood of light descended upon the head of Mary, as a
symbol of her overshadowing by the Holy Spirit.
" The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee."
Surmounting the whole scene was God the Father,
represented with the flowing patriarchal beard, which
typified His eternal years. From Him all the heav-
enly glory radiated. Grouped round the central fig-
ures were eight archangels four on each side ; and
these again were surrounded by choirs of the heavenly
spirits, who appeared among the clouds.
This beautiful painting epitomized the whole Divine
economy, from the fall of the Angels and the pre-
varication of man to the Redemption of the world.
It forcibly suggested the fulfillment of the scriptural
prophecies which foretold that the Messias would be
born of the Woman, who, with the moon under her
feet and the twelve stars on her head, would crush the
head of the infernal serpent, and finally be crowned
Queen of Heaven. On the lower left side of the paint-
ing was St. Michael, with the flaming sword inscribed
with the legend, " Quis ut Deus," " Who is like God?"
This served to remind the beholder of the fall both
of the angels and of man a fall caused by the insane
ambition of Lucifer and of Adam to become like God.
St. Michael was represented for another reason also :
because he is considered the defender of the Immacu-
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 177
late Conception and of the Incarnation. This opinion
is based on the entire twelfth chapter of the Apo-
calypse, "And there was a great battle in Heaven,
Michael and his Angels fought with the dragon."
Opposite St. Michael was the figure of St. Gabriel,
the messenger of Heaven chosen to announce to Mary
the glad tidings of the Incarnation. The idea of the
artist in selecting these two Archangels for his picture
may, therefore, be thus briefly expressed : both Saint
Michael and Saint Gabriel were employed by God in
the Mystery of the Incarnation; consequently, both
bear a relationship to the Son and the Mother ; and
both, therefore, should be conspicuous when the Son
and the Mother are exalted in glory.
On each side of the glory surrounding Jesus and
Mary, the artist placed three other Archangels at
different degrees of height. Those to the right, who
were nearer to Our Lord, were represented bearing
symbols which showed how Jesus, having suffered
contradiction and humiliation, was finally crowned
with glory and majesty. The lowest of the three held
the star which led the Magi to Bethlehem ; thus were
expressed the birth of Christ and the calling of the
Gentiles to the true faith. " His own knew Him not,"
but strangers came from the East to adore Him.
Furthermore, His own people rejected His mission ;
they even put Him to death. This truth was symbol-
ized by the second highest angel, who carried the crown
of thorns and the other instruments of the Sacred
Passion. Again, by His ignominious death on the
Cross, Our Lord was degraded before the whole
world ; but he was obliged to undergo this humiliation
before entering into glory ; this dispensation of Divine
Providence was brought out by the highest angel, who
bore aloft the banner of victory, in order to show that
Our Divine Saviour had conquered death. The artist
178 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
thus portrayed the Birth, Passion and Resurrection
of Christ ; but in these mysteries Our Blessed Lady,
from whom He took human flesh, played a prominent
part ; therefore, they were fittingly represented in the
picture of her Coronation. The three Archangels to
the left bore symbols referring to the Blessed Virgin.
The lowest clasped a lily entwined with thorns, which
typified the Immaculate Conception : a lily pure and
unsullied would stand out prominently if viewed
among thorns, so does the Blessed Mother by her
Immaculate Conception immeasurably excel every
other child of Adam. The second highest Archangel
carried a heart transpierced with a sword, in order to
show that Mary, like her Divine Son, had to pass
through the crucible of suffering. "And thy own soul
a sword shall pierce." But her life of martyrdom
was destined to be crowned with glory ; hence the
highest Archangel held at arm's length a Crown of
Roses the Rosary.
Over the baptistry door, at the rear end of the side
aisle to the east, was a striking painting of St. John
baptizing Our Lord. Christ was represented stand-
ing in the limpid stream, and the Saint, in the act of
pouring the water over the head of his Divine Master.
Two angels holding a large sheet were depicted as
coming down from the Heavens, which were open,
and from which the Holy Ghost was descending upon
the Christ, in whom the Father is well pleased. The
humility and self-abasement of Our Lord, who sub-
mitted to be baptized by one of His own creatures,
and the deep reluctance and shrinking timidity of St.
John, who considered himself unworthy to perform
this sacred function, were strongly emphasized. Saint
John would not presume even to stand in the water
with Christ, but was half -kneeling on a large rock.
In a corresponding position, at the end of the oppo-
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SISTERS' CONVENT
Built in 1889
ORIGINAL MAIN ALTAR
Replaced by present Main Altar in 1897
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 179
site aisle, was portrayed the Flight into Egypt. With
the Divine Child on her arm, Mary was seated on an
ass led through the desert by Joseph. The fine
blending of the colors expressed exactly the point of
the picture. A sad realism brooded over all, and the
beholder almost felt impelled to follow the Divine
Infant across the bleak and arid wilderness until he
should see Him safe at last from His cruel persecu-
tors.
In the transepts were two full-sized paintings : one
of St. Clement Hofbauer, C. SS.R., with arms out-
stretched as if in the act of preaching ; the other of St.
Gerard Majella, C. SS.R., holding a crucifix and
apparently meditating on the Sacred Passion of Our
Lord.
The niches under the large painting of the Corona-
tion of Our Blessed Lady, contained on a gold back-
ground the pictures of several Saints, all of whom but
one were founders of religious orders. Beginning on
the left, as one faced the altar, the following Saints
were represented : Theresa, Augustine, Dominic,
Ignatius of Loyola, Alphonsus de Ligouri, Bernard,
Bruno, Francis of Assisi, Benedict, and Catherine of
Sienna. In the niches on the Gospel side of the chancel
were paintings of Abel, Noah, and Moses ; on the
Epistle side, of Abraham, Melchisedech, and Isaias
the great characters of the Old Law. In the niches
around the transepts were the pictures of the Twelve
Apostles.
The chancel walls were embellished with delicate
gold tracery against a crimson background. The
effect by electric light was that of a fiery red, yet at
the same time of soft crimson gold. These various
shades, which harmonized perfectly with the other
appointments of the chancel, intensified one's sense of
the sacredness of the sanctuary, and suggested that
180 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
majesty and glory which a religious mind is wont to
associate with the earthly dwelling-place of the Holy
of Holies.
The baptistry was decorated in the Byzantine style
heavy, rich and deep. Every element of the design
conferred a fitting solemnity on the sacred place where
the Sacrament of Regeneration was administered.
A Grand Triple Celebration.
When Father Frawley began the beautifying of
the church, he had in mind a magnificent celebration
to be held at its conclusion, a series of festivities that
were to commemorate three noteworthy events : the
second centenary of the birth of St. Alphonsus, the
twenty-fifth anniversary of his doctorate, and the
Silver Jubilee of the Mission Church.
In the early part of August, 1896, Father Frawley
began immediate preparations for a Solemn Triduum
to be conducted September 27-29. A preliminary
feature of the celebration was the consecration of the
new high altar, on the 25th, by His Grace Archbishop
Williams. The honor of celebrating the first Mass at
the altar was accorded to the venerable Father O'Con-
nor.
The first day of the Triduum was a beautiful
autumn day colored with russet tints. Fully an hour
before the time set for the Mass, the church was
crowded. His Grace Archbishop Williams arrived
at ten o'clock, and half an hour later the procession
was aligned in the rectory. The ranks were composed
of fifty priests, secular and regular, followed by the
Rt. Rev. Bishop Healy of Portland, Me., the Most
Rev. Archbishop Gross, C.SS.R., of Portland, Ore-
gon, and the Most Rev. Archbishop of Boston. As
soon as the long file of clergymen reached the nave of
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 181
the church, the Grand Germania Orchestra of Boston,
composed of 35 pieces, struck up Gounod's famous
processional ; and as the glorious train advanced
towards the sanctuary, the church was progressively
illuminated. The variegated floral decorations, which
were in fine taste, served admirably to relieve the
severe whiteness of the altar.
The Most Rev. Archbishop Williams, who pre-
sided, occupied his throne on the Gospel side of the
sanctuary. Bishop Healy was seated on the Epistle
side, while Archbishop Gross was celebrant of the
Pontifical Mass. The deacons of honor to Archbishop
Williams were the Very Rev. Ferdinand Litz,
C. SS.R., Superior of the Baltimore Province, and
the Very Rev. Abbe Hogan, S.S., President of St.
John's Seminary, Brighton. Archbishop Gross was
assisted by the Rev. Elias F. Schauer, C. SS.R.
(former Provincial) , as archpriest ; the Rev. George
J. Dusold, C. SS.R., Procurator of the Province, as
deacon ; and the Rev. William G. Luecking,
C. SS. R., Prefect of Students at Ilchester, Md., as
subdeacon. The preacher was the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Healy, who spoke in part as follows:
"If anything marked St. Alphonsus as a faithful disciple,
it was his resemblance in his life of suffering to our Saviour.
No Saint ever more truly realized the words, 'He shall be a
sign which shall be contradicted.'
"Born on September 27, 1696, of a noble race and family,
his long life of nearly a century was filled with great deeds
for God, with great triumphs, but always attended by great
and continual contradictions. After a careful and Christian
education, a blameless youth, he began his worldly career
with high prospects and great hopes.
"A great mortification and humiliation convinced him of
the vanity of worldly expectations. He turned entirely to
God. Against his vocation to the priesthood, he had the
opposition and contradiction of his noble father, family
and friends of every degree. Against his project of estab-
182 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
lishing an order for evangelizing the poor and neglected,
still greater opposition arose from every quarter family,
civil, and even ecclesiastical friends, enemies, and authority.
" Against the rule which he proposed, there were many
false brethren, who imperilled the establishment of the rising
society. The times were evil, and iniquity seemed to triumph
everywhere.
"Elated by the suppression of the Society of Jesus, the
enemies of the Church and religion, high-placed in France,
Spain, Portugal and Naples, swept away missions and mis-
sionaries from the forests, north and south, closed the
Christian colleges and schools, and aimed at nothing less
than the suppression of all religious orders and the enslaving
of the hope of the Church.
"He was made a bishop at 66 years, in spite of his protests.
Alphonsus found the civil governments and the adherents and
servants almost in constant contradiction.
"Returning to his community after twelve years, he found
his work greatly endangered by the evil spirit everywhere
prevalent. His theology, so full of mercy and compassion,
was decried by many, and, worn out with age and infirmities,
he died at 90 years of age, at the humble house of Nocera,
poor, suffering and patient, intent upon evangelizing the
poor, predicting the triumph of religion, then apparently
crushed to earth, the resurrection of the Society of Jesus
and the permanence of his order of the Holy Redeemer, yet,
as Our Saviour predicted of himself, 'Exalted on the cross, I
will draw all to myself.'
"From his deathbed began his triumph. Miracles evidenced
his sanctity, the whole Church recognized the effect of his
labors, infallible authority praised his doctrine, and from
his writings first came his beatification, then his canonization,
and lastly his declaration as a doctor of the Church."
After voicing his profound esteem and admiration
for the Most Rev. Archbishop Williams, the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Healy addressed the Redemptorist Fathers,
congratulating them on the glorious history of their
Congregation, and also on the magnificent monu-
ment to God, which they had erected. Then, turning
to the laity, he exhorted them to show fidelity, fervor,
and confidence.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 183
In the evening, the Most Rev. Archbishop Gross,
C. SS.R., was celebrant of the Pontifical Vespers.
The deacon was the Very Rev. William O'Brien
Pardow, Provincial of the Jesuits ; the subdeacon,
the Rev. Joseph Hild, C. SS. R., Rector of the Church
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New York. The
Rt. Rev. Bishop Hennessey of Wichita, Kansas, was
present in the sanctuary. The preacher, the Rev.
Joseph Henning, C. SS.R., took as his theme, "The
Life and Labors of St. Alphonsus." The first point
he made was that the sanctity of the great servant of
God could be traced to the influence of his noble
mother, who gave all her time and thought to his re-
ligious education. The reverend orator then con-
tinued as follows:
"She put him, at the age of 9, under the care of the Orato-
rian Fathers of St. Philip, who had about that time estab-
lished in Naples a special association for the spiritual prog-
ress of the sons of the nobility. Thus it was that this
saintly woman laid in the soul of Alphonsus the foundation
of that greatness that signalizes him in the Church of God.
"A man is what his mother makes him. To her is en-
trusted by the Creator the task of molding his character.
If she keeps before her mind the great truth that the child
which God gives her is a trust, confided to her, that she may
fit that child for its destiny, which is Heaven, and if she lives
up to and in accordance with that truth, her child will grow
up to be an ornament to society and the Church, a joy to
Heaven and earth.
"His spiritual training went hand in hand with his mental
and physical education. His father, noticing the quickness
with which his boy learned, procured for him the best tutors
he could find in the kingdom. Under these tutors his progress
was so great that in a few years he became proficient in the
languages, in mathematics, poetry, music, art, and philos-
ophy.
"His father, solicitous for the glory of his house, and per-
ceiving that the gifted son was the very one who would
reflect that glory and bring the highest honors on the family,
184 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
wished to open a great career for him and destined him for
the profession of the law.
"Alphonsus, obedient to his parents, at once allowed him-
self to be put under the tuition of the celebrated masters, and
he advanced so rapidly that at the age of 16 he took his
degrees in civil and ecclesiastical jurisprudence.
"At the age of 20 he was considered one of the most able
lawyers in Italy; everybody was anxious to intrust his case
to the hands of the most clever and at the same time the most
saintly advocate in the Neapolitan Kingdom.
"It sounds strange to bring these two terms in juxtaposi-
tion clever and saintly lawyer. People are accustomed to
believe that it is not possible for legal ability and sanctity to
coexist in one and the same mind. In Alphonsus both were
combined.
"As soon as he was ordained, he was filled with the spirit
of Elias, zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of
souls. Like John the 'Baptist he went forth to preach day
after day at street corners, public places ; gathering the
poor, beggars, laborers, ragpickers, outcasts for whom no-
body cares, instructing, teaching, encouraging all to a life
of virtue.
"The secret of his success was his boundless love of God,
his knowledge of the human heart, his patience, and his
charity.
"It was his zeal for souls which led Alphonsus to become
the founder of a religious society. He saw the state of the
world, but could not reach the people by word of mouth, but
could through his pen. He wrote books of piety and devo-
tion, spreading love of Jesus.
"The crowning glory of St. Alphonsus is his great work
on Moral Theology."
On Monday, the 28th, Solemn Mass of Requiem
was sung for the deceased benefactors of the Redemp-
torist Fathers of Boston. The Rev. George Dusold,
C. SS.R., was celebrant, the Rev. Joseph Hild,
C.SS.R., deacon, and the Rev. Martin Maloney,
C. SS.R., subdeacon. The celebrant of the Solemn
Vespers was the Rev. John B. Hespelein, C. SS. R.,
of Philadelphia, with the Rev. Cyril Dodsworth,
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 135
C. SS. R., of Toronto, and the Rev. Edward M.
Weigel, C. SS. R., of St. John, N. B., Canada, as dea-
con and subdeacon, respectively.
After the Magnificat the Rev. Joseph Wissel,
C. SS. R., preached a practical and forcible sermon on
" The Devotion of St. Alphonsus to Our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary."
Father Wissel, despite the frosty touch of nearly
sixty-seven years, showed the fire and vigor of youth,
and made a strong plea for the universal adoption
among Catholics of those two characteristic devotions
of the Saint.,
On September 29, the third and last day of the
festivities, Solemn Mass was sung by the Very Rev.
Ferdinand Litz, C. SS.R., Provincial; the Rev.
Francis X. Miller, C.SS.R., of Buffalo, one of the
members of the original community, was deacon ; and
the Rev. William G. Luecking, C. SS. R., subdeacon.
At the close of the triduum, at 7 :30 P. M., there was
a grand procession in which 22 priests and 700 chil-
dren took part. During the procession a beautiful
picture of St. Alphonsus was borne in triumph
round the church.
The elaborate celebration carried out without hitch
or halt, served to inspire the faithful with a noble
pride in their church and especially with a great devo-
tion to the zealous Bishop, illustrious Founder of the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and glori-
ous Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus de Ligouri.
In the midst of his manifold labors in various direc-
tions, Father Frawley never lost sight of that which
should be first in the thought and purpose of a zealous
pastor the spiritual welfare of his flock. In fulfill-
ment of his supreme duty, he announced a mission to
be held, November 8-29, 1896. The missionaries en-
186 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
gaged were the Rev. Caspar G. Hitter, C. SS. R.,
Rector of St. Joseph's, Rochester, N. Y.; the Rev.
John G. Schneider, C. SS. R., of St. Alphonsus', New
York; the Rev. Paul Carbray, C.SS.R., of the
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Brooklyn;
and the Rev. Patrick Mulhall, C.SS.R., of St.
Clement's College, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. The
women's mission lasted from the 8th to the 17th, in-
clusive ; the men's, from the 19th to the 29th. By
actual count there were 3,300 women present the third
night and nearly 4,000 the following nights. During
the men's mission the average attendance was slightly
over 3,000. The closing sermon, which was preached
by Father Schneider, made a deep impression on the
men ; it sent them away sweeping their spirits, think-
ing of the deeper realities of life and reflecting on the
eternal years. The total number of confessions was
7,736 (3,010 men, 4,207 women, 234 boys and 285
girls). Two converts were received into the church,
and at the close of the mission, the Rt. Rev. John J.
Brady, Auxiliary Bishop of the diocese, confirmed a
class of 427 (341 children and 86 adults).
On June 7, 1897, was held the most elaborate
sacerdotal Silver Jubilee celebration in the history of
the church. The jubilarian was the Very Rev. Joseph
Schwarz, C. SS.R., a member of the Council of the
Superior General of the Redemptorists and Visitor
Extraordinary to the houses in the United States.
The Very Rev. Joseph Schwarz was born in New
Orleans, Aug. 1, 1849, and entered the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer at Annapolis, Md., in
1867, where one year later, October 15, 1868, he pro-
nounced his vows as a religious. After his ordination
to the diaconate, he was appointed professor of the
classics and of sacred chant at the Redemptorist Pre-
paratory College. On June 6, 1872, he was raised to
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 187
the dignity of the priesthood at Ilchester, Md., by the
Rt. Rev. Bishop Becker of Wilmington, Delaware.
In February, 1877, Father Schwarz was assigned
to the Boston Community, where for four months he
was engaged in giving missions. But his special quali-
fications as professor and disciplinarian had been so
strikingly manifested even before his ordination that
in June of that year he was transferred to Ilchester
as Director of the College. When the institution was
removed to North East, Pa., in 1881, Father Schwarz
was appointed first Superior of the new college, which
position he held for nine years with signal success.
In 1890 he was named Rector of the Preparatory
College at Kirwood, Mo., in the Province of St. Louis.
Three years afterwards his Superiors, recognizing
his extraordinary ability as an executive and admin-
istrator, selected him for the high post of Provincial.
By virtue of his office he went to Rome in 1894, to take
part in the General Chapter which elected the Most
Rev. Mathias Raus Superior General of the Redemp-
torists. Before the adjournment of the Chapter,
Father Schwarz was chosen official adviser to the new
Superior General a position never before held by
any American Redemptorist. In the fall of 1896, he
was delegated to visit in an official capacity all the
houses of the Congregation of the Most Holy Re-
deemer in this country ; after finishing his work here,
he was sent on a similar mission to England and to
Ireland. [
By a happy dispensation of Divine Providence,
Father Schwarz celebrated his Silver Jubilee here in
Boston, at the house from which he did his first mis-
sionary duty. In the ordinary course of events this
would not have happened, as his permanent residence
was in Rome, but God willed that on his jubilee day
he should be present here where as a young priest he
188 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
first went forth into the sacred arena of the missions
to do battle for the Lord.
Never before had so many Redemptorists assembled
at the Mission Church as on this occasion ; and, as
they marched up the aisle, they formed an impressive
picture. Among the Fathers present from all parts
of the country were the two Provincials of the Eastern
and Western Provinces, the Very Rev. Ferdinand
Litz and the Very Rev. Ferreol Girardy, respectively ;
Fathers Mullane of St. Louis, MacGeough of Den-
ver, Firle of New Orleans, Dusold of Baltimore,
Rossbach and Anderson of Quebec, Sigl, Tewes, Hild,
Walsh, and Leibfritz of New York, Daily of Brook-
lyn, Kessel of Baltimore, Lowekamp and Ritter of
Rochester, Wynn of Toronto, Mclnerney of An-
napolis, Henning and Luecking of Ilchester, Rein of
St. John, N. B., Dooper of North East, Pa., Zimmer
of Pittsburgh, Friederich and Speidel of Philadel-
phia. The deacon and the subdeacon of the Mass were
the Rev. Eugene Walsh, C. SS.R., and the Rev.
George Dusold, C. SS.R., both classmates of Father
Schwarz. The Rev. Joseph Henning, C. SS. R., pro-
fessor of Moral Theology at the Redemptorist Sem-
inary, Ilchester, Md., preached on the sacred preroga-
tives of the priesthood.
On Monday evening a public reception was held in
the school hall in honor of the Very Rev. Father
Schwarz. The school children gave a very enjoyable
entertainment, and Mr. Michael Dwyer delivered, on
behalf of the people of the parish, an able and eloquent
address.
An event of the greatest significance in the purely
spiritual realm of the Mission Church, came to pass
on July 19, when His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, of
saintly memory, granted to it the rare and rich in-
dulgence of the " Portiuncula." In order to gain this
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 189
extraordinary favor it was necessary for the faithful :
1, To make a visit to the church some time between
2:00 P. M., August the first, and 7:00 P. M., August
the second; 2, To receive the Sacraments of Penance
and the Holy Eucharist ; 3, To pray for the intention
of the Holy Father. The indulgence might be gained
as often as the visit was made and the prayers were re-
peated. As this privilege has been renewed since then
at the required intervals, it is still in force, and the
faithful make extraordinary efforts to gain the indul-
gence. To see thousands of people of all classes and
conditions filing in and out of the Mission Church
from morning till night, is a sight to warm the heart.
Some of them make as many as twenty-five visits;
each, of course, of short duration, but sufficiently long
to satisfy the prescribed condition. On August
1, the confessionals are crowded, and on the fol-
lowing morning at nearly all the Masses four Fath-
ers are kept busy from the Offertory to the end of the
Mass, distributing the Bread of Angels to those who
are anxious to lay up for themselves treasures in that
blessed kingdom "where neither moth nor rust doth
consume, nor thieves break in."
The New Organ.
As we have heretofore mentioned, one of the fea-
tures of Father Frawley's comprehensive scheme of
beautifying the church was the building of a grand
and majestic organ one that should be in every
respect worthy of the imposing and stately edifice.
He was impelled to this project, not indeed by any
motive of vanity or ostentation, but by his clear reali-
zation of the important place which the organ fills in
the economy of the Church's liturgy. The Royal
Psalmist in jubilant words exhorts the earth and the
190 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
heavens and all that is on the earth and in the heavens
to praise the Lord. When we, as reasonable beings,
assemble in the temple of God to sound His praises,
the mighty tones of the organ which accompanies us,
should serve as the combined harmony of the voices of
the universe, united in chanting the greatness of Him
who made all things.
In the organ which Father Frawley installed, the
hand of the master had placed a volume of grave and
gay, light and ponderous, soothing and piercing tones,
which awaited only the magic touch of the artist to
bring them forth in all their surpassing harmony and
brilliancy. The soft sighing of the wind at the twilight
hour, the distant rolling of the thunder round the
mountain tops, the deafening roar of the cataract, the
impetuous swirling of the rapids, the sweet and deli-
cate twittering of the birds, the marvelous tones of
the human voice bespeaking the immortal spirit that
dwells in man, the gentle vibrations of stringed, and
the massive notes of wind instruments all were
blended to perfection in the organ which, under the
direction of Father Frawley, reared its noble propor-
tions heavenward. Because of its complicated struc-
ture, its finely-adjusted mechanical appliances, and
the great number of its pipes, it took more than a year
to build it. It comprises Great, Swell, Choir, Solo,
and Pedal Organs; with 63 stops, 12 couplers, 18
pedal movements, 21 adjustable pistons, and 5,523
pipes. It is a notable example of the wonderful
progress made by the application of electricity
to organ-building. The action is electro-pneu-
matic throughout on keys, pedals, couplers, com-
binations, and pedal movements. The console is port-
able and is connected with the organ by a cable; it is
compact, simple and logical in arrangement, and can
be located in any part of the church, according to
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 191
the length of the cable. The tone of the full organ is
perfectly balanced, majestic and thrilling; each
individual register is finished with the utmost nicety,
giving the legitimate tone quality in its highest excel-
lence. The scheme of the organ was developed by
Mr. E. J. McGoldrick, the organist of the church, in
collaboration with the builder, Mr. G. S. Hutchins of
Boston.
On September 26, 1897, this superb instrument
was dedicated with a grand organ recital. The cere-
monies were attended by an immense congregation
which included many officials prominent in the city
and the State, and ladies and gentlemen of high
musical attainments. To the stirring strains of a
stately processional by Guiknant, fifty priests pre-
ceded by the crossbearer and forty acolytes moved
slowly up the center aisle to the sanctuary. The
celebrant was the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Magennis, assisted
by the Rev. H. O'DonneU and the Rev. P. Curran
as deacon and subdeacon respectively. Mgr. Magen-
nis blessed the organ and dedicated it to the worship
of God. The musical program was composed of
selections from Bach, Gounod, Mendelsohn, Guil-
mant, Dubois, Salome, Batiste, von Winter, and
Archer. In addition to the choir of the church, the
following ladies and gentlemen took part under the
direction of Prof. Edward McGoldrick: Mr. B. J.
Lang, Organist; Mr. Emil Mollenhauer, Violinist;
Mr. Michael Dwyer, Tenor; Miss Madge MdNTulty,
Harpist; Miss Katherine L. IsTeas, Soprano; Miss
Mary McNulty, Mezzo- Soprano; Mr. Pierce
Murphy, Tenor; and Mr. Thomas Kerr, Baritone.
The new organ proved such a magnificent instru-
ment and was so highly appreciated by the people,
that Father Frawley invited the famous French
organist and composer, Prof. Alexander Guilmant
192 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
of the Paris Conservatory of Music, to give a recital
on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our
Blessed Lady Her whom the heavenly harpists
eternally serenade. For two hours and a half the
vast audience listened with the closest attention to the
majestic harmonies evoked from the kingly instru-
ment by the master organist, whose genius for im-
provisation had won for him golden commendation
on both sides of the Atlantic. The wonderful
resources of the organ were well shown in the pro-
gram selected, and the excellent interpretations of
the Professor were a source of wonder and delight to
all present. The second last number on the program
was "Improvisation on a Given Theme." Mr.
McGoldrick suggested the Benedicamus Domino,
and the virtuoso's treatment of it was so fine that
several musical critics in the audience pronounced it
the most brilliant example of its kind ever heard in
Boston.
From the lengthy accounts of the recital given by
the Boston papers, we quote the following extracts:
"In holding these recitals at this church, Rev. J. J. Fraw-
ley, the rector, deserves the hearty cooperation of every
one who loves music of the higher class, for it is only by
listening to the grand compositions interpreted by such
artists as Guilmant, with the aid of a noble instrument like
the Mission Church organ that an adequate idea can be
obtained of the beauties and grandeur of these massive
writings."
"There are not many organs in America that permit a
satisfactory performance of Cesar Franck's beautiful and
quaint pastorale, on account of their imperfect action and
tubbiness of tone, but the noble instrument in this noble
church responded promptly and gracefully. . . ."
"The genius of Mr. Guilmant for improvisation is of in-
ternational fame. Last evening the subject given by Mr.
McGoldrick, the organist of the Mission Church, was the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 193
theme of the Benedicamus Domino. Mr. Guilmant treated
it with profound contrapunfal knowledge and dramatic, yet
ecclesiastical, spirit. The improvisation was varied, yet
always coherent and logical ; the solo stops of the organ were
used not merely for ear-tickling effect while the invention of
the player halted or failed, but in the service of apparently
inexhaustible invention."
"Praise the Lord with sound of trumpet; praise
Him with psaltery and harp. Praise Him with
timbrel and choir; praise Him with strings and or-
gans; praise Him on high-sounding cymbals; praise
Him on cymbals of joy, let every spirit praise the
Lord, Alleluja."
About this time an able writer in the Roxbury
Gazette spoke as follows of the Mission Church :
"The Mission Church is a most exquisitely beautiful edifice,
fraught with majesty, sublimity, loveliness of human art and
the ecstatic sense of a divine element in human destiny!
I approached it at the hour of Vespers, and while I lingered
in the vestibule, in wondering meditation, the muffled thunder-
ing of its vast sonorous organ rose, rolling and throbbing
from the choir and seemed to strike the mighty structure with
a blast of jubilation and worship. One finds it difficult to
understand how anybody, however lowly born or poorly en-
dowed or meanly nurtured, can live within the presence of
this heavenly building, and not be purified and exalted by
the contemplation of so much majesty and by its constantly
irradiative force of religious sentiment and power. What a
comfort to its worshippers ! What a solace and an inspira-
tion ! There it stands in the beauty of holiness, symbolizing
as no other object on earth can do, except one of its own
great kindred, God's promise of immortal life to man and
man's unconquerable faith in the promise of God. The
setting sun now pours its glory on those mosaic windows,
the sanctuary reflecting the golden light from the candles
which adorn the classic altar, the Te Deum ascends with
rapturous voice to the heavens above, and the dome returns
the angelic echoes of united humanity. Let all who worship
here be comforted and feel that the beautiful Cathedral is
indeed the gateway to Heaven,
194 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"0 Church divine, supreme, undying,
Nor time, nor space can e'er subdue,
The seas roll on, the years are flying,
Man passes, thou alone art true!"
The mission given in 1896, November 8-29, was
attended by such vast crowds that Father Frawley
decided that the renewal in 1897 should last four
instead of three weeks. The exercises were conducted,
October 3-31, by the Redemptorist Fathers Peter
Ward, Henry Otterbein, John G. Schneider, and
James Hayes. The total number of confessions was
8,312.
Christmas Day was rendered especially memorable
by reason of the fact that two newly ordained
Redemptorists offered up the Adorable Sacrifice for
the first time. The happy young Levites were the
Rev. Martin Mulligan and the Rev. Charles Nolen.
Father Mulligan, who sang Solemn Mass at 5 :00 A.M.,
was assisted by the Rev. Peter Doyle, C. SS. R., as
deacon, and the Rev. Thomas Galvin, C. SS. R., as
subdeacon. The last-named was the preacher.
Father Nolen celebrated Mass at 10 :30 A. M. The
Rev. Father Mulligan officiated as deacon, and the
Rev. Peter Curran, C. SS. R., as subdeacon. Father
Galvin preached. The Rev. William G. Luecking,
C. SS. R., was archpriest at both Masses. Fathers
Mulligan and Nolen were raised to the priesthood,
December 23, at Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence
Cardinal Gibbons.
Father Frawley received word on April 21, 1898,
that he had been appointed Rector of the Mission
Church for another term his fourth. In consider-
ation of all he had done for the good of the church
and of the people, it is easy to understand how grati-
fying was the news.
Another announcement that had a special interest
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for the parishioners was that the Rev. William G.
Luecking, C. SS. R., who from 1884 to 1890, had
been attached to the Mission Church, had been chosen
Superior of the Baltimore Province. About six
months later, Father Luecking came to Boston for
the first time in his new capacity. His many friends,
who still bore his name in grateful remembrance, were
delighted to see him ; and the young men, with whom
he had always been a prime favorite, gave their dis-
tinguished visitor an informal reception in the shape
of a smoke talk. A short musical program was
rendered, and speeches were made by Mr. Frank
Kelter, president of the Young Men's Mission
Church Association and the Rev. Joseph McGrath,
C. SS. R., Spiritual Director. Very Rev. Father
Provincial in reply alluded in a feeling manner to his
former labors among the people of the parish and
recounted many pleasant reminiscences. Having
spoken in a lighter vein for some time, he launched
into a serious talk on " High Ideals," laying special
stress on unswerving loyalty in everyday life to the
teachings of our holy Faith. The program closed
with a speech by Father Frawley, who, among other
things, said that he "hoped to be able to do great
things for his young men."
On May 6, 1899, the Fathers entertained a dis-
tinguished ecclesiastic from the land of the Southern
Cross, in the person of the Most Rev. Archbishop
Carr of Melbourne, Australia. His Grace was very
favorably impressed by the beauty of the church, and
was enthusiastic in his praise of the new organ.
The Rev. James Doyle, C. SS. R., sang his first
Mass on Sunday, June 25, 1899. He was assisted
by the Rev. Henry Mohan, C. SS. R., as deacon, and
the Rev. James Hayes, C. SS. R., as subdeacon.
The Rev. Peter Corr, C. SS. R., preached. Father
196 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Doyle was ordained June 21, at the Cathedral in
Baltimore by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
At a Grand Symphony Concert given in the church
on the evening of October 22, Haydn's " Stabat
Mater" was rendered for the first time in Boston.
The chorus consisted of 60 voices; the orchestra, of
19 pieces. The great masterpiece was excellently
interpreted, and was listened to by a large and
appreciative audience.
ST. ALPHONSUS' HALL.
Ever since Father Frawley's first appointment, in
1890, he had been revolving in his mind plans to erect
a magnificent clubhouse for the young men of the
parish, but as more urgent and pressing problems
presented themselves for solution, he could not at
once carry his project into effect. Nevertheless, the
idea grew in his mind by the process of what psychol-
ogists call "unconscious cerebration"; and on Feb-
ruary 18, 1900, it attained its full growth and found
a " local habitation and a name." " The local habita-
tion" was Smith St.; the "name" St. Alphonsus'
Hall, which, unbiased judges have said, " is one of the
finest buildings of its kind in the United States."
On the above-mentioned date, the Hall was blessed
in the presence of 35 priests by His Grace Arch-
bishop Williams. The day was one of the greatest
in the later history of the parish.
St. Alphonsus' Hall stands next to the school, and
has a total area of 12,000 square feet. It is two full
stories over a high basement, is built of stone with
trimmings of buff-colored brick, and is fireproof
throughout; as little wood as possible was used in the
construction, and then only for finish. The main
entrance is spanned by a large arch supported by
three small arches, which in turn rest upon orna-
mental granite-capped pillars. Marble stairs lead
to the auditorium, to which three large doors give
entrance. The gallery is reached by two sets of iron
stairs encased in brick.
198 THE (GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The foyer will bear comparison in details
with the main staircase of the Public Library
in this city. It is smaller, of course, but
the appointments in the way of marble and
of mosaic walls and the artistic treatment of the
whole, together with the decorative treasures dis-
played, justify the above comparison. As one enters
the foyer, the most striking object is the large paint-
ing of His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell above the
main entrance to the auditorium; off the foyer are
two spacious meeting-rooms and a ticket office. The
halls are finished in fancy marble wainscoting. The
prevailing color in the hallway is rich golden brown;
the decorations are in dull reds and blues. The
groundwork in the reception room and in the library
is olive with red and blue. The effect of this color
scheme, which, except in the theatre, predominates
throughout the whole interior, is to provide richness
and warmth, without any suggestion of garishness or
gaudiness.
On the left of the hallway, hangs a replica of
a fine painting by Raab, representing Veronica
in the act of giving the sacred towel to the Blessed
Virgin at the home of St. John. While the Beloved
Disciple puts a protecting arm round Her, the Sor-
rowful Mother eagerly extends her hands to receive
the precious treasure. St. Mary Magdalen, whose
beautiful golden tresses give a pronounced touch of
brightness to the picture, casts herself on the ground.
St. Peter, weeping, stands to one side. No other
copy of this masterpiece, it is said, was ever before
exhibited in this country. In the library and in the
reception-room are three other paintings by the same
artist : Our Lord with the symbols of the devotion to
His Sacred Heart, the Madonna, and the Holy
Family; furthermore, an oil painting of the Most
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 199
Rev. Archbishop Williams, a portrait of the late
lamented Rev. William O'Connor, C. SS. R. (pre-
sented by the Sunday school children, and a number
of other valuable pictures, chiefly of sacred subjects
the gifts of private benefactors. In conspicuous
places in the library, are likewise found copies of
Guido Reni's paintings of the Crucifixion and of St.
Michael the Archangel.
The second floor contains a spacious recreation
room running the entire length of the building, and
a beautiful theatre, which, including the galleries,
seats 1,142 people. The auditorium would arrest and
hold the attention of the observer, if nothing else in
the building did. It is a handsome, nobly-modeled
hall fitted up as a complete theatre designed and
executed according to the most advanced ideas in that
line of construction. The gallery, which is provided
with a fireproof rail, is so arranged that a perfect
view of the stage is enjoyed from every seat. The
lighting apparatus is as good as that of any theatre
in Boston, size for size, and better than many. The
stage is 40 feet wide and 33 feet deep, and is fully
equipped with scenic machinery. A full-fledged
gridiron with all its adjuncts, seven drops, five sets
of border lights, six sets of scenes, an up-to-date
switchboard, permitting all the lighting effects re-
quired in first-rate dramatic work, a " pin-rack," and
a fly-gallery attest a spirit that brooked no half-way
measures in providing for the dramatic tastes of the
people. The drop curtain portrays a typical scene
in Venice : A party on their way to a church festival
in the early morning, their gondola full of choice
flowers. The ceiling of the auditorium is beautifully
frescoed. Religion, Education, and the Fine Arts
are appropriately symbolized by winged figures hold-
ing garlands exquisitely designed. Round the center-
200 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
piece is a double circle of electric lights which
suffuse the entire hall with a soft golden glow. In
the spandrels, against the delicate rose-colored
background, various instruments of music and of the
kindred arts, are tastefully grouped. The decorative
scheme is completed by a beautiful design over the
proscenium arch.
Beneath the stage one finds five fully appointed
bowling-alleys, handsome billiard- and pool-tables,
and gymnasium, seventy by seventy feet, equipped
with a full set of apparatus, including the latest
model eight-oared rowing machines, bathrooms,
dressing-rooms, and more than 200 lockers. Another
practical feature of the basement is the lunchroom at
the front of the building.
St. Alphonsus' Hall is, in effect, a splendid club-
house, which provides in the most generous, attractive
and modern style all the facilities for rational amuse-
ment. Although the building was designed mainly
for the use of the young men, nevertheless, it was so
constructed as to serve the broader purpose of a
general parochial club, and is of enormous spiritual
and temporal advantage to every member of the
parish. Before its erection, all reunions and meet-
ings, whether of business or of pleasure, were held in
the school hall, which in the course of time became
ill-suited to the broadening activities of the parish,
and utterly inadequate to accommodate the crowd.
Thenceforth the spacious and imposing St. Alphon-
sus Hall became the inspiring center of many of the
parish interests, and the noble supplement of the
church and of the school. In a certain sense the Hall
has become a diocesan institution, for several conven-
tions of the Catholic Federation of the Archdiocese
of Boston have been held there, at which some of the
most notable addresses ever delivered in the city by
His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell, have been given.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 201
The formal opening of St. Alphonsus' Hall took
place on Monday evening, February 26, 1900. The
inaugural exercises consisted of addresses by Frank
J. Kelter, ex-president of the Young Men's Mission
Church Association, and Mr. Michael Dwyer, with
an artistic musical concert by the best talent of the
city. When the directors of the St. Alphonsus
Association, the speakers, and Father Frawley, in
the place of honor, appeared on the stage, the audi-
torium rang with enthusiastic applause.
Mr. James S. Mahoney introduced Mr. Kelter,
who delivered a graceful address of congratulation
to Father Frawley on the magnificent work he had
done in the erection of the Hall. Mr. Mahoney then
presented Mr. Dwyer, whose forceful and eloquent
speech was pitched on a high plane. He stressed not
the material advantages of St. Alphonsus' Hall, but
the honored name it bore, the high purposes it had
been built to serve, and the laudable motives that had
inspired its erection. In reference to its name, Mr.
Dwyer said:
"It was a happy, auspicious thought to bestow on this
hall for the use of laymen the name of the great St. Alphon-
sus de Ligouri. St. Alphonsus was a man of the world him-
self before he became the great Saint and missionary. Long
before he experienced in his soul the divine call which sum-
moned him to a place among the evangelizers and savers of
the world, he was a model citizen of his native country, a
man in whom his fellow-countrymen recognized the perfect
Christian gentleman, guiding his life by the dictates of strict
honor and integrity and faithful to every duty that devolved
upon him as a member of the family, the municipality, and
of society. And if St. Alphonsus Ligouri had never been
called to the priesthood and the episcopacy, if he had never
enriched the Church with a new order of missionaries, if he
had never attained to that pinnacle of sanctity and learning
which made him a Saint and Doctor in a word, if he had
died while yet a man of the world, his life and deeds as such
would have merited the perpetuation of his name to future
202 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
generations not only as one of the greatest men of his day in
intellect, but also as a type and exemplar of the perfect
citizen and member of society."
Towards the end of his address, Mr. Dwyer, re-
counting the great achievements of Father Frawley,
said in part:
"For all that Father Frawley has done in and around the
parish during the few years of his administration among us,
he has won the admiration and love of everyone. With a
mind gifted by nature with the power to conceive large enter-
prises for the highest objects, a frame endowed with unflag-
ging energy to put those projects into execution, a soul filled
with zeal for all the work that comes to him to do, a heart
ever throbbing with generous and kindly impulses toward
others, he has effaced himself that good might come to this
parish, that the cause of religion and morality and good
citizenship might be promoted."
In conclusion, Mr. Dwyer gave some personal
reminiscences of Father Frawley, and pointed out
the gift he early manifested of winning the love and
confidence of his fellows a quality necessary in
every Christian leader who would bring men to God.
He spoke also of the lofty disinterestedness which
animated Father Frawley, who by his vows had flung
aside all self-seeking, and could not even count on
spending his days amid the scenes of his fruitful
labors.
Father Frawley, in response to an insistent de-
mand, stepped forward and thanked the Association
and the people. He modestly disclaimed the praises
lavished on him by the speakers and paid a
magnanimous tribute to the priests of his
community, who had lightened his labors and
strengthened his hands. His generous disclaimer
was favorably received by his auditors and served as
another golden bond to unite them still more closely
to their esteemed and beloved pastor, whose thoughts
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 203
by day and dreams by night were of their spiritual
and temporal welfare. After the dedicatory exer-
cises, hundreds of people from all sections of the city
remained to inspect the beautiful structure.
On July 29, 1900, the Rev. Richard O'Regan,
C. SS. R., sang his First Mass. The deacon was the
Rev. James Doyle, C. SS. R.; the subdeacon, the
Rev. Charles McLeod, C. SS. R.; the preacher, the
Rev. Michael Sheehan, C. SS. R. Father O'Regan
was ordained, July 25, by the Most Rev. Archbishop
Glennon of St. Louis, at that time Titular Bishop
of Pinara and Coadjutor Bishop of Kansas City.
A keen sense of personal loss and of resultant sor-
row was awakened in the hearts of the community by
the announcement on August 5, 1900, of the death
of the Rt. Rev. James A. Healy, Bishop of Portland,
Me., our dear old friend of thirty years, through
whose instrumentality the Redemptorist Fathers
obtained a foundation in Boston.
The Rt. Rev. James A. Healy was born near
Macon, Ga., April 6, 1830. He came North at an
early age, and attended Quaker schools on Long
Island and in New Jersey. Being highly gifted he
completed, at the age of fourteen, a comprehensive
course in mathematics and qualified for the position
of surveyor. But at the call of God, he sacrificed his
alluring prospects and entered Holy Cross College,
from which he was graduated in 1849. After studying
theology for three years at the Sulpician Seminary in
Montreal, he went to Paris, where he devoted two
years more to theology, and took up the study of
French, of which he eventually became perfect
master. Immediately after his ordination at the
Church of Notre Dame, Paris, in 1854, he returned
to Boston, and was appointed private secretary to
204 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Bishop Fitzpatrick and rector of the cathedral. For
twelve years he filled these important positions to the
entire satisfaction of the Bishop, who then transferred
him to the pastorate of St. James's Church. Here he
labored with admirable zeal and prudence for ten
years, when, on the death of Bishop Bacon of Port-
land, Me., he was chosen as his successor and con-
secrated by the Most Rev. Archbishop Williams,
June 2, 1875. Under Bishop Healy's long adminis-
tration of 25 years, the diocese made conspicuous
progress in every department of Catholic activity.
He enjoyed to a high degree the esteem and con-
fidence of the clergy and of the laity and was univer-
sally respected by the citizens of Portland without
regard to race or creed. His funeral was a remark-
able tribute to his memory. The State's best and
noblest men came to look for the last time on the
kindly face of the " great priest who in his day hath
pleased the Lord."
On the first Sunday of Advent, December 2, the
Rev. Cornelius J. Warren, C. SS. R., celebrated his
First Mass. He was assisted by the Rev. James
Hayes, C. SS. R., as deacon, and the Rev. Edward
Scully, C. SS. R., as subdeacon. The sermon was
preached by the Rev. Francis L. Kenzel, C. SS. R.
Father Warren was ordained November 28, at
Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
About three weeks later, on Christmas Day, the Rev.
Patrick J. Scannell sang his First Mass. The Rev.
James Hayes, C. SS. R., was deacon, the Rev. Ed-
ward Scully, C. SS. R., subdeacon, and the Rev.
Father Rector Frawley preached. Father Scannell
was ordained December 21, by the late Archbishop
Williams.
The dawn of the new century was ushered in at
the Mission Church with impressive solemnity. On
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 205
New Year's Eve, the Fathers were kept busy in the
confessionals until 11:30 P. M., and as midnight
approached thousands of worshipers flocked to the
church. At five minutes of twelve, the lights were
lowered to semidarkness, and Father Frawley
ascended the pulpit. Amid the profound stillness
that prevailed, his powerful voice rang out in the
following prayer: "We are standing on the brink
of a new century, and we beseech Thee, Heavenly
Father of Mercy, to protect us during the coming
year from all sin and from all misfortune of body
and soul." All heads were then bowed in silent
prayer. The instant the midnight bells sounded,
everyone of the 2,800 electric lights in the church was
turned on full current, and the massive temple be-
came a Gorgeous Palace of White. Immediately
afterwards a grand "Te Deum" was chanted, fol-
lowed by Solemn Mass. Father Frawley, who
preached, outlined the work done by the Fathers
since the establishment of the church in 1871.
Although admission was by ticket, the crowd was so
great that Mass had to be said in the basement for
the overflow. Nearly 2,000 people approached Holy
Communion at the Mass in the upper church.
Among those present were a lady and a gentleman
who were destined to render noble service in the
cause of our holy religion, especially in combating
the pernicious errors of Socialism Mrs. Martha
Moore Avery, president, and Mr. David Goldstein,
secretary of the Catholic Truth Guild. What Mrs.
Avery saw on this occasion helped to bring about her
conversion. In a letter to the writer, she said, "her
attendance at a Midnight Mass celebrated at the
Mission Church, in honor of the incoming century
gave her a great impulse forward towards the
Catholic Church." Having long sought the Truth
206 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
elsewhere in vain, Mrs. Avery began to feel
that, perhaps, in the Catholic Church she might find
that treasure for which her heart and intellect so
ardently craved. A visit to the Mission Church
would help her towards the Light. Together with
her old " mystic master " and Mr. Goldstein, she was
seated in the beautiful edifice, intently studying the
countenances of those around her. " At the elevation
of the Host," she says, "the atmosphere became
pregnant, as vital as though a nipping frost had
attacked the entire surface of the body then a
movement of that immense throng led the thousands
to and from the altar-rails. But what had happened
to the faces of those men nearby, who came back to
their seats? An illumination, an ecstatic force flow-
ing through their forms, transfigures their faces. All
in one minute innocence and cherubic loveliness came
into visible structure .... no such vivid and lasting
impression had ever been received elsewhere."
On May 17, 1901, Father Frawley was once more
designated Rector of the Mission Church. The joy
caused by the announcement was universal. He had
proved himself a Tower of Strength to the com-
'munity and to the parishioners, and although he had
already held office for eleven years, it was their
fervent wish and prayer that he might be allowed to
remain with them still longer, in order to continue
his labors in their behalf, and, in particular to realize
a certain great aim that had for several years lain
dormant in his mind.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 207
THE NEW RECTORY.
At the time of the dedication of St. Alphonsus'
Hall, in February, 1900, the Boston Pilot said,
among other things:
"It (the hall) completes one of the finest groups of church
buildings in the country church, schoolhouse, convent, all
consistent and beautiful, though, perhaps, we should modify
the term 'complete* until the Redemptorists are provided
with a residence in keeping with the rest of the church prop-
erty."
There you have it. During term No. 5, Father
Frawley's master achievement is to be the building
of a new rectory.
With the onward march of time, corroding in its
devastating sweep all things of earth, the old frame
building, part of which was borne down by the
weight of nearly 180 years, had greatly deteriorated
and was no longer suitable for a religious community;
accordingly, it had to make way for a more commodi-
ous and up-to-date structure. Plans were drawn for
a new parochial residence to be built on the site of
the old one, and before the latter was torn down to
make room for its successor, a temporary rectory
was put up on St. Alphonsus Street. The founda-
tions of this building were begun September 25,
1901; it was ready for occupancy March 31, 1902;
and a few days after the community moved in. La-
ter, when vacated by the Fathers, it became the
headquarters of the Guild of Our Lady, and after-
wards was pressed into service as an auxiliary school
building.
An air of sadness marked the departure of the
community from the old house, to which were
208 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
attached so many happy memories. On April 2, the
demolition of Brinley Place was begun. A large
number of parishioners assembled to witness the de-
struction of the once famous mansion, and as they
beheld the venerable walls crumble and tumble to
the ground, some of them could not restrain their
tears. One of the Boston papers contained the
following notice of the occurrence:
"In a few days nothing but the memory of one of the city's
oldest and most historic houses will linger in the minds of
the inhabitants of Roxbury; for the old Rectory building,
constructed over a century ago and lately occupied by the
Redemptorist Fathers on Mission Hill will have been com-
pletely torn down. This immense wooden house, which has
been connected with many of the historical features of the
old Revolutionary days, has always been a matter of interest
to the citizens of the city, especially Roxbury, and it is with
regret that they see it demolished to make way for the march
of progress, and a magnificent new building to be erected
upon this site."
Of the provisional rectory the same paper said:
"This week has been a busy one for the Fathers, who
removed the last of their belongings from the old building,
and temporarily installed themselves in the new three-story
building on St. Alphonsus street, where they will reside,
pending the erection of the permanent Rectory. The new
building is of brick trimmed with granite, and has two en-
trances from St. Alphonsus street, leading to separate stair-
ways constructed of fireproof material. There are four
large rooms on each floor, besides a basement, and in the
upper part are the sleeping apartments.
"The sanitary arrangements, etc., in the building are of
the most improved lines and types, and the building is a
model one. It is proposed that when the new parochial resi-
dence is built, this brick building will be devoted to the
further needs of the parochial school, also for the young
women of the parish for meeting purposes."
The razing of the old house was completed on
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 209
April 5, and on the 14th, the foundations of the new
building were prepared. One week later the digging
of the foundations was commenced, on the west side
of the prospective rectory. On June 2, the first
brick was laid.
On November 15, 1903, the Most Rev. Archbishop
Williams, in the presence of about 50 priests of the
archdiocese, blessed the new parochial residence.
This beautiful building stands to the west of the
church; faces, like it, on Tremont Street, and is L-
shaped. Along the latter street, it extends 160 feet;
along St. Alphonsus Street, 104 feet. It is three
stories high, and has an immense basement of granite ;
the superstructure is of brick with limestone trim-
mings. The design of the front is at once graceful
and suggestive of the purpose of the building. The
external beauty of the house is heightened by the
fact that it stands far back of the building line, and
is fronted by a well-kept lawn surrounded by an iron
railing superimposed on a low stone wall. From
Tremont Street, there are two entrances; one, in the
center of the building; the other, at the eastern end.
The latter entrance, which is 53 feet from the church,
leads to a large waiting-room, to the left of which is
the office of the rectory ; to the right, seven reception-
rooms, three of which are so arranged that they can
easily be converted into one large room.
On the first floor is the community chapel large,
grand and imposing in all respects a miniature
church, even to the choir-gallery, which contains a
window so placed that one who is confined to the in-
firmary may easily hear Mass. The chapel is painted
in olive, relieved by dado work done in buff and
ornamented with gold and Venetian red. The six
beautiful stained-glass windows donated by mem-
bers of the parish are adorned with paintings of
210 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of
Mary, St. Joseph, St. Alphonsus, St. Clement Hof-
bauer, and St. Gerard Majella. The Stations of the
Cross were imported from Belgium. There are three
magnificent oil paintings: one above the high altar,
representing Jesus conversing with the disciples on
their way to Emmaus ; and two on the right side, the
one portraying Our Lord in the act of supporting St.
Peter, who is about to sink beneath the waves; the
other, St. Mary Magdalen weeping at the tomb of
her Beloved. The whole decorative scheme is such
as to inspire deep devotion and instil a love of
prayer. On the first floor there is also a suite of
rooms reserved for the use of visiting prelates.
The library, which begins on the second floor and
extends through two stories, contains thousands of
volumes, among which are some of priceless value.
The oldest, a Latin work on a sacred subject, was
printed in 1624, but may be read with as little diffi-
culty as many publications that left the press less
than fifty years ago. The library contains three
galleries, by which the books are reached, and a large
number of windows. Numerous electric lights facili-
tate reading by night. The remainder of the second
and third stories is occupied with living apartments
for the members of the community, each of whom has
one room fairly large, airy and lightsome, but fur-
nished with traditional ascetical severity.
In the center of the building, just below the roof,
is a large niche containing a statue of St. Alphonsus.
The roof is flat, and is surrounded by a balustrade of
gray sandstone ornamented with " acorns." Afford-
ing a splendid view of the city and of the suburbs, the
roof is an ideal place for rest and recreation. In
the basement are the dining room, kitchen, and
pantry; likewise, a large apartment which serves for
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THE GROWING SPLENDOR 211
choir rehearsals and as the parish library. The rectory
is finished in ash, filled, shellacked and varnished ; and
the iron work has the appearance of antique bronze.
The parochial residence was Father Frawley's last
great work at the Mission Church, and for years to
come will stand as an eloquent proof of his genius
as a builder.
In the Irish World for May 28, 1904, appeared a
beautiful poem on the community chapel by Mary
Sarsfield Gilmore, who inspected the rectory before
the law of inclosure was in force. The poem will be
given at the end of this book.
During the building of the new rectory, the affairs
of the parish moved, for the most part, along the nor-
mal lines. A few events, however, deserve special
mention. On December 8, 1901, the beautiful Feast
of the Immaculate Conception, the Rev. Joseph C.
Krickser, C. SS. R., said his First Mass. The deacon
was the Rev. James Hayes, C. SS. R., the subdeacon,
the Rev. Augustine Duke, C. SS.R. The Rev.
Andrew Wynn, C. SS.R., was archpriest. As the
Forty Hours' Devotion was opened at the Mass, there
was no sermon then, but in the evening the Rev.
William White, C. SS.R., preached on "The Dig-
nity of the Priesthood." Father Krickser was
ordained December 6, at Ilchester, Md., by His
Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. On June 21, 1903,
the Rev. John F. Toohey, C.SS.R., offered up his
First Mass. The Rev. Daniel Callahan, a cousin, was
deacon; the Rev. Patrick Lyons, subdeacon; and the
Rev. Francis L. Kenzel, C.SS.R., preached. Father
Toohey was ordained June 16, at the Baltimore
Cathedral by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
A pall of gloom spread over the community and
the parish, when early in April, 1903, the beloved
212 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Father Sheehan was stricken with appendicitis. In
fact, all Catholic Boston was concerned about the
devoted priest, as appears from the following lines,
taken from the Republic for April 20 :
"The Rev. Michael J. Sheehan, C.SS.R., who has been for
the past few weeks confined to a hospital from the effects of
an operation, undergone by him for appendicitis, is so far
improved that he will leave the hospital in less than a week.
"The popularity of Father Sheehan was never better
tested than it was during his present siege of illness. In-
quiries innumerable, not only from his parishioners at the
Mission Church, but from every parish in the Archdiocese,
especially where Father Sheehan has visited in retreats and
missions, have been made. The sudden attack came when
the beloved priest was apparently in the best of health; in
fact, he had delivered a sermon the very night it occurred.
Its seriousness caused considerable alarm, but Father Shee-
han's robust constitution stood him in good stead and pulled
him through."
THE ADMINISTRATION OF FATHER HAYES.
Father Frawley's activities faded out of the film
on May 13, 1904, when word was received that the
Rev. James Hayes, C. SS. R., who for more than five
years had labored faithfully and zealously at the
Mission Church, had been appointed rector. The
keen regret caused by the departure of Father
Frawley had its silver lining in the news that he was
to be succeeded by one who had gained the confidence,
esteem and affection of all by his truly priestly char-
acter. The following morning the official document
apprising Father Hayes of his appointment came to
hand, and immediately afterwards he was formally
inducted into office.
At midnight Father Frawley stole away quietly
to his new post, the Church of Our Lady of
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 213
Perpetual Help, Brooklyn, N. Y., of which he had
been named rector.
On May 14, the Boston Globe printed the follow-
ing notice of the change of rectors :
"In a telegram received yesterday afternoon from the
mother house of the Redemptorist Order at Baltimore, at the
Mission Church, the largest Catholic parish in Roxbury,
announcement was made of a change of pastorate for Rev.
John J. Frawley, C.SS.R., and of the appointment of his
successor in Roxbury, Rev. James Hayes, C.SS.R. Last
evening, when the news first spread about the parish, the
deepest interest was displayed, for the Mission Church has
played a most important part in the spiritual and social life
of Roxbury. As these clergymen have firm hold of the hearts
of their people, there was both regret at Father Frawley's
departure and joy at Father Hayes' appointment. . . .
In Father Frawley, who came to the Mission Church in 1890,
the parish has had one of its wisest and ablest leaders.
The Rectorship of Father Frawley has marked an
important epoch in the history of the Mission Church, for
he it was who raised immense funds that permitted of the
erection of the magnificent St. Alphonsus clubhouse and the
handsome parochial residence. While the magnitude of these
achievements is of itself great, it was but a part of Father
Frawley's work, for his untiring and unceasing labors in
the upbuilding of his parish are inestimable."
The same day the Boston Herald contained the
following editorial:
"It is rare indeed that a change in the leadership of a
Roman Catholic parish means so much as the departure of
Father Frawley of the Mission Church. . . . Father
Frawley has seen his charge grow from an ordinary parish
to one of the most important, populous and influential
parishes in New England, if not in the country. The methods
and the agencies devised round the picturesque church on
Parker Hill are models of modern parochial development;
most of this the reflection of the far-seeing acumen and ad-
ministrative ability of this unostentatious priest, who, under
the itinerant rules of the Redemptorist Order, must perforce
214 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
go to other fields of labor. He has been a real pastor of his
flock, and to the outside world, less directly concerned, a
forceful and ennobling influence."
Of the incoming rector, Father Hayes, the Boston
Globe for May 14, said:
"Father Hayes was born in Paterson, N. J., 39 years ago.
After his course at the Redemptorist House of Studies at
Hchester, he was ordained about ten years ago. . . .
After four years as an assistant in Brooklyn, he came to
Roxbury as an assistant at the Mission Church. This was
five years ago last January.
"In his duties as an assistant, Father Hayes has accom-
plished much. Perhaps the most substantial form of his
achievements to those who look for outward signs of results,
is his work among the boys under 18 years of age, among
whom he organized the Mission Church Band. These boys
had in Father Hayes not only a wise and benevolent spiritual
adviser, but a close and firm friend. He has been their help
and counsel since he first took up work among them. The
Band, with its 110 pieces, is a splendid testimonial to his
energy and zeal. Not only here, but in the Sunday school
as well, has his power and personality been felt."
Several days later, the same paper published a
lengthy article, from which we quote extracts:
"At all the services in Roxbury last Sunday, Father Hayes
paid a loving tribute to his predecessor, and recounted his
deeds, many of which the world, he said, will never know.
"Father Frawley was beloved by young and old; he was
sympathetic and ever ready to help the poor, the distressed,
the sick, the suffering. Children and their parents were bene-
fited alike by him he neglected none.
"More enduring than the magnificent buildings he has
erected, however, are the kindly deeds he performed for the
needy of his flock, and his name, inscribed in letters of love
on their hearts, will be more lasting than either bronze or
stone.
"Right here it is well to mention as a characteristic of
Father Frawley his modesty. Three years or so ago the
young men of the parish presented him a fine oil painting of
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 215
himself, to be hung over the entrance of the theatre within
the St. Alphonsus Hall. He graciously accepted the gift,
but it was stored in the garret and never hung during his
pastorate.
"When he left the Roxbury parish, one of the first things
his successor, Father Hayes, did was to hunt up this fine
large portrait, and with the aid of several priests it was
hung in the central position in the handsome foyer.
"But in losing Father Frawley the parishioners point with
pride to his successor, Rev. Father Hayes, who has been with
them for the past five years. They have learned to love him,
too, and they have full confidence in his ability to carry on
the great work which Father Frawley has been doing. They
will give him the same loyal support which they have for so
many years accorded to his predecessor."
On June 16, His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons
ordained to the priesthood at the Redemptorist Semi-
nary at Ilchester, Md., six clerics, three of whom
were boys of the Mission Church Parish: the Rev.
John O'Leary, the Rev. John O 'Regan, and the
Rev. Stephen L. Ahern. Father O 'Regan and
Father Ahern offered up the Holy Sacrifice for the
first time on June 19, the Feast of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help; the latter at 7:00, the former at
10:00 A. M. At Father Ahern's Mass, Father
O 'Regan was deacon, and the Rev. Charles McCor-
mick, C. SS.R., subdeacon. The Rev. Henry Gareis,
C. SS.R., preached. Father O'Regan was assisted
by Father Ahern as deacon, and the Rev. Francis
Gallagher, C. SS.R., as subdeacon. The preacher
was the Rev. John A. Hanley, C. SS. R. The follow-
ing Sunday, the 26th, Father O'Leary celebrated
his First Mass. He had as deacon, the Rev. Richard
Donohoe, C. SS.R., and as subdeacon, the Rev.
Charles Hoff, C. SS.R. The sermon was preached
by the Rev. William Brick, C.SS.R., Prefect of
Students at Ilchester, Md.
216 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The Printing-Press.
One of the first important achievements of Father
Hayes was to install a printing-press in the basement
of the rectory. For years there had been a great
demand on the part of the faithful for literature on
religious subjects, especially on the devotion to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help. Pamphlets printed else-
where had always been obtainable at the rectory, but
as the supply sometimes fell short of the steadily
mounting demand, the conviction grew that if we had
our own printing establishment, it would solve a per-
plexing problem, and enable us to enlarge our oppor-
tunities for prosecuting the apostolate of the press.
The man to take charge of the work was at hand in
the person of Bro. Terence, a skilled printer; accord-
ingly, a large press was purchased, and the Mission
Church before long became a prominent center,
whence were issued many books and pamphlets
designed to promote faith and piety. Time abundantly
proved the wisdom of the venture, and such was the
success that attended it that in 1907, a fully equipped
printing-shop was built on St. Alphonsus Street, be-
tween the rectory and the overflow school building.
Father Hayes was always on the alert for timely
and practical sermons and lectures, which he had
printed in brochure form and inserted in the large
bookstand just inside the main entrance of the rec-
tory. A close inspection of the book-rack reveals as
many as 85 different papers and booklets by promi-
nent Catholic authors on subjects of burning interest.
Printed in gilt letters in a conspicuous place on the
stand, one reads the salutary admonition of the late
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 217
Pope Pius X: "Catholics should read and support
Catholic literature." With such a fine printing-press,
such a well-stocked book-rack, and such reasonable
prices as obtain, the Fathers are doing all in their
power to make it easy for the people to obey the
wise in junction of the saintly Pontiff. The book-rack,
happy to say, does missionary work not only among
our Catholic people, but also among those alien to
the Church. When non-Catholics ask for a simple
and popular explanation of some point of our Holy
Faith, the Fathers are able to supplement their oral
instructions by handing the seeker after Truth a neat
and concise pamphlet which helps to dispel his doubts,
and to point out the Light that never fails and the
Ground that never gives.
On June 25, 1905, the Rev. James Lynch,
C.SS.R., and the Rev. Edward Holland, C.SS.R.,
who had been ordained three days before at Ilchester,
Md., by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, celebrated
their First Mass; Father Holland at 7 and Father
Lynch at 10 o'clock. At Father Holland's Mass,
the Rev. T. J. Colahan, a cousin, was deacon; and
Father Lynch, subdeacon. The parochial school
children received their first Holy Communion at this
Mass. At Father Lynch's Mass, Father Holland
acted as deacon and Father Colahan, as subdeacon.
For the two occasions, one sermon was preached at
Father Lynch's Mass by Father Brick.
In 1904 the celebrated French clergyman, Abbe
Felix Klein, toured the United States ; while in Bos-
ton, he visited the Mission Church, and in his book
entitled, " In the Land of the Strenuous Life," he
tells his readers what he learned there. We quote in
part :
218 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"Every person in this parish is reached by one or other
of the six sodalities, two of which are intended for boys and
girls under sixteen years of age, one for young men, one for
young women, one for married men, and one for married
women. The priests keep careful lists of their parishioners,
and should anyone hold aloof from the societies, or miss Mass
on Sunday, he or she would be looked up, admonished, and if
possible recalled to a better observance of religious duties.
The parochial school, with a teaching force of thirty Sisters
of Notre Dame, and one laywoman, contains as pupils 891
boys and 967 girls. Besides these, there are some three or
four hundred other Catholic children in the parish who attend
the public schools ; and the whole two thousand are looked
out for by the proper sodalities.
"The parish buildings occupy an entire city square, or
block; so that a handsome and by no means unimportant
town is thus formed by the beautiful church, the rectory, the
school, and club-house. It all looks thoroughly comfortable,
too, and with its air of simple but substantial grandeur, free
from luxury or affectation, but impressing one with its air
of dignity, contentment, and happiness.
"A private dynamo in a separate building provides steam
heat and electric light in a most economical way. The the-
atre for lectures and entertainments, the clubrooms, the
library, the gymnasium with its equipment for games and for
baths, are all quite irreproachable ; and I can well believe that
reunions are looked forward to with eager anticipation.
Thus religion, education, and recreation are all provided by
the parish. It is like a return to the Middle Ages, but with
greater perfection of detail, more independence, a wise adap-
tation to new conditions.
"As in the good old ages of faith the Cathedral was built
by the people themselves, so this church and all its dependen-
cies have been erected by the voluntary contributions of the
faithful, the whole costing over a million dollars. The
Redemptorists did not enter Boston until 1871, and started
the church only in 1876. Let me again insist on the fact that
the parish numbers but eleven thousand souls, and add that
it is in a district by no means wealthy. The entire expenses
have been met by the offerings of people comparatively poor, ;
and while we can well imagine the spirit of sacrifice and gen-
erosity implied in this, at the same time we must realize the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 219
strong bond of sympathy thus established between the par-
ishioners who, by the way, receive an account of every
penny spent and the institutions which they themselves have
both planned and paid for ; in a word, between the people and
the religion which they are supporting" (pp. 57-58).
St. Gerard's Chapel.
To beautify the church, which he loved so dearly,
was meat and drink to Father Hayes. But Father
Frawley had so completely carried out his scheme
of embellishing the upper church that little remained
to be done there, except in the way of touching up
the decorations. Father Hayes, therefore, turned
his attention to the basement, which he enlarged and
beautified. As our readers may remember, the
church was built on solid rock; years ago Father
Henning had put in a wooden floor, which, following
the natural conformation of the rock, was not uni-
formly level, but rose and fell at different points, at
which a few steps aided the ascent and the descent.
As the basement was rather dark, it sometimes hap-
pened that people stumbled at the steps and were
thus exposed to injury. Father Hayes removed this
source of danger by substituting for the wooden floor
a concrete one, of uniform level and easy declivity.
Moreover, he had the solid rock in the rear blasted all
the way through, and at each end of the passageway
thus formed, he added an entrance, making four in all.
He then constructed a wide vestibule with three doors
leading to the three aisles. Furthermore, Father
Hayes replaced the main altar, built of wood, with
one of marble; he put in two additional altars and
installed several beautiful paintings, in particular,
one of the Holy Family. The basement thus improved
and renovated he named St. Gerard's Chapel in
220 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
hdnor of St. Gerard Majella, C. SS.R., who was
canonized by Pope Pius X on December 11, 1904.
The solemn opening of the chapel took place
January 7, 1906. The Rev. Michael J. Sheehan,
C. SS.R., preached an appropriate sermon on the
occasion. At the present time the chapel contains
four altars, two marble and two wooden, and has a
seating capacity of 1680. The acoustics have been
so well arranged that a preacher, even when using
ordinary conversational tones, can be heard in every
part of the chapel. Three Masses are said there every
Sunday, and, in view of the tremendous growth of
the parish, it has become an essential part of the
church. Father Hayes is to be congratulated on hav-
ing done such noble work in honor of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help and of her faithful servant, St.
Gerard Majella.
On New Year's Day, the Feast of the Circum-
cision, 1906, the Rev. Walter Mitchell, who had been
ordained at the Boston Cathedral on December 22,
1905, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Brady, celebrated his
First Mass. The preacher was the Rev. Henry Gareis,
C. SS.R. Father Mitchell was the first graduate of
the Mission Church School to be ordained priest. In
the afternoon the Alumni Association gave him
a magnificent reception, at which they pre-
sented him with a purse of $50 in gold. On Christ-
mas Day, 1906, the Rev. Thomas O'Dowd sang his
First Mass. The Rev. Geo. A. Crimmen was deacon
and preacher; and the Rev. Henry Borgmann,
C. SS.R., was subdeacon. Father O'Dowd was
ordained on December 23, at the Baltimore Cathe-
dral by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
Father Hayes received official notification on May
19, 1907, that he had been reappointed Rector. He
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 221
had so amply justified the confidence reposed in him
by his Superiors and had measured up so fully to
every demand made upon him, that his continuance
in office was universally regarded as a bright augury
of the future success of the Mission Church.
When, on August 30, the sad news sped, "Arch-
bishop Williams is dead," there was genuine sorrow
at the Mission Church. The Redemptorist Fathers
of Boston not only respected and revered Archbishop
Williams, but also loved him; and surely they had
reason to love him and be grateful to him. He had
invited them into his diocese; and, especially in the
early days, had bestowed many favors on them. For
thirty-seven years he had been to them friend, father
and guide. But they loved him, not so much because
of what he had been to them as of what he was in him-
self a noble man, a typical priest, a saintly pre-
late. As long as stone stands upon stone in the
Mission Church, the Redemptorist Fathers of Boston
will cherish the name and memory of the Most
Reverend John J. Williams, first Archbishop of
Boston.
At 11 :00 A. M., on September 1, Solemn Mass of
Requiem was celebrated at the Mission Church for
the repose of the soul of the late Archbishop. Father
Hayes was celebrant, Father Gareis deacon and
Father Hoff subdeacon. In a short but affecting
sermon, Father Hayes reviewed the humble, pious
and self-sacrificing life of the deceased prelate, as
head and leader of the church in the Archdiocese of
Boston. At the funeral of the Archbishop, on
September 4, the Mission Church was represented
by the Rev. Fathers Hayes, Gareis, Wynn, Kenzel,
Mullaney, Borgmann, Donohoe, Hoff and McCor-
mick. During the obsequies the bell in the tower of
the Mission Church was tolled at intervals of thirty
222 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
seconds. At the same time a Solemn Mass of
Requiem was sung.
An event that brought great joy to the Redemp-
torists of Boston and to their flock was the conferring
of the sacred pallium on the Most Rev. William H.
O'Connell, as Archbishop of Boston, at the Cathedral
of the Holy Cross, January 29, 1908. The investing
prelate was His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons of
Baltimore, whose predecessor, Bishop Carroll, had
consecrated the first Bishop of Boston, the Rt. Rev.
John Lefevre Cheverus. The Very Rev. William
G. Luecking, C. SS. R., Superior of the Baltimore
Province, and the Rev. Fathers Hayes, Wynn, Ken-
zel, Borgmann, Corr, Gunning, Mulhall, Gallagher,
and McCormick of the Mission Church were privi-
leged to witness the solemn investiture.
On May 24, the Rev. Edward Molloy, a Redemp-
torist from the St. Louis Province, celebrated his
First Mass at the Mission Church. The Rev. Andrew
Wynn, C. SS.R., was archpriest; the Rev. Francis
L. Kenzel, C. SS.R., deacon; the Rev. John Lawler,
C. SS. R., subdeacon; and the Rev. Henry Borg-
mann, C. SS.R., preacher. About six weeks later,
July 5, the Rev. John Phinn, C. SS. R., and the Rev.
John A. Murphy had the same inestimable happiness
as Father Molloy. Father Murphy, who offered up
Mass at 7:00 A. M., was assisted by the Rev. John
O'Leary, C. SS. R., as deacon; and the Rev. Father
Lawler as subdeacon. Father Phinn, who sang Mass
at 10:30 A. M., had as deacon, Father Murphy; and
as subdeacon, Father Lawler. The Rev. Father Corr
preached. At both Masses the Rev. Father Rector
Hayes was archpriest. Father Phinn and Father.
Murphy were ordained on July 2, at the Redempto-
rist Seminary, Esopus, N. Y., by the late Rt. Rev.
Thomas F. Cusack, D. D., Titular Bishop of Themi-
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 223
scyra and Auxiliary to the Archbishop of New
York.
The centenary of the See of Boston, which was
marked by a series of appropriate diocesan celebra-
tions, was observed with becoming solemnity at the
Mission Church. During the commemorative exercises,
which began October 28, the rectory was handsomely
decorated; from the roof a number of American
flags were suspended; and the front of the building
showed a beautiful display of the Papal colors, in the
center of which was a large electric cross, which when
illuminated was the cynosure of all eyes. The people
of the parish entered enthusiastically into the spirit
of the occasion, and nearly every house within the
parish limits was fittingly decorated. At the Solemn
Mass at the Cathedral on the first day of the festivi-
ties, seven Fathers from the Mission Church were
present, and at the Pontifical Mass on November 1,
Father Hayes was archpriest. In the afternoon a
magnificent parade of the Holy Name Societies was
held, over 40,000 men being in line. His Eminence
Cardinal Gibbons, His Grace Archbishop O'Con-
nell, His Honor Mayor Hibbard, and many other
distinguished clergymen and laymen reviewed the
parade from a grandstand erected at the archiepisco-
pal residence on Bay State Road. The men of the
Mission Church parish were highly praised for the
fine showing they made. Before leaving Boston His
Eminence Cardinal Gibbons paid a brief visit to the
Mission Church, and referred in complimentary
terms to the labors of the Fathers.
One of the parishioners of the Mission Church,
Miss Mary Martha Jackman, of 57 Delle Ave., cele-
brated on November 9, 1908, the centenary
of her birth. His Grace Archbishop O'Connell,
attended by Father Hayes, called on the venerable
224 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
old lady at her home to offer his congratulations to
the only living link between the Boston archdiocese
of 1908 and the diocese of the illustrious Bishop Chev-
erus, by whom the aged woman was baptized and con-
firmed. Miss Jackman died March 29, 1910. The
funeral Mass took place at the Mission Church, and
the interment in old St. Augustine's Cemetery, South
Boston, where sleep the Catholic forefathers of the city.
In the spring of 1909, the Mission Church received
considerable newspaper attention of a flattering
character. The Boston American for March 28,
spoke thus:
"The Roxbury Mission Church is famous throughout the
United States, not only for the impressiveness of its services
and the beauty of its architecture and the eloquence and mis-
sionary zeal of the priests who comprise its community, but
for the marvelously complete solution of sociological prob-
lems that for more than a quarter of a century has been
worked out successfully beneath the shadow of its walls.
"Neither Lyman Abbot nor Felix Adler nor Dr. Irvine nor
any others of the prominent students of sociology can afford
to close their book of human observation and think they have
read the last word on their science in America, unless they
have paid a visit to the great institutions on Mission Hill.
Given im a single sentence, a congregation of 10,000 people
is cared for and guided in all its interests of life, temporal
as well as spiritual, from earliest youth to old age and the
earthly end. Every stage of existence, every condition of
life, has its special ministration, until there has grown up
about the Mission Church one of the most faithful and ap-
preciative populations in all the world. . . .
"On this spot there now stands one of the greatest Catholic
establishments in the United States. Besides the splendid
church, there is the convent and school of the Sisters of
Notre Dame, two spacious clubhouses for boys and girls, a
commodious community house for the Order, a hall and the-
atre, where entertainments are held regularly throughout
the winter months ; a gymnasium with fine bathing accommo-
dations for boys and another for girls, an extensive printing
and publishing plant, enclosed recreation grounds, a band-
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 225
room for one of the finest bands in the country and two
junior bands, pool rooms, a large billiard hall, a well-stocked
library whose shelves are freely used by hundreds of young
readers every evening of the year, the whole constituting an
equipment fit for a university. Not the least interesting
feature about this fascinating church settlement is that
within its own confines the community finds its own light and
water supply. An artesian well, going down 400 feet, yields
fifty gallons of sparkling water per minute. The needs of
the various institutions are daily supplied from this well.
The surplus supply is stored in a large reservoir at tha top
of one of the main buildings, ready for fire use or other
emergencies. The electric power for the grand organ in the
church, whose silver chimes at the vespers service can never
be forgotten by those who once Hear them, and current for
the 3,000 or more electric lights used in the church and the
surrounding buildings, is generated in an independent power
plant. Beside this powerhouse is an underground coal pocket
with a capacity of 500 tons of coal. This coal packet is con-
nected by tunnel with every building in the group. . . .
"All these are but the merest outlining features of the
church and its auxiliary institutions on Roxbury Hill. It
is a wonderful development, born of hard toil and continued
through supreme sacrifice. But the results are magnificent
and cannot but be filled with rich compensation for those
who have dedicated their lives to the work."
The Boston Globe in its issue for April 4, carried
a lengthy article on the Mission Church, in which,
among many other things, it said:
"The church and six other buildings constituting the
settlement, make up a group valuable and imposing, with the
park-like clearing between.
"The Redemptorist Fathers' policy is to assist their par-
ishioners materially as well as spiritually, by practical
means. They believe in a system of physical and intellectual
training sufficiently liberal and entertaining to appeal to all
conditions and tastes and ages.
"A feature of the Mission Church is the obvious influence
the Mission Fathers have over their parishioners at all stages
of their lives, from youngsters to grandparents. They con-
sider it one great family and their aim is the comfort and
welfare of alj."
226 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN
HEAVEN."
It had long been a cherished hope with Father
Hayes to erect twin towers on the church, and thus
crown " The Glories of Mary in Boston." As time
advanced, the design of this gigantic work became
clearer and clearer in his mind; and on January 25,
1909, he submitted to His Grace Archbishop O'Con-
nell a tentative draft of the plans. His Grace
promptly approved the project and the plans, and
bestowed a cordial blessing on the work.
In preparation for the mighty task, the carpenters
began, May 24. to erect the staging in front of the
church. On September 13, after the massive derrick
on top of the staging had been tested for two
days and had proved satisfactory, work on the towers
was begun. At half past nine on the morning of
September 21, thirty-five years to the day after the
first sod had been turned for the present church,,
Father Hayes blessed and laid the first stone of the
eastern tower, with the words: "For the glory of the
Most High Trinity, and in honor of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help and of St. Alphonsus, this corner-
stone is laid."
A month later Father Hayes was reappointed
Rector for the third time, and the great work which
he had undertaken for the honor of the Mother of
Perpetual Help, went on steadily and successfully.
On June 13, 1910, the stone cross surmounting the
eastern tower was erected and blessed by Father
Hayes. Before it was raised aloft, a photograph of
REV. JAMES HAYES, C. SS. R.
1904 1918
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THE GROWING SPLENDOR 227
it was taken, with Father Hayes on one side and
Father Gareis on the other. About 500 of the adult
parishioners and all the parochial school children
witnessed the historic event ; the boys were massed on
the street; the girls, in the school yard. While the
cross was being raised, the children sang, " O Mother
of Perpetual Help." When finally it had been
secured in its socket, a mighty cheer rent the air ; and
the hymn, " Holy God We Praise Thy Name," was
wafted heavenward.
On June 17, Bunker Hill Day, the cross on the
western tower was adjusted. Notwithstanding a
rather heavy rain, an immense crowd gathered to
witness the impressive ceremony. Before the cross
was elevated, many of the spectators reverently
kissed it in a spirit of simple faith. In the ropes round
the cross, a small American flag was fastened. As
soon as the word was given to begin hoisting the cross,
the children sang a hymn to the Mother of Perpetual
Help. Father Hayes, vested in surplice and stole,
ascended to the apex of the tower and blessed the
cross before it was set. The exercises were brought
to a close with the singing of " Holy God We Praise
Thy Name " by the children.
The eastern cross is 213 feet above the ground;
the western, 215; the difference is due to the slope of
the grade ; each cross is nine feet high, and each tower
weighs exactly 3,502 tons. The names of those who
contributed to the towers were placed in a box at the
base of the cross on the western tower.
Blessing of the Bells.
The first bell of the chimes, which were to be in-
stalled in the western tower, was received on June 27 ;
the others came a few days later. The blessing of the
228 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
bells took place the following Sunday, July 3, on the
lawn, in front of the rectory. The Boston Pilot gave
the following account of the ceremony:
"The second last stage in the completion of the great
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Roxbury, was
reached Sunday afternoon, July 3rd, when the chime of
bells to be set in the newly finished towers were blessed. The
ceremony was performed by the Rt. Rev. Joseph Anderson,
D.D., V.G., Auxiliary Bishop, assisted by the Redemptorist
Fathers attached to the church. The ceremony is a rare
one, and that, coupled with the fact that it marked the com-
pletion of the Great Church, drew to the scene thousands of
people. The exercises took place on the lawn directly in
front of the rectory. There the twelve bells were suspended
from a temporary construction, while a little to the right of
them, an improvised throne was erected for the Auxiliary
Bishop and his assistants. Directly in front of the bells were
seated a number of the donors and their friends. The music
was performed by the Mission Church Band of forty pieces.
"Bishop Anderson was assisted by the Rev. Peter Corr,
C.SS.R., and the Rev. Francis Kenzel, C.SS.R. The other
priests who participated in the exercises were: Rev. James
Hayes, Rector of the church; Rev. Charles Hoff, C.SS.R.;
Rev. S. J. Grogan, C.SS.R. ; Rev. Andrew Wynn, C.SS.R. ;
Rev. Andrew Gunning, C.SS.R.; Rev. William Knell,
C.SS.R.; Rev. Henry Gareis, C.SS.R.; Rev. Stephen Con-
nolly, C.SS.R. ; Rev. John O'Leary, C.SS.R., and Rev. Henry
Borgmann, C.SS.R.
"The ceremony began with the recitation of the Psalms
of the Ritual alternately by the Redemptorist Fathers and
the students of St. Mary's College, North East, Pa. The
Bishop then, accompanied by his attendants and other
priests, proceeded to the bells, which he formally blessed,
sprinkling them with holy chrism both inside and outside,
four times on the outside and eight times on the inside. Then
beneath each bell there was placed a vessel of burning herbs,
and the Bishop swung the censer containing burning incense
over and beneath each bell. The bells were first carefully
washed both inside and outside by tfie assistant priests. An
affecting part of the ceremony was the blessing of the people
by the Bishop. He had scarcely turned away from the great
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 229
bells when he saw the immense throng of more than 8,000
persons on the lawn, on the sidewalk and even in the street
kneeling down in expectation of his benediction. As he
raised his hands the great multitude bowed their heads and
raised their own right hands to make the Sign of the Cross.
"After the final prayers the bells were rung and were
pronounced perfect. The Mission Church Band then ren-
dered an appropriate selection, after which the whole great
multitude joined in a resonant Te Deum. The sermon of the
occasion was preached by Rev. Henry Borgmann, C. SS. R."
Father Borgmann's sermon is here reproduced in
full:
"Friends : We celebrate to-day the grandest, the happiest,
the most glorious day in the annals of the Mission Church
parish.
"The grandest day, for we now have completed this grand
and magnificent temple, by the addition of the twin spires
and the chime of twelve bells, which like a crown of twelve
stars is now to crown the Church of Our Lady. The happiest
day, for there are many aged folk here to-day who for years
have prayed God to let them see this day. The most glorious
day, for now, like the Angels of Bethlehem, these twelve bells
are to proclaim Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men of good will.
"In a few moments Rt. Rev. Bishop Anderson will proceed
to the blessing of the bells. You must understand that what
is to be used in divine service must first be purified of the
blight of this sinful earth, and then sanctified to God with
psalmody, unction and prayer. The altar upon which the
Immaculate Lamb of God is daily offered is first washed with
hallowed water and then anointed and so consecrated, even
as the newborn babe is washed clean of sin in the water of
Baptism and then anointed with the chrism of Confirmation
and so made the living temple of the Lord Most High.
"After washing these bells with hallowed water and anoint-
ing them with Holy Oil and Chrism, the Bishop will place
beneath the mouth of each bell a vase containing burning
coals, and the fumes of incense and sweet-smelling herbs will
pierce the throats of the bells, for their tongues and their lips
are henceforth to proclaim, like the burning bush, with the
voice of God tender and all compassionate, the loving invita-
230 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tion unto all, to gather about His altar, to call upon Him,
to give Him praise and glory and honor forevermore.
"Now is the Gospel read, for like the Twelve Apostles, these
bells are to preach the love and sweet joy of God's service,
the gospel of Martha and Mary, that all the people may
tender unto God the love of Mary and the service of Martha.
My people, these bells are come like friends among friends,
with warm heart to be welcomed by warm hearts. They are
come to weave sweet recollections into your everyday life, so
that should some of you depart for other regions, you will
take with you fond memories of the Mission Church bells.
"These bells are come to share with you your joys and
your sorrows. They will laugh with you and they will weep
with you. They will twinkle with jocund merriment when
your sons and your daughters afoot the altar of God plight
their troth, and join bonds which, we Catholics glory to say,
no man dare among us put asunder. And again, these bells
will toll with a sorrowful dole, when your dead sons and daugh-
ters are borne to the foot of the altar to receive the final bene-
diction of weeping Mother Church. They will groan and
moan with sympathy for you when forth from these portals
you are borne to be laid away to sleep on the hills of Calvary.
Every night will they renew their plaint in the De Profivndis
Bell and carry the consoling knell to the shadow of the
pines and the cedars that stand in silence round about the
graves of those whom you love. These bells will stir with
great joy on our festive days. They will swing with merry
Christmas carols when your little children, in the still hour
of midnight awakened, broken in half their dreams of angels
and shepherds singing about a little stable under the hill,
and oh ! they will hasten with speed to their fathers' and their
mothers' knee, and gaze with great wonderment at the Christ-
mas tree, and all the while will these bells still make sweet
melody in the starry night to all the homes in Roxbury.
"Loud Alleluias will these bells shout on Easterday, and
reawaken profound anticipations of your glorious resurrec-
tion, of eternal joys in Paradise, where God's everlasting
bells are swinging to and fro in golden towers, rolling forth
ocean-like magnificent harmonies of eternal beatitudes unto
vast multitudes of the blessed, among them you and I, in-
toxicant with all-absorbing felicity forevermore. With
Pentecostal fire will these bells proclaim at Whitsuntide the
ancient faith of apostolic times, the indestructible kingdom of
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 231
God still maintaining its primitive foundations on the im-
movable Rock of Ages.
"Then when the harvest is gathered, when the Dedication
of the Church is celebrated in the season of Thanksgiving,
these bells will call with grateful voice, and awaken senti-
ments of deep, lasting gratitude, noblest and last of all
returns to God from the heart of man.
"Not only on religious holydays, but also on civic holidays
will these bells make common cause with you. You have
witnessed how on Bunker Hill Day last, the Cross of this
western spire was elevated to the pinnacle of the tower,
clasping in fond embrace the flag of our country, in testimony
of the bond existing between our faith and our fatherland,
our creed and our country, our altars, and our firesides.
By a fortunate coincidence these bells are blessed on this, the
eve of the glorious Fourth, the day on which all the nation
records with grateful heart and glad rejoicings, the founda-
tion of our American freedom, civil and religious, one and
inseparable, now and forever. Furthermore, on the very
spot where we now stand, there stood till within a few years
ago the Dearborn mansion, where George Washington
stopped and held council, before that final manoeuvre, which
drove from these shores that hostile bigotry and unreasoning
intolerance, which all too long had tyrannized over our
ancestors, driven finally away, far, far away never again to
molest us driven into the deep sea, the bottomless ocean
where the waves may chant its dirges incessant.
"Well may these bells clap their hands and sing on these
national holidays, which than monuments of stone more
durable, ever proclaim with ancestral gratitude to God our
deep appreciation of that boundless boon we possess in
enjoying a free Church in a free State.
"So will these bells pray with you and rejoice with you.
They will call you to God's altars, they will follow you to
your firesides. Thrice daily, morning, noon and night will
these bells remind you, like the Angelus of God, of Christ
the Child and His ever Blessed Mother. Every Sunday,
when the Sacred Host is elevated at the parochial Mass, the
Sacring Bell will peal a triple peal, that all the people of
Roxbury may bend the knee, and the child beside its mother
may catch the inspiration of love that flows from her lips in
muttered psalms of a thousand welcomes to the Eucharistic
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
232 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"Friends : You will come to learn and love these bells, for
they will bye and bye creep close to your heart and croon
sentiments of various longings, joys ever old and ever new,
until they will become to you the voicings of your inner soul.
Then when you leave for other scenes will your hearts turn
home and your souls long for the peal of those fond-with-
recollections, soul-stirring Mission Church bells.
"Now I conclude. Before I conclude, however, allow me
to ask you one question: Who has built this magnificent
temple? Who built the altars within, superb and majestic?
Who covered the walls with noble works of art? Who has
made these spires to raise aloft, high in the air, the glorified
Cross of Christ? Who has crowned it all with the chime of
twelve bells ?
"Of old this was done by kings and princes and the no-
bility. But I declare that this most glorious temple of God,
fit habitation for His angels, has been built by the hands and
hearts of our hard-working people, built by the poor man's
penny and the widow's mite; nor have many failed to give
abundantly whom God has richly favored. May God bless
you all for it. Many who during the last forty years stood
loyally by the great and stupendous undertaking, have gone
to their reward and are now habitants of those magnificent
mansions which God has prepared for them. May you all
some day enter into and participate in their joys, dwell in
mansions as magnificent, enjoy the self-same supreme beati-
tude, singing and praising and glorifying the eternal Love,
drinking deep of that Beatific Vision that enraptures the
angelic hosts innumerable, for ages and ages without end.
May the Omnipotent Lord God bless you all in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
During the consecration of the bells the following
prayer was said by the Bishop :
"Almighty, Eternal God, do Thou pour out upon these
bells a heavenly benediction, so that at their sound, the
fiery darts of the enemy, lightning strokes, hailstorms, deadly
thunder, and the damage of the tempests may be driven far
away. May Thy people receive an increase of Faith, and
may they be free from all temptations of the enemy when
the melody of these bells shall fall upon their ears. Pour out
upon these bells the dew of Thy Holy Spirit, so that at their
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 233
sound the enemy of the good may always flee. May Thy
people summoned together by these bells be comforted in the
Lord and delighted. When the sound of these bells pierces
the clouded skies, may angelic hands preserve the assembly of
Thy Church; may everlasting protection save the fruits of
those who believe, their souls and their bodies. Through Our
Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with
Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Amen."
Names, Weight, and Donors of the Bells.
1. Our Lady of Perpetual Help ; 4,200 Ibs. This bell bears
the following inscription : "Church of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, Redemptorist Fathers, Boston,
Mass., A.D. 1910; Mother of Perpetual Help
watch over us, assist and protect us."
2. St. Joseph; 3,000 Ibs., donated by fourteen friends of
the Mission Church.
3. St. Patrick; 2,100 Ibs., donated by twelve friends of the
Mission Church.
4. St. Alphonsus ; 1,800 Ibs., donated by the pupils of the
parochial school in 1909.
5. St. Clement Hofbauer; 1,600 Ibs., donated by the
Alumni of the parochial school, 1891 to 1908.
6. St. John ; 1,280 Ibs., donated by J. J. Kennedy.
7. St. Francis Xavier; 930 Ibs., donated by Mr. and Mrs.
C. J. Jacobs.
8. St. Gerard Majella ; 820 Ibs., donated by John Burns.
9. St. Michael; 710 Ibs., donated by Mrs. Delia Donlon.
10. St. Gabriel; 600 Ibs., donated by Mrs. Mary O'Hare.
11. St. Florian; 450 Ibs., in memory of Catherine Muldoon.
12. St. Cecilia ; 360 Ibs., donated by Michael C. Nelson.
On July 13th, the largest and last of the bells was
placed in the western tower.
With the installation of the chimes, the beautiful
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was com-
pleted. Father Petsch began the work in 1876;
Father Hayes finished it in 1910. This simple thought
inspired a graceful poem, which will be found at the
end of this book.
234 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
On May 19, 1910, a Solemn Celebration was in-
augurated, in order to mark the canonization of the
saintly Redemptorist priest, Blessed Clement Hof-
bauer,* who was raised to the honors of the altar on
May 20, 1909, by Our Holy Father Pius X at Saint
Peter's, in Rome.
After the 8 o'clock Mass on May 19, 20 and 21,
special prayers were recited in honor of the Saint; a
large painting of whom had been hung in the sanc-
tuary. This identical painting had been venerated in
Rome at the beatification of the Saint in 1888 ; before
it the late Pope Leo XIII had knelt in prayer
with 70,000 people. The formal opening of the
Grand Triduum took place Sunday, May 22, at 10:00
A. M. Pontifical Mass was celebrated by His Grace
Archbishop O'Connell, assisted by the Rev. C. Regan,
pastor of All Saints' Church, Roxbury, as deacon; and
the Rev. Joseph Wissel, C.SS.R., of Philadelphia,
as subdeacon. The deacons of honor were the Rev.
M. J. McManus, pastor of St. Mary's, Brookline ; and
the Rev. Arthur Connolly, pastor of the Church of
the Blessed Sacrament, Jamaica Plain. The Very
Rev. Ferdinand Litz, C. SS. R., Provincial, was arch-
priest. Seated in the sanctuary were the Rt. Rev.
Monsignori Teeling, O'Callaghan, O'Brien, and
Splaine. The sermon was delivered by the Rev.
Thomas Hanley, C.SS.R., Prefect of Students at
the Redemptorist Seminary, Esopus, N. Y.
The Most Rev. Archbishop and his assistants, after
vesting in the community room, marched in stately
procession from the middle door of the rectory to the
* Clement Hofbauer was born Dec. 26, 1751, at Tassowitz, a town
in Moravia, on the northern border of the Austrian Empire. He
made his religious profession as a Redemptorist on March 19, 1785,
and ten days later was ordained priest. After laboring zealously
for thirty-five years, mostly in Vienna and Warsaw, he died in the
order of sanctity on March 15, 1820.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 285
church, through the open ranks of the married men
of the Holy Family Association. The church was
crowded to its utmost capacity, and a large number
of the faithful, unable to gain admission, remained on
the sidewalk during the Mass. After the Mass, when
His Grace had reached the door of the rectory, he
turned round and in a very impressive manner gave
his blessing to the assembled thousands. The cele-
brant of the Solemn Vespers was the Very Rev. Fer-
dinand Lite, C. SS.R.
The following day Solemn Mass was sung at 8 :00
A. M. by the Rev. Father Rector Hayes, with Fathers
Grogan and Borgmann as deacon and subdeacon,
respectively. The Rev. Caspar Ritter, C. SS.R.,
Rector of the Church of the Immaculate Conception,
N. Y., was celebrant of the Solemn Vespers.
On Tuesday, the 24th, the last day of the Triduum,
the Very Rev. Ferdinand Litz., C. SS.R., officiated
as celebrant of the Mass. At the evening exercises
the celebrant was the Rt. Rev. Joseph G. Anderson,
Titular Bishop of Myrina and Auxiliary to the Most
Rev. Archbishop of Boston ; the deacon, the Rev.
J. T. O'Reilly, O. S. A., of Lawrence ; the subdeacon,
a Rev. Jesuit Father ; the archpriest, the Very Rev.
Ferdinand Litz. During the procession, in which
the school children took part, the statue of St. Clement
was carried by the Rev. Redemptorist Fathers
Wissel, O'Leary, Knell, and A. Jones. Besides Re-
demptorist Fathers, Augustinians, Jesuits, Marists,
and Passionists were present. After the procession
the Papal Blessing was imparted by the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Anderson.
Another event of prime note in the recent his-
tory of the church was the visit of the Superior
General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Re-
deemer, the Most Rev. Patrick Murray, who arrived
236 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
in Boston July 15, 1910. He was accompanied by
two members of his council, the Very Rev. Fidelis
Speidel, C. SS.R., and the Very Rev. John B.
Favre, C. SS.R. Father Hayes and Father Wynn
met the distinguished visitors at the station and
escorted them to the rectory, which was appropriately
decorated with flags and bunting, the Irish flag occu-
pying a prominent place. The following Sunday, the
Most Rev. Father Murray celebrated Solemn Mass,
assisted by the Very Rev. Francis Auth, C. SS.R.,
president of the Redemptorist College at North East,
Pa., as deacon; and the Rev. Andrew Wynn,
C. SS.R., as subdeacon. Father Hayes was master
of ceremonies. At all the Masses the Most. Rev.
Superior General addressed the congregation, em-
phasizing the fact that he had never before visited so
large a parish. At the close of his remarks he be-
stowed the Papal Blessing on the people. The Most
Rev. Father Murray, whose visit will always be re-
membered with pleasure, left Boston July 18, for
St. John, N. B., Canada.
During the visit of the Superior General, on Satur-
day evening, July 16, at 7:00 P. M., while we were
celebrating the second vespers of the Feast of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel and the first vespers of the
Feast of the Most Holy Redeemer, the largest bell of
the chimes sounded the Angelus. This was the first time
that any one of the bells was ever rung. For two hours
thereafter a beautiful concert was given, to which a
large crowd listened with delight. Within the next
two days, three other chime concerts followed: the
first, on Sunday morning ; the second, on Sunday
evening ; and the third, on Monday evening. Every
day, at intervals of fifteen minutes, from 7:15
A. M. to 9:00 P. M., the chimes mark the flight
of time with music that falls like a benediction on the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 287
passing hours. Every Sunday morning from 9:30
to 10:00, and every Sunday evening from 7:00 to
7 : 30, all hearts are lifted up in prayer by the sweet
hymns that the bells ring out in honor of Our Lord
and His Blessed Mother; while on holidays, from
8:30 to 9:00 A. M., sentiments of lofty patriotism
are evoked by the playing of the national airs.
On July 24 the Rev. Henry Murphy, C. SS.R.,
celebrated his First Mass. The Rev. Father Hayes
was archpriest and preacher ; the Rev. William V.
Knell, C. SS. R., deacon ; and the Rev. Mr. John W.
F. Power, a seminarian, subdeacon. One week later,
July 31, the Rev. Joseph Murphy, C. SS. R., enjoyed
the same transcendent blessing as his namesake. At
Father Joseph's Mass the Rev. William G. Luecking,
C. SS.R., was archpriest and preacher; the Rev.
Father Hayes, deacon ; and the Rev. Father Lynch,
subdeacon. Father Henry and Father Joseph
Murphy were ordained July 20, at Esopus, 1ST. Y., by
Bishop Cusack.
On October 9 the Mission Church was honored by
the visit of a group of high ecclesiastical dignitaries :
His Eminence Cardinal Vincenzo Vanutelli, the
Papal Legate to the Eucharistic Congress in Mon-
treal, His Grace Archbishop O'Connell, and the Rt.
Rev. Mgr. Santi-Tampieri, Assistant Secretary to
His Eminence Cardinal Del Val, Papal Secretary of
State. His Eminence Cardinal Vanutelli and his
entourage, chaperoned by Father Hayes, were con-
ducted first to the church, which was specially illumi-
nated for the occasion ; then, to the rear porch of the
rectory, whence they could get a good view of the
various parish buildings. His Eminence expressed
admiration and wonder at the striking evidences
of the work that the Fathers were doing. As the
illustrious prelates were motoring down Tremont
238 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Street, they were met by a delegation of men of the
parish one thousand strong headed by the Mis-
sion Church Field Band. The men had been sum-
moned from the baseball grounds, where they were
drilling for the Columbus Day parade. Each man
carried a rod tipped with a large rose red, pink, or
yellow. The distinguished visitors were much pleased
with the impressive spectacle presented by so fine a
body of men, and with the surprise to which they had
been treated at their departure.
The Sacred Heart Messenger gave the following
account of the event :
"The Cardinal's Sunday was drawing to a close, but no
visit to Boston would be complete if it did not include a trip
to the Mission Church, Roxbury. Therefore, it was not sur-
prising that the Archbishop brought his distinguished guest
to the famous Shrine. The prelates were received by the
Rev. James Hayes, C. SS. R., rector of the church, and other
members of the community.
"Passing through the rectory into the church, the Cardinal
was escorted up the aisle to the main altar, and here His
Eminence knelt in prayer for some moments ; then, standing
near the sanctuary rail, he looked earnestly at the Shrine and
down the length of the church. The chimes rang out a
welcome in which the notes of the great organ blended; but
the time was all too short, and in a few minutes the Cardinal
and the Archbishop were obliged to leave, being given an
ovation on the way by the men of the parish who were re-
turning from a drill for the Columbus Day parade. It is a
pleasant memory to cherish of a notable occasion the Car-
dinal Legate and the Archbishop of Boston, surrounded by
faithful sons of the church offering their tribute of respect
and bearing witness by their presence and numbers of the
influence of religion on their lives."
On the night of October 11, the eight electric crosses,
four in each tower, were lighted for the first time.
They are of ground glass, 10 by 4.5 feet ; each cross
is illuminated by 14 sixty-watt incandescent lamps,
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 289
and is plainly visible within a radius of from 4 to 5
miles. As the following day (Columbus Day) was to
be a legal holiday for the first time in Massachusetts,
a large American flag was suspended between the
towers in such a position as to receive the full efful-
gence of the crosses. The effect was dazzling, and
served to draw the attention of the newspaper men
to the beauty of the towers and of the electric
crosses. The Boston Record for October 17 said:
"The most conspicuous addition to the landscape of Bos-
ton by night and by day are the twin spires of the Roman
Catholic Mission Church, near the Fenway. They are tall
and exceedingly beautiful, and rank with the dome of the
Christian Science Temple, the Harvard Stadium and the
State House dome as landmarks of the Hub. At night the
belfries of the spires are illuminated from within by power-
ful lights revealing crosses against the dark sky above."
And the Boston Post of the same date:
"A treat is in store for those who have not seen the Mission
Church of Roxbury by night since the towers have been com-
pleted. Four large crosses, each over nine feet in height,
have been placed in each tower and are all ablaze with light.
The illumination is artistically arranged inside, and the
crosses are so high in the air that on an especially dark
night they gleam forth as though suspended between earth
and sky."
The electric crosses proved a source of inspiration
to the muse of Mr. Timothy C. Murphy, "The
Policeman Poet," whose verses entitled " Cross
of Light " will find a place at the end of this book.
A monster parade of the Holy Name Societies of
Boston was held on Columbus Day, 1910. At 1 :00 P.M.
the contingent from the Mission Church started from
the Back Bay to take its allotted place in the ranks,
but, though the parade began to move at noon sharp
and proceeded without break or halt, it was nearly
240 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
3 o'clock before our men were able to fall in line.
There were upwards of 40,000 men in the parade,
which took about three hours and a half to pass a
given point. It was reviewed by President Taft, His
Grace Archbishop O'Connell, Governor Draper, and
Mayor Fitzgerald from different stands erected along
the line of march. The Mission Church fully sustained
its reputation, or rather, as Mayor Fitzgerald put it,
" It fairly outdid itself by the magnificent showing it
made on this occasion." Here are some of the press
comments :
"Without question the Holy Name Society from the Mis-
sion Church was the feature of the great ninth division. It
was the largest in point of numbers, its men marched as truly
as any in line, it was made up of companies in which the men
were practically of a size, and each man carried a long green
wand, tipped with red. yellow, white or blue roses or chrysan-
themums. These floral wands carried at a uniform angle
gave the prettiest touch of color seen in the entire division.
"They led the ninth subdivision of the sixth division and
were preceded by the Mission Church Field Band. The men
marched in files 14 deep and there were 50 of these files
before the eye caught the handsome float representing the
'Departure of Columbus.' Then came the Mission Church
Fife and Drum Corps with its stirring music, and 24 more
files of members of the Holy Name Society.
" 'The Roxbury Boys of 1492,' dressed as American In-
dians in four companies, each marching in cross formation,
came next, followed by a four-horse float representing the
Santa Maria manned by a crew of beautiful girls in white
gowns. This feature was followed by the regular fife and
drum corps of the Mission Church and 16 more files of finely
marching members of the Holy Name Society of the parish.
They carried off the honors both as to numbers and display."
Boston Globe.
"The division of the Holy Name Society which stood out
above all the others was the Mission Church of Roxbury,
which was represented by from 1,800 to 2,200 men. The
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 241
men were dressed very carefully and were perfectly drilled.
. . . " Boston Post .
"From the Mission Church were entered 1,700 marchers,
whose military carriage and alignment were considered the
best of any of the civilians. The Mission Church had a float
portraying the departure of Columbus, a barge of children
in the Santa Maria and four companies of boys in Indian
costumes." Boston Herald.
A Grand Bazaar, the proceeds of which were to
help defray the cost of the towers, was conducted in
the school hall, November 10-30. Fathers Kenzel and
O'Leary, who were in charge, succeeded, after three
months of strenuous labor, in converting the hall into
a little "World's Fair." Booths representing the
principal nations were advantageously placed, and
the pillars of the hall were made to assume the aspect
of luxuriant palm-trees. Every night during the
bazaar a fair-sized newspaper, called The Evening
Star, was published ; it was printed in view of the
people and retailed the news of the evening. Another
novel feature, the source of much amusement, was the
" Post Office," where cards could be bought and im-
mediately afterwards delivered to those to whom ad-
dressed. The fair was very well attended and was
successful in every respect.
On Christmas Day, 1910, the Rev. John W. F.
Power offered up the Adorable Sacrifice for the first
time. The Rev. Father Rector Hayes was archpriest ;
Father Kenzel, deacon and preacher; and Father
Wynn, subdeacon. Father Power was ordained De-
cember 17, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Con-
ception, Portland, Maine, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Walsh of that diocese.
242 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Eucharistic Triumphs.
Early in 1911, Father Hayes determined to bend
all his energies towards the pious design of promoting
daily Communion among the people of the parish.
With this end in view, he directed the Rev. Henry
Borgmann, C. SS.R., to select as his theme for the
Lenten sermons, the salutary practice of approaching
the Holy Table every day. Father Borgmann
brought all his ardent zeal and great oratorical ability
to bear on the sacred task, and his labors were crowned
with wonderful success. He preached the first sermon
on March 5, and during that month the number of,
Holy Communions was nearly four times as large
as during February. The following Christmas Day
5,000 people received the Bread of Angels. The total
number of Communions for 1911 was 290,300, as
against 154,670 for 1910. Since 1911 the yearly
average has been 368,000.
At the ordinations held July 2, 1911, at the Re-
demptorist Seminary, Esopus, N. Y., two young men
of the Mission Church Parish, the Rev. Francis Mur-
ray and the Rev. Charles Crowe, were crowned with
the sublime dignity of the priesthood by the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Cusack. The following Sunday, July 9, both
celebrated their First Holy Mass ; Father Murray at
7 : 00, and Father Crowe at 10 : 30 A. M. At Father
Murray's Mass Father Kenzel was deacon and
preacher; and the Rev. Joseph O'Reilly, C. SS.R.,
subdeacon. At Father Crowe's Mass the Rev. Fran-
cis G. Fischer, C. SS. R., Professor of Dogmatic The-
ology at the Redemptorist Seminary, was deacon and
preacher; and Father O'Leary, subdeacon. At both
Masses Father Hayes was archpriest.
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THE GROWING SPLENDOR 243
Columbus Day, 1911, was signalized by another
triumph for the men of the Mission Church parish.
On that day an army of 30,000 Catholic men of Boston
did homage to the memory of the great discoverer,
while over half a million people lined the streets to
watch them. Military experts declared that they had
never before seen so large a body of civilians so
well drilled or a parade so cleverly handled. Of our
marchers the Boston papers said :
"Notable as were all of the organizations in their march-
ing, there were some that made a greater impression than
the rest, among these being the Bishop Cheverus, K. of C.
Association, the Mission Church Holy Name Society, and the
Cambridge Council of K. of C. . . .
"The delegation from the Mission Church, in subdivision
3 was also received with much acclaim. The marchers were
carefully dressed and ' marched with remarkable precision.
They were headed by the Mission Church Band, all in white
duck. Then came companies of cadets in spotless white
uniforms with red facings. Behind them came several com-
panies of men marching in close alignment and carrying
long red staffs fashioned at the top into a cross and bearing
long streamers of red, white and blue. Behind the men were
still more boys dressed as Indians carrying spears and
behind them were more men carrying long red cross-tipped
staves.
"The Mission Church hundreds made an impression at the
start with a big band setting a quick step and a detachment
of 500 boys in white uniforms with red epaulets and stripes.
Five hundred men came next. They wore black suits and
white gloves, and carried canes tipped with red, white and
blue ribbons. At the end of each line a man carried a big
American flag. One hundred Indian boys in loose formation
followed. They stepped out manfully, and the aspect of their
long spears, uncouth dress and head feathers lost its fierce-
ness by the contrast of their laughing faces. There were
three bands and 700 more men with ribboned canes before the
society of this church passed.
"The Holy Name Society from the Mission Church was
accorded a warm ovation as it passed the chief marshal's
244 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
reviewing stand, the cadets' branch being particular favorites
with the crowds, and, as they marched by, men applauded
their movements, while women waved their handkerchiefs with
wild enthusiasm." The Post.
"Undoubtedly, the chief feature of this (Holy Name)
whole division was the Mission Church of Roxbury, which
had more than 1,800 men and boys in line.
"There was a surprise in store for the people, for their
new regiment of cadets made its first appearance in white
duck uniforms ornamented with cardinal trimmings, and the
lads marched well. The brass band and two divisions of the
fife and drum and bugle corps gave a splendid supply of
music for this big feature from Roxbury. About 100 boys
paraded as Indians in two sections and the Holy Name So-
ciety added its numbers to this remarkable showing from the
Mission Church.
"The parish made a brilliant appearance and won another
great victory for the Redemptorist Fathers. They had their
band and fife and drum corps divided into three sections.
The full band led the column and immediately behind came
a regiment of cadets whose appearance was a surprise. No
one had seen the natty white uniforms of the young men,
and with their rifles they captured the crowds as they swung
along at a marked military gait. The drum and bugle corps
then headed a section of men, and in this section were 100 or
more boys dressed as Indians, and after this section came
another detachment of fife and drum and the remainder of
the men." The Globe.
"The Mission Church representation with 1,800 well
drilled men in line, with three bands and over 100 boys
dressed as Indians with head feathers and spears, received
a great applause. In itself this division formed half the
parade." The Herald.
"The Mission Church Division was awarded highest
honors, taking two prizes, one for the 'Best Marching Body*
and the other for the 'Largest Marching Body.' '
Shortly after the celebration His Honor Mayor
Fitzgerald sent an autograph letter to Father Hayes,
congratulating him and the other Fathers on the
magnificent showing made by the Mission Church
245
Division in the parade, which he declared was "the
grandest spectacle ever witnessed on the streets of
Boston."
On October 31, a report that had been previously
afloat to the effect that His Grace Archbishop O'Con-
nell was to be created Cardinal, was officially con-
firmed when His Eminence received the documents
notifying him of his elevation to the Sacred College.
This glorious news was nowhere received with greater
joy than at the Mission Church, whose priests and
people entertained the heartiest admiration and the
warmest affection for the illustrious prelate. There
were many ties to bind them to him; but one especi-
ally his great devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help.
After an absence of nearly three months, His Emi-
nence returned home, January 31, 1912, and was con-
ducted in triumph through the streets of Boston, amid
the cheers of thousands, who, in spite of a blinding
snowstorm, had gathered to do honor to their Most
Eminent Prince and Leader. The next day all the
Fathers of the Mission Church were present at the
Solemn Mass offered up at the Cathedral to thank
Almighty God for the signal honor conferred on the
Archdiocese of Boston, and for the safe return of His
Eminence.
To the Fathers of the Mission Church the death
of the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Magennis, on February 23,
1912, was like the loss of a dear brother. As he had
been a weekly visitor at the rectory for forty years, he
seemed to be almost a member of the community.
His funeral took place from St. Thomas' Church,
Jamaica Plain, of which he had been pastor for forty-
three years. Fathers Hayes, Wynn, Corr, and Hoff
were present. Eternal rest to the soul of the good and
faithful priest, the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Thomas Magennis !
246 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
With the passing of the years, the beauty of the
chimes and of the electric crosses in the church towers
was more and more fully appreciated. The follow-
ing letter tells of their soothing eif ect on a sick man :
To the Editor of the Boston Herald:
"As a Protestant, writing from a Protestant Hospital,
may I ask you to let me voice what many besides myself must
feel a warm gratitude to all whose gifts and self-denials
built the noble towers of the Roxbury Mission Church. Day
by day through these weeks of illness, the chimes have marked
for me the hours and the quarters, softening pain with memo-
ries of sweet bells in gray cathedrals overseas. By night
through the leaves of swaying branches, I look from my
window to the golden fires of the towers' crosses. . . .
PAUL B. OTIS.
"Longwood, May 27, 1912."
The Boston Record for June 12 contained the fol-
lowing communication, of interest to the friends of
the church:
"Dear Looker-on : In tonight's issue I see where the Rev.
Austin Rice and the Rev. Hugh Heath claim to be the first
to fly the Stars and Stripes from a Church steeple. I beg
to differ, with all respect.
"When the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston came home
from Rome, the Mission Church of Roxbury raised a large
American flag between its spires and a more glorious sight
I want to see. I think, in justice, the honor belongs to the
Mission Fathers of Roxbury.
JOSEPH V. SEITZ.
"Roxbury, June 10, 1912."
The American Flag, as our readers may recall, was
first suspended between the towers of the church,
October 11, 1910.
On July 4, 1912, the Rev. Paul Dugal, C. SS.R.,
celebrated his First Mass. The Rev. Father Rector
Hayes was archpriest ; the Rev. William V. Knell,
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 247
C. SS. R., deacon ; the Rev. James Clark, C. SS. R.,
subdeacon; and the Rev. Peter Corr preached. Three
days later two other newly ordained Redemptorists,
the Rev. George Conway and the Rev. Patrick
McGowan, offered up the Clean Oblation for the
first time. At both Masses the Rev. Father Rector
Hayes was archpriest ; he also preached at Father
Conway's Mass. The latter was assisted by the Rev.
Charles Hoff, C. SS.R., as deacon, and the Rev. An-
drew Wynn, C. SS.R., as subdeacon. At Father
McGowan's Mass, Father Dugal was deacon ; Father
Conway, subdeacon; and the Rev. Edward Scully,
C. SS.R., preached. The Rev. Fathers Dugal, Con-
way, and McGowan were ordained June 30, at Eso-
pus, N. Y., by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Cusack.
On August 5, Father Hayes was notified that he
had been appointed Rector of the Mission Church for
another term his fourth. There was unbounded
rejoicing at the thought that his faithful service had
been duly appreciated, and that for at least three
years more he would guide the bark of Mary to its
destined port.
Late in September, Father Frawley, after an ab-
sence of more than eight years, returned to the Mis-
sion Church, as an assistant. The people of the parish
were delighted to have with them again their former
pastor, whose extraordinary labors in their behalf
during his long tenure of office, had forever endeared
him to all hearts.
A few golden days for Our Lady of the Blessed
Sacrament during 1913 were : Ash Wednesday,
with 4,000 Holy Communions; Easter Sunday, with
5,300 ; and the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
with 5,500.
On June 29, the Rev. Victor Burns, C. SS. R., and
the Rev. Joseph Patrick Downey, C. SS. R., offered
248 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
up Holy Mass for the first time. At both Masses the
Rev. Father Rector Hayes was archpriest. Father
Burns was assisted by Father O'Leary as deacon, and
the Rev. John Feldmann, C. SS.R., as subdeacon.
The Rev. Thomas Galvin, C.SS.R., Rector of the
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Brooklyn,
N. Y., was the preacher. At Father Downey's Mass
the Rev. Father Kenzel was deacon and preacher,
and the Rev. Father Galvin, subdeacon. The follow-
ing Sunday, July 6, the Rev. Francis Connell cele-
brated his First Mass. The Rev. Father Rector Hayes
was archpriest ; the Rev. Father Conway, S.J., dea-
con; and the Rev. Mr. McSweeney, a seminarian, sub-
deacon. The Rev. Michael J. Sheehan, C. SS.R., an
uncle of Father Connell, preached. Fathers Burns,
Downey, and Connell were ordained June 26, at Eso-
pus, N. Y., by Bishop Cusack.
The Playground.
In the early summer of 1913, a matter of vital in-
terest to our people, a question which had been under
consideration for fifteen years, was finally settled.
As far back as 1898, a movement had been set on
foot to have a public playground established for the
children of Ward 19, in which the Mission Church
parish is included. From the beginning the Fathers
were prominently identified with the project ; in
fact, they were the originators of it, because it in-
timately concerned the welfare of our children, who
composed the vast majority of the little ones to be
benefited by the recreation-ground.
In the autumn of 1911, the question as to the most
suitable site for the playground became a political
issue. Not only the Fathers, but also the people
of the parish were in favor of having it located at or
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 249
near the junction of Tremont and Philips Streets,
just east of the church ; because this point marked
the geographical center as well as the center of popu-
lation of Ward 19. A feeble minority, however, advo-
cated its establishment on Halleck Street, at the ex-
treme end of the ward, in a locality where there were
very few children, and where those who would fre-
quent the playground would be exposed to many
dangers. On November 29, a mass-meeting of the
men of the parish was held at St. Alphonsus' Hall to
protest against the selection of the latter site. Despite
a heavy downpour of rain, a great crowd turned out
to register their emphatic disapproval of a measure
that constituted a violation of justice and fair play.
Father Hayes, who was the leading spirit in the move-
ment to have the playground located at Tremont and
Philips Streets, presided at the meeting. Nine or ten
of the speakers supported his contention, while only
one favored the location at Halleck Street. The
argument of the opposition was that the latter place
contained less taxable property, and that, therefore,
the establishment of the playground there would
entail less loss to the city. But the overwhelming
majority of the men were clearly in sympathy with
the position of Father Hayes that the site near the
church should be chosen. Accordingly, resolutions to
that effect were drawn up, read, put to a vote, and
sent to the Mayor and to the members of the Park
Commission.
At the annual banquet of the St. Alphonsus Asso-
ciation, January 13, 1913, His Honor Mayor Fitz-
gerald stated with unmistakable emphasis and sin-
cerity that the playground would be located where the
Fathers wanted it; his favorable stand evoked
hearty applause. At a conference held later between
Father Hayes, the Mayor, and the Park Commission,
250 TfiE GLORIES OF MAllY IK BOSTON
June 26 was set as the date for the final settlement of
the question. The result was that the Halleck Street
site was eliminated from consideration, and the one
east of the Mission Church was selected. On August
26, following, two lots were set aside for the play-
ground ; one on the east, the other on the west side
of Philips Street. According to the report of the
Boston Finance Commission (vol. ix., pp. 109-110)
the lot on the west side of Philips Street began at a
point at the corner of the north side of Oriental Court
and Philips Street, and ran westerly, practically in a
straight line, along the north side of Oriental Court,
approximately 230 feet to the wall of the Mission
Church property ; thence in a northerly direction,
alongside the wall of the Mission Church property,
approximately 230 feet to the property of Henrietta
Bertram, which fronted on Smith Street place and
numbered 5 on said place ; thence easterly, practi-
cally in a straight line, approximately 230 feet to
Philips Street; thence to the point of beginning. The
lot on the east side of Philips Street began at the cor-
ner of the lot occupied by the Philips Street School,
and ran, practically in a straight line, easterly, ap-
proximately 300 feet to the easterly line of land of
Lillie Lef evre ; thence it ran southerly, by the easterly
line of the land of the said Lefevre, approximately
170 feet ; thence it turned and ran westerly, approxi-
mately 300 feet, practically in a straight line to the
east side of Philips Street ; thence it turned and ran
along Philips Street, approximately 170 feet to the
point of beginning. In the autumn of 1913, the houses
that stood on these lots were torn down in order to
make room for the playground.
In February, 1914, when Mayor Fitzgerald's term
expired, he was succeeded by the Hon. James M.
Curley. Meanwhile a large number of people had
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 251
made the suggestion that the boundaries of the play-
ground should be extended to the north and to the
south. At two mass-meetings held at St. Alphonsus'
Hall, the men of the parish went on record publicly
as favoring the proposed extension, besides commend-
ing the city officials for having selected the Philips
Street site. With fine enthusiasm Mayor Curley
espoused the proposal to enlarge the prospective play-
ground, and with characteristic energy set to work to
accomplish its realization. On November 16, 1915,
the Mayor added to the western lot about 154 feet to
the north, so as to take in all the remaining land up
to Smith Street, and about 100 feet to the south, so as
to embrace all the remaining land down to Tremont
Street. Moreover, he added all of Philips Street
from the school to Tremont Street a parcel of land
330 by 30 feet and also 50 feet along Tremont
Street to the east, so as to make the boundary line at
that point meet the boundary line of the eastern lot.
Again, a considerable number of houses were de-
molished, making 63 in all. The work of laying out
the playground and of providing it with all the neces-
sary appurtenances was done as quickly as possible,
and finally, on September 3, 1917> the recreation
ground was dedicated with appropriate exercises to
the use of the children.
The credit for this notable achievement, which con-
tributes so much to the material welfare of our chil-
dren and to the beauty of the church's surroundings,
belongs to Father Hayes, nobly seconded by the vast
majority of the men of the parish. And certainly we
must not forget the great debt of gratitude we owe to
the Hon. John F. Fitzgerald and to the Hon. James
M. Curley, former Mayors of Boston, as also to the
members of the Park Commission.
252 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
In November, 1913, the old sidewalk in front of the
church and part of the steps were removed. A grano-
lithic sidewalk was then laid, and the steps were
widened. The approach to the church was thus con-
siderably beautified.
On March 27, 1914, the Rev. Andrew Wynn,
C. SS.R., vice-Rector of the community, celebrated the
Golden Jubilee of his profession as a Redemptorist.
On that happy day, according to a custom of several
years' standing, he said Mass at the Shrine of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help. To Her, under God, he
declared, he owed his religious vocation, and, there-
fore, he wished to thank Her on his jubilee day for all
the graces bestowed on him during the past fifty
years, especially for the inestimable favor of having
been called to the priesthood in the Congregation of
the Most Holy Redeemer. After his Mass Father
Wynn, kneeling before his Superior, Father Hayes,
renewed his vows in the presence of the entire commu-
nity. The Sisters, the school children, and a large
number of the adult laity received Communion from
the hand of the venerable priest.
The Rev. Ambrose Walker sang his First Solemn
Mass, April 26. The deacon was the Rev. James Mc-
Carthy, pastor of St. William's Church, Dorchester ;
the subdeacon, the Rev. Stephen J. Chamberlin ; the
preacher, the Rev. Philip O'Donnell, pastor of St.
James's Church, Boston. Present in the sanctuary
were the Rt. Rev. Mgr. O'Farrell, pastor of St.
Francis de Sales' Church, Roxbury, and several other
clerical friends of the young celebrant. Father
Walker was ordained April 6, at St. John's Seminary,
Brighton, by His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell.
A four weeks' mission, conducted by the Redemp-
torist Fathers Kenna, Conway, Turner, and Crowe,
was begun September 27, 1914. The number
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 253
of confessions heard was as follows : Married women,
2,306 ; single women, 2,514 ; married men, 1,648 ;
single men, 1,789; boys, 647; girls, 846: total, 9,750.
On Sunday, December 27, Governor David I.
Walsh was present at the last Mass at the Mission
Church, and, after taking luncheon with the Fathers,
remained at the rectory as their guest until 3 : 00 P. M.
Four weeks later, at the 9 o'clock Mass, the Governor
and his secretary received Holy Communion. This
was the first time that two men so prominent in
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had ever done
so at the Mission Church. The practical faith of the
Governor, who was recognized by many of the con-
gregation, was a source of great edification.
Two new side altars, the one, dedicated to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus; the other, to St. Joseph, were un-
veiled on Easter Sunday, 1915. The altars, which it
took six months to erect, are of solid marble ; each
weighs 28 tons, and contains mosaics which are fine
specimens of workmanship. After the Masses and
the evening devotions, the people crowded to the front
of the church to get a close view of the altars, and
gave utterance to many expressions of enthusiastic
admiration.
By appointment of Father Hayes the Rev. John
O'Leary, C. SS.R., of the Mission Church preached
at the Solemn Military Mass celebrated on Pentecost
Sunday, May 23, in Fenway Park, by the Rt. Rev.
Mgr. Splaine, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Rox-
bury. Father O'Leary said, in part:
"What a magnificent spectacle ! Thousands bowing before
the altar of God in patriotic service commemorating the lives
and deeds of those heroic men who were ready to lay down
their lives for their country. This public act of worship does
more honor to our country than the greatest achievements of
art, science, literature or commerce, and is a more certain
254 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
pledge of our country's future happiness than vast standing
armies and embattled fleets, for it proclaims the fact that a
large portion, at least, of the people still recognize that
above the power of armies and navies, that above the states-
man's skill and the merchant's ardent zeal, there reigns the
God of Hosts, and in His hands are the peace, the prosperity,
and the destiny of nations. . . .
"May He who died on the Cross and lifts His sacrificial
hands at this altar today, may He wash away their errors
and transgressions, purify their souls from stain, and requite
the life they laid down for others with that greater life of
heavenly bliss that has no end." *
The Mission Church Field Band, under the direc-
tion of the Rev. James Clark, C. SS.R., made a fine
showing on this occasion, and was heartily applauded
by the 15,000 people present.
On June 10, at Esopus, N. Y., His Eminence Car-
dinal Farley ordained to the priesthood 16 Redemp-
torist seminarians, of whom four were sons of the
Mission Church parish : the Rev. John Hegarty, the
Rev. Richard Keenan, the Rev. John Shaughnessy,
and the Rev. William McCarthy. The following
Sunday, the 13th, Father Hegarty and Father Kee-
nan celebrated their First Mass. At Father Hegarty 's
Mass the Rev. Daniel Collins, C. SS.R., was deacon
and preacher; and the Rev. Alfred Jones, C. SS.R.,
subdeacon. At Father Keenan's Mass the Rev.
Michael Gannon, C. SS R., was deacon and preacher;
and the Rev. John Sippel, C. SS. R., subdeacon. The
Rev. Father Rector Hayes was archpriest at both
Masses. One week later Father Shaughnessy and
Father McCarthy offered up the Tremendous Sacri-
fice for the first time. Father Shaughnessy was as-
*Father O'Leary's sermon is given in full in the work entitled
"Addresses at Patriotic and Civic Occasions by Catholic Orators"
(New York: Joseph F. Wagner, vol. 1, pp. 28-31).
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 255
sisted by the Rev. William V. Knell, C.SS.R., as
deacon, and the Rev. James Lynch, C. SS. R., as sub-
deacon. The Rev. John Conway, C. S S. R., preached.
Father McCarthy had as deacon the Rev. Father
O'Leary, and as subdeacon the Rev. Henry Knecht,
C.SS.R. The sermon was preached by the Rev.
Joseph Turner, C.SS.R. On this Sunday also,
Father Hayes officiated as archpriest at both Masses.
On July 10, Father Hayes, like his immediate pre-
decessor, Father Frawley, was appointed Rector for
the fifth time.
At the beginning of Advent four new statues were
placed on the two side altars spoken of before : on the
Sacred Heart Altar, the statues of St. Alphonsus and
St. Theresa ; on St. Joseph's Altar, the statues of
St. Clement Hofbauer and St. Gerard Majella.
On Good Friday, 1916, a new crucifix was set over
the Tabernacle of the high altar. The frame on
which the Image rests is of mahogany with a covering
of gilt. The Figure is of holly, without paint or
varnish; it was wrought from a tree, is in one piece,
and is in every respect a beautiful specimen of art.
In June of that year three newly ordained Redemp-
torists, the Rev. Thomas Tobin, the Rev. John
Murphy, and the Rev. Joseph Lorden, said their First
Mass; Fathers Tobin and Murphy, on the llth; and
Father Lorden, on the 18th. At Father Tobin's Mass
the Rev. Alfred Jones was deacon and preacher, and
the Rev. Paul Dugal, C.SS.R., subdeacon. At
Father Murphy's Mass the Rev. Father Lynch was
deacon and preacher, and the Rev. Thomas Raynor,
C.SS.R., subdeacon. Father Lorden was assisted
by Father Clark as deacon and preacher, and the Rev.
Stephen L. Ahern, C.SS.R., as subdeacon. Father
Hayes, as usual, was archpriest at all these Masses.
The Rev. Fathers Tobin, Murphy, and Lorden were
256 THE GLORIES OF MAEY IN BOSTON
ordained June 7, at Esopus, N. Y., by the Rt. Rev.
Patrick J. Hayes, D.D., at that time Titular Bishop
of Tagaste and Auxiliary to the Cardinal Archbishop
of New York.
OUR LADY'S GOLDEN VESTURE.
The original picture of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help was restored to public veneration in 1866. The
Golden Jubilee of that blessed event occurred, of
course, in 1916, and was celebrated with appropriate
solemnities in all Redemptorist churches throughout
the world.
At the Mission Church Father Hayes decided to
have a Grand Triduum in honor of the Mother of
Perpetual Help, to thank Her for all the graces and
favors bestowed on the church through her merciful
intercession during the past forty- six years, and to
implore a continuance of her blessings. The Triduum
was preceded by a two weeks' retreat for all the
people of the parish. The idea of the retreat was to
attune the hearts of the faithful to the Triduum, so
as to make it a supreme event in the history of the
church. The retreat, which began October 15, was
conducted by the Rev. Fathers Collins, Byrne,
Turner, and Treanor. The exercises were held
simultaneously in the upper church and in St. Ger-
ard's Chapel. During the retreat the school children
made a Novena of Communions, and so great was
the fervor of the adults as well as of the children that
during the period from October 15 to November 2,
inclusive, no less than 70,000 Holy Communions
were distributed.
The Triduum was opened October 29, with a Sol-
emn Mass, of which the Very Rev. Joseph Schneider,
C. SS.R., Provincial, was celebrant; the Rev.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 257
Daniel Collins, C. SS.R., deacon; and the Rev. John
F. Byrne, C. SS.R., subdeacon. His Eminence Car-
dinal O'Connell, vested in Cappa Magna, occupied his
throne on the Gospel side of the sanctuary and pre-
sided at the Mass. Father Hayes, after welcoming
His Eminence and thanking him for the honor of his
presence, delivered an impressive sermon on the
Miraculous Picture. At the conclusion of the Mass,
His Eminence made a beautiful address, in which he
expressed his delight at being able to show his
ardent love for Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to
whom he had always cherished a tender devotion, who
had lavished on him so many favors, and had so sig-
nally blessed the people of the Mission Church and of
the whole archdiocese. He also expressed pleasure at
having the Sons of St. Alphonsus in his diocese, who,
by their straightforward manner and especially by
their unswerving loyalty to their Bishop, were doing
an incalculable amount of good.
A handsome painting of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help, executed especially for the Triduum, was
suspended from the ceiling of the sanctuary. The
background, measuring 24.4 by 11 feet, was of that
species of wool known as " Rep." The Image itself,
modeled after the original by Mr. August Geisel-
hart, was 9.5 by 6.5 feet. The border of the painting,
made of the best gold braid, was designed by Mr.
Franz Untersee, of Boston.
In May, 1917, a new system of lighting was in-
stalled in the upper church.
On June 17, the Rev. John Sephton, C. SS. R., and
the Rev. John Waldron, C. SS. R., said their First
Mass. The deacon at Father Sephton's Mass was the
Rev. Father Duran of All Saints' Church, Roxbury ;
the subdeacon, the Rev. Father Clark ; and the
258 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
preacher, the Rev. Timothy McDonnell, C. SS.R.
Father Waldron was assisted by Father Sephton as
deacon, and Father Lynch as subdeacon. The sermon
was preached by the Rev. Thomas Gilhooly, C. SS.R.
Father Hayes acted as archpriest at both Masses.
The Sunday following, June 24, the Rev. George
Acres, C. SS. R., celebrated his First Mass. Father
Turner was deacon and preacher ; Father Clark, sub-
deacon; and Father Lynch, archpriest. The Rev.
Fathers Sephton, Waldron, and Acres were ordained
June 13, at Esopus, N. Y., by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Hayes.
On October 9, a magnificent ostensorium made from
the gold offerings of the faithful was received from
the manufacturer. It was intended as a memorial of
the Golden Jubilee of the wonder-working Picture of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The gold used in its
making was the residue from the bulk contributed for
the construction of a ciborium destined for the same
purpose. The chalice and the monstrance were used
for the first time on Christmas Day.
The Rev. James Clark, C. SS.R., who for nearly
eight years had labored with highly commendable zeal
at the Mission Church, was notified by the Very Rev.
Father Provincial Schneider on February 23, 1918,
that his name had been presented to the military
authorities for a chaplaincy in the Army. A few
weeks later Father Clark was formally appointed.
On April 3, a farewell reception was tendered him
at St. Alphonsus' Hall. A large crowd attended the
entertainment given in his honor and for his benefit.
The program consisted of songs, motion-pictures, an
address by Father Hayes, the reading of the commis-
sion from President Wilson by which Father Clark
was designated First Lieutenant, and a speech by the
chaplain-elect. A contingent of soldiers from Camp
MISSION CHURCH TOWERS
Towers erected in 1910. New Parochial Residence erected in 1903.
MISSION CHURCH
Showing Vestry and Garden.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 259
Devens, Ayer, Mass., and a number of sailors were
present. The following day Father Clark left Bos-
ton en route for his cantonment at Gestner Field,
Lake Charles, Louisiana. At the hour of his depar-
ture, the school children were assembled in front of
the church, and the adjoining streets were crowded
with men and women who had come to bid the beloved
priest an affectionate farewell. When he emerged
from the church, where he had made a parting visit to
the Shrine, the Mission Church Field Band played a
stirring martial air. Father Clark was accompanied
to New York by Father Hayes.
During this year three newly ordained priests cele-
brated their First Mass; two of them were brothers,
the Rev. Francis Neville, C. SS. R., and the Rev. Paul
Neville, O. F. M. By a happy dispensation of Divine
Providence both these young men said their First
Mass on the same day, Pentecost Sunday, May 19.
At Father Francis Neville's Mass, his brother Paul
was deacon; the Rev. James Lynch, C. SS.R., sub-
deacon; and the Rev. Timothy McDonnell, C. SS. R.,
preached. At Father Paul's Mass, Francis was dea-
con; and the Rev. Father Kelly, O.F. M., subdeacon
and preacher. Father Hayes officiated as archpriest
at both Masses. Father Francis Neville was ordained
May 17, at Esopus, N. Y., by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Russell of Charleston, S. C. Father Paul was or-
dained the following day at St. Bonaventure's Church,
Paterson, New Jersey, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
O'Connor, of Newark, N. J. One week later, May 26,
the Rev. Patrick Rogers offered up his First Mass.
The Rev. Patrick Phelan, of the Harrisburg Cathe-
dral, was deacon; and the Rev. George Schneider,
C. SS. R., subdeacon. The Rev. James Lynch,
C. SS.R., preached. Father Rogers was ordained
May 18, at St. Bonaventure's College, AUeghany,
260 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
N. Y., by the Rt. Rev. John M. Gannon, D.D.,
titular Bishop of Nilopolis and Auxiliary to the
Bishop of Erie, Pa.
Official advices were received at the rectory on June
11, to the effect that the Rev. Father Hayes had been
transferred to St. Joseph's Mission House, Atlantic
City, N. J., and that the Rev. William B. Kenna,
C. SS.R., former Rector of St. Clement's College,
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., had been appointed to
succeed him.
The departure of Father Hayes was deeply and
sincerely regretted. With one exception he held the
record for continuous service at the Mission Church,
having spent nearly twenty years here five and a
half, as assistant, and fourteen, as Rector. During that
long period he had fulfilled with enviable distinction
and marked ability every task allotted to him, and had
endeared himself to all with whom he had come in
contact. His administration forms one of the
brightest chapters in the history of the church, and his
own record is his best eulogy. After remaining here
about four weeks, in order to acquaint the incoming
Rector with his manifold and onerous duties, Father
Hayes left Boston on July 8 for his new home but
he still remains in the memory and in the affections of
the people.
THE RECTOEATE OF FATHER KENNA.
The Rev. William B. Kenna arrived June 24, and
the next day was inducted into office with the pre-
scribed formalities.
On July 18, the Rev. Thomas J. Raynor, C. SS. R.,
of the Mission Church, received official notification of
his appointment as K. of C. chaplain to the soldiers
at the forts in Boston Harbor. For nearly a year
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 261
previously, Father Raynor had been laboring nobly
in the spiritual interest of these men, having heard
confessions on more than one occasion from half past
seven in the evening until two o'clock the next morn-
ing.
The Flag-Raising.
A most interesting and inspiring chapter in the
history of the Mission Church was written on Sunday,
September 8, when, amid a scene of imposing splen-
dor, the Service Flag was raised, and public tribute
paid to the 1,057 men who were at that time enlisted
in the cause of our beloved country. For weeks ahead
the Fathers had been busy preparing every detail of
the demonstration. Everyone anticipated a grand
spectacle, but the reality completely dwarfed all ex-
pectations.
Before sunset on Saturday, the entire district had
been elaborately decked out with the national colors;
and Old Glory, flying and fluttering from the win-
dows of thousands of homes, reflected the patriotism
that burned in all hearts.
The celebration was ushered in with a Solemn Mili-
tary Mass at ten o'clock; but long before that hour,
the streets near the church were thronged with eager
and enthusiastic spectators. The reception committee,
composed of men of the parish, attired in frock coat
and high silk hat, reached the rectory at nine; and
shortly afterwards the distinguished guests began to
arrive. General Sullivan, with his entire staff from
the State Guard, was the first to be received. After
General Sullivan came Captain Ziegemeier of the
Battleship Virginia ; then followed Commander
O'Leary, representing the Commandant of the
Charlestown Navy Yard. Rear Admiral Spencer
262 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
S. Wood, accompanied by his wife and children,
arrived shortly before ten o'clock, and was
welcomed by the entire committee with full honors.
Captain Raby of the Battleship Missouri had come the
evening before, and had spent the night at the rectory.
At 10:00 A. M., Lieutenant Stephans, in charge of
the soldiers and sailors, who had assembled at St.
Alphonsus' Hall, gave the command. Headed by the
Mission Church Band and attended by the Fife and
Drum Corps and the Cadets, the troops, about five
hundred strong, marched up St. Alphonsus Street to
Tremont, where they were drawn up at attention. At
this juncture an automobile drove up to the rectory,
and, to the pleasant surprise of all, His Eminence
Cardinal O'Connell alighted. This was an unexpected
honor, for His Eminence had notified the Fathers
that, much as he desired to take part in the celebra-
tion, it would be impossible for him to do so, owing to
a previous engagement at St. Augustine's Church,
South Boston. However, in order to show his esteem
and affection for the Fathers and the people of the
parish, His Eminence came, at great personal incon-
venience, to take part in the procession and to recite
the preliminary prayers of the Mass.
After greetings had been exchanged between His
Eminence and Admiral Wood and the other distin-
guished guests, the procession was formed, and moved
along Tremont Street to the main entrance of the
church. At the head of the line walked General Sulli-
van with his entire staff. Captain Ziegemeier was
followed by Captain Raby, each with an orderly and
two members of the reception committee. A conspicu-
ous figure in line was Colonel Archie Miller, in com-
mand of the Aviation Camp at Mineola, L. I., where
the Rev. Francis Murray, C. SS.R., of the Mission
Church parish, was chaplain. After Colonel Miller.
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 263
came Major Moore, the personal representative of
General Crozier, and Lieutenant Campbell, repre-
senting General Ruckman.
Following the honored guests were two young men
in khaki once sanctuary boys at the Mission Church
Francis Kennedy, from Camp Devens, and Harry
Bowen, of Fort Warren, who acted as censer-bearers
during the Mass. Daniel Sheils, Paymaster's Clerk
at Battery Wharf, and Francis Mahoney, from the
same station, were the acolytes. Between them walked
Private Archie McDonald, the cross-bearer. Next in
line were the soldiers and the sailors of the parish, who
assisted as clerics in the sanctuary. The buglers and
the drummers followed after these. Then came the
reverend chaplains from the Army and the Navy
all in uniform. The Rev. Father Foley, chaplain of
the Battleship Nebraska, was escorted by two Jesuit
scholastics, Messrs. Raymond Mclnnis and John
O'Connor. The Rev. Father Monahan, Chaplain of
the Battleship Kearsarge, was accompanied by two
Fathers of the Mission Church. The Rev. Charles
Hoif, C.SS.R., Rector of St. Augustine's Church,
Puerta de Tierra, Porto Rico, was master of cere-
monies. The Rev. Francis Murray, C. SS.R., chap-
lain at Mineola, L. I., was deacon, and the Rev.
Stephen Ahem, C. SS. R., chaplain at Fort Hancock,
subdeacon. The celebrant of the Mass was the
Very Rev. Joseph A. Schneider, C.SS.R., Provin-
cial. His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell, who, of
course, had the place of honor at the end of the line,
was attended by two priests of the community.
After the guests and the clerics had entered the
church, Lieutenant Stephans gave the command, and
the rank and file marched in, four abreast. The mili-
tary ushers had charge of the seating of the enlisted
men. The Army occupied the pews on the Gospel
264 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
side of the main aisle, while the Navy were seated on
the Epistle side.
The male choir under the able direction of Prof.
Frank E. Fassnacht, whose three sons were serving
with the Colors, rendered an appropriate and impres-
sive program. The sermon was preached by the Rev.
Joseph Turner, C. SS.R., of the Mission Church.
He thus stated the purpose of the demonstration :
"We have gathered here to invoke the blessing of the Al-
mighty on our nation and on our flag. We have gathered here
to petition the great God of Heaven and earth to cast a
special arm of protection around every one of our boys and
to give strength to their arms and courage to their heart.
We have a mighty task before us, the task of defending the
glorious flag of our country, that flag that was never lowered
in ignominious defeat, that flag that never allowed the army
to do a dishonorable thing in all its history."
A striking feature of the Mass occurred when the
bugles announced the Offertory. A guard of honor,
composed of twenty soldiers from Fort Andrews, led
by the color-bearer with his escort, marched up the
main aisle and formed a circle round the altar, where
they remained at attention until after the Communion.
A death-like silence reigned at the Elevation, as the
bugles rang out and the drums rolled. At the end of
the Mass, while the enlisted men were leaving the
church, the Sextette from Lucia, with appropriate
words composed for the occasion, was beautifully
executed by the choir. The recessional was uplifting
and inspiring; it told of brave deeds and of blood-
stained fields in far-off Flanders.
At noon luncheon was served by the Fathers to
the distinguished assembly. During the repast a select
quartette furnished a variety of songs, all of which
received generous applause. One of the most re-
markable features of the entire celebration was the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 265
feeding of approximately 600 enlisted men in the
drill-hall of the school. A very substantial meal had
been provided, and all spoke in complimentary terms
of the service they received. At the end of the lunch-
eon, after cigarettes had been furnished, the men were
conducted to St. Alphonsus' Hall, where an entertain-
ment was given by the members of the Association.
At 2:30 P. M., General Sullivan, the Grand
Marshal of the parade, accompanied by his staff,
drove to the Wentworth Institute, on Huntington
Avenue, where the various military units had
assembled for the outdoor demonstration. Mean-
while men who held high office in the National,
State, and city governments, together with person-
ages eminent in Army and in Navy circles were gath-
ering on the reviewing stand in front of the church.
The State was represented by Lieutenant- Gov-
ernor Calvin Coolidge (now Vice-President of the
United States) ; the city, by Mayor Andrew J. Peters,
who was accompanied by his Secretary, Edward
Moore; the National Government by Congressman
George H. Tinkham. From the Army came Major
General Crozier, together with Mrs. Crozier, and
Major Moore, his Adjutant. Brigadier General
John W. Ruckman with his aide represented the
North Atlantic Coast Artillery. Colonel Quimby
with Lieutenant O'Connell from Fort Andrews,
Colonel Miller from the Aviation Camp at Mineola,
Chaplains Francis Murray, Stephen Ahern, Thomas
Raynor and George A. Crimmen, all of the Army,
were also on the stand. From the Navy there were
Admiral Spencer S. Wood, Commandant of the First
Naval District ; Captains Raby and Ziegemeier, each
with his orderly; Commander O'Leary, the per-
sonal representative of Commandant Rush of the
Charlestown Navy Yard; and Chaplains Foley, Mon-
266 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
ahan, and O'Rourke. Mr. Dooley, gentleman-in- wait-
ing to His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell, also had a
place on the reviewing stand. The Rev. Father Rec-
tor Kenna accompanied the Very Rev. Father Pro-
vincial to the stand, where they met the Rev. Father
Stanton, S.J., and the Rev. Father George, C. P. At
the foot of the reviewing stand, stood the entire re-
ception committee in square formation. While the
guests were waiting for the parade to approach, a
chorus of one thousand children, under the care of the
faithful School Sisters of Notre Dame, sang patriotic
airs with so much feeling that the immense crowd
burst into spontaneous applause.
At about 3:15, the head of the parade swung round
Brigham Circle to Tremont Street. In the lead was
the famous Tenth Coast Artillery Band, which
escorted the soldiers from the forts in Boston Harbor.
Next came the Twentieth Coast Artillery Band, fol-
lowed by the boys from the Wentworth Institute
and from Camp Devens. The Mission Church
Field Band headed the sailors from the battleships,
and from the Charlestown Navy Yard, Common-
wealth Pier, Fore River, Battery Wharf, and the
Radio School. The Drum Corps from St. Joseph's
Parish, Roxbury, received unstinted acclaim, as it
marched at the head of the State Guard six hundred
strong. One of the most picturesque divisions of the
parade was that made up of two hundred Fourth
Degree Knights of Columbus, with sword and baldric.
They were accompanied by the popular Everett City
Band. Last, marched the Mission Church Drum
Corps and Cadets. They were cheered lustily by the
thousands of spectators, who knew that many of the
men in the service had come from their ranks.
Another striking feature of the parade was the
Flag Section. A huge American Flag, one of the
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 267
largest in the city, was carried by boy graduates
of the parochial school; while girl graduates bore
the beautiful Service Flag. A detail of soldiers and
sailors assisted in carrying both flags. As soon as the
van of the parade had reached the eastern gate of the
playground, the order was given to swing to the left
and enter the park ; when the last man had passed
the reviewing stand, the head of the line once more
marched along Tremont toward St. Alphonsus Street,
so that every man in line was drawn up at attention
in the middle of the street. A perfect picture was
thus presented at the main entrance of the church.
The background was formed by one thousand of
our parochial school children, dressed in spotless
white. To the right were the girl graduates support-
ing the immense Service Flag ; to the left, the boy
graduates holding the National Emblem. Around
the reviewing stand the entire reception committee
stood at attention. The whole pageant was one of
the most impressive ever seen in Boston.
When the stage had thus been set, Father Kenna
addressed the immense throng, in part, as follows :
"This record of 937* boys from one parish has not to my
knowledge been surpassed to date. We have every reason,
therefore, to be proud today. . . .
"Furthermore, over fifty per cent of these boys did not
wait to be drafted did not wait until their names were
drawn. The moment President Wilson decided that we were
to enter this terrible conflict, over half of these boys hurried
to enlist. . . . They are to be found in every branch of the
service on land, on sea, and in the air. . . .
"After this war, then, let no one ever dare to challenge the
patriotism of Catholics. Catholics are loyal to their flag and
to their country, because they are loyal to their God and to
their Church."
* Although the flag contained only 937 stars, the number of
our boys in the service at the time it was raised was 1,057.
268 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The Lieutenant Governor spoke on the meaning of
the ceremony. Mayor Peters congratulated the chil-
dren on their beautiful singing, while Congressman
Tinkham insisted on the necessity of Religion for
good citizenship. General Crozier, exhorting the
people to make greater sacrifies, warned them against
overconfidence. Admiral Wood, addressing the
mothers of the boys in a special manner, pointed out
to them how great was their honor. They were to be
congratulated, but we, who were not privileged to go
across, were to be pitied. Judge Ahern, in a vigorous
and eloquent speech, lauded the patriotism of the
Fathers and of the parishioners, and vouched for even
nobler sacrifices on their part, if the Nation demanded
them.
After the various addresses the Very Rev. Father
Provincial, amid solemn silence, blessed the flag. Both
emblems were then adjusted to the rigging, and, under
the direction of Captain Raby of the Battleship Mis-
souri, the flag of our country was run up between the
towers of the church ; then Captain Ziegemeier of the
Battleship Virginia gave the command, and the
sailors raised the glorious Service Flag to a position
just beneath the National Emblem. The entire
crowd then spontaneously burst into that grand old
anthem that thrills every true American heart, " The
Star Spangled Banner." The display of patriotism
was highly inspiriting.
After the ceremonies the honored guests were
escorted into the church, where, amid a blaze of
splendor, they inspected every part of the edifice,
while Professor Fassnacht entertained them with an
informal, yet beautiful, organ recital.
It was the unanimous opinion that Sunday, Sep-
tember 8, 1918, was a day that will ever stand out
in bold relief in the history of the Mission Church
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 269
Parish. All declared themselves amazed at the pro-
portions which the demonstration had assumed. But
surely our gallant young fellows, the defenders of our
flag, deserve the best that the city, the State, the
Nation, and the Church can give them.
During the terrible days of the awful war, sorrowful
scenes were enacted within the sacred precincts of the
parish, when so many of our finest boys, clean, good-
living, upstanding fellows, at the threshold of
glorious manhood, bade a sad farewell to home and
mother and went forth to fight and, perhaps, to die
"somewhere in France." Through long months of
heartrending anxiety, the silver-haired mothers of
these noble lads sighed and prayed for the blessed
hour when the inane and insane slaughter would
cease, when men who called themselves Christians
would awaken to a sense of Christian charity, and
when their own dear boys would return again to
their places at the family fireside. Imagine, then, the
overflowing joy that greeted the long-hoped-for news
that the war had come to an end. At 5 A. M., Novem-
ber 11, the day the Armistice was signed, Prof. Fass-
nacht played on the chimes that beautiful hymn,
"Holy God, We Praise Thy Name." The people at
once understood the " good tiding of great joy " and,
as the Judean shepherds in the olden days, hastened to
the Crib to see " The Word that had come to pass,"
so, too, our people on that chill November morning
hurried along the streets to the church to speak the
wprd of thanks to Our Blessed Mother, the Queen of
Peace, for having stilled the din and roar of conflict.
Buoyant and happy, with beaming eyes and throbbing
hearts, they came down from Parker Hill, and up
from Conant Street, and over from Francis Street, to
meet at the focal point of the Mission Church Parish
the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
270 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
At 8 P. M., Solemn Te Deum, followed by Bene-
diction of the Blessed Sacrament, was sung. The
church was packed. A company of soldier-boys
assisted in the sanctuary, a few of them serving as
acolytes and censer-bearer ; while two hundred or more
had places specially reserved for them in the body of
the church. Every light in the great temple was
turned on, and the mighty organ rolled out a grand
burst of harmony like that which floated over the hills
of Bethlehem when the Angels first sang "Glory
to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of
good will."
On Saturday evening, June 28, 1919, the immortal
President of the Irish Republic, Eamon De Valera,
arrived at the rectory, to be the guest of the Fathers.
The following morning he received Holy Communion
at the 9 o'clock Mass, which was celebrated by his
half-brother, the Rev. Thomas Wheelwright,
C. SS. R., of the Mission Church. As the President's
coming had previously been announced, a tremendous
crowd was on hand to greet him ; when his automo-
bile approached the church, a deafening cheer arose,
and hundreds tried to push forward and shake his
hand. President De Valera knelt on a prie-dieu at
the head of the middle aisle, near the sanctuary rail.
The officials who accompanied him, among whom were
Mayor Quinn of Cambridge, and President Ford of
the Cambridge City Council, occupied the front pews.
The Rev. Father Kenna, in greeting the illustrious
Irish patriot, said :
"A cordial welcome to our honored guest pours forth from
the hearts of our community and all its people on this mem-
orable occasion. We thank him for honoring this church
by selecting it to assist at the Sacrifice of the Mass, ^assure
him that the congregation of np other church in the United
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 271
States is more solidly behind Him and the cause which he
represents than the congregation of the Mission Church."
As the President with his party was leaving the
church, the congregation rose as a tribute of respect.
He was then conducted to the rectory, where breakfast
was served. Among others present, were the Rev.
Philip O'Donnell, pastor of St. James's Church, Bos-
ton; the Rev. Michael J. Doody, pastor of St. Mary's,
Cambridge ; Judge Timothy Ahern, of the Roxbury
Court ; Representative Dennis Reardon, and Sena-
tor Edward F. McLaughlin.
In the afternoon President De Valera addressed a
crowd of nearly 60,000 in Fenway Park. The Mission
Church was represented by 2,000 men, headed by the
Field Band and the Fathers.
On the same day the Rev. John O'Connor sang his
First Mass. Father Lynch was deacon and preacher ;
the Rev. Mr. William O'Connor of St. John's Sem-
inary, Brighton, a brother of the celebrant, was sub-
deacon. Father O'Connor was ordained June 14, by
the Most Rev. Archbishop Hanna of San Francisco
at the Cathedral of that city. On July 27, the Rt.
Rev. Edmund F. Gibbons, D.D., Bishop of Albany,
N. Y., ordained to the priesthood at Esopus, N. Y.,
twelve Redemptorist clerics, of whom three were from
the Mission Church Parish : The Rev. Thomas Laps-
ley, the Rev. John Prendergast, and the Rev. Nicho-
las Hayden. On August 3, Fathers Lapsley and
Prendergast sang their First Mass. At Father Laps-
ley's Mass Father McDonnell was deacon and
preacher, and the Rev. Mr. William O'Connor, sub-
deacon. At Father Prendergast's Mass Father
Lynch was deacon and preacher, and the Rev. Mr.
William O'Connor, subdeacon. On the following
Sunday, August 10, the Rev. Nicholas Hayden,
272 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON]
C. SS. R., celebrated his First Mass. He was assisted
by the Rev. Thomas Tobin, C. SS.R., as deacon; and
the Rev. Mr. William O'Connor, as subdeacon.
Father Tobin was the preacher also.
On Sunday, September 28, a four weeks' mission
began. The exercises were conducted by the Rev. Re-
demptorist Fathers Joseph O'Reilly, Albert Schmer^
ing, Augustine Smith, and Thomas O'Reilly. The
old fervor and enthusiasm again prevailed. The
crowds were larger than ever before, and proved con-
clusively that the same beautiful spirit of faith that
animated the people forty years ago, still dominated
their souls. The grand total of confessions was
10,106.
In January, 1920, the Mission Church entered on
the fiftieth year of its existence, and just Over the
hills were heard the merry golden jubilee bells. Back
over the wide stretch of nearly half a century, came
the sweet memories of that beautiful May day in 1871,
when the wonder-working Picture of the Mother of
Perpetual Help was first enthroned in the church.
How inexpressibly dear to our people was not that
noble temple which for almost five decades had been
singing " The Glories of Mary in Boston ! " But in
the rush and crush of the years, the interior of the
edifice had fallen from that splendor to which Father
Frawley had raised it in 1896. This will not surprise
us if we consider the wear and tear to which a church
like ours is necessarily subjected in the course of
twenty-five years. Extensive improvements were,
therefore, required. In the first place, the church had
to be replastered and redecorated, especially because
Roxbury pudding-stone, of which it is built, is
extremely porous; consequently the dampness and
even the rain penetrated, and, settling on the inner
wall, destroyed the decorations; secondly, new
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 273
wainscoting, a new flooring, and new frames for
the Stations of the Cross were necessary; and, thirdly,
it was fitting that three new altars should be erected :
two, to replace those of the Holy Family and of St.
Patrick, and a Purgatorial altar an additional
feature in the church to stimulate devotion to the
Holy Souls.
In order to defray the expense entailed by this
scheme of renovation, Father Kenna inaugurated, on
January 18, a jubilee-drive, urgently requesting every
wage-earner in the parish to contribute one week's
salary within six months. He met with a prompt,
hearty and generous response. As it was in 1872, so
it was in 1920 : the devoted people gave of their hard-
earned savings with a good will that was beyond all
praise. Many contributed far more than the required
amount ; those who gave the prescribed sum expressed
regret that they could not give more, and promised
to do so at a later date, if circumstances allowed a
promise which most of them redeemed. Preach it
from the pulpit, teach it in the classroom, write it
across the skies: the old love for our Lady of Perpe-
tual Help still burns brightly in the hearts of the
people of the Mission Church Parish.
On June 6, the Rev. William O'Connor sang his
First Mass. His brother, the Rev. John O'Connor, was
deacon; and the Rev. John Shaughnessy, C. SS.R.,
subdeacon. The preacher was the Rev. Andrew
Gunning, C. SS.R. Father William O'Connor was
ordained June 3, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross,
Boston, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Anderson. On June
20, the Most Rev. Archbishop Hayes of New York
ordained to the priesthood at Esopus, fifteen Redemp-
torist students, of whom five, happy to say, were
products of the Mission Church Parish : the Rev.
Thomas Cronin, the Rev, Francis Walsh, the Rev. Jo-
274 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
seph Daley, the Rev. Joseph Fitzsimmons, and the
Rev. Albert Waible. The following Sunday, the
27th, the Rev. Fathers Walsh and Cronin offered up
their First Mass. At Father Walsh's Mass the Rev.
George Schneider, C. SS.R., was deacon; the Rev.
John Shaughnessy, C. SS.R., subdeacon; and the
Rev. Eugene Mulheran, C. SS.R., archpriest and
preacher. At Father Cronin's Mass, the Rev. Mr.
Edmund Moran, a seminarian who had shortly before
received the diaconate, was deacon; the Rev. John
Shaughnessy, C. SS.R., subdeacon; and the Rev.
Joseph Leddy, C. SS. R., archpriest and preacher.
On July 4, the Rev. Joseph Daley and the Rev.
Albert Waible sang their First Solemn Mass. Father
Daley was assisted by the Rev. Augustine Duke,
C. SS. R., Prefect of Students at the Redemptorist
Seminary, Esopus, N. Y., as deacon; and the Rev.
William Treanor, C. SS. R., as subdeacon. The Rev.
John Shaughnessy, C. SS. R., was archpriest and
preacher. At Father Waible's Mass the Rev.
Timothy McDonnell, C. SS. R., was deacon; the Rev.
Paul Dugal, C. SS.R., subdeacon; and the Rev.
Augustine Duke, archpriest and preacher. The fol-
lowing Sunday, July 11, the Rev. Joseph Fitzsimmons
celebrated his First Solemn Mass; the Rev. Augus-
tine Duke, C. SS. R., was deacon; the Rev. John Con-
way, C. SS. R., subdeacon; and the Rev. Thomas
Wheelwright, C. SS.R., archpriest and preacher.
The Novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help,
which opened June 11, was preached by the Rev. Al-
bert Schmering, C. SS.R., of St. Clement's College,
Saratoga Springs, N. Y. The crowds that came to
the exercises were so great that it was impossible to
get a seat unless one arrived at least three-quarters of
an hour before the services began. Although there
was a pronounced spell of hot weather at the time,
there was no falling off in the attendance ; on the
B
U
INTERIOR OF CHURCH SHOWING ORGAN
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 275
contrary, there was a steady increase from night to
night; and over all reigned the gentle and gracious
influence of true devotion to the peerless Lady
of Perpetual Help.
On November 14, a public event, in which the Mis-
sion Church figured prominently, took place : eight
squares, five of which were within the parish limits,
were dedicated in memory of fallen World War
heroes. The exercises were conducted under the
auspices of Mission Hill Post, American Legion of
Honor, with local organizations in the district par-
ticipating.
About 1 : 30 P. M., the parade, composed of about
1,000 men, assembled at the Mission Hill Playgrounds
and, led by mounted police under the command of
Sergt. Comerford, proceeded, to the martial strains of
the Mission Church Field Band, along Tremont
Street to the junction of Huntington Avenue, where
the Francis S. Hanlon Square was dedicated. Com-
mander John J. Riley presented the mother of the
brave young man with the official document recount-
ing the services of her son, and with the quill with
which the order naming the square had been signed.
After Mrs. Hanlon had responded feelingly, Comrade
Thomas J. Buckley placed a wreath on the sign. The
Rev. Thomas J. Gilhooly, C. SS.R., of the Mission
Church, pronounced the invocation and delivered a
patriotic address which was favorably received.
Then followed the dedication of the Edward M.
Dolan Square, at Ward Street and Huntington
Avenue ; the Andrew F. Hayes Square, at Tremont
and Parker Streets ; the Bernard T. Fitzsimmons
Square, at Calumet and St. Alphonsus Streets; and
the Joseph J. Fallon Square, at Calumet and Darling
Streets. The squares were accepted on behalf of the
city by Corporation Counsel Arthur D. Hill. At
each square volleys were fired and taps sounded.
276 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The first golden cycle of the Mission Church's ex-
istence was brought to a close with a four weeks'
parish retreat, which began on November 21, the Feast
of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin. Owing to
the unsettled condition of the upper church, all the
exercises were held in St. Gerard's Chapel. In all
respects the retreat was most gratifying, but the most
encouraging feature was the admirable spirit shown
by the young men. In spite of difficulties and hin-
drances they turned out nobly, and at the close of
their retreat the membership of the Single Men's
Division of the Holy Family Association was doubled.
At this writing the good spirit then manifested still
continues bright omen of future triumph and glory.
At the close of the jubilee year the members of the
community were : The Rev. Fathers William B.
Kenna, Rector ; James J. Lynch, vice-Rector ;
Augustine Dooper, Andrew Gunning, Eugene Mul-
heran, Louis J. Vollmer, Daniel Collins, John Con-
way, Joseph P. Turner, Albert Schmering, Timothy
McDonnell, Paul Dugal, Thomas J. Gilhooly,
George Schneider, Joseph Leddy, John Shaughnessy,
and Thomas Wheelwright ; and Brothers Silverius,
Lambert, Alphonsus, and Hubert.
The names of the parishioners were they are
written, let us hope, in the maternal heart of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help. May She ever guide and
guard them till their day is done, till their race is run,
till their crown is won ; till they enter, amid the glad-
some chants of angels, beyond the Gate of Heaven,
to rest forever at the feet of Mary, the Mother of
Jesus !
THE GROWING SPLENDOR 27?
Maria, men and Angels sing,
Maria, Mother of our King,
Live, rarest Princess ! and O, may the bright ,
Crown of a most incomparable light,
Embrace thy radiant brows ! O, may the best
Of everlasting joys bathe thy white breast !
Live, our Chaste Love, the Holy Mirth
Of Heaven, and humble pride of earth!
Live, Crown of Women, Queen of Men :
Live, Mistress of our Songs; and when
Our weak desires have done their best,
Sweet Angels, come and sing the rest !
Richard Crashaw.
Part Second
Special Topics
THE SHRINE.
" Holy Mary, be thou help to the helpless, courage
to the fearful, comfort to the sorrowful." General
Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The fountainhead, whence spring " The Glories of
Mary in Boston," is the Sacred Image of Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, which is an exact copy of the
original, in the Church of Saint Alphonsus on
the Via Merulana in Rome. There is hardly any
other miraculous picture in existence which can boast
of so glorious a history as that of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, and probably no other to which such
profound and widespread veneration has been paid.
We consider it, therefore, a sacred duty to give the
history of the world-famous image, which has been
the instrument of grace to so many millions of afflicted
mankind.
There are writers who claim that the original picture
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was painted by the
Evangelist St. Luke, thus giving it an antiquity of
almost 1,900 years. This opinion, however, as far as
we can ascertain, rests on no solid ground, as all the
evidence available goes to show that it was painted,
not by St. Luke, but by some Greek artist of the thir-
teenth century. But whatever may have been the
origin of the picture, it is an historical fact that it was
held in the greatest honor more than 400 years ago by
a certain wealthy merchant, who lived in Crete, now
called Candia, an island of the Mediterranean Sea.
During the last decade of the 15th century, when
the Turks were bent on devasting the southern coun-
tries of Europe, this island was in imminent danger
of being overrun by the enemy. Thereupon many of
the inhabitants, keenly dreading the dire consequences
of Turkish hate and violence, determined to seek
safety in flight from their native land. At least one
band of fugitives, among whom was the pious mer-
chant, set sail for Italy.
With tear-bedimmed eyes and heavy hearts, they
saw their beloved island fade from their view ; but
undismayed, they turned confidently and hopefully
towards the country where they had begun to center
their interests and affections. For some days their
vessel glided calmly over the placid waters, but, at
length a terrible storm arose. The lowering clouds
rushed upon them in huge black battalions ; the wild
winds shrieked their mad fury round the plunging,
heaving craft ; the waves, rising mountain high,
dashed over the ship in seething onslaught and savage
rage. The poor exiles were frantic with fear. All
was dark. All seemed hopeless. At every moment
they expected to sink into a watery grave.
But among the imperilled Cretans there was one,
who, like Christ in the tempest-tossed bark of Peter,
was serene and fearless. While the waves were roar-
ing, the winds howling, and the terror-stricken pas-
sengers giving themselves up to despair, a certain man
was seen going to his cabin. His tread was firm, his
nerves steady, his head erect, and his spirit undaunted.
In a few moments he appeared again, cool, self-pos-
sessed and courageous. Who was this extraordinary
man who rose so majestically above the engulfing
danger ? He was the devout merchant, the ardent
lover of Her who is our Refuge in the storm. See I
he bears in his hands the image of his Beloved Lady.
Raising heavenward the picture of the Mother of
Perpetual Help, he exclaims with the deepest emo-
THE SHRINE 283
tion, " Behold the Star of the Sea ! Let us all invoke
Her ! She will deliver us 1 " His noble and inspiring
words buoy up with hope the sinking hearts of his
hearers. In an instant all are on their knees before
the Image of the Blessed Mother of God. Their
earnest, fervent cry, " Save us ; O Mother of Per-
petual Help ! Save us, we perish I " is heard above
the raging storm, aye, it is heard in the highest halls
of Heaven where Mary sits enthroned. At once She
turns her motherly eyes towards her suppliant chil-
dren: She commands, as did her Son in the olden
days, the tumultuous waves of the sea, and there
comes a great calm. This is the first instance recorded
in history of the public invocation of the Blessed Vir-
gin under the touching title of Mother of Perpetual
Help. This was the first link in that mighty chain of
Mary's favors which has girded the world a thousand
times round.
The " Star of the Sea," the "Mother of Perpetual
Help," conducted the exiles in safety to the river
Tiber. The merchant disembarked at Ostia, whence
he proceeded to Rome, bringing his precious posses-
sion with him. This is, in brief, the story of how the
picture found its way to Rome, where it has ever since
remained.
But the pious Cretan was not destined to live
long in the Eternal City, for soon after his arrival
he became fatally ill. On seeing death approach he
resolved to dispose of the picture, which was in deed
and truth his greatest treasure. Our Blessed Mother
had made it the means of such a signal favor that he
was firmly convinced that she had extraordinary de-
signs in its regard, and that it was destined to be a
vehicle of mercy to sin-laden and suffering mankind.
As he reflected on the wonders that had happened, he
began to feel that Divine Providence had led him to
284 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Rome in order to make the picture of Mary known
to the whole world. The conviction forced itself on
his mind that the Blessed Virgin wanted him there,
that he might leave her image, not to any particular
person, but to the whole church, of which Rome was
the center. Penetrated with this thought he sum-
moned to his bedside the man in whose house he lay
dying, and who had hitherto been his faithful friend.
The cherished image hung from the wall near the bed.
and the eyes of the pious patient were feasting lov-
ingly on it. "I have always dearly prized that pic-
ture," he said to his friend, " through it I have received
many graces from my Mother Mary; and now that
I am going to die, I seem to hear Her saying to me :
* Leave the picture to the Holy Church I will make
it the medium of my perpetual succor to countless
souls ! ' : Then turning to his friend the merchant
said : " It is the will of the Blessed Mary, and it is my
last will, that my picture of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help, shall be given to one of the churches in this city
of Rome. I now ask you to promise me solemnly that,
as soon as I am gone, you will faithfully fulfil this
my last will." His friend gave the solemn promise.
No sooner was the merchant dead, than the wife of
the man who had pledged his word, removed the pic-
ture to her own room. Her husband vigorously pro-
tested, and in earnest words told her of the sacred
promise he had made to his dying friend to have the
picture presented to one of the churches of the city.
She merely smiled cynically, and paid no further
attention to his remonstrance. Unfortunately,
through fear he allowed her to keep the picture, thus
proving false and faithless to his word of honor. Our
Blessed Mother was intensely displeased with him,
and, appearing to him in a vision, said, " I command
you to keep your promise to my dying client." But
THE SHRINE 285
her words fell on deaf ears, for this weak and cowardly
man feared his wife too much to heed the words of the
Blessed Virgin. A second, and even a third time, Our
Lady appeared to him, but all in vain. Seeing him so
obstinate, She went to him once more and, in unmis-
takable tones, threatened him with chastisement,
should he persist in his sin: " If," She said, " you will
not let my picture depart, you will soon have to go
hence yourself." Even this dreadful threat failed of
its purpose and a few days later the obdurate man
died.
It is hard to understand the perverse, almost dia-
bolical attitude of the woman whose husband we have
just seen stricken by a sudden death. Even that
tragic event did not induce her to part with the pic-
ture; she could not, or rather would not bring her-
self to admit that his death was a punishment of his
sin; and, therefore, she still clung tenaciously to the
Sacred Image. But Our Blessed Lady was just as
determined that her will and that of the Cretan mer-
chant should be executed; hence She resorted to new
expedients of a wonderful character.
The widow had a daughter, very young and inno-
cent, too young and innocent to know that the beauti-
ful picture of Mary in her mother's room did not be-
long to her. One day, while the child was saying the
Hail Mary before the Sacred Image, the Blessed
Virgin appeared to her. "My child," she said, "go
tell your mother that Our Lady of Perpetual Help
wills to have her image given to one of the churches of
Rome." The little child ran and told her mother
what she had just seen and heard. Her simple story,
taken in connection with all that had previously hap-
pened, led the widow to think that, after all, it might
be prudent for her to give up the picture. In this frame
of mind she sought advice from another woman, a
286 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
neighbor of hers. The latter simply said, "How
foolish of you to notice the prattling of an infant !
Keep your picture ! " Very soon the unhappy crea-
ture who spoke thus had reason to be sorry for her
words. At the moment she gave her wicked counsel,
her arm became frightfully black and swollen, and
she collapsed in an agony of pain. At once she re-
alized that she was being punished for what she had
said, and, repenting of her words, begged the widow
to bring her the picture. It was brought and applied
to her arm. Instantly the swelling disappeared, all
pain ceased, and she was perfectly cured.
The woman who had obstinately refused to part
with the picture, was at last softened and subdued by
the sudden death of her husband, by the miracle
wrought in favor of her friend, and by the repeated
warnings of Our Blessed Lady. Once for all, she
determined to surrender the Sacred Image.
But to which of the 300 churches in Rome was it to
be given ? To the Church of St. Alphonsus ? No
for St. Alphonsus was not born till 200 years later.
Our Blessed Lady herself soon pointed out the church
in which she wished to receive public homage in Rome.
Appearing again to the little child, She said: "Our
Lady of Perpetual Help wills to be publicly honored
between St. Mary Major's and St. John Lateran's."
Her will could not have been expressed with greater
clearness. Between St. Mary Major's and St. John
Lateran's there was only one road, which was called
Via Merulana. On that road there was only one church
that of St. Matthew, in charge of the Augustinian
Fathers. To this church, therefore, so unmistakably
determined by Our Lady, the widow took the picture
and offered it to the Prior, at the same time telling
him its past history. With a heart full of gratitude
to Mary, he accepted the venerated treasure, and at
THE SHRINE 287
once began to prepare a suitable place for it in his
church.
On March 27, 1499, the picture was borne in solemn
procession through the streets of Rome. The whole
city seemed to turn out to honor Mary, who, as the
joyful train passed along, marked her progress
by miracles. We shall recount only one. A poor
woman had long suffered from paralysis ; one side
of her body, especially her arm, had been stiff and
motionless for years. Hearing of the miracle wrought
in favor of the woman who had opposed the Blessed
Virgin, she said, " If the Mother of God cured her,
she will not refuse to cure me." When the picture
was passing the place where she was standing, she
asked the bystanders to apply it to her arm. Her re-
quest was granted, and the instant she felt the contact
of the image, she was perfectly cured. After the pro-
cession the picture was enthroned above the high altar
in St. Matthew's Church, where for 300 years the
loving clients of Our Blessed Lady honored Her by
pilgrimages and costly offerings. There She dispensed
her choicest favors She consoled the sorrowful, en-
couraged the downcast, gave health to the sick, and
obtained pardon for the sinner. So numerous and
striking were the marvels wrought at the Shrine, that
the picture became known as "the very miraculous
image."
But alas ! after nearly ten generations of radiant
glory had rolled over the favored sanctuary of Mary,
a long night of gloomy oblivion set in. In 1812, dur-
ing the occupation of Rome by the French army, one
of the invading generals gave orders that the Church
of St. Matthew should be demolished. The melan-
choly result was that the Augustinian Fathers were
compelled to retreat to the Church of Saint Mary in
Posterula. But what became of the picture ? In
288 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
their sad flight they took it with them, but, fearing
that sacrilegious hands might be laid on it, they no
longer exposed it to the veneration of the faithful.
Our Blessed Lady, however, never ceased to guard her
sacred treasure, and in her own time and way em-
ployed suitable means to restore it to its former fame
and splendor.
After the death of St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, at
Nocera de Pagani, in 1787, his successors, the Su-
periors General of the Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer, continued to live there until 1854, when
Pope Pius IX ordered them to transfer the mother
house to Rome. Pursuant to this command, the Re-
demptorists, in June of that year, purchased, on the
Esquiline, an old Roman Palace known as the Villa
Caserta, which they transformed into a monastery.
Adjoining the residence on the Via Merulana, they
erected, in graceful Gothic, the Church of St.
Alphonsus. Little did they realize at the time that
their new house stood almost on the exact site of the
Church of St. Matthew, which had been destroyed in
1812. Indeed, they had not the slightest idea that any
such church or monastery ever existed, nor did they
learn of it till several years afterwards.
One day in January, 1863, more than fifty years
after the French army had reduced St. Matthew's to
a heap of ruins, one of the Fathers, during the even-
ing recreation at the Villa Caserta, told his compan-
ions that he had recently read that where they
were living, there had once stood the Church of St.
Matthew, famous for a miraculous picture called
" Our Lady of Perpetual Help," which had long ago
been lost, if not destroyed. This remark might not
have led to further results, but for Father Michael
Marchi, a Roman, who joined the Redemptorists,
when a young man, in 1855. He had never seen St.
THE SHRINE 289
Matthew's, and until then had no idea of its former
location, but had heard about it and had even seen
the celebrated picture of which the other Father spoke.
Father Marchi then related that as a little boy,
he was accustomed to frequent the Augustinian Mon-
astery of St. Mary in Posterula, where he became in-
timate with one of the lay brothers, a very old man
named Brother Orsetti, who died in 1853. This ven-
erable religious lived at St. Matthew's up to the very
day on which it was destroyed by the French. He
never told Michael Marchi of the site on which it had
stood, but often spoke of its glories and of the wonder-
ful picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help which had
been venerated there for 300 years. " He used often
to take me upstairs," said Father Michael, " and when
we were in the oratory, he used to get me to pray
before the beautiful image hanging on the wall.
'Michael,' he would say, 'that is the picture of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, which was formerly in such
honor in St. Matthew's. When that church was de-
stroyed we brought the picture here with us." And
then the old man, as if divining that the picture would
again be restored to its former glory and that Marchi
would have some part in the restoration, was wont to
repeat again and again : " Michael ! remember the
picture we venerated in St. Matthew's. That is the
picture."
This story was highly interesting to the Redemp-
torist Fathers ; but as Brother Orsetti had not told
Father Marchi of the last will of the Cretan merchant,
or of the command of the Blessed Virgin, that the pic-
ture should be publicly honored in a church between
St. Mary Major's and St. John Lateran's, there was
nothing in what Father Marchi said to show that Our
Lady now willed to come forth from her hiding-place,
and to take up her dwelling in the Church of St.
290 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Alphonsus. Yet such was indeed her will; and the
Fathers were soon apprised of it.
In February, 1863, Father Blosi, S.J., preached at
one of the churches in Rome. The subject of his
discourse was the long-lost picture of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help. He described it as an image for-
merly very famous in the city, but then utterly un-
known. He told his hearers how, hundreds of years
before, the Blessed Virgin had positively commanded
that this picture should be publicly honored in a church
between St. Mary Major's and St. John Lateran's,
and he begged them to make this fact everywhere
known, so that whoever might have the picture in his
keeping, might fulfil the behest of Our Lady; thus
would the Sacred Image regain its former fame and
glory. " Who knows," he exclaimed, " what blessings
may come down on the world from the revival of de-
votion to Mary, under the chosen title of ' Mother of
Perpetual Help!'
This sermon pointed clearly enough to St. Alphon-
sus' Church as the future home of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, and for two years the community of
Villa Caserta offered fervent prayers to the Blessed
Virgin that if it was her will to choose their church for
her abode, She might take the proper steps to accom-
plish her purpose. To their devout supplications She
turned a willing and gracious ear.
On December 11, 1865, the Most Rev. Nicholas
Mauron, Superior General of the Redemptorists, was
received in private audience by Pope Pius IX. After
relating to His Holiness the history of the picture,
especially during its three hundred years at St. Mat-
thew's, and the plain mandate of Our Blessed Lady
concerning its place of exposition, Father Mauron
explained that St. Alphonsus' Church stood on the
old site of her glories, and that the story of Father
THE SHRINE 291
Marchi and the sermon of Father Blosi seemed to
point to it as the spot chosen by Her.
The Pope, deeply impressed by what Father Mau-
ron had told him and remembering that as a boy he
had prayed before the Sacred Image at St. Matthew's,
kindly acceded to the petition of the Superior General,
and dictated the following order:
December 11, 1865 The Cardinal Prefect of the Propa-
ganda will send for the Superior of the Community of Sancta
Maria in Posterula and tell him that it is our wish that the
picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mentioned in the peti-
tion, should be again placed between the Churches of St.
John and St. Mary Major, and the Father Superior of the
Redemptorists shall replace it by some other picture.
Pius PP. IX.
On January 19, 1866, two Redemptorist Fathers
went to the Convent of Saint Mary in Posterula and
procured the picture from the Superior. It was then
kept in the oratory of the Redemptorists until April
26, when it was translated with solemn ceremonies to
the Church of St. Alphonsus. A magnificent proces-
sion of the clergy and of the people of Rome accom-
panied the Sacred Image through the streets, the de-
vout clients of Our Lady of Perpetual Help praising
Her for deigning once more to dwell publicly in their
city. As the picture moved along on its triumphal
march, Mary looked down from Heaven on her loving
children and scattered favors on them with a lavish
hand. " Sweet Lady of Perpetual Help, cure my
little son," was the pathetic cry of one poor woman
whose boy was dying of fever. Our Blessed Mother
heard the cry, and instantly the little child arose in
perfect health. "Mother of Perpetual Help, have
pity on me ; my little daughter of eight has been
paralyzed and unable to move for the last four years,"
was the fervent prayer of another. Mary touched
292 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
with pity heard the petition, and the child began to
walk. Thus the picture of Our Dear Lady fairly
radiated miracles, as it was borne through the streets
of Rome to her beloved sanctuary in St. Alphonsus'
on the Via Merulana.
The following day a Solemn Triduum of Thanks-
giving was opened, which was to serve incidentally as
a prelude to the month of May, which is specially
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. So vast was the
crowd of worshippers who had recourse to the new
sanctuary of Our Lady, that it was confidently as-
serted that within the next five weeks everyone in
Home had visited the Sacred Image. Pius IX, hear-
ing of the wonders wrought, came to her chosen
Shrine. " I have heard," said he, " that She performs
prodigies, She will not refuse to succor the poor Pope."
So astounding were the miracles wrought by Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, that the Holy See decreed
a new honor for her Sacred Image. The reader may
have seen a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
without a crown on her head or on the head of Jesus.
Such pictures show him what the original was like
until June 23, 1867; but on that blessed day, which
was the Sunday just before the Feast of St. John
Baptist, two golden crowns were solemnly placed on
the head of Jesus and of Mary by the Dean of the
Vatican Chapter, in presence of Bishops and priests
from all parts of the world, who had assembled at
Rome for the Eighteenth Centenary of the Martyr-
dom of Saints Peter and Paul. These two crowns are
the Church's seal on the Sacred Picture, and are the
strongest proof possible that it is in the full sense of
the term a " very miraculous image."
The great Pope of Mary Immaculate cultivated a
special devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He
obtained a facsimile of the picture, for use in his
THE SHRINE 293
private oratory ; this was the first of its kind ever
painted. Later on, in the year 1876, when the devo-
tion had become better known, His Holiness estab-
lished the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and,
in memory of the Coronation, ordered it to be cele-
brated every year as a double of the second-class with
special Office and Mass, on the Sunday immediately
preceding the Feast of St. John Baptist. At the
same time he erected " The Archconfraternity of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help and of St. Alphonsus," of
which he had himself enrolled as the first member. In
1913, the Feast was raised to a double of the first-class,
and affixed to June 27. At present, however, it is
celebrated, as in former years, on the Sunday imme-
diately preceding the Feast of St. John Baptist.
Description of the Picture.
The world-famous picture is one of the most curious
and interesting Madonnas bequeathed to us by the
ancient masters. It is florid in color and manner,
painted in distemper and executed in the Byzantine
style of the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The
picture is twenty by fifteen inches, on a golden back-
ground twenty-two by eighteen inches. Our Blessed
Lady is represented in half -figure ; the Child Jesus,
in full figure. She holds Him on her left arm, while
with her right hand She affectionately presses His two
hands to her breast. Her mantle is red, with folds
defined by golden lines ; her veil is dark blue with
gold border. The Divine Child is clad in a garment
of green, gathered together with a girdle of carmine
red and partially covered with a mantle of dark yel-
low. Surrounding the head of the Blessed Mother is
a halo on which rests a golden crown begemmed with
294 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
precious stones. The head of the Child Jesus, too, is
adorned in like manner. The Archangels Michael
and Gabriel, in half -figure, are also portrayed on the
picture. At five different places on the Sacred Image,
one notices groups of Greek capital letters, directly
above which are certain marks or strokes indicating
that the letters are abbreviations. Above the left
shoulder and near the face of the Holy Child, are four
Greek characters " Is.Xs.", which signify "Jesus
Christ." Near the top of the picture, to the left, are
the letters " MP," which stand for " Mother" ; to the
right " OV," which mean " of God." Over the arch-
angel nearer to Jesus, are the characters " OAG,"
which denote "Archangel Gabriel " ; over the arch-
angel on the opposite side are the letters " OAM,"
which indicate "Archangel Michael."
The archangels appear as if they had taken flight
from their heavenly home, and had come with speed
into the presence of Jesus and Mary. They are por-
trayed as presenting to the Divine Babe the instru-
ments of His Passion ; the Archangel Gabriel bears
the cross and the nails ; the Archangel Michael, the
lance and the sponge. The Child Jesus seems startled.
He has been sleeping. Suddenly, he is roused from
his slumbers by the terrifying vision of the two angels
with the instruments and symbols of His Passion and
Death : The cross, the nails, the spear, and the sponge.
In His tender human frame, He shrinks affrighted
from the awful prospect. When a full-grown man,
He sank to the earth, through fear, in the Garden of
Gethsemane ; now, as a child, He almost falls, through
fear, from His Mother's arms. He clings to Mary,
and she, the " strong woman," who will afterwards re-
main standing beneath His cross on Calvary, supports
and sustains Him. Through terror at the dreadful
thought of His Passion, every nerve of His little body
THE SHRINE 295
quivers, and His feet, striking against each other,
cause the sandal of the right foot partly to fall. His
Holy Mother, seeing His extreme agitation, seizes
with her right hand His two trembling hands
while He huddles close to Her for refuge and assist-
ance. She, meanwhile, is sadly looking, not at Him,
nor at the emblems of His Passion, but at us, for whom
He will one day shed His blood. She is appealing to
us to lay our sorrows at her feet, since She is the
Mother of Sorrows, and to confide in Her, since in her
arms She bears Him who is the Omnipotent Lord of
heaven and earth. The little Jesus is gazing not at
Her, but at the Cross, or, perhaps, at something
beyond it, not represented on the picture.
Shortly after the original had been exposed to
public veneration in Rome, copies of it were made,
blessed, touched to the original, and then transmitted
to various parts of the world. One was sent to St.
James's Church, Baltimore, Md. ; one to the Church
of the Most Holy Redeemer, N. Y. ; one to St. Al-
phonsus' Church, St. Louis, Mo. ; one to St. Michael's
Church, Chicago, 111., and one to the Mission Church,
Boston.
THE PICTURE OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
IN THE MISSION CHURCH.
As the reader may recall, the Sacred Image of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help was solemnly enthroned
May 28, 1871, above the high altar in the old church.
Our Blessed Mother at once began to manifest her
inexhaustible mercy in a series of wonderful cures
which still continue, and which, we confidently be-
lieve, will never cease.
The very day after the picture had been exposed
296 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
for veneration, an extraordinary cure was wrought in
the case of a little girl, Louisa Julia Kohler. The
child had been troubled from birth with a shortness
of breath, resembling asthma. When she was a year
and a half old, the disease, in some way or other, af-
fected her ankle. An operation relieved the shortness
of breath; nevertheless, the pain in her ankle was
still very severe. During the Triduum celebrated at
the church in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
the child's mother began a no vena. After she had said
the prayers on the second day, her little daughter
arose, stood erect something she had been unable to
do before and cried out, "Mamma, mamma!"
Amazed, her mother ran to take her up, but the child
pushed her away, sat on the floor again, and burst
out laughing. However, the night after this occur-
rence, she suffered more than ever and appeared to be
dying. The next morning, when her mother had re-
moved the bandages, in order to look at the wound,
the little girl tossed aside the poultice that had been
prepared, escaped from her mother and began to run
round the table. The members of the family could
hardly believe their eyes. When the wound was ex-
amined, it was found to be perfectly healed. The dis-
location had been righted, and nothing remained
of the ailment, save the scars. A few days later
Louisa Julia Kohler visited the church with her
mother. While the latter was kneeling in prayer be-
fore the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, the little one,
studying the image of Our Lord lying dead on
His Mother's lap, exclaimed, "Face like papa,
foot like mine ! " And, as a matter of fact, the scar
on the child's foot closely resembled the mark of the
wound on Our Lord's.
In thanksgiving for this wonderful cure Mr. and
Mrs. Kohler dedicated their entire family to Our Lady
of Perpetual Help.
THE SHRINE 297
A day or two afterwards another extraordinary
cure was effected through the prayers of Our Blessed
Mother. A devout woman had been afflicted for fif-
teen years with a very painful and distressing disease
which had baffled and defied the skill of the best physi-
cians in Boston. Her husband had spent hundreds of
dollars on remedial measures, but all to no purpose
whatsoever. The woman, realizing how desperate her
case was, abandoned all hope in human aid and ad-
dressed herself to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She
began a novena the day on which the miraculous pic-
ture was enthroned, and within a short time was com-
pletely cured, not a trace of her illness remaining.
In March, 1872, while the Fathers were giving a
mission at one of the Boston churches, an elderly
woman who had been suffering from palsy for 19
years, without ever being able to obtain any relief
from the doctors, called on one of the missionaries and
asked him if he could do anything for her. The Father
blessed her, gave her a medal of the Holy Virgin, and
told her to begin a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help. Three days after she had begun the novena,
she returned and assured him that she had been re-
stored to perfect health. This cure is attested by the
family with whom the missionaries stayed, as well as
by the five Fathers who were engaged on the mission.
The knowledge of these and similar cases was so
noised abroad that within a few years the little church
came to be regarded as the Home of Wonders.
In November, 1874, the practice of bestowing a
blessing on the sick came into vogue ; at first, this
blessing took place on Wednesday at 11 :00 A. M., but
in 1877, the hour was changed to 3 :00 P. M.
When the new church had been erected, the wonder-
working picture was placed not above the main altar,
but above the altar in the chapel of Our Lady of Per-
298 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
petual Help, which was thenceforth called the
" Shrine." As the years rolled by, there was, on the
one hand, no diminution either of the mercy or of the
power of the Queen of Heaven; and, on the other, no
cooling of fervor or failing of confidence on the part
of the faithful. Up to 1884, no less than 331 well-
authenticated cures had been reported, some of which
had been wrought in favor of people living so far away
as West Virginia and even Texas. Quite a number of
these afflicted ones had come in person to the Shrine,
there to perform their devotions.
On August 18, 1883, occurred one of the most re-
markable of all the cures on record that of Miss
Grace Hanley, daughter of Colonel P. T. Hanley of
Roxbury. We shall give the girl's own statement of
her case:
"When a little over four years of age I went to spend the
summer with my aunt in the country. I was very strong
and healthy, until one day we were allowed to play driving
in an unused carriage, which stood in the carriage-shed, ad-
joining the house. By the side of the carriage-house stood
a large, rough rock to prevent the wheel from rubbing off the
paint. Wishing to get out, and climbing down backward, as
children do; when they began to jolt the carriage, my hands
lost their hold, and I fell, striking the lower part of my back
on the rock, between which and the wheel I was tightly
wedged. Grandma, who had come to spend the day, hearing
my cries, ran to my assistance, and had some difficulty in
releasing me from my painful position. They examined my
back, but found not even a scratch upon it, though I could
neither sit nor lie down standing being the least painful
position. After violent crying, I fell asleep in grandma's
arms, but during the night awoke, screaming with fearful
pain. The next morning mamma took me to the doctor, who,
after examining my back, pronounced my suffering growing
pains. Every week this pain grew worse, and seemed to be
in the side rather than in the back, which puzzled the physi-
cians. For one year I suffered intense agony, as the physi-
cians could do nothing to relieve me. At the close of the year
THE SHRINE 299
papa called in Dr. Cheever, chief surgeon in the City Hospi-
tal. After a thorough examination, he said one of the small
bones in the spinal column was cracked, that being the cause
of the intense pain. He ordered a pair of steel and leather
corsets to be put on, which I wore for one month. My grand-
mother came to see me one day, and advised mamma to bring
me to Dr. Buckminster Brown, a noted specialist in all bone
diseases, who then resided on Bowdoin Street. He ordered
me to be put to bed, without a pillow under my head, with
weights of sand hanging from the head and foot of the bed,
and pillows of the same on each side, so that I could not
move my body at all. I never lifted my head, even to take
my meals.
At this time mamma began to make novenas, assisted by
papa, the children, grandma, grandpa, uncles, and aunts.
When one was finished we commenced another. At the end
of a year the doctor permitted me to get up, although he
said I was the first of his patients who was able to get up
under a year and a half in the condition I was when he first
took charge of me, and mamma attributed this improvement
to the novenas we made, assisted by the Sisters of Charity
and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. The doctor told
mamma to expect the formation of an abscess, as it generally
followed the decay of an old bone. In about a year after
this a dreadful abscess formed, causing intense suffering. In
the meantime mamma taught me reading and writing, and
dear Father Cooper instructed me for my First Holy Com-
munion, which I received on the 8th of December, at the age
of nine years. I remained under the care of Dr. Brown until
the age of twelve, wearing the heavy corsets continually.
One morning in November I went with papa and mamma to
Mass, at which we received Holy Communion. On our way
home from church I was scarcely able to walk, and gradually
lost the use of my lower limbs ; and at Christmas I could not
even stand. The pain in my back returned with renewed
force. Dr. Brown was very much discouraged and ordered
leeches to be applied, and, when they failed, blisters and
powerful liniments; but all to no avail. He then advised
mamma to begin again the old treatment of putting me to bed,
as a last resort. I remained lying on my back for over six
months. After the first of September we heard of Dr. Brad-
ford, a specialist in all bone diseases, like Dr. Brown, but
using a different treatment. He took my case in hand, with
300 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Dr. Brown's consent, and began by placing me in a 'plaster
of Paris' j acket, which, when hardened, caused so much pain
that he, with an assistant was obliged to saw if off. He then
ordered a wheel-chair. In March he advised me to go to St.
Margaret's Hospital under the care of the 'Episcopal Sis-
ters.' I remained there three months. While I was at the
hospital they applied electricity, ice-bags, etc., to my back,
but every application made it worse. About this time I had
been troubled with fearful headaches, which grew worse every
day, and for which the doctors could do nothing. Dr.
Bradford managed to get me up on crutches, and had a very
heavy pair of corsets made, which I wore day and night ; and
a steel frame, into which I was strapped every night, was also
made to prevent me from turning on my side. Rev. Father
O'Brien brought me Holy Communion several times while I
was at the hospital. When I was able to use the crutches
fairly well, the doctor advised me to go home. I never found
any relief from my pain, either in the head or spine. During
this period we continued our novenas, and when one was
finished without any result, I always thought the next one
would cure me. In July, Dr. Bradford paid me a visit, and
felt discouraged when he saw how helpless I was without the
crutches. He said the headache came from my spine, and he
could do nothing to relieve me. He left, advising me to sit
on the piazza, and get all the fresh air I could. One day in
August, Rev. Father Rathke called, and advised me to make
a novena in the church before Our Blessed Lady's altar. The
next morning papa carried me in his arms down stairs, and
into the buggy. This caused me great pain. In the church,
before the altar, assisted by papa, grandma, Aunt Ella, my
brothers, and sisters, I began another novena. Rev. Father
Delargy also knelt with us, and said the rosary. From the
moment I began this novena I felt sure I was going to be
cured. Rev. Father Henning gave me great encouragement
before I went home. The third day of the novena I woke up
without a headache, which did not happen for the last three
years. This, in itself, mamma said, was a miracle. My back
seemed to grow worse, though the violent pains in my head
were entirely gone. The wide space which had opened on
the top of my head was closed. The ninth day I felt my back
much worse. When we arrived in church Rev. Father Delargy
gave me Holy Communion. While making my thanksgiving,
after receiving, a very strange feeling came over me, every-
THE SHRINE 301
thing seemed to grow dark ; I thought, perhaps, I was going
to faint; this had not passed off when another feeling I
never can describe it passed through me from head to foot,
like a thrill (and something like electricity). My Aunt Ella,
seeing me looking pale, came with my crutches, and I looked
up and said: 'Oh, I do not want them; I can walk.' She
said, 'If you can walk, Grace, walk over to the altar.' I got
up, passed my aunt, who still held the crutches, and walked to
the altar, where I knelt to thank our Dear Lord and His
Blessed Mother. Papa and grandma were spellbound, as
they did not hear me speak, but only saw me get up and
walk. I walked down the aisle, out into the street, by my
papa's side, and I did not stop until I reached my mother's
room, up one flight of stairs. The corsets, without which I
could not before sit up, were taken off, the pain was gone
from my back, and my head was as well as that of any one.
I did not even feel tired, thanks to our Blessed Lord and our
Dear Lady of Perpetual Help."
The news of this miracle spread with the rapidity of
a prairie-fire. An account of it, published in nearly
every Catholic paper east of the Mississippi, and in a
large number of secular prints, did more than any
other single event to make the Mission Church a
national shrine of Our Blessed Mother. Crowds, at-
tracted by curiosity, followed the girl day after day
on her way to church. Great numbers of people of
all classes and creeds visited her house in order to
behold with their own eyes the subject of the
miracle, and to assure themselves of the reality of the
prodigy. From that time forward Miss Hanley en-
joyed perfect health. She later entered the Order of
the Sisters of Jesus and Mary at Sillery, near Quebec,
and closed a saintly life by a precious death at the
Jesu-Marie Convent in Fall River, Mass., on June
14, 1902. As a memorial of her miraculous restora-
tion to health, she had a silver tablet inserted in the
wall of the Shrine, near the altar of Our Blessed
Lady.
302 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Another wonderful cure shortly after, was that of
Miss Ellen F. T. Meagher, who resided on Whitney
Street, Roxbury. For sixteen years previously she
had been a resident of Boston, and, as a trained nurse,
had earned a reputation second to none. Among those
whom Miss Meagher had attended were Judge John
Wells of the Supreme Court, President Eliot of Har-
vard College, and Judge Warren. In May, 1880,
while nursing a patient in Jamaica Plain, she was
taken sick with rheumatism in the arms, which obliged
her to give up her charge and return home. Her
symptoms soon grew more pronounced and the
pain extended to her back, her shoulders, and the
lower portions of her body. Moreover, at times, she
suffered from severe vomiting, often accompanied by
blood. These spells would last for hours, sometimes
leaving her speechless for a considerable period and
obliging her to remain in bed for months. Many
physicians, eminent in their profession, were in con-
stant attendance on her, but seemed to lose their skill
and cunning in the face of the subtle disease. Utterly
unstrung with pain and dismayed at the harrowing
prospect which presented itself, Miss Meagher, rely-
ing on her professional knowledge of medicine, re-
sorted to the hazardous expedient of treating herself.
But the only result was that her strength rapidly de-
clined, her malady made deeper inroads, and all signs
began to point to a fatal termination of her disease.
The doctors, when consulted again, declared her be-
yond all medical aid ; the last rites of the Church
were administered; and the stricken woman saw
the grave opening before her affrighted vision. While
the physicians were thus despairing of her recovery,
one of the Fathers went to see her and advised
her to begin a novena to the Mother of Perpetual
Help. This she did on August 31 , and during the nine
THE SHRINE 303
days devoted friends brought her in a carriage to the
seven, o'clock Mass, and gently set her down near Our
Lady's altar. During the greater part of the Mass
on the last day of the novena she was unconscious, but
at the Communion she revived and was able to receive
the Sacred Host. After the Mass, when the blessing
for the sick had been given, she arose and walked out
of the church perfectly cured. The doctors, when
they saw one whom they thought in the clutches of
death, restored to health, said emphatically that they
were unable to account for her recovery except by
miracle. Thenceforth, Miss Meagher became a zea-
lous apostle of devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help, and was importuned by sick friends to make
novenas in the interest of their health.
In October, 1883, the Rev. Peter Trimpel,
C. SS.R., then stationed at this church, was sent to
Brattleboro, Vt., to give a mission ; but after a few
days was taken suddenly ill and obliged to return
home. Dr. Albert N. Blodgett, who was summoned,
found him suffering from dropsy and pronounced
him " a very sick man." Racked with pain, Father
Trimpel, in the hope of recovery, underwent several
operations. After some time he seemed to rally but
was still very weak. On one of his last visits, the
doctor told him that he must be very careful not to
exert himself, and that he should, when he had ac-
quired sufficient strength, take a trip to a southern
climate. A few days later Father Trimpel expressed
the earnest wish to say Mass, if a priest could be found
to assist him. Clad in the sacred vestments of his
office, he went out to offer up the Holy Sacrifice in the
church. At the sad sight of the once strong man, now
feebly tottering, trembling, and shuffling, many of
those present were moved to tears. After finishing
Mass he was so weak that he had to be carried back
304 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
to the sacristy, where, in a state of exhaustion and
collapse, he was gently placed on a chair. For a short
while it looked as if his death were at hand. In a
few minutes, however, he fairly jumped from his seat,
and, to the astonishment of his attendants, who
thought he had become delirious, cried out, "I'm
cured, I'm cured ! " When Father Henning heard
what had happened, he was slow to believe, and wisely
suggested sending for the doctor. But Father Trim-
pel insisted on walking to the doctor's office. The
latter, on seeing him, rubbed his eyes and pinched
himself to make sure that he was awake. He
examined the Father closely, and, with evident emo-
tion, exclaimed : " Wonderful, wonderful, a complete
and perfect cure ! "
A writer in the Boston Catholic Herald for De-
cember 1, 1883, describing what he saw at the Mission
Church, says, among other things:
"Here a mere child on crutches, weak and powerless from
hip disease. Again, a beautiful girl with a face not unlike
a Madonna, and with bright golden hair. She, too, was
accompanied by her cross a crutch partly concealed by the
folds of her garments. Here is a poor woman scarcely able to
move an inch at each * step.' She shuffled along, aided by the
good people who see her condition,. Oh, the tenderness of
those helpers ! The poor woman approached the altar. But,
saddest of all ! There is a beloved priest, a paralytic,
ascending the altar to celebrate. He is carefully attended by
a brother priest. The solemn moment of consecration ar-
rives, and the body of Our Divine Lord is elevated by one
hand ; the chalice is also raised in like manner. . . .
"Several beautiful crosses are to be found around the
altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, but there is one
particular cross there, shaped like a St. Andrew cross and
leaning a little to one side. This particular cross, while of
very common material, is somewhat unique in character.
It is a pair of crutches. This memorial cross, and some
others of a like kind, give the sanctuary the appearance of
a shrine."
THE SHRINE 305
In the spring of 1884, the Rev. Mother Anastasia,
the Superior of the Ursuline Convent at Morrisania,
N. Y., and sister of Father Henning, was taken seri-
ously ill and for several days lay at the point of death.
Her reverend brother hastened to her bedside, in order
to console and encourage her, and, presumably, to be
the witness of her death. But, wonderful to relate, she
did not die; and after some time he returned home.
Even after his departure, however, when one might
have inferred that his sister was on the road to re-
covery, the doctors held out no hope. But the valiant
woman hoped against hope, and, invoking Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, promised in the event of her par-
tial restoration to health to travel to Boston and to
make a novena at the Shrine, for a complete cure. At
once she took a turn for the better, and, true to her
word, made the journey, arriving here August 5.
The following day she began her devotions, and at
the end of the novena, on the Feast of the Assumption,
was entirely cured. A few days later she resumed
her duties at Morrisania, thanking God and praising
His Blessed Mother for the great favor granted her.
Subsequently, Father Henning said Holy Mass at
the Shrine in thanksgiving for the marvelous recovery
of his sister.
Another remarkable cure took place on the Feast of
the Assumption, 1884. A devout Catholic woman of
Roxbury had suffered for years from a dangerous
affection of the stomach. At the beginning of August
the attending physician gave her orders to receive the
Sacraments, and without delay she obeyed his instruc-
tions. But, a few days afterwards he told her he
would try one more remedy a desperate one that
would either kill or cure. She requested him to post-
pone the application of the remedy till the 15th, the
last day of the novena she was making. He consented ;
306 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
and that afternoon she walked to the doctor's office,
instead of having him come to take her in a carriage,
as had been arranged. The physician was dumb-
founded ; he could hardly believe his own eyes ; when
he had recovered from his amazement, he examined
his patient and pronounced her "perfectly cured."
From January 1 to May 31, 1886, thirty-one cures,
apparently beyond the power of nature to effect, were
reported. About this time a book was published, re-
counting in detail the more noteworthy prodigies that
had been wrought at the Sacred Image since 1871.
This book obtained a wide circulation, and served to
attract thousands to the Shrine, which became like the
pool of Bethsaida. Day after day, in fact almost
every hour of the day, but especially on Wednesday
afternoon from three to four, when the blessing was
given, one might see the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the
maimed, the halt, and those suffering from every other
variety of ill to which human flesh is heir, gathered
round Our Lady's altar, waiting for "the moving of
the water." As the cures multiplied, crutches, braces,
splints and other devices for aiding crippled and de-
formed members, were left at the Shrine ; so that it
became necessary to erect two stands, at which, even
to this day, one may see those mute, yet eloquent con-
trivances which tell the sad story of human suffering,
and the glad story of the boundless power and mercy
of the Mother of Perpetual Help.
One of the greatest days in the history of the Shrine
was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Decem-
ber 8, 1891, on which as many as seven extraordinary
cures were effected. A Grand Triduum elsewhere
spoken of was being brought to a close, and the
Blessed Mother, in thanksgiving for the sublime
honors shown her, was most lavish in her favors to her
devoted clients. In reference to one of these cures
THE SHRINE 307
Father O'Connor, the Chronicler of the church,
writes :
"At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, just as I was blessing the
religious articles at the sanctuary-rail, a cry was raised at
the Shrine. I was alarmed, thinking that some one was
dying or had fallen into a fit. Looking over, I saw a Father
in the midst of the dense crowd. It was Father Corduke,
who had just come over to the church to hear confessions.
Forcing his way through the crowd, he asked 'What is the
matter here?' and was answered by many voices, 'Seven peo-
ple cured,' 'Who are they?' One little girl helped by another,
pushed forward to the Father and said: 'Father I have
been blind for years, I could not go anywhere without a
guide, but now, thank God, I see perfectly, being cured at
the Shrine.' The priest, to satisfy himself of the truth of
what she said, held his breviary open before her, and, as
she could not read Latin, told her to spell a word, which
she did without a moment's hesitation, the first word on the
page being 'Pater' (Father).
"As the crowd pressed towards the Shrine, thus creating
the danger of a stampede, the priest ordered the girl to
force her way towards the door. Thus hundreds saw the
wonder with their own eyes."
The Boston Pilot for December 19 said :
"Here is a terse and accurate statement of the most im-
portant cures, obtained five days after the event :
"Miss Sullivan, 4 Mason Place, Boston, afflicted with hip-
disease for five years, was suddenly cured on Tuesday, De-
cember 8, after Holy Mass at the Mission Church.
"Miss Delong of Fitchburg, Mass., suffering for four or
five years from a sprained ankle, not being able to walk
without crutches, was also cured suddenly, leaving her
crutches at the Shrine.
"Hannah Sullivan, twelve years of age, living in South
Boston, was suddenly cured of blindness, with which she had
been afflicted for several years. She was able to read from
a book which one of the Fathers held before her.
"Miss Nellie Walsh, 22 Robinson Street, Lynn, suffering
from hip-disease and not being able to walk for almost three
308 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
years, left her crutch at the high altar, and has done without
it ever since, convinced that she will not need it again.
"Every one wanted to see the favored ones. Catholics
hesitate to use the great word 'Miracle,' but the cures above
recorded are certainly of a most remarkable order. They
have greatly increased faith and devotion among the people."
When, in 1896, the interior of the church was reno-
vated, special attention was paid to the embellishment
of the Shrine. Everything that love could suggest, or
art devise, or money buy, was employed to heighten
and emphasize its former beauty, and to render it, as
far as might be, a worthy repository of the wonder-
working picture. The floor of the Shrine was inlaid
with mosaics and raised several feet above the floor of
the church ; marble steps leading from the one to the
other were then built, and the Chapel of Our Lady
was separated from the rest of the church by a marble
railing, so as to accentuate the sovereign idea that it
was a most sacred and heavenly spot. The altar was
surmounted by a beautiful dome, done in Venetian
gold mosaic. On the golden door of the tabernacle
was wrought an appealing image of the Mother of
Sorrows. The semicircular ceiling of the Chapel
was finished in gold mosaic, with a base of polished
marble. Above the picture of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, whence all the glories of the Shrine em-
anate, were placed two angels holding a crown, as if
about to set it on the head of the Sacred Image. Like
the crown, the angels are executed in mosaic, with
such artistic effect that they have frequently been
mistaken for beautiful paintings. In the wall on each
side of the altar was placed a stained-glass window ;
the one to the right representing Our Blessed Mother
with the Infant Jesus in her arms, the one to the left,
St. John the Evangelist.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help was evidently pleased
with what her devoted servants had done to honor
THE SHRINE 309
Her, for two days after her picture had been reen-
throned, She cured another of her crippled clients. On
Tuesday, May 5, 1896, Father Frawley and Father
Corduke noticed at the rail a woman leaning on a
crutch. Her eyes riveted on the picture, she appeared
deeply rapt in prayer. As Father Frawley passed
by, the thought struck him that the Mother of Per-
petual Help could not refuse to hear the supplications
of so earnest and fervent a soul. He went to the
sacristy to attend to some routine matters, and, on
returning about half an hour afterwards, was sur-
prised to see the woman walking without the
aid of her crutch. She looked nervous, pale, and
utterly bewildered, as if doubting her own identity.
After visiting the seven altars she mustered up cour-
age to go to the rectory and tell her story. For two
years she had been compelled to use a crutch, but
had never ceased to pray confidently to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, that, if God so willed,
she might be cured. She had suffered dreadfully from
nervous shock, which, combined with rheumatism in
the knees and feet, had made it impossible for her
either to walk or to kneel. The previous Sunday she
had heard the preacher say that the Blessed Virgin
might grant some special favors during the proces-
sion to be held that evening. Since then she had
redoubled her prayers, and praised be Jesus and
Mary, she had been cured of her distressing ailment !
A letter received early in 1897, stated that Mrs.
Anna Boyle of Nova Scotia had been blind for nine
years from cataracts, had consulted many skilled doc-
tors, but had obtained no relief. She had come here,
in 1896, and had made a novena at the Shrine. After
the third visit she was cured, and was able, thence-
forth, to thread a needle without the aid of spec-
tacles.
310 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
On July 14, 1897, Mary E. Donovan was freed at
the Shrine from a grave malady, for which as many as
fifteen doctors had treated her -but in vain. Her
case was so remarkable that after her recovery crowds
of people, Protestants as well as Catholics, came to see
her in order to be convinced that she had been re-
stored to health.
On Wednesday, April 6, 1898, Master Daniel
Durick, 13 years of age, of South Boston, after mak-
ing a novena and praying at the Shrine, was delivered
from a painful affliction. His mother gives the follow-
ing account of the case:
"Last October, my boy, who was then attending school,
while playing with other boys, met with a bad fall which
caused a severe pain in the lower part of his back. At first
we did not think that there was anything serious about the
complaint, but the pain became worse and settled in his hip,
so that he could hardly move. We decided to consult the
family physician, but some friends persuaded us to see a
specialist. Accordingly, we called on Dr. Joel Gothwaite,
398 Marlboro Street, who pronounced the case hip-disease
of a s very serious character, and ordered the boy to make
use of crutches and a high shoe. Unwilling to credit the
decision of the specialist (Dr. Gothwaite), we concluded to
call in the family physician, Dr. M. F. Gavin, 545 East
Broadway, South Boston. We did not mention to him that
the specialist had been consulted. Dr. Gavin confirmed the
statement of Dr. Gothwaite. Nothing could be done but to
get the crutches and the high-heel shoe recommended by both
physicians. After a few months of painful anxiety over the
affliction of our little boy, and with no expectation of help
from any human source, we determined to seek supernatural
aid. My little boy and I went to Our Lady's Shrine on
Wednesday, April 6, after having begun a novena a few days
before. We had a presentiment that Our Lady was going to
confer a favor on the boy. We both prayed with unusual
fervor at the Shrine that day, although no evident favor was
granted until we returned home and had retired to rest. The
boy being fatigued after the long journey soon fell asleep.
Suddenly he sprang up with an exclamation of joy, and
THE SHRINE 311
awoke his parents and other members of the family with the
cry 'I am cured !' Such was truly the case. He never after-
wards experienced the least difficulty except that for a few
days his leg was somewhat weak."
Mr. Michael Murphy, of Charlestown, Mass., frac-
tured his ankle, in 1894; as a result he was com-
pelled to use a crutch. Having done so for three
years and a half, he made a novena at the Shrine,
was entirely cured, and left his crutch there.
With each succeeding year the number of pilgrims
to the Shrine vastly increased. Father Frawley, re-
alizing the great good that would be accomplished by
some kind of magazine setting forth the glories and
the mercies of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, began,
in 1900, the publication of a quarterly entitled " The
Little Messenger of Mary." At once it obtained
practically a nation-wide circulation. It contained
every species of article that the lovers of Mary could
desire, but its most prominent feature was an account
of favors received at the Shrine.
In the Messenger for April, 1901, Mr. Daniel W.
McGarry, of Akron, Ohio, writing under date of
February 23, gives the following account of his cure
through the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help:
"I was sick for more than a year, during which time I
consulted some of the most eminent physicians in Akron
and Cleveland: but my case seemed to baffle all medical
skill.
"When all medical aid had failed, I heard of the many
favors obtained at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help in Boston. I had recourse to Our Lady and began a
novena in her honor.
"Before the novena was finished I was completely cured.
"My cure has been the cause of a wonderful spread of
devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Akron."
312 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Shortly afterwards a prominent physician in Ohio
was about to undergo an operation for a cancer that
was eating away one of his eyes. He had consulted
the best specialists in Cincinnati, who decided that
his only chance of recovery lay in submitting to an
operation that would most probably disfigure him for
life. In his sore distress he turned to the Shrine of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and made a novena, in
which he was joined by the Sisters who had been at-
tending him during his illness. Before they had fin-
ished the novena, the cancer entirely disappeared and
the physician was restored to perfect health.
The news of this cure obtained such broadcast pub-
licity that in March, 1901, the New York Herald
published the following lengthy article on the
Shrine :
"A Lourdes in the Land of Puritans"
"Within the last few weeks Roxbury, a suburb of Boston,
has become famous as an American Shrine. As pilgrims of
all creeds, nationalities and conditions throng to the re-
nowned shrines abroad, where miraculous cures are effected
upon persons suffering from diseases pronounced incurable
by medical science and surgery, so they are coming now to
this place the maimed, the blind, the deformed, those
afflicted with every known form of serious ills that afflict man-
kind and that defy the most advanced modern methods of
remedy.
"The rich and poor throng here together at this little
altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, their prayers mingling
and their tear-wet eyes raised to the Shrine, before which
five lights burn, stars of hope to these poor, pain-racked,
stricken ones that with bent limbs, and many with sightless
eyes and piteously deformed bodies, kneel in the silence of
the great church that has been built around the Shrine, from
which, during the last quarter of a century hundreds of so-
called incurables have gone forth, their trembling limbs set
firmly upon the ground for the first time in years, their
staffs and crutches, sometimes life-companions, thrown aside,
THE SHRINE 313
their hands clasped in an ecstacy of gladness and their faces
radiant with a wonderful light the same that comes over
the face of a mother when she feels the kiss of a new-born
child, the light of life life that we know not of, but knowl-
edge of which we grope for, like Ibsen's blind men in the for-
est, trying with feeble, world-stained hands to make a way
through tangled creeds and fads and sciences and cults that
nowadays we call religion.
"The scene witnessed this afternoon in the Mission Church
of the Redemptorist Fathers recalled vividly the chapters
which Zola _wrote a few years ago of the pilgrimage to
Lourdes. Here were to be seen all classes and conditions
bound by the universal tie of suffering. The rich were borne
from carriages by servants, attended by loving relatives and
friends. There were also the poor, some of them old, bent,
worn with years of infirmity. They hobbled after their
brothers so much wealthier in the world's goods, but poor in
the possession of God's greatest gift to man.
"There were little children too, the saddest of them all,
their young eyes dim with pain that many of them have
known since birth; with none of the brightness or joy of
childhood in their faces, but with little bodies and limbs
encased in cumbersome metal frames, or heads masked in
horrible helmets of steel.
"They were the bravest of the invalids these youthful
martyrs. For while their faces were pinched and worn and
thin and serious with the awe of the church and their mission
at the altar, still they did not weep or pray or cry aloud, as
did their elders. They sat or knelt with folded hands, looking
at the Shrine, with prayers in their sad eyes, or else leaned
in the arms of mothers, to whom these maimed and stricken
little ones are always dearer than are their stronger brothers.
"There were babies borne in their parents' arms to the foot
of the altar to be held before the Shrine; and women whose
beauty had faded into white masks, their rich garments and
furs covering lameness and helplessness. There were men
once filled with the ambition and glory of life and its ac-
complishment, their faces weakened now with pain and bear-
ing all the traces of a fight with death a fight in which they
have been almost conquered, and now come as to a last trib-
unal, many of them hoping without understanding, and many
with faith dead within them after years of resultless treat-
ment from specialists the world over.
314. THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Waiting for the Blessing.
"The transition from a world of healthful, living people,
a city full of jostling, battling human beings with all their
strivings, their failings, their virtues and their sins, to this
church, where all the usual ambitions of existence have
turned into the still channel of illness, is a change that is
strong in the contrast.
"It is little wonder that from the sky or beyond it, or from
wherever we may hope for the blessings of mercy and charity,
an answer comes to this mighty prayer of boundless human
misery. It is a demand that needs no words. The Redemp-
torist priest who looks over the congregation on this after-
noon of every week said nothing to the stricken ones of their
ills or their hopes for health. He gave the blessing of the
Church, and knelt in prayer with the suffering ones, who wept
and prayed and called aloud for help in their affliction.
"This is the only service. There is no singing, nor organ
music, nor incense, nor any of the beautiful Latin prayers or
litanies of the Church. It is all cold and gray as a monument
of grief. The shafts of sunlight that break through the
stained-glass panes in streams of purple and rose and gold
cause the children's eyes to brighten, but they only bring
heavier sighs to the lips of the older martyrs, who see no
rainbow of God's promise in the magic ray.
"The prayer over, there is a rattle of crutches on the
marble floor, sad as the sound of earth falling into a grave.
The throng departs, the beds are carried out, the blind led
away, and the feeble assisted through the church door. Many
remain to pray with heads bowed, and some with rosaries
between their fingers. Others are there to return thanks for
the restored health of relatives or for their own.
"One little boy I saw, who, in leaving the pew, his cap in
his hand, walked around in front of the shrine altar, looking
with a strangely solemn gaze at one of the high stands upon
which hang all the discarded surgical appliances that have
been cast off at the foot of this wonderful altar.
"The boy was not one of the cripples. His body was sturdy
and strong, although his face was older than his years. He
leaned over to the stand where hung a metal frame, such as
is used for child patients suffering from spinal disease.
"He looked at it with wondering, childish interest and
THE SHRINE 815
gravity. Then, observing my attention, he pointed it out
with a certain pride. 'That's mine,' he whispered. 'I was
cured last year. I come and look at it every once in a
while.'
"These cures have been occurring at the Mission Church
for the last twenty years.
"They are of such constant occurrence here in Roxbury,
that only the marvelous ones those of cancer, of consump-
tion, of seemingly helpless deformity attract attention.
One old man, who keeps a shop in the vicinity of the church,
said: *I have lived here for twenty years, and have seen an
endless stream of people who passed this door on crutches,
lame and suffering from various sicknesses. I have seen and
talked with them afterwards when they were strong, well
and deeply affected by the marvels that had been worked
within them.'
"Numbers of people come from distant cities to Roxbury
to visit the Shrine and offer the novena, or nine days' prayer,
which is the form of petition for recovery from disease.
"Some of the cures are effected almost immediately with
all the evidences of miraculous intervention; others are
reached with longer and more prayerful effort. Many still
toil to the church who have been going there for years un-
helped.
"The Shrine has come into popular notice recently through
some wonderful cures that have been effected at a distance
of many miles through prayers offered in thought at the
Shrine, although the patient has been miles across the con-
tinent, unable through lack of means or dangerous condi-
tion to visit the Shrine in person.
"Each day the mail brings letters to the Mission Church
House with accounts of these miracles which are remarkable
in view of the fact that a pilgrimage to a Shrine has always
been part of the form of prayer for cure in other countries.
"Prominent persons outside of the Church have been cured
through the novenas of Catholic friends offered in behalf of
the patients without their knowledge. A Cincinnati physi-
cian, who was about to undergo a dangerous operation for
eye cancer, was one of the most recent cases that gained
great publicity. A novena offered at the Shrine in thought,
as a last resort before submitting to the surgeon's knife,
effected a marvelous cure, the cancer disappearing before the
316 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
nine days' prayer was ended, to the amazement of the physi-
cian and his brother practitioners.
"These letters, as they arrive, are recorded with names
and addresses and details in a book of record, which is open
for inspection at the Mission House. A recital of them
would fill many Herald pages with details of loathsome and
painful diseases.
"Scoffers are apt to ridicule all cures that come through
faith, whether by the modern sciences of health that have
religious belief as a foundation, or those at shrines. They
quote what they know when they make light of the miraculous.
"But those who have been through the valley of death to
life, and cast off the manacles of steel and iron to stand with
tear-filled eyes and bounding hearts before an altar as though
risen from the dead like Lazarus, these laugh at what they
know, for they have learned that to feel is greater than it is
to know.
"Through the books of the recorded cures at the Mission
Church, from which I copied hundreds of names and ad-
dresses, and from the many homes in Roxbury, where cures
have been effected upon the members of the families, I learned
beyond all doubt that wonders are effected at the Shrine.
"These cures do not consist of the usual nervous diseases
that come so easily within the power of faith curists, scien-
tists and hypnotists. They are cases that have for years de-
fied the specialists of Boston and its vicinity and have been
pronounced incurable, not by one doctor, but by five or six,
who in consultation in hospital wards and elsewhere have
pronounced the doom of men and women, now strong and
well through the prayers at the Shrine.
"I saw one of the Redemptorist Fathers at the Mission
Church House and he told me of the marvelous cures that
have happened at the church.
" 'They have been happening constantly for tihe last
twenty-five years,' he said: 'but we are very much averse to
any publicity beyond that which must occur through the
cure of invalids who have been pronounced beyond the aid of
medical skill.
" 'So few people understand the attitude of the Church in
these matters, and so many wofully misrepresent it, that we
THE SHRINE 317
feel that better results can be produced without the notice
of people who are ignorant of the facts.
" 'A Shrine, to many such persons, is a place at which
Catholics adore statues and pictures, and, of course, we are
accused of idolatry. A Shrine is a symbol reverenced and
loved just as the American Flag is, because it is the symbol
of the nation. The flag materially considered, means noth-
ing, but it is the idea of the flag that makes men willing to die
for their country.
" 'The novenas that are offered at the Shrine ask the in-
tercession of the Blessed Virgin, whom the Church honors
next to Our Saviour. They consist of nine days of prayer with
faith and the reception of the Sacraments. The record of
cures here is great, but we never speak of cures or illness to
the people who come here for relief.
" 'The cures that have occurred at a distance from the
Shrine have also been of constant happening. . . . The
efficacy of the intercession of the Blessed Virgin here finds its
greatest proof. The first miracle that Jesus performed was
done at the request of Mary, as is recorded in the second
chapter of St. John.' "
On March 6, 1901, Miss Helen Delourey of East
Braintree, Mass., left her crutches at the Shrine, in
grateful remembrance of her wonderful deliverance
from a crushing physical affliction.
Miss Delourey, according to her own statement, in
which her mother concurred, had been a helpless
cripple from childhood, owing to contraction of the
cords of her limbs. She had consulted the ablest
specialists in Boston, but all were utterly unable to
relieve her sufferings, or to give her any hope of ever
being cured. Even when the sad and bitter realiza-
tion had dawned on her that medical science could do
nothing for her, the brave young woman was not dis-
couraged. On the contrary she had recourse with un-
conquerable faith to Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
who, clothed with the power and mercy of her Son,
could and would restore to her mourning and weeping
child the perfect use of her limbs.
318 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
In this spirit Miss Delourey and her relatives be-
gan a novena to our Mother Mary. But as the poor
cripple was utterly unable to walk, she had to perform
her devotions at home. After the novena there was a
decided improvement in her condition. She made a
second, then a third novena, at the end of which she
was able to walk with the aid of a crutch. Beside her-
self with joy she made a fourth novena, in the abso-
lute conviction that she would be completely cured.
During this novena she visited the Shrine twice.
Some days after she had finished her devotions she
returned, as stated above, to deposit her crutch at
this privileged sanctuary, and to render thanks for
the great favor conferred on her through the inter-
cession of the Blessed Virgin.
In the autumn of 1901, the subjoined communica>
tion was received from far-off Aberdeen, South Da-
kota:
"Rev. and Dear Father:
"Some time ago I wrote you asking that you place a peti-
tion before the Altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, asking
that the health of my father and sister might improve. I am
happy to inform you that they are both much improved,
which I feel is granted through the intercession of Our Lady
of Perpetual Help.
"I promised to have it published in the Messenger, and if
you have any space, would be pleased to have it made known,
thereby to increase devotion to Our Dear Mother of Perpetual
Help."
A woman from away down in Alexander, Texas,
wrote on April 19, 1902:
"Please have a Mass of Thanksgiving said in honor of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, for a great favor received. I was
very ill for several months. I made a Novena in honor of
THE SHRINE 319
Our Dear Mother of Perpetual Help. I am now entirely
well, thanks to her glorious intercession. Kindly have this
favor inserted in the Messenger of Mary."
The Boston American for March 28, 1909, under
the heading, "Heaps of Crutches Left at Altar by
Afflicted," said:
"A former Governor of Massachusetts remarked once at
a public dinner that he felt ashamed, filling, as he did, the
office of Chief Executive of the Commonwealth, at his want of
knowledge of the grand work that is being done by the
Fathers of the Redemptorist Church on Mission Hill in
Roxbury.
"It is a wonderful and absorbing story of great results
achieved within a single generation, results that have been
productive of rich fruit for religion and morality and for
human advancement and helpfulness. The self-sacrificing
priests of the Redemptorist Order, who have produced them,
have literally gone down to the bedrock of the social prob-
lem. If anyone wants to know what they have built from
that foundation, let him take a car to Roxbury Crossing
any day and walk up the hilly street till he sees the noble
front of the Mission Church. Then let him go inside. He
will find himself in a church that of itself is worth visiting,
being one of the finest edifices in the country. He will see at
almost any hour of the day, from early morning till night,
people of all ages, from the tot of eight or ten to the grand-
parent, and of all conditions, from the humblest laborer to
the queen of her social circle, all bowed in silent and devout
prayer before the miraculous Shrine of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help. Inside the marble railing he will see, on either
side, piled higher than a tall man's head, two heaps of
crutches and canes of every size. These were left there by
the afflicted ones who came to pray at the Shrine and then
walked away without them. Many well authenticated and
wonderful cures have come to the people visiting this Shrine.
"In the center hangs a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual
Succor. This picture is a counterpart of the miraculous
picture which, in 1867, was crowned at Rome in the Church
of the Redemptorists, dedicated to St. Alphonsus. During
320 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the more than thirty years that the sacred picture has been
enshrined in the Roxbury church it has been the mecca of
faithful supplicants.
"From every section, not only of Boston and of Massachu-
setts, but of New England and from distant points of the
South and the West, people come in large numbers to visit
this Shrine and beseech Divine relief in affliction."
In the Boston Globe for December 10, 1910, the
following article appeared:
"LYONS SAYS HE Is Now HEALED BROOKLINE BOY CLAIMS
CURE AT THE SHRINE His CRUTCHES AND BRACES
PUT AWAY HE BUYS SHOES His MOTHER AND
NEIGHBORS TESTIFY TO RESULT.
"Incurably lame for five years, Richard Lyons, the 17-
year-old son of John Lyons, of 8 Roberts Street, Brookline,
was miraculously cured at the Shrine in the Mission Church,
Tremont Street, Roxbury, Thursday.
"The boy, who could not get about without the aid of
crutches and a cumbersome brace across his hip, is now able
to run about as any lad of sound limb. He has discarded
both brace and crutch and bought an ordinary pair of shoes
in the bargain.
"To find a more delighted lad than young Lyons has been
since Thursday would be a difficult proposition. He attends
St. Mary's parochial school and is well known in the section
where he lives. The good news of his cure has spread all
over the neighborhood and is the cause of great wonder.
"When Richard was six years old, he fell from a fence and
received injuries to his hip, which a physician said would
result in more serious effects as the boy grew older. About
a year later there were symptoms of hip trouble, but it was
not until five years ago that it became serious.
"The boy took to bed and remained there a year. He
was then able to go about with the aid of a large brace around
his hip, and a pair of crutches. On November 29 last, Rich-
ard began a Novena at the Mission Church and on the same
day received a blessing. He attended Mass every day with
THE SHRINE 321
the exception of three. He received Holy Communion on
December 2, 4 and 8, the latter being the day on which he
was cured.
"Richard went into the church with his mother last Thurs-
day a little early for the 8 :30 Mass. He told his mother that
he would go before the Shrine and pray a while. He came
back and during the Mass sat with his mother, not far from
the Shrine.
"During the services he noticed a change come over him
and, to his surprise, he was able to kneel. At the close of the
Mass he handed his crutches to his mother and walked out of
the church and got on the car.
"His old trouble appeared to have entirely disappeared,
Richard was not home very long before he started for a shoe
store, where he was fitted to a regular pair of shoes, dis-
carding a high-heeled boot that he had been wearing for
three years. When seen at his home last evening, the new
shoes had a considerably worn appearance, indicating that
he had done a good deal of walking and running about. 'My
leg and hip are all right now,' said the boy, 'and no more
crutches for me.'
"According to the usual custom, Mrs. Lyons will make a
report of the miracle to send to the priests at the Mission
Church. The names of Mrs. Lyons, Miss Mary E. Burns, of
49 Calumet Street, Roxbury, and Miss Margaret Gildea, of
8 Roberts Street, Brookline, will be signed to the statement
as to the cure."
In a letter received from a client of Our Blessed
Lady, in Peoria, Illinois, written under date of De-
cember 17, 1911, the writer says, "Please thank our
dear Mother for me, for she cured me of typhoid fever
after two doctors had given me up to die. ... I
promised to make this known in your Annals."
After some years the " Little Messenger of Mary "
was superseded by " The Annals of the Shrine of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help," a periodical which has
found its way into every section of this country, and
even into remote regions of Canada.
In the Annals for 1916, the Golden Jubilee Year
322 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
of the Restoration of the Miraculous Picture, one may
read on page 14 the following letter:
"Roxbury, Mass., Jan. 5, 1916.
"For four years I suffered with a running tubercular hip.
I consulted different specialists without, however, obtaining
any relief. Finally, after spending the best part of two years
in the City Hospital, I decided to begin a Novena to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help in the Mission Church. On the
third day I felt a tingling sensation in the afflicted part. At
the end of the Novena the wound was healed and my general
health much improved. The doctors who treated me in the
City Hospital expressed their surprise and attest that the
abscesses have entirely disappeared."
Appended to this statement we find the following
remark by the reverend editor of the Annals :
"The writer had seen and spoken with this gentleman
every week for a year, and testifies to the truth of the cure.
The most remarkable point in this case is that on each Feast
of Our Blessed Lady, as the young man kneels at the Shrine,
he feels a short quick pain pass through the former afflicted
member. It is a reminder to him, no doubt, from Our Lady
of Perpetual Help of her favor."
The following letters tell their own story:
"South Boston, Mass., April 2, 1917.
"Dear Father :
"I am the little girl that was on crutches for seven weeks
and I went to three hospitals and didn't get any better, until
I went to the Mission Church, and the third Wednesday I
started to walk. Thanks be to God and to you Father for
blessing me. I have great confidence in the Mission Church
and in Our Lady of Perpetual Help. I think I will never
forget the Mission Church or you, Father, for I was not abl<*
to walk one step when I went there.
"I have left my crutches at the Shrine."
THE SHRINE 323
"Sharon, Mass., June 22, 1917.
"Dear Father :
"A line telling you how I was cured of a decayed foot by
Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
"While carrying a ladder on my shoulder, I turned on my
left ankle and hurt it so much that in a few weeks I was
obliged to see a doctor. He examined my ankle and told me
that a slight operation would be necessary. If this operation
did not succeed, then the foot as far as above the ankle
would have to be amputated. The slight operation was per-
formed, but without results. My ankle started to decay and
there was a hole in my foot as big as my fist. I paid the
doctor another visit, and this time he said the entire foot
would have to be amputated, in order to save my life.
"I objected and told him that Our Lady of Perpetual Help
would cure me. I made a Novena to Our Blessed Lady and
received no answer to my prayers, I made a second Novena
and my favor was not granted. I made a third Novena, and
on the first day I was able to walk a little, and at the end of
nine days my decayed foot received new life and I am able
to walk without the use of a cane.
"I am now cured and I owe all to Our Lady of Perpetual
Help. The doctor, who had no hopes when I went to see
him, said that it was nothing else than a miracle.
"I am going to leave my cane at the Shrine. With many
thanks to the Blessed Mother of God, Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, for having cured me and for having saved my
life."
The custom introduced years ago of having special
devotions at the Shrine every Wednesday afternoon is
still continued. Invariably the church is packed, and
frequently there is a large overflow on the sidewalk.
Except at Lourdes, such a manifestation of faith and
devotion to the Mother of God could hardly be sur-
passed anywhere in the world. The specimens of
human affliction and woe that sadden the eye, bring
forcibly to mind the mournful words of the prophet
Job, " Man ... is rilled with many miseries."
The three palmary days of the year at the Shrine
324 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
are the Feasts of the Immaculate Conception, of OUT
Lady of Perpetual Help, and of the Assumption.
The last is the banner day. It seems to be a pious
belief with the faithful that they will surely obtain any
favor they ask for on the anniversary of the day on
which Our Blessed Lady was crowned Queen of
Heaven. If every Wednesday the crowd is so great
that extra cars have to be run on Tremont Street, one
may imagine, or rather one may not imagine, what
enormous multitudes come to the church on this beauti-
ful feast, on which the Mother of Perpetual Help
achieved her eternal triumph.
On August 15, 1917, a priest from a distant diocese
was the guest of the Fathers. He had heard a great
deal about the vast crowds that frequent the
Shrine in search of health or other blessing, but he
was somewhat incredulous, and determined to see for
himself. Shortly after two o'clock, almost a full hour
before the exercises began, he took a seat at one of
the windows of the library, from which he could com-
mand a good view of the entrance to the church. As
the cars reached there nearly every passenger alighted.
For fifty minutes the priest watched, almost dumb
with amazement, the ceaseless tide of humanity which
flowed in through the great doors. Shortly after three
o'clock, he left the library and proceeded to the church,
but it took him a considerable time to force his way
through the vestibule and to reach the staircase leading
to the organ-loft. Had he not been a priest, he would
never have succeeded in doing so. As he looked down
on the immense throngs, he could with difficulty con-
trol his emotion. .With kindling eye he exclaimed,
" This is truly wonderful I I am absolutely convinced
now that there was not the slightest exaggeration
about this matter. You could walk on the heads of the
people. Where are the aisles ? All I can see is one
THE SHRINE 825
impenetrable jam of humanity." Such in fact was
the case. The people seemed as numerous as autum-
nal leaves in Vallombrosa. It was almost incon-
ceivable that even one more person could have found
a place in the church.
During the Great War there was a notable increase
of visitors to the Shrine. Fathers, mothers, wives, and
sisters, who had sons or husbands or brothers " over
there," flocked from all quarters to the Sacred Image,
there to pray for the safe return of their loved ones.
The boys at the front who had been wounded, were
writing home, asking their relatives and friends to
make novenas and to have Masses said for them in
honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Every day
after the eight o'clock Mass, the school children sang
a hymn in honor of the Mother of Perpetual Help, so
adapted as to contain a beautiful and touching peti-
tion for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the sol-
diers and the sailors.
One of the brave lads writes in the Annals for 1919 :
"I am a member of the United States Naval Reserve Force,
and have been in the service of my country more than a year.
During this period I have been spared from all dangers and
I thank Almighty God and Our Lady of Perpetual Help for
this good fortune. Last March I made a Novena to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help with the intention of obtaining an
advancement in my position. My prayers were answered,
for in the following month I received notification that my
rating had been changed from Yeoman 2nd class to Yeoman
1st class. Again, I made another Novena to Our Lady of
Perpetual Help during the month of August with the inten-
tion of being Chief Yeoman. This day I have received my
papers notifying me that I have been made a Chief Yeoman.
All this success I attribute to Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
and with her aid I hope and pray that my comrades and I
will return safe to our homes after this terrible world con-
flict is ended. . "
326 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
In the same issue we find the following communica-
tion:
"My boy, who is in the service of the country, was saved
in the Halifax explosion just by a miracle, and as he always
carries with him the medal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
he wished me to make a thanksgiving offering to the Blessed
Virgin. He is just home on a furlough and made this re-
quest."
Another lover of Mary in acknowledging her gra-
cious aid said:
"Will you please offer up a Mass in honor of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help in thanksgiving for a favor which I firmly
believe is due to the aid of her powerful intercession?
"A young soldier did not return with his company and no
definite information concerning him could be obtained.
Shortly afterwards, we invoked the aid of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help, making a Novena to her. Very soon we re-
ceived a letter from him written from a hospital at St.
Nazaire. Although he had to return to the hospital after
having been discharged, he has now come back safely to his
home, his recovery being complete, from an attack of in-
fluenza, an abscess on his face, and a sore on his eye.
"His recovery and safe return to this country took place
in such a remarkably short space of time, that I believe much
praise and thanks are due to Our Blessed Mother."
A little boy whose young life had been clouded with
sorrow, thus naively voices his sentiments of love and
gratitude :
"Enclosed you will find an offering for the Shrine in
thanksgiving to the Mother of Perpetual Help for her many
favors bestowed on my family.
"I myself was lame, and after visiting the Mission Church
several times and praying to our Dear Mother, I am now
cured, and this week I am making the mission with the rest
of the boys.
"My two brothers have been in the service. One has been
overseas and has been in the thickest of the fray. He was
THE SHRINE 327
gassed and had pneumonia, but now, thanks to the inter-
cession of Our Blessed Lady, he is well again and is to sail
for home next week with his division.
"My other brother was at the point of death with the in-
fluenza, but after many prayers to Our Mother of Perpetual
Help, he recovered, and has returned home.
"I forgot, dear Father, to tell you that I left my crutches
in the Mission Church. So you see I have much to thank Our
Dear Mother for, and the words of St. Bernard seem true
in my case, for I have never found her wanting any time I
called upon her."
The Boston Globe in an interesting article on the
Shrine, in its issue for August 3, 1919, said in part:
"The unusual interest created in this city as well as other
places recently in the subject of faith cures and assistance
obtained by faith, draws attention to the many remarkable
occurrences of this character which are recorded over a
period of many years at special shrines and altars of the
Roman Catholic Church.
"From the beginning of Christianity there are in Catholic
Church annals, records of remarkable cures brought about
by devotion and faith, and down through the ages early in-
cidents have been supplemented time and again in this coun-
try, and, in fact, here in Boston.
"The Shrine, before which the most remarkable cases of
cures and assistance have been recorded in New England is
that at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, better
known as the Mission Church, on Tremont Street, just above
Roxbury Crossing, in which edifice stands the Shrine of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, one of the most beautiful
sanctuaries in this part of the country. Here within the
sanctuary rail are countless evidences of what has been done
by Divine assistance through the devotion of those who have
sought aid through prayer. Week after week services are
held at which thousands are present, and Novenas and
Triduums are made by countless hundreds to the Blessed
Mother of Perpetual Help, that she may intercede with her
Divine Son to bring relief and comfort to those afflicted ones
who seek her aid.
"Almost from the time this magnificent church on Tremont
328 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Street in Roxbury was erected many years ago, this Shrine
to the Mother of Perpetual Help has been in existence.
"On two huge stands, one at each side of the Shrine, are
almost all things known in the surgical appliance line, all
bearing their mute testimony of what has been done through
Divine favor. . . .
"While hundreds of people visit the church and the Shrine
every day of the week, it is on Wednesday afternoons in par-
ticular that enormous numbers go there. It is on that after-
noon each week that a special service in relation to this
Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is conducted. . . .
"Mothers seeking aid and assistance for their little ones
wend their way weekly to the Mission Church, fathers and
mothers offer their earnest prayers for sons or daughters,
children pray for the relief of their parents, and endless
chains of prayers are being offered to bring relief to some
suffering one."
In 1919, a little boy suffering from a case of tongue-
tie which the doctors had declared incurable, received
perfect freedom of tongue after his mother had made
a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
On the Feast of the Assumption, 1920, a party of
pilgrims came from Worcester and Clinton, Mass.,
to pray before the Shrine and to receive the
blessing bestowed. They left home at half past four
in the morning, heard Mass and received Holy Com-
munion in the Mission Church, and remained till even-
ing. Most of them assisted at two or three Masses
and spent hours in prayer before the Shrine. Again,
just before three o'clock the same day an elderly
woman stopped one of the Fathers in the vestibule of
the church, told him that she had come all the way
from South Carolina in order to make a novena before
the Shrine, and asked where she could get some litera-
ture treating of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. An-
other woman in search of a special favor journeyed
all the way from Toronto, Canada.
THE SHRINE 829
In August, 1920, the following statement was re-
ceived from a woman living at Norwood, Mass. :
"I had a growth in my nose. After treating for two
months with a throat- and nose-doctor, during which time
piece after piece was cut out of my nose, he said he could do
nothing for me. I was then sent to a hospital where they
operated on me for cancer in the nose and face. In October,
I went home, but, as it started to grow again, I returned to
the hospital and had it burnt with radium. I was treated in
this way until May, but as it was growing worse all the tune
I begged them to operate on me again. As they thought I
was dying and saw no hopes for me, they did not want to do
it. I finally succeeded in getting another doctor to operate
on me, but in the meanwhile my family and myself started a
Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. When the doctor
operated, he took away, as he said, 'half my head.' This is
not noticeable from the outside except for a hole about the
size of a dime under my eye, but on the inside there is a big
hole in the roof of my mouth ; the bone under my eye is almost
gone, and the bone of my nose partly gone. They gave me
three weeks to live. That was in May, 1919. They treated
me at the Radium Hospital until June 26. After that,
though I returned to the hospital every week, I did not receive
any more treatment.
"I thank the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin
Mary for having cured me, for the doctor said he never had
a case like mine, nor had he ever before heard of one that was
cured."
Since the Miraculous Picture of the Mother of
of Mercy and Consoler of the Afflicted was installed
in the church, nearly two generations have come and
gone, yet the devotion of the faithful to Her is not
only as fresh, as verdant and as vigorous today as it
was fifty years ago, but its roots have struck deeper
and deeper into the earth, it has risen higher and
higher, and its branches, spreading farther and wider
with the passing hours, have afforded beneficent shel-
ter and protection to ever-increasing multitudes of
the footsore, weary and oppressed.
When we have returned to the dust whence we were
taken, generations as yet unborn will kneel before the
Shrine and confide their woes and sorrows to Her who
has never been invoked in vain. "Behold from hence-
forth all generations shall call me blessed." From the
depths of their crushed and broken hearts they will
implore her gracious aid, and from her bright throne,
She who rules the heart of Him who made and rules
the Universe, will turn her eyes of mercy towards
them, and smile down benignly on them till their year
is one perpetual spring. When storm clouds lower
and darkness encircles them, when thunder rolls and
lightning flashes, when their frail bark is at the mercy
of the wild winds and of the angry waves, when all
seems dark and hopeless and lost, suddenly there will
be a rift in the clouds, and in the opening the sorrow-
ing children of Mary will discern the sweet face of
the Mother of Perpetual Help, who, by the bright
light that beams from her pure eyes, will lead them
safely onward, past rocks and shoals and dangerous
whirlpools, and conduct them at last into the calm and
placid haven of life eternal, where the winds will die
away, the clouds will break and vanish, and the Sun of
Justice will shine down gloriously on theni forever and
for aye.
"Ave Maria ! 'tis the evening hymn
Of many pilgrims on the land and sea;
Soon as the day withdraws, and two or three
Faint stars are burning, all whose eyes are dim,
With tears or watching, all of weary limb
Or troubled spirit yield the bended knee,
And find, O Virgin, life, repose in thee."
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT
MISSIONARY.
"With Him there is plentiful redemption." Psalm
29:7.
High up among " The Glories of Mary in Boston,"
we must place the missions and other spiritual exer-
cises given by the Fathers of the community during
the past fifty years, for, in the last analysis, these
labors have been directed to spreading the kingdom
of Our Divine Lord on earth, and consequently to
making His Blessed Mother better known and loved.
But, in order to estimate aright the work of the
missionaries, it will be necessary to outline briefly the
growth of the Congregation of the Most Holy Re-
deemer, especially in this country, its specific end,
and the characteristic points of its system of missions.
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
was founded November 9, 1732, at Scala, Italy, by
St. Alphonsus de Ligouri. Within ten years per-
manent establishments were effected at Nocera,
Ciorani, Iliceto, and Caposele, in Italy. In 1749
Pope Benedict XIV approved the society under the
title of the " Congregation of the Most Holy Re-
deemer." The King of Naples, however, would not
sanction tKe institute ; hence the houses in his domain
were not amalgamated with those in the papal states
until 1793, when a union was established by the
Superior General of the Congregation, the Most
Rev. Peter Paul Blassucci. During the next six
years several new foundations were obtained in
different parts of southern Italy and of Sicily, and
the Congregation, though subjected to grave trials
and to bitter persecution, nevertheless met with
gratifying success.
The first Redemptorist house outside of Italy was
founded at Warsaw, Poland, in 1786, by Saint
Clement Hofbauer, who became a member of the
institute, March 19, 1785, about two years and a half
before the death of St. Alphonsus.
In 1832 the Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer was set up in America. Four years before,
the Very Rev. Frederick Rese, Vicar-General of
Cincinnati, had gone to Europe, in order to solicit
pecuniary aid and to obtain laborers for his diocese.
While in Vienna, he addressed himself to the Very
Rev. Joseph Passerat, at that time Vicar-General of
the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The
latter sent three Fathers and three lay brothers to
the United States. The Fathers were the Rev. Simon
Saenderl, the Rev. Francis X. Haetscher, and the
Rev. Francis X. Tschenhens. They landed at
New York, June 20, 1832, the eve of Corpus
Christi.
These hardy pioneers, whose names are robed in
unfading light, after laboring for four years among
the whites and the Indians of northern Michigan and
northern Ohio, established in Rochester, N. Y., in
1836, the first Redemptorist house on the American
continent. With astonishing rapidity new founda-
tions were obtained in the following order: in Pitts-
burgh, 1839; in Baltimore, 1841; in New York,
1842; in Philadelphia, 1843; at St. Mary's, Elk Co.,
Pa., 1844; at Monroe, Michigan, 1844; in Buffalo,
1845; in Detroit, 1847; in New Orleans, 1847; at
Cumberland, Md., 1849. In 1850 the American
houses were erected into a separate Province, of
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 333
which the Very Rev. Bernard Hafkenscheid, who
had been Vice-Provincial since December 8, 1848,
was appointed Superior.
Twenty- five years later, there were 17 houses; and
in 1875, the American Province was divided. The
13 establishments in the East went to form
the Province of Baltimore; the 4 in the West,
the Province of St. Louis. The former Prov-
ince today numbers 22 houses in the United States,
to which are affiliated as a Vice-Province 6
other houses: 3 in Porto Rico and 3 in the West
Indies. The Province of St. Louis at present com-
prises 21 establishments. Thus there are today in
the United States proper 43 Redemptorist houses.
The membership of the two Provinces is approxi-
mately as follows : Baltimore Province : Priests, 256 ;
professed students, 103; professed lay brothers, 96;
St. Louis Province: Priests, 163; professed students,
38; professed lay brothers, 55. It would be highly
interesting to trace at greater length the growth of
the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in
this country, but to do so would be aside from the
purpose of this work and would carry us too far
afield.
The Redemptorists are essentially a missionary
society founded for the specific purpose of evangel-
izing the most abandoned souls, in imitation of Him
who "came to save the lost sheep of the house of
Israel."
The first Redemptorist mission ever given on
American soil was preached in August, 1832, to the
German Catholics of Norwalk and Tiffin, Ohio, by
the Rev. Francis X. Haetscher. The pioneer Fathers
devoted themselves to the spiritual welfare of the
children of the Fatherland, because at that time they
were the most abandoned souls in this country.
334 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Within 20 or 30 years they had come in large num-
bers to the United States; but, unfortunately, they
found few priests here, comparatively speaking, who
knew their language. The sad result was that many
of them, left without the saving ministrations of the
Church, had fallen away from the faith. Hence it
was incumbent on the Fathers to tend to their wants.
This they did faithfully and well, but not so much by
giving missions in the accepted sense of the term, as
by performing the ordinary parochial functions. In
the early days the fewness of the laborers prevented
the preaching of missions to any great extent. How-
ever, from 1832 to 1848, the Redemptorists in the
United States gave 27 missions, besides visiting at
regular intervals about 70 mission- stations. In the
course of years the number of Fathers constantly
increased, so that by 1851, there were about 40
Redemptorist priests in the country; and it be-
came possible for a considerable percentage of
them to devote themselves to the work of the
missions.
In March of that year the Very Rev. Bernard
Hafkenscheid, who had just returned from Europe,
actively took up his duties as Provincial. "Father
Bernard," as he was generally called, was born
December 12, 1807, at Amsterdam, Holland. In 1828
he went to the Eternal City, where at the Roman
College, conducted by the Jesuit Fathers, he was a
classmate of the illustrious Pontiff Leo XIII. Father
Bernard was ordained priest on March 17, 1832, and
shortly afterwards was admitted into the Congrega-
tion of the Most Holy Redeemer, in which he made
his religious profession, October 7, 1833. The follow-
ing August he began his missionary career, and so
great were his zeal, eloquence, and apostolic courage
that he became famous throughout Belgium and
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 385
Holland. He was a man of solid judgment, of keen
intellect, and of vast learning; he had a magnificent
pulpit-presence and a charming personality; even
men who hated religion and its ministers, freely con-
ceded his extraordinary ability.
As soon as Father Bernard assumed charge of the
American province, the preaching of missions was
placed on a fixed and settled basis, and received a
mighty impulse, the force of which is felt even to
this day. Within six or seven years the Fathers
trained in his school, gave 86 missions in as many as
22 dioceses, and everywhere won golden praise from
Bishops, priests, and laymen. However, until 1866,
there was no Redemptorist mission-house in the
exclusive sense of the term, in the United States, for
wherever the Fathers had obtained a foundation, they
had been obliged by the exigencies of time and of
place to assume parochial duties. But in that year
the first mission center strictly so called was estab-
lished in St. Louis ; the second, was founded the same
year at St. Alphonsus' Church, N. Y.; the third, in
Boston, in 1871. By that time there were three or
four large bands of missionaries in the field, and it
was feasible in all respects to conduct missions
according to the admirable system devised by St.
Alphonsus.
A mission is, as we all know, an extraordinary
grace for the people of a parish. The missionaries,
specially educated and trained for their work, go to
the church at the invitation of the pastor and with
the permission of the Bishop, and with solemn and
impressive ceremonies open the mission. At the
very outset they address a powerful appeal to all
the people of the parish to make the mission with
fervor and fidelity, and not to turn a deaf ear to Him
who is standing at the door of their heart and knock-
336 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
ing. Sin and vice are attacked from all sides, and
the ministers of evil are fought without quarter or
compromise. Plain and strong language, such as
Christ Himself used in denouncing sin, is employed ;
yet there is no personal abuse of the sinner. The
missionaries make it a point to be informed of the
peculiar conditions existing in the locality, so as to
be able to give force and edge to their words. Their
heavy oratorical guns are trained on the abuses that
are rife and rampant in the place, and thus the
strongholds of Satan are reduced. Stray sinners are
sought out by the local clergy. Their opposition to
making the mission is beaten down by unanswerable
arguments, and moral compulsion well-nigh irre-
si stable is brought to bear on them. The prayers
and the material cooperation of the women and the
children are enlisted, to get the men to make
the mission; and those who come are exhorted to use
all their influence with the absentees, to pre-
vail on them to attend. A public sentiment is created
against those who obstinately refuse to make the
mission; they are pictured as brands fit for the burn-
ing. Every evening during the exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament, the Our Father and the Hail
Mary are recited five times for the conversion of
sinners, especially of those recreant and hardened
sinners who are neglecting to correspond with the
extraordinary grace of the mission. During the
recitation of these prayers, the church-bell is tolled
with ten single strokes, which typify the mourning
and weeping of Holy Mother Church over her lost
children.
In the plan of sermons, the Eternal Truths, which
naturally fill a large and important place, are supple-
mented by a systematic course of instructions which
embrace the main obligations of the Christian life.
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 337
In particular, the married and the single of both
sexes are told exactly what are the duties of their
respective states of life. These sermons, called the
" state instructions," may justly be regarded as the
head of the Redemptorist system of missions; the
sermon on the Blessed Virgin Mary, together with
the dedicatory exercises, as the heart.
On every Redemptorist mission, the glories of
Mary are proclaimed in trumpet-tones on Saturday
evening, when a beautiful, yet practical sermon on
her powerful patronage is preached, followed by the
dedication to Her of a select number of innocent
children, and of all the adults who are making the
mission. St. Alphonsus expressly cautions his
priestly sons never, under any consideration, to omit
this sermon. No matter how great may be the num-
ber of confessions still to be heard, no matter how
exhausted the missionaries may be, no matter what
peculiar emergency may arise, the exercises in honor
of the all-powerful and all-merciful Mother of God
are always held.
The most wretched and depraved sinners, pro-
vided they have the will to change their lives, are
exhorted to have recourse to her with unbounded
confidence. Over and over again they are told that
She is not only the Mother of God, and, therefore,
able to obtain from Him whatever She desires, but
also their Mother, so rich in love and mercy that She
cannot refuse to hear their petitions. They are
reminded of the blessed days of their innocence,
when they could in truth call her " Mother," and they
are urged to return to those happy days, by solemnly
dedicating themselves to Her to be her dutiful children
thenceforth forever. A magnificent shrine, adorned
with candles and flowers offered by the faithful, is
erected in honor of Our Blessed Lady, and is sur-
338 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
mounted, of course, by her statue. From every
corner of the church, her fair image, breathing hope
and instilling confidence, is plainly visible, so that all
may* be led to entrust their salvation to her care. Thus
is She honored ; thus are her glories sounded ; thus are
thousands of souls saved through her gracious inter-
cession. It was on this beautiful sermon and on this
touching act of piety, that St. Alphonsus staked his
last hope for the conversion of sinners; and the
experience of nearly two hundred years has proved
that in so doing, he knew the human heart and under-
stood the boundless power and the never-failing
mercy of the ever-Blessed Mother of God.
Another noteworthy feature of the Redemptorist
system of missions consists in the renewal which is
usually given from within eight months to a year
after the mission. Just as Paul and Barnabas, as
we know from the Acts of the Apostles, returned
from time to time to the faithful to whom they had
preached the Gospel, in order to encourage and
confirm them in the practises of the Christian life, so
St. Alphonsus prescribed that his missionaries should,
within a reasonable time, revisit the scene of their
labors, in order to renew and perpetuate the good
work begun during the mission. Although at a
renewal, the hours of the exercises are generally the
same as at a mission, the sermons and instructions
are different. To one who asks, What, precisely, is
the difference between a mission and a renewal? we
answer, the difference is about the same as that be-
tween fear and love, between an act of imperfect and
an act of perfect contrition. During the mission the
sinner is moved to forsake sin by the thought of the
terrible judgments of God; during the renewal he is
led on to the perfect service of God by the consider-
ation of His infinite Goodness and Amiability.
NEW ORGAN
Installed in 1897
THE CRIR AT CHRISTMAS THE SEPULCHRE DURING HOLY WEEK
(Upper) (Lower)
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 339
Grandly preeminent among the ceremonies of
the renewal is the Atonement Service, the object of
which is to make reparation to Our Lord for all the
insults, outrages and profanations heaped on Him
in the Adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist. At the
renewal the Blessed Virgin also receives appropri-
ate honors. The subject of the sermon on Saturday
evening is generally "The Child of Mary." The
preacher, after bringing his hearers back in spirit to
the days of the mission and reminding them of the
act of dedication they then made to the Queen of
Heaven, discourses on the excellence and grandeur
of her prerogatives, and points out the qualities which
should shine in the true child of Mary. Once more
he drives home the great thought, that if they have
recourse to Her in all temptations, they shall
win a glorious victory over all the powers of hell ; and
that if they endeavor truly to honor Her by imitating
as best they can, her splendid virtues, they shall one
day bless Her and chant her praises for all eternity in
Heaven.
Since so tender a spirit of devotion to Our
Blessed Mother is one of the characteristics of
Redemptorist missions and renewals, are we not
justified in saying that the missionary activities of
the Fathers of the community constitute one of the
great Glories of Mary in Boston? In her honor,
therefore, we shall treat at some length of these labors
during the past five decades. But in relating certain
remarkable events which occurred in this sphere, the
writer is far from wishing to create the impression
that the missions given by the Fathers of this house
were the only ones which produced extraordinary
results. To a greater or less degree, every mission
works wonders in the moral order, for a mission is,
as has been said, an extraordinary grace of God, and
340 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
from extraordinary causes extraordinary effects
naturally flow. We mention such happenings only
because they may be of interest and of edification to
our readers.
The first mission ever given by this community was
held at St. James's Church, Boston, of which the Rev.
James A. Healy was pastor. It opened February 5,
1871, lasted two weeks, and was for the men only of
the parish. The exercises were conducted by the Rev.
Fathers Wissel, Kreis, Enright, Koch, Miller, and
O'Connor, in other words, by all the Fathers of the
community. Although it was less than two years
since the last mission (May 2-23, 1869), the attend-
ance far exceeded the broadest calculations of the
reverend pastor and of his assistants; and was a
source of genuine delight to the Rt. Rev. Bishop
Williams, who with undiminished interest followed
the progress of the mission from beginning to end.
It is on record that from sanctuary rail to door the
church was filled with earnest men, penetrated with
the solemn thought so trenchantly expressed in the
words of the Infinite Wisdom, "For what shall it
profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer
the loss of his own soul?" The enthusiasm never
flagged; the fervor never cooled. Credit for the
success of the mission belongs in no small degree to
Father Healy and to his fellow-apostles, Fathers
Flatly and O'Brien. In obedience to the
Gospel injunction, " Go out into the highways and
hedges and compel them to come in," these zealous
priests went about the parish day after day,
to round up the laggards and stir up the sluggards.
Happily, they found comparatively few, and these
they succeeded in getting to make the mission. While
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 341
the exercises were being conducted upstairs, the
women of the parish gathered in the basement, and
with heartfelt fervor prayed to Our Dear Lord, the
Dispenser of all grace, and to His Holy Mother, the
Refuge of Sinners, to touch the hearts of their hus-
bands, sons, and brothers that they might once for
all and forever renounce sin in all its forms and
guises. At the close of the exercises, during which
2,146 men approached the Sacraments, the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Williams gave Solemn Benediction. As the
men returned to their happy homes on the closing
night of the mission, the sentiment that welled up
from their hearts was, " God bless the missionaries."
From March 5 to 16, Fathers Wissel, Koch, and
Miller assisted at the women's mission at the Church
of the Most Holy Redeemer, N. Y., which in those
days had a very large congregation. The missionaries
were kept busy in the confessional nearly all day
long, and within a period of seven days 4,000 con-
fessions were heard. All the sermons of the mission
were preached in German.
A day or two after the close of this mission, the
same three Fathers, although exhausted from their
strenuous labors, journeyed to Rochester, N. Y.,
where on the following Sunday, March 19, they
opened a mission at St. Mary's Church, of which the
Rev. Father Barker was pastor. So great was the
rush and crush of penitents that Father Enright was
summoned from Boston to help in hearing con-
fessions. Three Redemptorist Fathers from St.
Joseph's Church, Rochester, and two from the
Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, N. Y., were
also pressed into service. Quite a number of men
got excused from work in order to go to confession,
but even at that, some of them had to wait nearly
342 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
four days before their turn came. The sacrifices that
many of the people made to attend the mission, bor-
dered on the heroic. At the close of the mission, on
April 2, the Rt. Rev. Bishop McQuaid, who had come
to administer Confirmation to 150 adults, expressed
great gratification at the success which had
crowned the labors of the missionaries.
Two weeks later Fathers Enright and Koch began
a renewal in a certain town in Pennsylvania. The
place was inhabited largely by Lutherans of the most
bitter type. Some of them came to the exercises, not
with the intention of learning the Truth, but simply
out of malicious curiosity. One of the ministers who
attended the sermon on the "True Church," was so
much offended at the unsavory disclosures made by
the preacher, concerning the life and character of the
so-called reformers, that after the departure of the
missionaries, he wrote a vicious, venomous, and lying
article in refutation of the points the Father had so
clearly proved. But the local pastor, a brave, able
and scholarly priest, answered the preacher in a
pamphlet which riddled every specious argument he
had advanced. The bigoted and purblind man felt
the crushing force of the masterly rejoinder, and
retired utterly discomfited. But in spite of the
bad spirit that prevailed in the town a considerable
number of the Lutherans were aroused by the
preaching of the missionaries from their benighted
state of ignorance and prejudice, and no less than
40 of them were received into the Church. In a place
known to all the country round for its rabid bigotry,
this was certainly extraordinary. About 400 con-
fessions were heard at the mission.
On April 30, Fathers Wissel, Enright, Gross,
Koch, Kreis, and O'Connor opened a four weeks'
mission at the Cathedral of St. James, Brooklyn,
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 343
N. Y. The parish, the oldest in the city, was justly
famous by reason of the fact that there the Ancient
Faith flourished in all its pristine vigor. At every
exercise of the mission, there was a tremendous
attendance, and throughout, the enthusiasm was at
the boiling-point; 5,500 people received the Sacra-
ments and 6 converts entered the Home of Light
and Truth. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Loughlin, a sturdy
aggressive prelate trained in the school of the great
Archbishop Hughes, conceived a high opinion of
Father Wissel and spoke in no uncertain terms
of the ability shown by him and by the other mis-
sionaries.
Their labors in Brooklyn over, Fathers Kreis,
Gross, and Koch grappled with the powers of dark-
ness in a one-week mission, May 29 to June 5, at the
Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Towanda, Pa.
In everything that made for the success of the mis-
sion, the reverend pastor showed himself an efficient
helper ; and the men of the parish hardy, rough and
ready, begrimed miners were intensely in earnest
from first to last. Notwithstanding the long hours
they had to work, they turned out in full force in the
early morning as well as in the evening; 800 confes-
sions were heard, practically everybody in the parish
making the mission.
After giving one or the other small mission, Father
Wissel journeyed more than half way across the
country to St. Paul, Minnesota, in order to preach
a retreat to the diocesan clergy. At all the con-
ferences, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Grace was an attentive
and humble listener. Almost immediately after-
wards, the indefatigable Redemptorist went to
Prairie du Chien to perform the like function for the
priests of the diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin. The
Rt. Rev. Bishop Michael Heiss, subsequently Arch-
344 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
bishop of Milwaukee, expressed great pleasure at
the highly creditable manner in which the gifted mis-
sionary had acquitted himself of his task.
On his way back from the West, Father Wissel
went to a typical railroad town in Pennsylvania,
where in company with Father Enright, he began a
mission on August 9. The heat was scorching, the
thermometer registering 100 degrees in the shade;
and, to add to the discomfort, the church was packed.
After the first exercise of the mission, only the
women were admitted into the church; the men were
told to stand round outside at the open windows.
Under such conditions one might have expected
them to stay away; but such was emphatically not
the case ; they attended faithfully to the end. In spite
of the adverse circumstances that surrounded the
mission, the people were so well satisfied that they
selected a prominent man of the parish to deliver an
address of appreciation and congratulation to the
missionaries. Although he was a big, strong, husky
man, his emotion so overmastered him that he had to
get another to finish reading his speech. Two rail-
road conductors were exhorted to attend the mission ;
one refused, the other came regularly, and was
invested in the Scapulars. Two days after the close
of the mission, their trains collided; the recusant was
instantly killed, the faithful attendant escaped unin-
jured. During the mission, a large number of young
men made their first Communion; 450 confessions
were heard, 130 people were confirmed, and 3 con-
verts were received into the Church.
During September all the Fathers were engaged
either on missions or on retreats. October opened
with a big mission at the Church of St. Lawrence,
New Bedford, Mass., given by Fathers Wissel,
Rathke, Koch, and O'Connor. New Bedford, then
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 345
the seat of the whaling-industry in New England,
was a thriving town. The pastor of St. Lawrence's
was the Rev. Lawrence McMahon, a priest of great
learning and piety, who was consecrated Bishop of
Hartford, Conn., in 1879, and died in 1893. With
edifying sentiments of faith and piety, 2,300 people
made the mission.
While this mission was going on, another, of one
week's duration was being conducted by Fathers
Gross, Enright, and Miller, at St. Theresa's Church,
West Roxbury, Mass., of which the Rev. Thomas
Magennis was pastor. So many people attended
the mission that during the evening exercises the
Fathers were compelled to hear the confessions of
the men while walking up and down outside.
From November 1 to 22, Fathers Gross, Wissel,
Rathke, Koch, and O'Connor preached a mission at
St. Theresa's Church, Philadelphia, Pa. The people
took the keenest personal interest in the mission.
Morning, noon, and night it was the only topic of
conversation in almost every Catholic household;
4,600 of the faithful made the mission, and as many
as 35 non-Catholics submitted to the Church.
Near the end of the year, November 27 December
18, one of the grandest and most glorious missions
in the whole history of the community was conducted
at St. James's Church, N. Y., by Fathers Gross, Wis-
sel, Enright, Rathke, Koch, and Miller. Moreover,
three other Redemptorist Fathers assisted in the
confessional; one from New York, one from Phila-
delphia, and one from Annapolis, Md. The immense
number of 8,130 confessions were heard, and 36 con-
verts were received into the Church. One point
worthy of special note is, that the missionaries insisted
so strongly on the obligation of Catholic parents to
send their children to Catholic schools, that in one
846 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
day more than a hundred children left the public
school, and applied for admission to the parochial
school. Before the end of the mission, the number of
children who withdrew from the public schools was
so great, that they could not possibly be accommo-
dated at St. James's School, and had to be sent to the
neighboring parochial school attached to the Church
of the Transfiguration. The missions made so pro-
found an impression that the New York Sun for
December 19, 1871, devoted a whole column to it on
the front page. The great metropolitan daily said
that nearly 7,000 men were present at the close of
the mission. This, of course, was an exaggeration.
At most there were not more than 4,000. In other
respects, however, the article is so well written as to
merit a place here:
"Last night was the closing night of the Mission which
has been going on during the past three weeks under the di-
rection of Father Gross, in St. James's Church, of which the
Rev. Father Farrelly is pastor. Such a jam could probably
never be seen in any other place than a Roman Catholic
Church or under any other circumstances. The entire body
of the church was a mass of heads, curving downward where
the pews were and upward above the aisles; the immense
galleries were mosaicked with them; the gallery stairs over-
flowed with humanity, the window sills held all they could
bear. Men's bodies were mortised into the undulations of
other men's bodies from the threshold to the rails of the
sanctuary; they were crushed up against the walls all
around and streamed out through the street doors, and
through the open doors of the vestry on both sides of the
altar. Not an inch of room was to spare anywhere ; not an-
other man could by any possibility effect an entrance.
"No women were admitted, though many gathered on the
dirty sidewalks outside and waited there patiently during
the services. Perhaps they had accompanied a reluctant
brother or husband or lover. The men inside must have
numbered nearly seven thousand. Each of those seven thou-
sand faces faces of old men, of young men, of wealthy
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 347
men, of laborers, of the intelligent and of the ignorant min-
gled together wore an expression of grave, earnest en-
thusiasm which was infectious. All were turned toward the
altar. Here and there a long white candle sticking up be-
tween the heads told of the ceremony which was coming.
The Altar Decorations.
"The Church is elaborately frescoed and ornamented
throughout, but the altar was magnificent last night with
tapers, and gas jets, and flowers in the form of crosses, and
wreaths, and other beautiful devices. The tabernacle was
arched on three sides with two rows of gas jets, large and
small. In front of it, in letters of fire, appeared the word
JESUS
surmounted by a cross of fire. Another and larger cross
of fire blazed above it beneath the fine fresco representing
the Crucifixion. On the right side of the altar a dais upheld
a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Its many steps were covered
with flowers and lighted candelabra.
"From the galleries all around hanging bunches of gas
jets shed a dim light on the scene. The effect was very im-
posing.
"First, the congregation said the rosary. All in the
pews knelt down ; the others could not move. One of the
Redemptorist Fathers in black gown and broad white collar
gave it out and the entire congregation answered in a voice
like the roll of distant thunder. Then a choir of children
sang a hymn, and Father Gross mounted the altar steps and
delivered an eloquent sermon from the text: 'No man can
serve two masters.'
Father Gross's Sermon.
"He said that they had all become converted and for-
saken their evil ways, but they must continue in their good
resolutions henceforth. God had sent his ministers to plead
with them ; but the devil also had his visible ministers on
earth ever ready to seize upon their souls. These were in
the rum shop and in the bad house. Some of them wrote
books, like Renan, who, in his 'Life of Jesus' had uttered a
blasphemy which devils would not dare to utter; he had
hinted that Christ had been too free with bad women. The
Fourth Ward was especially full of them. The devil held
out promises of pleasure ; but his promises were cheats and
lies. Look at the drunkard's home, at his empty purse, at
his ragged wife and his dirty, uneducated children. Where
is his pleasure? The occasions of sin must be avoided. The
rum shops and the bad houses must never be entered again.
The sacraments must be approached often. The greatest
enemies of the Catholic Church are the infidel sons of Cath-
olic parents. That they are infidels is the fault of their
fathers. Women are generally attentive to their religious
duties, but the men neglect them. The son wishing to be
manly imitates his father. The father goes to the rum shop
and the son goes there too. Fathers will be held responsible
for the loss of their sons' souls. Therefore, the mature men,
most of them already fathers, who composed his audience,
must promise to attend their religious duties regularly, and
give good example to their children. They were about to
renew their baptismal vows. At the solemn moment of their
baptism, holding a lighted taper in their hand, they had
promised through their sponsors to renounce the devil and
all his works and pomps. This they were about to do again,
but they must intend to keep their promise. They must not
Tell a Lie to Jesus Christ.
"The preacher continued at great length in this strain
urging his hearers to be good and honest men. He drew a
forcible picture of the death bed of a sinner on one hand
and of a just man on the other, and proved that even on this
earth the good are truly the happiest. He was listened to
with the greatest attention and the most profound silence
throughout.
"At length he called upon the congregation to hold up
their candles that he might bless them. Then there was a
surging of that vast mass, a shuffling of paper wrappings,
and 7,000 white candles stood relieved against the sea of
heads. Every man was standing. Putting on his stole,
Father Gross read some prayers from a small book, and
made the sign of the cross with his hand toward the audience.
'Light your candles,' was the next order. Instantly the
crackling of 7,000 matches was followed by 7,000 small
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 349
puffs of smoke, and 7,000 twinkling lights brightened up the
edifice with the brilliancy of day, bringing out the character-
istics of each head into startling prominence. The silence
was oppressive. It was a scene never to be forgotten.
Father Gross then stepped forward,
" 'Do you renounce the devil?' he said. 'Answer "Yes!" '
"There came a response of thunder that fairly shook the
rafters 'Yes !'
"It was as if but one voice had spoken, and then there
was instant silence as profound as the grave.
" 'Do you renounce all his works and pomps ? Answer
"I do." '
" 'I do !' burst forth again like the explosion of a heavy
piece of artillery.
" 'Will you faithfully keep the promise you have made
and henceforward endeavor to be good and honest men?
Answer "I will." '
" 'I will !' shouted the congregation, with a vehemence that
startled the echoes.
" 'Will you here, in the presence of Almighty God,' and
Father Gross turned half round and raised his left arm
reverently to the altar, 'promise to avoid the occasions of
sin in the future; to keep out of the rum shops and bad-
houses ? Answer "I will !" '
" 'I will !' thundered the 7,000.
" 'Will you, furthermore, promise to approach the sacra-
ments at least three or four times a year, and to say your
prayers regulaily ? Answer "I will !" '
" 'I will !' The tones were unmistakably earnest and
sincere.
" 'Now put out your candles.'
"The 7,000 Lights Went Out
and the church was filled with smoke, which contrasted
strongly with the brilliancy of a moment before.
"Then, taking off his stole, Father Gross continued his
address. He said that every candle was blessed, and ad-
vised his hearers to preserve the remnants, that every time
they looked upon them they might be reminded of the oaths
they had just taken. He thanked the congregation for
their zeal and attention during the mission, and Father
350 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Farrelly for his kindness to him and his associates. Then
craving their forgiveness if he had given any offense at any
time, he blessed them, their children, their houses, and every-
thing belonging to them. Then he gave them the Papal
blessing, everybody kneeling and saying five Paters and
Aves, in order to gain the plenary indulgence. This was a
very impressive ceremony, the reverend father having his
stole on and making the sign of the cross with a crucifix.
The services concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sac-
rament."
The Freeman's Journal also carried a very
appreciative notice of the mission, from which we
shall quote only the following beautiful apostrophe
to the missionaries:
"Persevere in your work of grace, O Holy Fathers of the
Redemption, among the dismal homes, the reeking alleys;
beneath the squalor of rags and under the moan of slavery
are immortal souls, the glory of whose lifting up to salva-
tion will shine around you for eternity, when your work is
done, and this world of sordid earth has obliterated your
names from the tablets of its fitful memory!"
After reading this glowing description of the great
mission in New York, and this sincere tribute to the
"Holy Fathers of the Redemption," we must per-
force admire the noble work done by the missionaries
who formed the original community of the Boston
house. In about ten months and a half, February 5-
December 17, they gave 14 missions, 6 renewals, and
4 retreats. Behold the record of the Glories of Mary
in the mission field during the first year of the
church's existence!
A special interest attaches to one of the missions
given in 1872, from the fact that the place was in-
fested with members of the secret society known as
the " Molly McGuires," who had bound themselves .
by an iron-clad oath, which barred them from the
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 351
Sacraments. The missionaries faced a difficult situ-
ation, but, firm in the right, they presented an
adamantine front to the recalcitrant element of the
congregation. With apostolic boldness, they an-
nounced from the pulpit that the " Molly Maguires "
could not, and, therefore, positively would not receive
absolution, except under these conditions: 1. They
should have to sign under oath a formal renunciation
of the illicit Society. 2. These signed renunciations
should have to be handed over to their pastor, to be
kept for future use. Happy to say, the overwhelm-
ing majority of them fully and promptly complied
with the conditions, and were accordingly admitted
to the Sacraments. After their change of heart, a
great light dawned on them; they made the mission
with extraordinary fervor, and began to cherish
sentiments of sincere love and respect for the mis-
sionaries. When the reverend pastor saw the happy
turn affairs had taken, he was ready to dance with
joy. The good example set by these men served as
an incentive to the rest of the flock to correspond
generously with the efforts of the missionaries, and
nearly everybody in the parish made the mission, over
2,400 people receiving the Sacraments.
When the Fathers were leaving the place, the
"Molly McGuires" escorted them in state to the
railroad station. As early as four o'clock in the morn-
ing, a large number of men marched to the priests'
house to await the appearance of the missionaries.
For three hours and a half they stood on the sidewalk
that picturesque crowd of big fellows, with their
green sashes on which were embroidered the shamrock
and the harp of Erin. When the Fathers appeared,
at 7 :30, a mighty cheer went up and the men knelt to
receive their blessing. In a few moments, those horny-
handed sons of toil, once misguided, but now true
352 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
and faithful to the Church, were marching in fine
alignment in front of the open barouche in which the
missionaries were riding. When at eight o'clock, the
train pulled out of the station, "three more hearty
cheers for the holy Fathers " were given, and sturdy
stalwart men were caught dashing away the tears
from their eyelids. Until the train had been lost in
the distance, the " Molly McGuires " kept on waving
"Farewell."
On March 3, Fathers Gross, Rathke, Wissel,
Koch, F. Miller, O'Connor, Oates, and M. Mueller
began a three weeks' mission at the Cathedral of the
Holy Cross in this city. A remarkable feature of
this mission was the splendid spirit manifested by
the young men. They made it a matter of conscience
to be present at every exercise, especially at the early
morning instruction. Putting aside the levity and
flightiness characteristic of youth, they listened with
the closest attention to all the sermons, and took to
heart the lessons inculcated. In after years, some of
them referred in feeling terms to the missionaries,
and were able to quote passages of their sermons. At
this mission, the largest of the year, 5,350 confessions
were heard.
On the second Sunday after Easter, April 14,
Fathers Wissel, Enright, Koch, and M. Mueller be-
gan a ten days' mission at the Church of St. Francis,
Troy, N". Y. The non- Catholics of the neighborhood
took kindly to the mission, and some of them, in partic-
ular the editor of one of the local papers, were regular
attendants at all the evening exercises. Every morn-
ing quite a lengthy account of the mission was pub-
lished in the paper; the advertising thus furnished
stimulated and intensified the general interest and
attracted large crowds. As the parish had been
organized only a short time and had not as yet
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 353
attained a fixed and definite status, the pastor did not
entertain high hopes of the success of the mission. He
was greatly surprised, therefore, when informed that
over 1,100 people had approached the Holy Table.
From May 5 to 15, Fathers Wissel and Koch
fought the battle of Christ in the quaint old town of
Concord, Mass., where on April 19, 1775, the first
engagement of the Revolution took place. The
atmosphere of the town, which was the home of the
famous literateur, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was
decidedly Protestant. Nevertheless, during the mis-
sion there were striking manifestations of faith, some
of the people walking 8 miles to be present at the
exercises. The number of confessions was much
larger than had been expected, and the consoling
results of the mission endured for a long time.
The first mission listed for 1873 was given at St.
Augustine's, So. Boston. For three weeks, January
12-February 2, Fathers Gross, Rathke, Koch, De
Ham, Miller, O'Connor, and Kuper spent them-
selves in the cause of Christ. As the parish was very
large, the mission was a v double-header," that is, the
exercises were conducted in the upper church and in
the basement simultaneously. This was the first
mission of that kind ever given from the Boston
house. The pastor, Father (later Monsignor) Dennis
O'Callaghan, was a noble type of priest, universally
respected and loved by his people. He left nothing
undone to make the mission a glorious success, and at
the close, had the great happiness of learning that
3,350 of the faithful had approached the Tribunal of
Penance, and 15 non- Catholics had received the
inestimable gift of faith.
At a renewal held about this time, after the mis-
sionary had given the little instruction on the Scapu-
lars, a young woman called to see him, and told him
354 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
that his few simple words had kept her from com-
mitting suicide. Disappointed in love, she had
become so despondent that she determined to drown
herself. Going down to the river, she found so many
people there that she retraced her steps, and on her
way home, passed the church. The sight of the
crowds pouring in, touched her, and, in a mechanical
way, she followed them. Just as she entered, the
preacher was relating an example of a girl, who,
having been forsaken by a faithless lover, had made
up her mind to drown herself. At first, some
invisible power held her back; she was puzzled for
an explanation, but, recalling that she was wear-
ing the Scapulars, she took them off, plunged into the
water, and sank at once. The young woman, horror-
stricken by this awful example which resembled her
case so closely, repented, and made the renewal
fervently.
The biggest mission of 1873 opened on March 16,
at the Church of St. John, Springfield, Mass. The
missionaries were Fathers Gross, Kuper, Koch, De
Ham, and O'Connor. Here, as at St. Augustine's,
South Boston, the exercises were duplicated and the
labors of the Fathers, in the pulpit, correspondingly
increased. The number of penitents was so large
that three Jesuit Fathers and three secular priests
had to be kindly requested to assist in the confes-
sional. For three weeks the missionaries and their
helpers labored with a zeal worthy of the Blessed
John Baptist Vianney. However, all their toils and
sacrifices were amply repaid by the harvest reaped
7,700 confessions. This was the last mission that
Father Gross gave. On returning home he received
official notification that he had been named Bishop
of Savannah.
On April 20, Fathers Enright, De Ham, Koch,
Kuper, Henning, and Schnuettgen began the good
work at the Cathedral of St. Michael, Springfield,
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 355
Mass. The seed they scattered fell on fertile soil;
5,500 of the faithful approached the Sacraments and
twelve non- Catholics were received into the Church.
In July, Father Wissel went West again in order
to give a retreat to the priests of the diocese of Mil-
waukee, of which the Rt. Rev. John Martin Henni
was then Bishop. After closing this retreat, Father
Wissel conducted the spiritual exercises for the
Sisters of Notre Dame in the same city. Immedi-
ately afterwards, he hurried to Gallina, Illinois, to
preach a retreat to the nuns of the same Order,
located there. Before leaving this place, he paid his
respects to the public school system in two powerful
sermons delivered at the Church of St. Michael,
where, for good measure, he added a Triduum. As
soon as he had finished, time began to hang so
heavily on his hands, that he swung aboard the train
for Burlington, Vt., where he gave a retreat of five
days to the diocesan clergy. He arrived home
August 31, wondering when he would get a chance
to do a little work in the vineyard of the Lord. For
just two days he took things easy, but as the rest-
cure never appealed to him, he set out on September
2, for Chester, Pa., in order to conduct a four weeks*
mission at the Church of St. Michael, where he was
assisted by Fathers Enright, De Ham, and Schnuett-
gen. On the last Saturday night, when the mis-
sionaries met in Father Wissel's room to compare
notes, they found they had heard 2,600 confessions
and made six converts.
After the historic mission at St. James's Church,
New York, in 1871, the pastor of St. Gabriel's, the
Rev. Father Clowry, lost no time in presenting his
application for a mission. The missionaries chosen
were Fathers Petsch, Wissel, Enright, De Ham, and
Schnuettgen; the dates fixed were November 9 to
December 4. Those were tough days for hardened
sinners. Morning, noon, and night they were sub-
356 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
jected to a terrible barrage from the missionaries,
till at last most of them fled from their dug-outs
and surrendered. Day after day, the missionaries
impressed on their hearers the high cost of sin in
this life, as well as in the next. With clearness,
force and emphasis they pointed out that forbidden
pleasures, like the Dead Sea fruit, turn to ashes on
the tongue of him who tastes them. The lessons
they inculcated were taken to heart; men renounced
their sinful ways, and cast themselves at the feet of
Christ's anointed, there to obtain peace and pardon.
For 14 benighted souls who had been sitting "in
darkness and in the shadow of death," the light of
faith dawned, and 7,500 of the faithful felt the thrill
of joy that springs from a good confession.
The Fathers, at a certain mission in 1873, in-
veighed vehemently against the immodest dances that
were held at a questionable resort in the place. One
girl, nevertheless, was so defiant as to go there dur-
ing the mission, but to her surprise and confusion,
she discovered that she could not get a partner; the
dance hall was as deserted as a country graveyard
at midnight.
Father Enright, on one of his missions in 1873,
preached a sermon on the True Church, in which he
held up to ridicule the shallow pretenses of the dis-
cordant sects. A few of the bigoted Protestants
waxed so furious that they threatened to club him
to death. Father Enright became quite interested,
and calmly awaited the onrush of his would-be
assailants; but on second thought, they decided that
discretion was the better part of valor, and put their
clubs away, thus defeating him of the chance to win
the martyr's crown.
During one of the missions in 1874, a monster
revival was held at one of the Protestant churches
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 357
in the town, for the avowed purpose of keeping the
people from being devoured by the " papist wolves."
But the revival proved an egregious fiasco. The
mission was attended by a considerable percentage
of non-Catholics, three of whom were converted.
The opposition of the ministers served only to unite
the Catholics of the town more solidly, and practi-
cally all of them made the mission.
At the very next mission, the bigots resorted to
similar devices, only on a larger scale. Three revivals
were held and other cuttlefish tactics employed in
order to keep the Protestants from attending the
mission. The jaundiced preachers brought great
pressure to bear on the newspapers to ignore the
mission, but, to the honor and credit of the jour-
nalists, be it said that they gave a very fair account
of it in their papers. The faithful of the place were
thoroughly aroused and militantly met the demands
of the situation. They loved their holy religion
intensely and were aggressively proud of it. They
had a magnificent parochial school, which turned
out the brightest children in the city. The pastor
was a model of zeal, whose only thought and aim was
to strengthen the faith and to nurture the piety of
his people. His sister, a highly educated woman,
conducted a Latin class for boys who wished to
study for the priesthood. Two of the little fellows
signified to Father Freitag their desire to become
Redemptorists. In many other ways also it was
evident that the parish was the object of God's spe-
cial favor. The mission was abundantly blessed;
5,069 confessions were heard, and five converts made.
It is pleasant to record that at the renewal held
at St. Augustine's, South Boston, from February
22 to March 5, there were 475 more confessions than
at the mission.
358 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The largest mission of 1874 was given at St.
Stephen's, Boston, from April 12 to May 7. Owing
to the size of the parish, seven missionaries were
kept busy: Fathers Wissel, Bohn, Freitag, Lamy,
O'Connor, Werner, and Schnuettgen. The brilliant
success of their labors may be correctly gaged from
the fact that 42 non- Catholics were converted. The
missionaries, tireless in their determination to do
good, administered the Sacraments to 45 sick people
who were unable to be present at the exercises. At
the close of the mission, Bishop Williams confirmed
a class of 846; 7,460 confessions were heard. The
work of the missionaries was highly praised by both
the Bishop and the pastor, the latter saying that they
had wrought wonders in his parish.
On July 5, at Seton Hall College, N. J., Father
Wissel began the retreat to the clergy of the diocese
of Newark. The Rt. Rev. Bishop, Michael A. Cor-
rigan, afterwards Archbishop of New York, and 58
priests, the largest number in the history of the
diocese up to that time, took part in the exercises.
Four weeks later, Father Wissel preached the
retreat to the priests of the Pittsburgh diocese, of
which the Rt. Rev. Michael Domenec was then
Bishop. This retreat is specially noteworthy as hav-
ing been conducted in two divisions and in two
languages (English and German). It was held at
the Franciscan Monastery at Loretto, Pa., where
lie entombed the remains of the famous prince,
priest and missionary the Rev. Demetrius Augus-
tine Gallitzin, a scion of one of the oldest, wealthiest,
and most illustrious families of Russia.
About the middle of September, at the request
of the Rt. Rev. Bishop McQuaid of Rochester,
Father Wissel gave the retreat, in English and in
German, to the diocesan clergy.
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 359
At a mission preached during October at Pal-
myra, N. Y., in the diocese of Rochester, some of
the faithful remained at the confessionals all day
long awaiting their turn, and received Holy Com-
munion as late as 6 or 7 o'clock in the evening. At
Macedonia, an out-mission of Palmyra, the Fathers
heard 900 confessions, more than twice the number
calculated.
The field of labor quickly changes from mild
Palmyra to the snow-bound regions of Quebec,
Canada, where, from October 25 to November 15,
Fathers Henning, Enright, Schnuettgen, and Lamy
measured lances with the forces of wickedness, at St.
Patrick's Church, of which the Redemptorist Fathers
had just assumed charge. About 6,000 confessions
were heard. The parish, which had formerly been
under the care of the secular clergy, was well
organized along all lines.
The first half of 1875 was unusually busy; so many
missions had been called for that the Fathers went
from one to another practically without any break.
The first entirely French mission to be given by the
Boston Community took place this year at the Church
of Our Lady of Victory, Rochester, N. Y. R was
conducted by Father Lamy, from May 30 to June
13. During the summer, Father Wissel gave the
retreat to the priests of the diocese of Toronto,
Canada. The greatest mission of the year was the
last. The place was the Cathedral of the Immacu-
late Conception, Portland, Me. ; the time, December
12, 1875, to January 14, 1876. Our old friend, the
Rev. James Healy of St. James's Church, Boston,
had been consecrated Bishop of Portland on June
2, 1875, and shortly afterwards invited the Fathers
to conduct a mission at his Cathedral. Six seasoned
missionaries responded to the call: Fathers Petsch,
360 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Bold, Gates, F. Miller, Stuhl, and Schnuettgen. The
results of the mission were 6,700 confessions and six
converts.
At the personal solicitation of the Most Rev. Arch-
bishop Williams, the Fathers, on March 12, 1876,
opened a three weeks' mission at the Cathedral of the
Holy Cross, Boston. The veteran missionary, Father
Wissel, who, in July, 1875, had again been appointed
Prefect of the Second Novitiate, was summoned from
Annapolis to take part; in all, seven Fathers were
engaged; 8,100 Communions were distributed and
eight converts entered the Church.
The biggest mission ever given by the community
was conducted at St. James's Church, Boston, from
April 24 to May 18, 1876. Eight missionaries were
kept busy hearing the 10,100 penitents who besieged
the confessionals. The original purpose had been to
give a ten days' mission to the women and the same
to the men. But the first night, not half the women
could gain admittance to the upper church. The
single women were then requested to go to the base-
ment, where the sermon on Salvation was preached.
But the plan of having the single women's mission in
the basement did not work satisfactorily, and the
decision was reached to devote a full week to the mar-
ried women only, and a full week to the single women
only. During the men's mission, the church was
crowded to its utmost capacity; vestibule, aisles, and
even sanctuary were black with men, poor in the
goods of this world, but rich in the possession of a
simple, stanch and sturdy faith. Although most of
them had to work hard 10 or 12 hours a day, the
attendance at the early Mass was very good. Arch-
bishop Williams, who had come to confer Confirma-
tion, presided at the close of the mission.
In June, Fathers Gates, Mclnerney, and Bausch
FOOtSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 861
began a mission at St. Joseph's Church, Oldtown,
Me. As most of the men there were obliged to get to
work at 4 :30 A.M., the missionaries rose at 3 :00 A.M.
One began Mass at 3:30; the second distributed
Holy Communion during the Mass, and the third
preached the instruction at 4 o'clock, so that all was
over by 4 :30. Moreover, as the men could not come
to confession during the day, the Fathers heard till
nearly midnight. An old man, 107 years of age,
who had been a Freemason for 70 years and had
received the highest degrees, abjured the craft, and
vowed wholehearted loyalty to the Church.
Just at this time, an unusual color was given to
the activities of the missionaries when Father
Freitag preached a mission to the Indians inhabiting
a certain island in the Penobscot River. The place
was an old Jesuit station, established more than 200
years before. The red men had preserved all the tradi-
tions of their first apostles and were fervent Catho-
lics. They had a neat little church, St. Ann's, which,
though very old, was kept in good condition by seven
deacons and "deaconesses" of the place. At every
exercise, the church was thronged with full-blooded
Indians seeking the pearl of great price. The Feast
of Corpus Christi occurred during the mission, and
the procession held would have done credit to many
a large city parish. The pastor, the Rev. J. Doody,
who said Mass for the Indians once a month, visited
the island during the mission, and was delighted
with the fine spirit manifested. The number of con-
fessions was 315, which meant that everyone in the
settlement except, of course, the infants, made the
mission. The famous Jesuit, Father Bapst, who
was tarred and feathered, lived among these people
for several years. When Father Freitag was leav-
ing the island, the Indian chief, Sockbassinswassin,
362 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
(John Baptist Swassin) rowed him to the mainland
in his canoe. As the big red man vigorously plied
the oars, he showered praises, in picturesque and
flowery language, on the noble "Black Gown" for
all he had done for the tribe.
The first mission ever given at St. Peter's, Dor-
chester, Mass., was solemnly opened on September
17, by Fathers Freitag, Gates, Miller, Mclnerney,
and Bausch. Although the parish had been
organized only a few years, and the church was still
in the course of erection, the mission was from every
standpoint a decided success. This happy result
was brought about in no small measure by the able
and zealous pastor, the Rev. Peter Ronan, who was
one of the grandest priests that ever labored in the
great archdiocese of Boston, During the mission,
which lasted till the 28th, 2,300 confessions were
heard. At the departure of the missionaries, both
pastor and people invoked on them the choicest
blessings of Heaven.
A mission of massive proportions began Nov-
ember 9, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, E.
Cambridge. The pastor was the Rev. John O'Brien,
who afterwards became famous as the editor of the
Sacred Heart Review. Such a vast number of
women attended, that they could not be accommo-
dated either in the old church or in the new; hence
two simultaneous missions were given; the married
women assembled in the old church; the single
women, in the new. The mission was unmarred by
fleck or flaw; the interest continued unabated to the
end; and the net results were that 7,338 Catholics
received the Sacraments, and eight non-Catholics
embraced the faith.
On December 18, the missionaries, weary and
jaded from their incessant labors, came home, in
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 363
order to pass the Christmas holidays round the com-
munity Crib, there to seek new impulses and new
strength for future combats.
They had barely exchanged New Year's greet-
ings, when they went forth again to give battle for
the Lord. After two weeks at the Church of the
Sacred Heart, Fall River, Mass., where they heard
4,350 confessions and made 14 converts, the Fathers
journeyed to Montreal, Canada, where they
preached two missions in immediate succession; the
first, at St. Patrick's; the second, at St. Bridgett's
Church. The harvest was most abundant, the grand
totals being 14,550 confessions and 48 converts.
From the middle of March until the beginning of
July, they were engaged on half a dozen different
missions in Maine. From August 27 to 31, Father
Dold gave the retreat to the clergy of the diocese of
Burlington, Vt. Four comparatively small mis-
sions in September led up to the renewal at the
Church of the Sacred Heart, Fall River, at which
there were 4,400 confessions, an excess of fifty over
the number at the mission. During the greater part
of November, seven of the missionaries conducted a
renewal at St. Patrick's, Montreal. Of their work
here one of the local newspapers said:
"The Missionary Fathers have left us all better than
we were. . . . The Church was crowded to the door
with fervent worshipers, meekly bending in adoration be-
fore the Living God ; old and young, rich and poor ; the gay
and the grave ; all were gathered in the folds of His temple,
and all blessed God that they had lived to hear those Re-
demptorist Fathers who came to Montreal to save souls
and make homes happy. Theirs was the labor; ours the
fruit. With but a few hours' interval, day and night were
given for all our benefits. From 5 A. M. until 10 P. M.,
every day and night their ceaseless labor went on, and let
us hope that the success of the mission is some reward for
their almost ceaseless toil. In St. Patrick's 4,000 men and
364 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
2,600 women approached the altar. . . . The last scene of
the mission was perhaps the most imposing. The vast con-
gregation, each member of which held a lighted taper in one
hand, renewed their baptismal vows. The brilliancy of the
illumination, caused by the tapers, threw a lurid glare
around, and when the Missionary Father asked them if they
were willing to renew the vows they made at Baptism four
thousand men gave one response deep, fervent and loyal
'Yes.' The effect was electrical, and if the enemies of our
faith could only have seen the stern joy which animated
each face, they would cease their insane tirades against a
Church which is indestructible, and towards a faith against
which the gates of hell cannot prevail."
The year 1877 was one of noteworthy activity;
the official records show 21 missions, 4 renewals, and
3 retreats.
The big event of 1878 was the mission at St.
Alphonsus', N. Y. From November 3 to 28,
Fathers Freitag, Wissel, Gates, Burke, and Bausch
labored there almost to the point of utter exhaustion,
but obtained the rich reward of seeing 7,502 of the
faithful approach the Sacraments, and 6 non-Catho-
lics pledge their allegiance to the True Church. On
June 21, Father Wissel became a member of the
Boston Community again, but before he had
unpacked his trunk, he was on his way to Brooklyn,
to give a retreat to the Sisters of the Visitation. But
what was one retreat to a man of his burning zea\
and tireless activity? So he followed it up with
three others: the first to the Sisters of Mercy at
Titusville, Pa., the second, to the clergy of the
diocese of Erie, Pa., and the last, to the priests of
the diocese of Burlington, Vt. Father Rossbach,
another sturdy, zealous worker, gave three retreats
in August to nuns of different communities in
Vermont.
In February, 1879, the Redemptorists of Boston
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 365
preached their first mission in the diocese of Hart-
ford, Conn. The church was St. Mary's, New
Britain; the missionaries, Fathers Wissel, Bausch,
Kolb, and Trimpel. Was it a success? Well, dur-
ing the mission, two of the neighboring, pastors came
along to find out how things were going, and after
hearing the way the Fathers conducted the mission,
they made engagements for missions at their respec-
tive churches.
Father Moran of St. Stephen's, Boston, liked his
last mission so well that he asked to be served a
second time; and on March 15, five members of the
band started out to perpetuate the good that had
previously been done. When they returned, they
had to their credit 7,328 confessions.
From April 24 to May 8, Fathers Wissel, Gates,
Bausch, and Kolb conducted a mission at the Cathe-
dral of the Immaculate Conception, Burlington,
Vt. The people showed a fine spirit of appreciation
and cooperation; they responded as nicely to every
impulse brought to bear on them, as the Aeolian
harp does to the slightest breeze; 2,870 of the faith-
ful made the mission and 3 non-Catholics abjured
their heresy.
In September there were as many as 6 renewals,
the largest of which was held at St. John's Church,
Bangor, Me., where there were 2,250 confessions.
After giving a number of small missions in
October and in November, Fathers Freitag, Ross-
bach, Gates, Bausch, and Kolb opened a renewal on
December 1, at St. Stephen's, Boston; 6,640 con-
fessions and 6 converts were the outcome of their
labors.
At the mission conducted, February 15-March
2, 1880, at St. Peter's Church, Cambridge, by
Fathers Wissel, Bausch, Gates, and Rossbach, there
366 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
were scenes that recalled the fervor of the primitive
Christians. The most consoling feature of this mis-
sion was that, according to the testimony of the
local clergy, those who needed it most, made it most
faithfully; 3,273 confessions were heard.
Fathers Brandstaetter and Zinnen preached a
French mission, March 14-23, at St. Anne's, Fall
River, Mass. In all respects, the faithful manifested
an excellent spirit. The number of confessions
was 2,800.
On Low Sunday, April 4, Fathers Wissel, Ross-
bach, and Trimpel began a ten days' mission at St.
Joseph's Cathedral, Hartford, Conn., of which the
Rev. Father Harty was pastor. At the time, only
the basement of the cathedral was finished. It seated
2,000 comfortably, but could hold perhaps as many
as 2,500. At some of the exercises, the crowd was
so large that many were unable to get into the
church. The number of confessions was 2,200.
Immediately after the close of this mission, the
same Fathers opened another, at the Church of St.
Peter, Danbury, Conn. The Redemptorists had
given a mission here in 1865, when 900 confessions
were heard; but since that time, the congregation
had grown by leaps and bounds, and a magnificent
new church had been erected. At this mission, there
were 2,366 confessions and 2 converts. The salutary
effects of the mission of 1865 were still visible, and
the penitential cross then raised was used on this
occasion.
At two small missions which Father Zinnen gave
at neighboring places in Connecticut, during April,
1880, a considerable number of Odd Fellows
renounced the society and eagerly sought to be
reconciled to the Church. Some of them became so
fervent that they made both missions.
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 367
Simultaneously during May, Fathers Brand-
staetter, Gates, Kolb, and Zinnen, and Fathers
Wissel, Rossbach, and Trimpel were engaged on
two large missions; the former band, at St. Pat-
rick's, Lewiston, Me.; the latter, at St. Lawrence's,
New Bedford, Mass. At the first place, there were
3,303 confessions; at the second, 3,461.
About this time, the spring of 1880, the demand for
missions became so great that the Fathers had to be
divided into three bands instead of two. The third
band, composed of Fathers Freitag and Bausch, gave
a mission at Rockport, Mass., May 9-16, where they
heard 620 confessions.
When summer came the missionaries were almost
fagged out, nevertheless, they had comparatively
little chance to rest. During July and August,
Father Wissel gave retreats to the clergy of the
archdiocese of Baltimore, and of the dioceses of Erie,
Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Richmond, Va. At the
same time, Father Bausch conducted the spiritual
exercises at four different religious institutes in the
diocese of Burlington, Vt.
In November Father Rector Henning went to
Toronto, Canada, in order to take part in a mission
to be given at the cathedral. The mission was a
glorious success. At the close, the Most Rev. Arch-
bishop Lynch, addressing the congregation, said:
" In expressing the wish to have the Redemptorist
Fathers stay here among us, I am sure that I
express not only my own wish, but also that of all
the reverend clergy and laity of my diocese." As a
direct and immediate result of the mission, the
Redemptorist Fathers obtained a foundation in the
archdiocese of Toronto, His Grace giving them
charge of St. Patrick's Church. The community was
established there January 16, 1881.
368 THE GLORIES OP MARY IN BOSTON
On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1881, Fathers
Bohn, Kolb, Trimpel, and Schaak opened a two
weeks' mission at St. Augustine's, So. Boston. This
was the largest mission of the year; 5,015 confes-
sions were heard, and 3 converts received into the
Church. The Superior records that "the church
was always filled to its utmost capacity." The people
showed that extraordinary spirit of faith which is
capable of renewing the face of the earth.
From June 6 to 20, Fathers Bohn, Schmidt,
Trimpel, Schaak, and Kolb were engaged at the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Portland,
Me. There were 3,538 confessions and 4 non-Cath-
olics were left under instruction. The Fathers were
greatly encouraged by the many evidences of the
great good done by the last mission, five years before.
Father Bohn conducted the retreat, August 22-
27, for the clergy of the diocese of Burlington, Vt.;
22 priests followed the exercises. Immediately after-
wards, at the request of the Rt. Rev. Bishop De
Goesbriand, Father Bohn gave a retreat to the
Children of Mary of the cathedral parish. About
200 women made the retreat.
The sum total of apostolic labors for 1881 was 33
missions and renewals and 8 retreats to priests and
to religious.
The largest mission of 1882 was preached, May
7-28, at St. Francis de Sales' Church, Charlestown,
Mass., by Fathers Henning, Gates, Schmidt,
Walsh, and Trimpel. 5,227 confessions were heard
and 7 converts made. Prominent among the many
blessings that flowed from the mission, was a marked
increase in the membership of the various sodalities
of the parish. In the summer of this year, Father
Henning gave two clergy-retreats: the first, to 54
priests of the diocese of Erie, Pa. ; the second, to 26
priests of the diocese of Portland, Me.
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 369
The record of achievement for 1882 was 25 mis-
sions and renewals and 10 retreats to priests and to
religious.
In the early part of 1883, four big missions were
given, the biggest of which was that conducted at St.
Patrick's Church, New Haven, Conn., February 11-
25, by Fathers Gates, Trimpel, Walsh, and Schmidt.
They heard 5,260 confessions, and received 3 non-
Catholics into the Church.
In March, Fathers Gates and Schmidt assisted
Fathers Bohn and Sigl of New York City at a
mission held at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rochester,
N". Y. One of the Rochester papers thus com-
mented on the mission:
"The mission, which began two weeks ago Sunday at St.
Patrick's Cathedral, closed Sunday evening with a sermon
by Father Bohn on 'Prayer,' followed by the benediction of
the missionaries and the Papal benediction. During the
fortnight, services were held daily as follows: 5 A. M.,
Mass and short instruction ; 8 A. M., Mass and instruction ;
7.30 P. M., rosary, instruction and sermon. The services
of the first week were for women and those of the second
week for men. The mission was conducted by the following
named members of the Redemptorist Order: Fathers Bohn
and Sigl of New York City, and Fathers Oates and Schmidt
of Boston. The Redemptorist Fathers conducted a mission
at the Cathedral in December, 1871. . . . The re-
sults of the mission just closed are shown in part by the
following figures: Communicants, women, 2,100; communi-
cants, men, 1,850; communicants, children under fifteen,
196 ; total, 4,146. Adults confirmed, women, 140 ; men, 178 ;
total, 318. . . . The mission was in all respects one
of the most successful in the history of the Catholic Church
in western New York."
During the summer of 1883, Father Henning
gave the retreat to the clergy of the diocese of Pitts-
burgh, Pa. One hundred and four priests attended
the exercises, which were held at Loretto, Pa.
370 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
At a mission which took place in August, at a
small town in Canada, a sixteen-year-old girl, after
waiting in vain till 10:00 P. M. to go to confession,
went home a long distance slept one hour, and
returned to the church at 2 o'clock the next morn-
ing. During the mission given at the Church of Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel, Middle Granville, N. Y., some
of the people walked 15 miles in order to be present
at the exercises.
In 1883 there were 29 missions and renewals and
7 retreats to priests and to religious.
The most noteworthy mission in 1884 was con-
ducted at St. Paul's Cathedral, Pittsburgh, Pa.,
from March 16 to April 6, by Fathers Rathke,
Gates, Schmidt, Walsh, Trimpel, Dooper, Beil, and
Delargy. The people showed intense earnestness
and an admirable spirit of sacrifice; the number of
confessions was 7,585.
At the mission given a few weeks later at St.
Peter's, Dorchester, by Fathers Rathke, Walsh,
Schmidt, Delargy, O'Brien, and McGivern, 2,556
confessions were heard and 5 converts made. The
Superior of the mission says: "The attendance both
in the morning and in the evening was very good.
The men in particular showed great fervor in com-
ing to the 5 o'clock instruction in the morning. A
good number of them left their work for a day or
two, in order to make their confession."
From May 5 to 9, Fathers Dooper and Delargy
gave a little mission at the National Home for Dis-
abled Veteran Soldiers at Togus, Me. The old
soldiers were so pleased with both the mission and
the missionaries, that one of them, in the name of
all, made the following speech to the Fathers at the
close of the mission:
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 371
"Most Rev. and Holy Fathers : I take the liberty to ad-
dress you on the eve of your departure from us. Most Rev.
and Holy Fathers, you have come to us and found us, I may
say, a lot of us, as remnants of ourselves. We were once
able and hearty men, when we volunteered our services for
the life of this great and mighty nation, the home and the
asylum for the oppressed and the destitute of all nations,
and where we can worship God without fear of persecution.
"Most Holy Fathers, most of us are approaching our
last battle, for a great many of us will, no doubt, be laid in
the silent grave before another holy mission may be held
here. You have come, Holy Fathers, like a good Commis-
sary, who watches over his soldiers, to see that they are
provided with all that is necessary for them in food and rai-
ment.
"But, Rev. Fathers, you came to us not as Commissaries
only, but as holy missionaries bringing with you a great
and inexhaustible store of spiritual food, to nourish both
soul and body, you come armed and equipped with that
heavenly grace and blessing transmitted to you by our
Divine Saviour, when He said, 'That the gates of hell would
not prevail against His Church' . . . and 'whose sins
you shall forgive they are forgiven them.' You come to us
in fulfillment of the promise of Christ always to remain
with His Church to the end of the world, and that other
Divine promise, 'To send the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of
Truth, to remain with her forever and teach her all things.'
And now, Rev. Fathers, you came here to teach and in-
struct us and make us good soldiers of Christ, and help us
to fight against our mortal enemies, the world, the flesh,
and the devil. You have, also, dear and Rev. Fathers, done
an incalculable deal of good in trying to banish that most
fatal enemy of Christians, I mean intemperance. . . .
I must now say with truth what I know in regard to our
men here, that they all, generally speaking, appreciate your
great worth and great exertions for the salvation of their
souls.
"And now, Rev. Fathers, as your mission is over here and
you are bound for other fields to labor in the vineyard of
the Lord, it is the prayer and good wish of us all, that God
may be with you in all your walks for the health and happi-
ness of you both.
372 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"Therefore, Holy Fathers, remember us in your holy
prayers. ... I beg you to accept this address, on
behalf of the soldiers of Togus.
"With due reverence, and best wishes for your health and
prosperity, I remain your humble servant, in hopes of sal-
vation."
The following communication bearing on this
mission appeared in the Boston Pilot:
"Redemptorist Mission at the Soldiers' Home. Editor of
the Pilot. The National Soldiers' Home at Togus, Me., was
the scene of a very religious and interesting exercise during
the past week. On Sunday, the 4th inst., the Redemptorist
Fathers Dooper and Delargy, of Roxbury, Mass., opened
a mission for the Catholic inmates of the Home, which lasted
six days and was largely attended. The services were held
in the Chapel or Hall, which is very handsome and has a
large seating capacity. The labors of the good Fathers
were an entire success. Three hundred men approached the
Sacraments. At the close of the mission, which was very
affecting and long to be remembered, Rev. Father Delargy
tendered his warmest thanks for the gentlemanly treatment
and hospitality received from Governor General Stephenson,
Major Keith and to all others who contributed in rendering
the mission such a success. . . . "
A few weeks later, Father Delargy received the
following letter from the sacristan of the institution :
"Soldiers' Home, May 29, 1884.
"Dear Father:
"I must say the men have done very well with very few
exceptions. Men go up daily to the hall where the Statue
of the Blessed Virgin is, to say their prayers, and in the
evening there is a larger attendance at the Rosary. The
Mission has done a great deal of good. They liked the style
of your preaching very much, both Protestants and Catho-
lics. Give my best wishes to Father Dooper and Father
Oates and accept the same yourself. When you think of
me say a prayer for me.
"Wishing you every success in your noble undertaking;
FOOTSTEPS OP THE GREAT MISSIONARY 373
and may God's choicest blessings fall upon you is the sincere
wish of your friend,
"Yours sincerely,
"Edw. Hoey."
During the latter part of August, Father O'Brien
gave the retreat to the clergy of the diocese of
Burlington, Vt. Bishop De Goesbriand and twenty-
one priests attended.
In December, Father Luecking conducted the
spiritual exercises for the 65 students of St. Joseph's
Seminary, Troy, N. Y. The retreat served as a
preparation for the ordinations, at which 15 semi-
narians were raised to the priesthood, 7 to the diaco-
nate, and 17 to the subdiaconate, while 31 received
minor orders.
During the latter part of November and the first
half of December, the Fathers gave five missions in
Harbor Grace, in the diocese of Newfoundland. At
one of these missions, that held at Bay Roberts, the
missionaries, owing to the violence and open assaults
of the Orangemen, who far outnumbered the Catho-
lics, were compelled to leave the place and to finish
the mission in a neighboring locality. On this point
Father McGivern writes :
"In this place (Bay Roberts) we were obliged to suspend
our mission on the third day, owing to the attacks of the
Orangemen. We then transferred our mission to a neigh-
boring church (at Harbor Main), about three miles distant,
and there gave one week to the men of both places and one
week to the women. Thus we were enabled to give the peo-
ple an opportunity to make the mission in peace.
"At the urgent request of Bishop Roland McDonald, we
returned to Bay Roberts on the 4th of January, 1885, hav-
ing procured the protection of 17 policemen. But this
seemed to embitter the Orangemen still more, and, seeing
that an attack on us was imminent, we called upon Mr. T.
Molloy, the U. S. Consul, to procure for us, as citizens of
374 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the United States, a more adequate force to cope with the
Orangemen. Accordingly, Her Majesty's ship, Tenedos,
was despatched to the scene and an extra force of policemen.
We gained the victory over the Orangemen, compelling them
to take down their obnoxious 'Orange Arch' and keep the
peace. Thus we concluded our work under military pro-
tection."
The New York Sun for January 8, 1885, said:
"Two Priests Face a Mob. Bay Roberts Orangemen
Wild at the Sight of Catholic Fathers. They Howl Around
the Priests, Threaten to Kill Them, and Draw a Knife on
Father Delargy Saved From Violence by a Warship.
"St. John's, N. F., Jan. 7. The recent experience of the
Redemptorist Fathers in Bay Roberts is remarkable. The
fathers who arrived by train here this evening told this
story of their persecution at the hands of Bay Roberts
Orangemen :
" 'About the middle of December we began a mission at
the request of Bishop McDonald of Harbor Grace, in Bay
Roberts. The Roman Catholics there are a feeble minority,
not numbering more than one-tenth of the whole population.
About three-fourths of the adult male population of Bay
Roberts are Orangemen. As soon as they heard of our
presence there they started a demonstration, intending to
frighten us and drive us out.
" 'We did not yield nor flinch to their bullying and intimi-
dation. They surrounded the house where we lodged, flung
stones at the windows, threw large stones at the walls, and
set up all sorts of hideous noises outside. Between our
humble hotel and the Roman Catholic Chapel they erected
arches and spanned the road with Orange flags. They
threatened our lives as they had fettered our liberty. The
mob increased hourly in force and fury. They were being
steadily reinforced from the small outlying districts. The
situation was every hour more desperate and menacing to
our lives.
" 'One ruffian drew a large knife from his sheath and aimed
it at Father Delargy. Another gang threatened to precipi-
tate Fathers McGivern and Delargy over the neighboring
precipice, if they did not beat a hasty retreat out of Bay
Roberts. We deemed prudence the better part of valor, and,
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 375
yielding to the strong wishes and insistence of friends, we
quietly withdrew and went to Harbor Main, and held mission
services there and in the several contiguous localities.
" 'Having concluded these missions, we determined, even
at the sacrifice of our lives, to complete the one we had
opened at Bay Roberts. But a few days remained to us, as
we had made arrangements to leave for New York by the
Allan mail steamer Hanoverian. We communicated with
Bishop McDonald, and our plan was to meet the Bishop at
Bay Roberts.
" 'At ten o'clock Sunday morning last, we set out from
Holyroad, and the Bishop from Harbor Grace. At the time
appointed we all met at the rendezvous previously decided
upon. Bishop McDonald was to celebrate Pontifical High
Mass and the Redemptorist McGivern was to preach the
mission sermon. The greetings of the Bishop and the fathers
on meeting were hardly exchanged, when a mob was observed
collecting in the street. The crowds were dressed in any-
thing but holiday attire. Some distance down the road, the
Orangemen had erected arches and had raised Orange flags.
The Bishop turned round and said to the fathers with great
firmness, "We cannot and will not say Mass or conclude the
mission, if we are constrained to pass under these flags and
arches. I will see if the authorities at St. John's will not
protect us in our legal rights and have them removed."
"Neither shall we," replied the Redemptorists, "submit to
the indignity of being compelled to pass under the insulting
Orange trophies."
" 'Bishop McDonald immediately communicated with the
Governor and Executive at St. John's, representing in strong
terms the critical position in which his life and the lives of
the Redemptorists were placed, and as a British subject
invoked the aid of the civil power. The Redemptorists tele-
graphed to United States Consul Molloy and claimed pro-
tection through him as citizens of the United States. The
Consul immediately called on Gov. Glover and met with a
ready response.
" 'The Governor sent a dispatch to Commander Drum-
mond of the warship Tenedos, ordering that vessel to pro-
ceed to Bay Roberts. The Governor also sent large rein-
forcements of constabulary by special train, and on Monday
all danger to the lives of the Missionary priests had been
removed. As soon as the Orangemen pulled down their
376 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
arches and removed their flags, we went to the church and
resumed and completed our mission. We were constantly
guarded by the magistrates and the police. We left Bay
Roberts this morning. Wherever the train stopped we were
received with every mark of esteem by the crowds who assem-
bled to cheer us.
" 'Our treatment at Bay Roberts by the ferocious and
cowardly mob has no parallel in all our experience. To-
morrow, before leaving for New York, we propose going
before the United States Consul and placing our experiences
at Bay Roberts on record in the shape of a sworn depo-
sition.' "
The New York Catholic Herald published,
January 17, 1885, the following account of the
dastardly attack:
"Orangemen Barricade a Catholic Church.
"The Orangemen of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, are at
their evil work again, threatening the lives of the Catholics,
and particularly directing their bloody-minded energies at
the Catholic Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. McDonald, of Harbor
Grace, and the Redemptorist Fathers engaged in missionary
work. An Orangeman fired at the Bishop a few days ago,
and the bullet, as if by a positive miracle, missed striking
him on the head.
"A few issues back, the Catholic Herald, the only news-
paper of its contemporaries, gave the facts of the recent
attack of the Orangemen on the lives of the Redemptorist
Fathers McGivern, O'Brien, and Delargy, of the Church of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Roxbury, Mass., who had gone
out to Newfoundland to conduct missions last December, and
who were not expected to return until about the middle of
next March.
"The Orangemen armed to the number of 1,500, kept
parading the streets all day on Monday. They barricaded
the Catholic church and prevented the Bishop, priests and
people from entering. They also erected Orange arches
in the immediate vicinity of the church, so that those coming
near the church for the purpose of entering it would have
to walk under the Orange emblems, a sign of the people's
humiliation, before they could even reach their own church.
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 377
"The warship, Tenedos, was ordered to proceed at once
to Bay Roberts. For what purpose, we should like to know?
To intimidate the Orangemen, we suppose, for the man-of-
war could not shell the place without making the innocent
suffer for the guilty. Had the ship opened fire upon the
murderers when they were congregated in a body there
would have been some meaning in sending the Tenedos on its
mission, otherwise the whole business was a farce. You can't
intimidate Orangemen when they are in superior numbers,
not even by passing statutory laws against their assembling
or acting in a riotous manner. Your Orangeman does not
give a snap of his fingers for all the laws that were ever
passed against his order. They are a lawless body and
openly defy the laws, and glory in their defiance. . ; .
"When the Orangemen of Newfoundland begin to fire at
Catholic Bishops and barricade Catholic churches, it is
about time that some action should be taken to prevent mat-
ters getting worse.
"The United States Consul at St. John's called upon the
Governor and asked protection for the lives of the Redemp-
torist Fathers who are citizens of the United States. What
action has President Arthur or Secretary Frelinghuysen
taken in this matter? Are they to stand idly by while the
lives of our citizens are jeopardized and leave an affair of
such importance to be limited by the powers of a consul?
It is the duty of the President to communicate instructions
at once, and imperatively, to our consul at St. John's, and
through him to the Governor of Newfoundland, to have all
the protection necessary for the safety of our citizens af-
forded instantly to the Redemptorist Fathers. The Presi-
dent must remember that this is the second attack upon the
lives of those priests and although the catastrophe of Mon-
day is partially averted, it will not do to remain inactive
where demons like the Newfoundland Orangemen are con-
cerned.
"The Catholic public of the United States will await with
no little anxiety to see the effect of President Arthur's
action, immediate action, we should say, in protecting the
lives of our citizens from an infuriated mob in Newfound-
land. Should there be hesitation or delay in a matter of
such importance, the result will probably be a massacre of
Catholic priests."
378 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
From December 19 to 29, 1884, Fathers O'Brien,
McGivern, and Delargy conducted the mission
referred to previously, at Harbor Main in the
diocese of Harbor Grace, in Newfoundland. The
people showed great diligence and fervor in attend-
ing the exercises, and 1,350 confessions were heard.
With regard to this mission, Father McGivern
writes :
"When we were leaving this place to proceed to Holyroad,
the people turned out in a body, men, women, and children.
They unhitched the horses from our carriage, and about
two hundred men, by means of a large rope, drew us a dis-
tance of over seven miles. About twenty men marched ahead
with banners, flags and various ensigns, and about two hun-
dred followed, bearing muskets and large sealing-guns.
Every little while they would fire a volley which rang through
the hills for miles around. This extraordinary demonstra-
tion was gotten up for the purpose of showing us how ready
and willing these brave and sturdy fellows were to become
our protectors and defenders against the outrages of the
Orangemen. A number of the prominent citizens waited on
us at the priests' house and assured us of their appreciation
and loyalty in the following beautiful address :
" 'Rev. Dear Fathers :
" 'We, the undersigned, on behalf of the people of Harbor
Main, are anxious to give expression to our appreciation of
your arduous labors amongst us, and deem the present a
fitting opportunity to thank you for the many benefits
which we have received at your hands.
" 'During the past week we have listened to the words of
life that flowed from your lips, and thank God that by a
special Providence we have been favored by the grace of a
Mission. Numbers of poor wandering sheep have been
brought back again to the fold; the wavering have been
secured, and the balm of holy consolation has been poured
into many a sorrowing heart.
" 'Therefore, dear Fathers, you will permit us to ap-
proach you as humble and sincere members of that grand
old Catholic Church to which we all have the happiness to
belong, and to lay a well merited tribute of gratitude at
your feet. We know full well that human praise is not the
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 379
motive which impelled you to undertake the labors of a
Missionary in distant lands. The salvation of souls and the
glory of the great God are your only motives ; but it may
be pleasing to you, dear Fathers, to know that we are not
unmindful of the great sacrifice which you have made for our
sakes.
" 'We have been pained beyond measure to learn that you
have been grossly insulted whilst pursuing your peaceful
and holy ministrations in a certain portion of this diocese;
but whilst admiring your generous spirit of Christian for-
bearance on that trying occasion, we beg to assure you that
when God's honor, the welfare of Holy Church, and the
personal safety of the Missionary will demand our services,
we will be found prepared to sacrifice all for the good cause.
The manifestations of respect for your saintly character
may assume larger dimensions in more favored lands, but
yet nowhere will you find hearts truer, warmer, or more de-
voted to the interests of religion than in this our Island
Home.
" 'And now, dear Fathers, one last farewell. You are
about to leave us and we may never see your faces again.
We feel grateful for all the blessings we have received
through your ministrations, and beg to say that we will not
forget to pray that God will grant you a safe return to
your own dear land. And though we may not meet again
here below, Christian faith consoles us with the knowledge
of a better land, where all hope to meet again and part no
more.
" 'Signed on behalf of the people of Harbor Main Parish.
" 'Vincent A. Fitzsimmons, M. D.,
" 'Wm. Holden, Justice of the Peace,
" 'Richard McDonnell, Member, House of Assembly,
" 'Joseph Holden,
" 'Joseph A. Gorman,
" 'Michael Gorman.' "
According to the records for 1884 the Fathers
gave and assisted at 47 missions and renewals and
conducted 8 retreats to priests and to religious.
The most prominent mission of 1885 was given at
St. Anne's Church, Montreal, from February 22 to
380 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
March 15, by Fathers Rathke, Walsh, McGivern
and O'Brien. Father Rathke submits the following
report :
"This mission . . . had an extraordinary effect on
the entire congregation. The beneficial results produced by
the labors of the Fathers were spoken of in the highest
terms, not only by the members of the congregation of St.
Anne, but also by others of the city of Montreal, and par-
ticularly by some of the priests. Some of the sermons pro-
duced a wonderful effect, especially those on the Blessed
Virgin, which brought a great number of persons of both
sexes to sincere repentance for the past and firm resolution
for the future. ... It was remarked by a venerable
Brother of the La Salle Institute that during his experience
of fifty years he had never witnessed anything so touching
as the consecration of the adults and of the children to the
Blessed Virgin. . . . The Holy Family Society, al-
ready established, was augmented by a large accession of
postulants."
During the summer of this year, 1885, Father
O'Brien gave retreats to the clergy of the following
dioceses: Erie, Pa.; St. John, N. B.; Halifax, Nova
Scotia, and Burlington, Vt.
At a missjon given in January, 1886, a captain in
the Salvation Army asked to be received into the
Church. The biggest mission of this year took place
at St. Patrick's, Montreal, from March 14 to April
5. It was conducted by Fathers Walsh, Leibfritz,
Delargy, Denges, and Lutz, and was made by 6,335
of the faithful. About the end of September, Father
Kautz gave the retreat to the priests of the diocese
of Burlington, Vt. A mission that attracted no
little attention was preached, November 14-Dec-
ember 5, at St. Joseph's, Somerville, Mass., by
Fathers Kautz, Walsh, Luecking, Delargy, Lutz,
and Hickey; 3,941 people received the Sacraments.
The Somerville Sentinel for December 5, devoted
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 381
nearly two columns to the mission. The article,
written in a very respectful strain, said among other
things :
"During the past three weeks an unusually large number
of persons have been noticed at various hours to move in the
direction of Union Square. 'What is up?' was the question
that was often asked. The answer was invariably brief:
'The Mission.' 'What is the Mission?' To those who are
frequenters of St. Joseph's Catholic Church no explanation
is needed ; but to those who are in the habit of assembling in
other places for the purpose of divine worship, a few remarks
may not be amiss. . . .
"A mission is a course of religious exercises given for the
benefit of the faithful of a certain district. The religious
exercises are the daily Mass, sermon, instructions, public
prayers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The
object of the mission is to make the faithful regulate their
lives according to the great truths of religion and to dispose
them for a worthy reception of the Sacraments. These
objects are sought by the hard-working missionaries, by
presenting before the minds of the people, in clear, simple
language, the great religious truths and instructing them
on the nature of the Sacraments and the dispositions that are
necessary for the receiving them in a worthy manner. . . .
"Such is the reason why the church has been thronged
with devout congregations at the 5 o'clock Mass every
morning during the past three weeks. The same cause at-
tracted large numbers to the evening devotions. Even Sun-
day was no exception, for devout Catholics are never tired
of attending the services of their church. . . .
"Last Sunday evening a very important and instructive
lecture was given in the church for the married men of the
parish. It is needless to mention that a large congregation
listened attentively to the address given by Father Kautz.
At the same time St. Joseph's Hall was literally packed by
the young and unmarried men, who were addressed by Father
Delargy. The latter reverend gentleman pointed out to his
hearers in very simple, but forcible language what their
duties were in their present state of life, and the manner
in which he described to them the course they should pursue
when about to enter into the married state, will not fail to
382 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
have a good effect on the minds of those who were so
fortunate as to have the opportunity of being present on the
occasion.
"The results of the mission must be very gratifying to
the zealous laborers in the vineyard of the Lord. During the
time devoted to the women of the parish large congregations
attended each service devoted to their especial interests,
and the same must be said of the men all evinced the great-
est zeal in attending the devotions and instructions given
by the Redemptorist Fathers, whose earnest efforts will long
be remembered by the Catholics attached to St. Joseph's
Church of this city."
The official statistics for 1886 show 28 missions
and renewals and 10 retreats to priests and to
religious.
One of the missions of 1887 which calls for
special mention was that given February 27-
March 14, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, New
Haven, Conn., by Fathers Kautz, Delargy, and
Lutz. Nine non-Catholics were left under instruc-
tion, and 2,799 Catholics made their confession. At
the beginning of the mission, a non- Catholic gentle-
man signified his intention of embracing our holy
religion; and, in order to ponder well the great step
he was about to take, he remained away from work
throughout the whole week. With an interest as
keen as a Toledo blade, he listened to all the sermons
and instructions, and at the end of the jnission, had
the ineffable happiness of being received into the
Church.
In the summer of 1887, the Rt. Rev. Bishop De
Goesbriand of Burlington, Vt., again expressed the
desire to have a Redemptorist from the Mission
Church give the retreat to the diocesan clergy.
Father Rector Mclnerney answered the call in per-
son. The Bishop and 18 priests made the retreat.
Twenty-six missions and renewals and ten
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 383
retreats to priests and to religious constitute the
work of the missionaries during 1887.
In January, 1888, Fathers Beil, Luecking,
Delargy, and Hickey, of this community, assisted
the Fathers of St. Alphonsus', N. Y., at a mission
given at St. Stephen's Church in that city. During
three weeks of hard labor, they heard 7,911 con-
fessions.
From February 5 to 27, Fathers Currier, Beil,
Delargy and Lutz of Boston, aided by Fathers
Walsh and Trimpel of St. John, N. B., conducted
a mission at St. Alphonsus', N. Y. Not only the
people of this parish, but also those of the neighbor-
ing parishes made the mission with edifying earnest-
ness and fervor. The number of confessions
was 5,594.
From March 4 to 18, Fathers Beil, Luecking,
Delargy, and Lutz, were engaged on a mission at
the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port-
land, Me. Just at that time, the city was hit by the
famous blizzard of 1888, which, however, had no
effect on the attendance. During the men's mission
especially, the church was filled both in the morning
and in the evening. About 4,200 confessions were
heard, and the good wrought along all lines was a
source of great comfort to the reverend pastor.
One evening during the mission at Avon, Mass.,
in May, the cry of "Fire" was heard. Unfortunately,
the house of one of the parishioners was in flames.
Every member of the family was present at the mis-
sion. In less than an hour, these good people lost all
they possessed. Although almost heart-broken,
they were all on hand for the 5 o'clock instruction
the following morning, and continued to attend to
the very end of the mission. Everybody was highly
edified by the fine spirit shown by this devout family,
384 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
and it was the common opinion that the extraordi-
nary success of the mission was due in large measure
to the sacrifices made by these exemplary Catholics.
At the mission given at St. Michael's Church,
Fusket Wedge, Nova Scotia, although the weather
was very stormy, many of the people came 15 miles,
fasting, and on foot. At St. Anne's, Eel Brook,
Nova Scotia, as early as 4:00 A. M., a great many
people were waiting outside the church; most of
them had left home about 2 o'clock and had walked
seven or eight miles. Even people well along in
years walked 12 miles, fasting, and were present at
6:00 A. M. At the latter place, there were about
2.000 confessions.
In 1888 there were 26 missions and 9 retreats to
religious.
A mission of prime importance in 1889 was that
held, October 13-27, at St. Joseph's Cathedral,
Manchester, N. H. The missionaries were Fathers
Lambert, Lutz, Hickey, and Sheehan; 4,008 confes-
sions were heard; and the Rt. Rev. Bishop Bradley
expressed his entire satisfaction with the results
achieved. One of the newspapers thus spoke of the
mission :
"For a whole week early risers may have noticed crowds
of women, young and old, and of all conditions of life, but
mostly of the working classes, wending their way to the
Cathedral, before 5 o'clock, morning after morning, rain
or shine, pleasant or cold. They came in throngs, hundreds,
yes, we might also say by the thousand ; these hard working
girls and women, packed the church and after service and
instruction hurried off to snatch a hasty breakfast and then
away to their daily toil ; again at seven every evening during
the week these women and girls thronged the streets leading
to the church. Again they filled and crowded every seat in
it to positive discomfort and there passed about an hour
and a half in listening to instructions, many of them staying
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 385
till ten o'clock or later, awaiting their turn at the con-
fessionals.
"Look at these earnest crowds as they hastened early in
the cold October morning or as they filled the road to or
from the church, not for one or two mornings or evenings
but for a whole week, and then tell me, non-Catholic neigh-
bors, if their conduct teaches you no lesson? What was the
attraction? Is it a theatre, a comedy, a tragedy, some
famous singer or the like that brings forth these large
crowds? Not a bit of it! Follow them to the church in the
biting morning air. The crowded Cathedral is silent;
naught is heard but the voice of the priest as he says Mass
in a very low tone. Every head is bowed in mute adoration
or prayer to the Most High. Then follows a long instruc-
tion on the teachings of the church and our duties as Chris-
tians, which finished, they quickly speed away to work. A
similar sight awaits you in the evening.
"So much for the women. The following week, from
Sunday night to the following Sunday, the men repair in
crowds, great, strong, manly fellows, old and young, well-to-
do and poor, by the hundreds, yes by the thousand, they,
too, set at naught the almost necessary luxury of their
morning nap, preparatory to their day of hard toil; they,
too, turn out of their warm beds and in the chilly air of the
October mornings seek the church, attend the same services
and back to work; and after their day's labor they also
crowd the church for nearly two hours at night, to hear the
words of the missionaries, and this, day after day, for a
whole week. Is this fact also without a lesson to you, non-
Catholic neighbor?
"Where do you see its parallel, since the days when the
multitude pressed after the Nazarene; yes, followed Him,
forgetful of themselves and of their very food, till He Him-
self fed them 'lest they perish?' "
In 1889 the Fathers gave 26 missions and
renewals and 15 retreats to priests and to religious.
Of the mission given at St. Joseph's Church,
Lewiston, Maine, from May 4 to 18, 1890, the
Superior, Father Lutz, says: "This mission was a
grand success. I have never seen a people attend a
386 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
mission with such zeal and fervor. Notwithstanding
the inclemency of the weather, the churcK was
crowded." At the close of the mission, the Sodality
of the Children of Mary was established, and 500
young ladies joined it; 3,419 of the faithful
approached the Holy Table.
The largest mission of 1890 was conducted at
the Church of the Sacred Heart, East Cambridge,
Mass. The most impressive feature of the mission
was the extraordinarily fine spirit shown by the
single men. Although Thanksgiving Day occurred
during their week, there was not the slightest
decrease in the attendance. Hundreds of them
spent practically the whole day round the confes-
sionals, waiting their turn to be heard.
For the year 1890, the missionaries have to their
credit 23 missions and renewals and 11 retreats to
religious.
A vast amount of good was done by the mission
given, February 15-March 15, 1891, at the Church
of the Gate of Heaven, S. Boston, by Fathers Trim-
pel, Lutz, Sheehan, and Crosby. At the end of the
first week, 500 more people were present at Sunday
Mass than at any time since the pastor's advent to
the church, in June, 1890. At the end of the fourth
week, an extra Mass had to be said, in order to
accommodate all who came. Six hundred and fifty
married women and five hundred and ninety single
women joined their respective sodalities. With re-
gard to the men's societies the Superior of the mis-
sion, Father Trimpel, says, "Judging from the
fervor with which the men attended the mission, I
feel confident that their societies will bear comparison
with the Ladies' Sodality."
At the beginning of one of the missions held in
the late spring of this year, 1891, the reverend pas-
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 387
tor expressed the hope that his organist, an Episco-
palian, would become a Catholic. This gentleman
had played the organ in the church for more than
30 years, and, what is more remarkable, had never
taken a penny for his services; on the contrary, he
had been the most generous contributor to every
collection. By dispensation, he had married a
Catholic, and, true to the solemn promises he had
made before his marriage, had brought up all his
children in our holy faith. He delighted in teaching
them their prayers, and as soon as the parochial
school in town had been opened, he had sent them to
it. Having never missed a Sunday in the discharge
of his duties as organist, he had heard every sermon
preached at the High Mass for 30 years. He had
attended four missions before the one of which we
are speaking, and had always been, as the pastor
said, " an attentive listener." On the last day of the
mission, Father Trimpel sought an interview with
this remarkable man, and requested him to make
known the doubts and fears that kept him from
becoming a Catholic. " By the grace of God," says
the Father, " I settled them to his satisfaction, and
received him into the Church, Sunday evening,
June 14, to the joy of his beloved family and the
gratification of the zealous pastor."
In the summer of 1891, a mission-house was
opened by the Redemptorist Fathers at Saratoga
Springs, N. Y. As this foundation was not far
from the New England States, it drew a great many
missions away from the Boston house; moreover,
three missionaries from here were assigned to the new
establishment and their places left unfilled. Hence
for a considerable time there was a decided abate-
ment in the missionary activities of the Boston
Community. For a period of ten years begin-
388 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
p
ning with 1891, the annual average was only 10 mis-
sions, 3 renewals, and 9 retreats.
During the mission at St. Margaret's Church,
Beverly Farms, Mass., in September, 1893, the Rev.
James Feeney, C. SS.R., one of the missionaries,
administered the last Sacraments to Col. Jerome
Napoleon Bonaparte, the legitimate heir to the
throne of France.
The second largest mission in the history of the
community was given, November 21 to December
19, 1897, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, East
Cambridge, Mass., by the Rev. Fathers Sheehan,
John Schneider, Peter Doyle, Cullen, Curran, and
Corr. It was a real old-time mission, brimful of
fervor, enthusiasm, practical and militant faith.
Eight thousand six hundred and forty-six confessions
were heard.
From 1901 to 1910 inclusive, there was an annual
average of 25 missions, 8 renewals and 36 retreats.
In the latter year, the demand for missions and kin-
dred exercises became so great that from then until
now this community has been constantly obliged to
call on other Redemptorist houses for help. During
this cycle, 1901-1910, the years that stand out prom-
inently are: 1906, with 26 missions and 49 retreats;
1907, with 35 missions, 9 renewals, and 35 retreats;
1908, with 44 missions, 9 renewals, and 43 retreats.
In 1909, there were 22 renewals the largest annual
number in the history of the Boston Community.
From 1910 to 1920, the yearly average was:
missions, 43; renewals, 4; retreats, 29. During this
period, the blue-ribbon year was 1917, with 80 mis-
sions, 3 renewals, and 28 retreats.
The mission given at the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross, Boston, Mass., from February 21 to March 7,
1915, by the Rev. Fathers Richard Donohoe, Wil-
FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT MISSIONARY 389
Ham B. Kenna, John O'Leary, and Joseph P.
Turner, justly deserves mention. At the close of
the mission, His Eminence Cardinal O'Connell
presided. Just before bestowing the Papal bless-
ing, His Eminence delivered an address to the men.
which, like all his other addresses, was a master-
piece of thought and diction. The number of con-
fessions was 5,265. This mission was followed by
another at the Cathedral two years later. On the
latter occasion, the missionaries were the Rev.
Fathers Turner, O'Leary, Conway, and Treanor.
Four thousand five hundred and six confessions
were heard.
The first non-Catholic mission in the history of
the community was given at the Cathedral of the
Holy Cross, Boston, Mass., March 21 to 28, 1915,
by the Rev. Joseph P. Turner, C. SS. R. The
average attendance at the lectures was 3,000, and
the mission attracted widespread attention and
interest. The Boston Globe gave the discourses
practically in full. The list of subjects was as fol-
lows: Sunday, March 21 "The Kingdom pf God
is One"; Tuesday, March 23 "The Kingdom of
God is Holy"; Wednesday, March 24 "The King-
dom of God is Universal and Apostolic"; Thursday,
March 25 "The Treasures of the Kingdom of
God"; Friday, March 26 "The Return to the
Kingdom of God"; Sunday, March 28 "The
Queen and Mother of the Kingdom of God on
Earth."
An Interesting Summary.
Since the establishment of the community in 1871,
the missionaries have labored in the following
twenty-eight dioceses in the United States:
390 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Boston, Portland, Manchester, Burlington,
Springfield, Fall River, Providence, Hartford, New
York, Brooklyn, Albany, Syracuse, Ogdensburg,
Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, Pittsburgh, Scranton,
Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Newark, Trenton, Wil-
mington, Baltimore, Richmond, Rockford, 111., Mil-
waukee, St. Paul; and in the following eleven dio-
ceses in Canada: Quebec, Montreal, St. John, Hali-
fax, Chatam, Charlottetown, Harbor Grace, Antig-
onish, Toronto, London, Hamilton.
The total number of missions on record is 1,137
(of which 37 were given at cathedral churches) ; of
renewals, 251; of retreats, 889 (of which 29 were
preached to priests) . The number of converts made
on the missions is about 1,400. It would be impos-
sible to give the exact number of confessions heard
on missions, renewals, and retreats, but as far as the
figures go, the total is about 2,600,000.
May all the good done on the missions redound
to the greater honor and glory of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, the Mother of the Good Shepherd,
under whose fostering care the missionaries have
labored so nobly!
THE SCHOOL ITS GROWTH AND TRIUMPHS.
At its first opening, in September, 1889, the Mis-
sion Church School registered 914 pupils; by the mid-
dle of October the number had increased to 1,000.
Within a year or two the school had made such
rapid strides that the Boston Herald for July 2,
1891, said:
"The banner parochial school of the city in point of num-
bers and rapidity of growth since its opening two years
ago is the school of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Rox-
bury.
"To this school 1,142 pupils come daily for instruction,
of these 700 are girls. Under the tireless efforts of the
pastor, Rev. John J. Frawley, C.SS.R., and the valuable
assistance of the energetic sisters in charge of the school,
it stands today among the first of its grade for general
efficiency and progress. The sessions, and the branches
taught, are similar to those in public schools, with vocal
music and sight reading taught according to the normal
system by Prof. Meisler. ..."
In July, 1894, the school received, as attestations
of superior merit, two diplomas from the Superin-
tendent of the Educational Exhibit of the World's
Fair, held the previous year in Chicago. According
to the inscription on the parchment, the first diploma
was awarded for "class work and drawing." The
document is printed in letters of gold; the medal is
set on a blue ribbon with gold fringe and pendants.
The second diploma, bestowed for "class and needle
work," was awarded Sept. 14, 1893, in accordance
with the resolutions of the Most Rev. Archbishops of
the United States.
392 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
At the beginning of the school term in 1896, 1,526
children (688 boys and 838 girls) were enrolled.
In 1902 the original school building became inade-
quate to accommodate the constantly increasing num-
ber of children, and one room in the new building on
St. Alphonsus Street was set aside for school pur-
poses. The number of rooms thus utilized at the
present time in the overflow school building is 9,
making a total of 33 classrooms.
In 1902 the ninth-grade pupils began to take the
examinations given by the reverend supervisor of
parochial schools. Concurrently, the custom was in-
troduced of holding competitive examinations for
the four scholarships awarded annually by Boston
College. Since then the following boys from the
Mission Church School have won the coveted prizes :
Daniel Sullivan '02 Paul Lynch '10
John Athridge '03 James Byrne '11
Raymond Mclnnis '04 Matthew Tobin '12
Thomas Kennedy '04 James Ryan '13
James Troy '05 Edmund Hayden '14
John Fitzgerald '05 Francis Gorman '14
Milton Stone '06 John Hall '14
Edward Byrne '06 John Conroy '14
William Collins '06 James Morley . . .'15
John Collins '07 James Keane '15
Francis Matchett, '20
The above table shows: 1 That of the 76 schol-
arships awarded by Boston College, from 1902 to
1920 inclusive, no less than 21 have been won by
pupils of the Mission Church School; 2 That in
1914 our boys carried off all four. In 1911 the
Councils of the Knights of Columbus of Boston of-
fered prizes to the children of the parochial schools
for the best assay on " Columbus and His Discov-
ies." Over 600 pupils competed, and 9 prizes were
THE SCHOOL 393
bestowed, 2 of which went to children of the Mission
Church School : John Bagwell and Elizabeth Gillis.
In 1915 every one of the 157 graduates received the
Archdiocesan Diploma of Honorable Mention ; this
means that the average of each for the six branches of
the examination was at least 85 per cent.
In the light of this fine showing, it is easy to un-
derstand how Masters of the High School and men
prominent in the business world have often praised
the Mission Church School, and given it a very hon-
orable place among all Boston's elementary schools.
The present enrollment of the school is about 2,000;
2,764 pupils have received diplomas ; the largest class
to be graduated was that of 1917, which numbered
217 children: 117 boys and 100 girls.
The Mission Church School has an honorable rec-
ord of war activities; the pupils invested $6,882.25 in
the War Savings and Thrift Stamps; all of them
joined the Junior Red Cross Society, to which they
contributed $1,000; as Victory Boys and Girls, they
gave $1,169.41; many of the girls, moreover, made
articles of clothing for the Belgian refugees. In all,
the Mission Church School children aided the cause
to the sum of $9,151.66.
The success which the school has achieved is due
not only to the Fathers, who have always taken the
greatest personal interest in the education of the chil-
dren, but also to the highly efficient teachers by whom
it is conducted, the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
For nearly thirty-two years, these devoted nuns have
done such splendid and enduring work in training
and educating the little ones of the parish, as to merit
the profound and lasting gratitude of the Fathers
and of the parishioners.
The past Superiors of the school have been :
394 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Sister Mary Elise 1889-1898
Sister Mary Edwardine 1898-1899
Sister Mary Theophora 1899-1900
Sister Mary Thomasine 1900-1904
Sister Mary Elise 1904-1910
Sister Mary Philemon 1910-1920
The present Superior is Sister Mary John.
Only once since the coming of the Sisters to Rox-
bury, has there been a death in the community that
of Sister Mary Grace (Agnes Carey), who on July
21, 1894, after a lingering illness, received the eternal
crown. She passed away as calmly and peacefully
as the sun sinks below the horizon. As she had ex-
pressed the wish to have Father Frawley attend her
in her dying moments, it was arranged that he should
be notified of her approaching dissolution by the
placing of a lighted lamp at the window of her room.
Very early in the morning on the day of her death,
Father Frawley, seeing the ominous light, hastened
to her bedside, and assisted her soul into a happy
eternity.
The Solemn Funeral Mass, which took place on
July 23, was thus described by the Boston Globe:
"Impressive Funeral Services To-day at the Mission
Church.
"Funeral services over the remains of Sister Mary Grace,
of the Convent of Notre Dame were held at the Church of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help this morning. The deceased
was much beloved by the pupils of the school and all were
present to do honor to her memory.
"Sister Grace was robed in the garb she loved so well, and
she looked as if she were only sleeping. Her habit was of
black serge with white guimpe, white veil, and a long flowing
black veil. On her head was the crown of thorns which she
wore, when she made her solemn profession, and in her hands
was the parchment containing the vows she took when she
entered the order, and the crucifix and beads.
"The rosewood coffin rested on a bier in the center of the
parlor and was completely hidden with beautiful floral de-
THE SCHOOL 395
signs, the gifts of pupils and friends. The most noticeable
was a handsome pillow from the parents of the deceased and
an exquisite design from her brother and sister. The walls
of the parlor were festooned with black folds of crape,
caught up with white rosebuds, and a number of lights in
shrouded candelabras surrounding a silver crucifix mingled
their radiance with the sun's rays that streamed in through
the windows, relieving the sombre appearance of the par-
lors.
"At 8:45 the remains were borne to the church by twelve
young graduates of the school, wearing badges. They were :
Joseph A. Power, Harry Cleary, Joseph Nilan, Joseph Gal-
lagher, Edward Norton, Charles McKenzie, Edward Martin,
Thomas Fitzpatrick, Frank Daley, Michael Cotter, John
O'Regan, and Michael Mulligan. The chief mourners were
the brother and sister of the deceased. Then came the sis-
ters of the convent, preceded by the Superior, Sister Elise.
Next came the pupils and a long line of mourners.
"The street adjoining the church was lined with spec-
tators, and as the procession passed all heads were rever-
ently bared.
"The Rector, Rev. J. J. Frawley, C.SS.R., and a large
number of priests and altar boys carrying lighted tapers
met the cortege at the principal entrance and preceded the
remains down the aisle, chanting the De Profundis.
"A Solemn High Mass was celebrated by Fr. Frawley,
with Fr. Curran of Beverly as deacon, Fr. Corduke, C.SS.R.,
as subdeacon, and Fr. Gareis as Master of Ceremonies. The
Gregorian Chant was touchingly rendered by the children's
choir under the direction of Thomas Watterson, and at the
close of the services they sang with much effect 'Pie Jesu.'
"The coffin was opened in the vestibule, where many thou-
sands were allowed to look upon the familiar features for
the last time. The children were particularly affected and
their sobs and tears spoke more eloquently than words of
the love they bore their kind teacher.
"Contrary to the usual custom the interior of the church
had no signs of mourning in accordance with the rules of
the order, and the candelebra were white instead of black,
while the altars were ablaze with lights. During the ser-
vices, however, the solemn tolling of the bell mingled with
the sad tones of the requiem. A long line of carriages fol-
lowed the remains to Mt. Benedict, where the interment
took place, the clergy chanting the 'Benedictus.' "
396 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The School Sisters of Notre Dams.
The Redemptorist Fathers of Boston, mindful of
what they owe to the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
gladly seize this opportunity of testifying publicly
to their high admiration for this institute which
stands out so prominently among the many orders
devoted to teaching.
The Congregation of the School Sisters of Notre
Dame is a transformation of the French " Congrega-
tion de Notre Dame," founded in France, in 1597,
by St. Peter Fourier, an Augustinian monk. The
object of the members is to devote themselves to the
education of youth, to train the children under their
charge in the duties and practises of the Christian
life, as also to instruct them in the necessary and
useful branches of knowledge suitable to their age,
and condition in society.
St. Peter Fourier (1565-1640) was so remarkable
for his kindness of heart, learning, and zeal for souls
as to merit the title of the "good father of Mattain-
court," the place where he began his career as parish
priest on the Feast of Corpus Christi, 1597. At that
time the spiritual condition of the town was deplor-
able, but the holy canon, by his solid instructions, his
eloquent example, and continual prayer rooted out
the disorders that prevailed and revived the practise
of religion. He realized fully that in order to perpet-
ate his work, it would be necessary to pay special
attention to the education of the children. At first
he set to work with the boys, but in the designs of
God, that task was to devolve on John Baptist de
La Salle. Fourier, therefore, determined to found an
order of women who would give themselves to
THE SCHOOL 397
the education of female youth, not only within the
walls of their cloister, as was the custom at that time,
but also outside those walls.
His first spiritual daughter was a young woman of
his parish, Alix le Clerc, who was soon joined by four
other highly gifted and deeply pious young ladies.
Moved by the zealous exhortations of their saintly
pastor, these noble women enthusiastically offered to
devote themselves to the laudable work of giving in-
structions in Christian doctrine gratuitously to the
poor girls of the parish. During the midnight Mass
on Christmas, 1598, the five young heroines of Christ
presented themselves to the Saint, and were robed
by him in a plain black habit and black veil as a sign
of their renunciation of the world. Thus, at the man-
ger of the Heavenly Babe, the order that was des-
tined to lead countless souls to the knowledge and
the love of the Incarnate God, sprang into existence.
Shortly afterwards, St. Peter Fourier confided the
young company to the care of the Countess d'Apre-
mont, canoness of the chapter of Poissy, by whom
they were trained in the elementary principles of the
religious life. The Saint himself drew up rules for
them, which the Bishop of Toul approved.
Under the fostering care and incessant vigilance of
the saintly founder and of his first daughter in the
Lord, known in religion as Mother Theresa of Jesus,
the mustard- seed of the new congregation grew to be
a giant tree that spread its branches over France and
Germany.
But, alas ! during the French Revolution, its ninety
convents in France were suppressed, and soon after,
those in Germany fell a prey to the so-called seculari-
zation.
Conspicuous among those who lamented the sup-
pression of the schools and convents were the saintly
398 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
bishop of Ratisbon, George Michael Witmann, and
his pious friend, Father Francis Sebastian Job. The
convent school of the Congregation de Notre Dame
in Ratisbon, Bavaria, was one of those secularized
and closed in 1809. But it was precisely this house that
Divine Providence had destined to be the instrument
for the foundation of a separate but related congre-
gation.
Bishop Witmann found in a pupil of the sup-
pressed convent school, Caroline Gerhardinger, the
link between the parent congregation and its off-
spring, which was to bear the name of the " School
Sisters of Our Lady." Both he and Father Job
agreed that the rules and constitutions of St. Peter
Fourier should be the basis for the prospective con-
gregation, but with such modifications as were suited
to modern conditions. Thenceforth, the Sisters were
to be allowed to teach school in smaller towns and in
rural parishes, a truly providential design, as the
sequel showed, for the members of the institute
were thus enabled to accomplish greater things in the
field of Christian education.
Caroline Gerhardinger made her religious profes-
sion as Sister Mary Theresa of Jesus, on Nov. 16,
1834. About a year and a half afterwards, April 10,
1836, the first investiture of novices took place, seven
postulants receiving the habit and veil at Neunburg
vorm Wald, from the hands of Mother Theresa, who
on that day herself donned the religious garb for the
first time.
So abundantly did Almighty God bless the congre-
gation that within five years the mother house at
Neunburg proved too small. In 1841, at the request
of King Louis the First, of Bavaria, it was re-
moved to "The Au" (the Meadow). This, like-
wise, proving too small, the former convent of the
THE SCHOOL 399
Poor Clares, which dated back to 1284, was pur-
chased, restored, and deeded over to the School Sis-
ters of Notre Dame. The new establishment was
solemnly blessed, October 16, 1843, by His Grace
Archbishop Lothaire Anselm of Munich.
On January 23, 1854, His Holiness Pius IX con-
firmed the Congregation of the School Sisters of
Notre Dame as an order distinct from the original
institute founded by St. Peter Fourier. The consti-
tutions of the new society were approved by the same
illustrious Pontiff July 13, 1859, and again August
26, 1865. Thus stamped with the approval of the
Vicar of Christ, the Congregation made wonderful
progress and wrought high and holy things in the
glorious cause of Christian education.
On July 31, 1847, the first School Sisters of Notre
Dame to come to America landed at New York.
They were invited to this country by Bishop O'Connor
of Pittsburgh at the request of the Redemptorist
Fathers. There were six nuns in the party; two of
whom, the Venerable Mother General Theresa of
Jesus and Sister Mary Emanuela, a novice and a
companion of the Mother, were to return to Europe ;
the four others, who were to remain in America of
their own free choice, were Sisters Seraphina von
Pronath, Mary Magdalena, Mary Barbara and Mary
Caroline. The last, though the youngest of all, was
destined to be the Superior for 42 years and to ac-
complish marvels for the Congregation. The brave
pioneers were bound for St. Mary's, Elk Co., Pa.,
where they arrived on the Feast of the Assumption.
On the way, Sister Emanuela died at Harrisburg.
As St. Mary's was then in the heart of the dense
forests of Pennsylvania, MotherTheresa quickly saw
that it was not suitable for a permanent foundation,
least of all for the mother house, as had been original-
400 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
ly intended. In her search for another location, she
consulted the Rev. John N. Neumann, C. SS.R.,
then Superior of the Redemptorists in Pittsburgh.
Father Neumann decided that Baltimore would fill
all the requirements, and secured a house on Aisquith
Street, near St. James's Church, where, in October,
1847, the community was formally established.
When the success of the Sisters' work in Baltimore
became known, invitations from various parts of the
country began to pour in upon them. Before long
they established a solid reputation as a corps of able,
well-trained teachers, who followed a regular course
of instruction in a carefully arranged plan of studies.
Within a few years houses of the order sprang up in
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. By a decree
dated October 10, 1850, Sister Caroline was appoint-
ed "Vicar General" of the whole community in
America, with orders to fix her residence in Milwau-
kee, Wisconsin. In 1876, the foundations in the East
were erected into a separate province, with the mother
house in Baltimore.
Mother Caroline proved to be a fine type of the
"valiant woman" spoken of in Holy Scripture. In
ability, zeal, courage, determination, and boundless
confidence in God, she bears comparison with the
great St. Theresa of Avila. The Church in America
owes her an eternal debt of gratitude for her tireless
labors in the cause of parochial schools. On this
point the Most Rev. Archbishop Spalding said of
her: "Her services in behalf of parochial schools are
of inestimable value, as without parish schools there
is no hope that the Church will be able to maintain
itself in America."
At the present time the Congregation of the School
Sisters of Notre Dame is ably governed by Mother
Stanislaus Kostka, who is the fifth Commissary Gen-
eral of the order.
THE SCHOOL 401
In this country, besides the central establishment
in Milwaukee, the Congregation maintains provin-
cial houses in Baltimore, St. Louis, and at Mankato,
in Minnesota. According to the latest official statis-
tics, it counts 4,655 members and 121,913 pupils.
The School Sisters conduct 322 schools, 11 orphan-
ages, 8 boarding-schools, 14 high schools, 1 Indian
school, 1 deaf-mute institute, and 3 schools for col-
ored children. It has foundations in 30 dioceses in the
United States, in one diocese in Canada, and in Porto
Rico, where it has charge of two schools.
The able article on the Congregation, in " The
Queen's Work" for April, 1918, from which we
have taken most of the foregoing items, thus con-
cludes :
"The religious community of the School Sisters is of a
truly cosmopolitan character, as American as it is Cath-
olic. Our Country's motto 'E pluribus Unum' finds an ad-
missible illustration in this sisterhood and its work. The
Sisters conduct English, French, German, Bohemian, Ital-
ian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak, and Spanish schools."
It is the devout wish and fervent prayer of the
Fathers of the Mission Church that the School Sis-
ters of Notre Dame, here and everywhere else, now
and at all other times, may enjoy every grace and
blessing under the sheltering mantle of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help.
CHURCH SOCIETIES.
In every well-regulated parish, one finds certain
pious societies, the general purpose of which is to
sustain or renew fervor of spirit and to make for a
more practical and sturdy faith. Hence the Church
has expressly declared that the faithful are to be
praised if they join such associations established or at
least recommended by her.
The Archconfraternity of the Holy Family.
The principal society in all Redemptorist parishes
is the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family, which
was established at Liege, Belgium, in 1844, by Mon-
sieur Henry Belletable. This gentleman, a non-com-
missioned officer of engineers and at the same time
an ardent propagator of the Society of St. Vincent
de Paul, communicated to the Rev. Victor
Deschamps, C. SS.R. (afterwards Cardinal Arch-
bishop, and Primate of Belgium), his intention of as-
sembling a number of workmen on one night in each
week for the purpose of joining in prayer and pious
reading and of encouraging one another in the prac-
tice of Christian virtue. Father Deschamps ap-
proved the plan, and on Whitmonday, the pious offi-
cer and a few workingmen met in a room belonging
to a poor carpenter. The leader pointed out the end
he had in view, the difficulties to be overcome, and the
means to be employed in order to insure success.
" My friends," said he, " being employed at the can-
BO\YLIX<; ALLKVS AND POOL ROOM
RECREATION ROOM
THE LIBRARY
THE ASSEMBLY ROOM
CHURCH SOCIETIES 403
non factory, I live, as you are aware, in the midst of
workingmen and I take the greatest interest in their
welfare. But for a long time it had grieved me to see
such a number of them given to drink, living without
any religion, working on Sundays, drinking on Mon-
days and totally neglecting the welfare of their chil-
dren. You might do a deal of good and contribute
much to the improvement of their condition and that
of their families, if you would unite your efforts to
bring your companions and friends to your Monday
meetings." On hearing this simple and earnest ap-
peal, these good workingmen recognized a true friend
of the people and a true Christian who had their in-
terests at heart.
The association grew so rapidly that the carpen-
ter's room soon became too small for its greatly in-
creasing numbers. The Redemptorist Fathers placed
the oratory of St. Alphonsus, at Liege, at their dis-
posal; but this also proved insufficient to accommo-
date the crowds, and on the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception, 1844, the men began to meet in the spa-
cious church of the Redemptorists. The Bishop gave
his hearty approval to the society, erected it canoni-
cally, and on April 20, 1847, obtained the sanction of
Pope Pius IX, who enriched the association with
many indulgences and raised it to the dignity of an
Ar chconf r ater nity . *
In 1866 there were 750 affiliations with 250,000
members, and the society had spread from Belgium
into Holland, France, Germany, Italy, America, Ire-
land, England, and Scotland. It supplied an urgent
need, and was a providential remedy for the evils
which afflict not only individuals, but also the family
and society.
*By an archconfraternity is meant a sodality which is em-
powered to affiliate other associations of the same species.
404 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
In our day especially, the Archconfraternity of
the Holy Family, is necessary not only to elevate and
sanctify, but even to save the family, for the powers
of darkness in this age are making desperate efforts
to destroy the family. The sacramental character of
Matrimony is flouted and scouted; its indissolubility
is made the subject of coarse buffoonery; and its sa-
cred obligations are cast aside as thoughtlessly as one
would throw away an old garment. According to
official statistics, there is, in the United States, 1
divorce for every 8 marriages, and bold and brazen
divorcees hasten to contract adulterous unions. But
worse still, Socialists and Bolshevists would abolish
even the outward form of marriage; they would legal-
ize open concubinage, and make the children
the property of the State, to be educated in
public asylums. The antidote to these hellish doc-
trines is the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family,
pointing back to Nazareth, where sat enthroned the
ideal marital and family virtues, and pointing up to
Heaven where the ideal family meets its eternal re-
ward.
As the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family was
organized primarily for workingmen, we have a right
to look to it for the solution of one of the most acute
questions of the day the labor problem. It is a bul-
wark against Socialism, and thus admirably fulfils
a recommendation of His Holiness Leo XIII, the
Workingman's Pope, who on December 28, 1878,
wrote:
"Since the followers of Socialism are sought more espe-
cially among the class of men who are artisans and who
work for hire, and who wearied with their toilsome lot, are
more easily allured by the hope of riches and the promise
of wealth, it seems fit to encourage societies of artisans and
workingmen, which founded under the guardianship of re-
CHURCH SOCIETIES 405
ligion, may render all their associates content with their
lot and patient of toil and may induce them to lead a quiet
and tranquil life."
Because of the strained relations which have so
long existed between Capital and Labor, it has be-
come a habit of mind with many of us to regard them
as necessarily antagonistic, and, therefore, incapable
of reconciliation. Yet in the Divine Head of the
Holy Family they were beautifully reconciled.
Jesus was a capitalist and he was a laboring man. He
was a capitalist, because He created and owned the
earth and the fulness thereof. He was a laboring
man, because for long years He worked at the trade
of carpenter. Joseph also was of royal lineage; the
blood of kings coursed through his veins; he had a
title to the throne of his ancestors, but he was con-
tent to renounce the honors and the riches of this
world and to live in lowly poverty. So also, if the
capitalist of today would root out of his heart the
grasping and groveling spirit of a sordid avarice and
materialism; if the laboring man, on the other hand,
would always be satisfied with just and reasonable
remuneration; and if both would practise that de-
tachment from earthly things, of which the Holy
Family presents so noble a pattern, there would be
no i conflict between Capital and Labor, but both
would live in Christian unity and harmony.
The Archconfraternity of the Holy Family safe-
guards the children also from the attacks of the
devil and his agents by providing them with the
means of Christian training, and by stressing the
idea that in matters affecting the education of the
child, the Church and the parents, not the State, are
the final arbiters. For does it not teach that the
child is a sacred trust committed by God to the par-
406 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
ents, on whom devolves the duty of guiding it on to
eternal happiness? We all know that in this
country today a deadly blow is being aimed at the
Christian education of children. There is a move-
ment on foot to abolish the parochial schools, or at
least, to paralyze their freedom of action, and to take
away from the parents the right to educate the child
with a view to its eternal interests. This wicked de-
sign is masked under the form of the Smith-Towner
bill, which in ultimate intent and effect would compel
parents to send their children to public schools, from
which the knowledge of God and of the saving truths
of religion would be excluded by avowed enemies of
the Church. But in the Archconfraternity of the
Holy Family, parents are reminded over and over
again that they dare not entrust their sacred duty in
this matter to any authority that would train the lit-
tle ones not for Heaven, but for this world only, and
consequently for the devil.
The Archconfraternity of the Holy Family pro-
tects the chastity of our young men and young
women by proposing to their imitation the modesty
and purity of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In these
evil days, when immodest styles of dress, lecherous
books, and suggestive dramas, are audaciously
paraded before the gaze of our young people, whither
shall they fly to escape the assaults of the demon of
impurity, if not to the bosom of the Holy Family,
where they will find ready to hand all the weapons of
defence necessary in their warfare against the powers
of lust?
He who reads aright the signs of the times knows
that at the present day bitter war is being waged
against our holy Faith. We must then bear in mind
and act up to the words of Tertullian: " In the great
perils of his country every man ought to be a soldier,
CHURCH SOCIETIES 407
and in the struggles of Holy Faith every Christian
ought to be an apostle." The means to be such are
offered in the Association of the Holy Family. The
weekly meetings will refresh in the memory of the
members many truths of our holy religion, make them
acquainted little by little with the real history, the
struggles and the triumphs of Holy Church, will
warn them against the calumnies, errors and loose
doctrines of the day, and will make them find true
happiness in the practise of a truly Christian life.
Helped on by the example of many brethren, they
will never know fear or shame ; but, on the contrary,
deem it an honor openly to profess their belief, and
thus challenge others to become practical Christians.
Cardinal Manning, in an address to a Confraternity
of the Holy Family, said :
"The Holy Family is meant for a training for every man,
one by one. If men stand together as you do, helping and
watching over one another, you will stand like an army,
solid by good training, and the devil will not be able to over-
come any of you; and even if he were able to cast any of
you down, by the strength of the Holy Family, surrounding
and protecting you, such a man will soon come back to a
sense of his duty. If men are not organized I am afraid
they will go wrong, right and left. Catholic men, as you
are, will be scattered, they will fall into sin of one kind or
another, and they will wreck their homes and families."
On one occasion, when Pius IX was at Frosinone,
he met the men of the Holy Family Association as
they were pouring out from their weekly meeting at
the Redemptorist Church. They surrounded His
Holiness, who at once addressed them, telling them
among other things, how highly he valued the society
of which they were privileged to be members. " Such
a society," he said, "by which the Holy Family so
much tried on earth may be honored and by whose
408 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
honor Christian families may be restored such a
society I often wished for." And anyone who reads
the list of favors granted by the beloved Pontiff will
see how much he had its prosperity at heart.
Although the Holy Family Association was estab-
lished in order to aid workingmen in the ordinary
meaning of the term, it now numbers in its ranks men
of every condition in life, making them in a true sense
brothers. On this point Cardinal Manning, when
consecrating new members in London, said:
"I am glad to see that there are men here of every con-
dition of life. If there are any men here who are more rich,
or more educated, or higher in the world, I say to them I
thank God doubly to see you here to-night. You are as
much bound to be a member of the Holy Family as the man
who works all day with his hands. We are all equal before
God .... differences are only of earth and will pass away
at our death."
But this great Cardinal of the Workingman was
surpassed in his esteem for the Holy Family by
another, Cardinal Deschamps. His Eminence, in a
communication addressed to the members, seemed
for the moment to forget all he had done for the
Universal Church and for Belgium in particular,
when he wrote: " I count on your prayers, men of the
Holy Family; I will thank you by my own; I will
ask for you what I ask for myself, perseverance of
the Holy Family, that we may die with the holy
names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in our hearts and
upon our lips." And later, when he felt the great
weight of his immense diocese pressing upon him : " I
hope that on the day of my death, when I shall have
to appear before God, the Holy Family will con-
tribute powerfully to lower the scale of justice on the
side of mercy. I shall say to Our Lord Jesus Christ
through Mary and Joseph: 'Behold, O Lord, all the
CHURCH SOCIETIES 409
souls saved by the Holy Family, and remember Thou
didst deign to make use of me to obtain from Thy
Vicar on earth all that was necessary for the founda-
tion of this work, all that made it firm, all that enriched
it with heavenly treasures.' Yes, dear members of
the Holy Family, you are one of the great grounds
of my hope." And then, like a father, as indeed he
was, he exhorted them to persevere until death in the
Confraternity, and to leave to their children the
medal of the Holy Family as the keepsake and pledge
of salvation. The Cardinal wished to see every man
in the Holy Family. ("Rome," Vol. IV, 1908,
pp. 90-92.)
Such, too, has always been the wish of the Redemp-
torist Fathers of Boston. Therefore, we find that
just one year after the establishment of the Mission
Church, February 4, 1872, the Archconfraternity of
the Holy Family for men was organized by Father
Gross. He took personal charge of the society, and
by his interesting and practical conferences at once
infused into it life and vigor. On June 1, 1873,
Father Petsch founded the women's division. The
juvenile division was formed in 1881, with Father
O'Brien as Spiritual Director. During the course,
of the years, frequent retreats have been given to the
various branches of the Holy Family, at the close of
which large numbers have been received into the
society; thus at the retreat to the women in 1893,
537 new members were enrolled. The Monthly
Messenger for February, 1902, contained the follow-
ing notice:
"We are happy to announce that the Single Men's Divi-
sion of the Holy Family has been steadily increasing during
the past year An excellent spirit is manifested by
the members. The attendance at the meeting last Monday
evening was the largest in several years. There is also a
great increase of late in the attendance at the General Com-
410 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
munion of the single men on the fourth Sunday. This is the
most palpable proof that the spirit of God is busy among
them."
At the present time, the Single Women's Branch,
which numbers 2,308 members, is the most flourish-
ing. It is divided into 80 sections, each varying in
membership from twenty to fifty. Each section is
presided over by a prefect aided by a sub-prefect. In
a book containing the names and the addresses of
all the members of each section, the presence of each
individual is noted by the prefect of the respec-
tive section. Cards are then sent to the absentees,
gently reminding them of their duty to attend the
conferences and to take part in the General Com-
munion. The result is that very few stay away with-
out a weighty reason.
The days and hours of conference for the different
divisions are as follows :
Married Men . Every Tuesday, at 8 :00 P. M.
Single Men, . . First Monday of every month, at 7:45
P.M.
Married Women Second Sunday of every month, at 4:00
P.M.
Single Women . First Sunday of every month, at 3:45
P.M.
Boys . . . Second and fourth Sundays of every
month, at 2 :30 P. M.
Girls . . . First and third Sundays of every month,
at 2:30 P.M.
The conference for the single women, because of
their great numbers, is held in the upper church. The
others, in St. Gerard's Chapel.
That the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family
may everywhere continue to be what a German
Protestant historian of the modern Netherlands once
CHURCH SOCIETIES 411
called it, " the most powerful bulwark of Catholics "
is the ardent wish and daily prayer of the Fathers.
May its blessed influence penetrate every nook and
corner of the Mission Church Parish, and may its
saving grace bring all our people at last to the feet
of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the kingdom of the
blessed!
The League of the Sacred Heart.
The League of the Sacred Heart has been estab-
lished in the parish nearly thirty years. On July 2,
1892, the Diploma of Aggregation was received
whereby the Mission Church was constituted a Local
Centre. The League succeeded the Confraternity of
the Sacred Heart, which was organized in June, 1878,
and counted 1,700 members at its disbandment, four-
teen years later. Father Frawley, seeing the con-
stantly increasing devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, as manifested each succeeding month by the
immense number of Communions on the first Friday,
resolved to have the League canonically erected in
the church. The result towered above the most
enthusiastic calculations. On the first Friday of
August, 1892, the number of Communions was with-
out parallel or precedent. For two consecutive Sun-
days, the Rev. Henry Gareis, C. SS. R., the Director
of the League, explained to a crowded church its
aim and purpose. At the very outset, it had 2,300
members and 100 promoters. Today the League
totals 4,683. The Promoters meet in St. Gerard's
Chapel on the fourth Wednesday of every month, at
8 :00 P. M. On the First Friday of every month, the
Blessed Sacrament is exposed all day from 5:30
A. M. to 8:30 P. M.
412 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The Altar Society.
The Altar Society was established by the Rev.
Father Gross, August 6, 1871. The following rules
were adopted:
1. A meeting of the members shall be held on the second
Sunday of every month.
2. A High Mass shall be sung on the second Monday of
every month for the living and deceased members.
3. A Requiem High Mass shall be celebrated for every
member at death and the living members shall offer Holy
Communion and pray for the repose of her soul.
Within a year after its inauguration there were
1,100 members, and at the end of 1873, 1,570. At
present practically every member of both branches
of the Women's Holy Family Association is also a
member of the Altar Society, so that the two have
become identified.
The Church Debt Society.
The Church Debt Society was organized December
3, 1871, by Father Gross. On that day, at his direc-
tion, the Rev. Michael Mueller, C. SS. R., preached
an appropriate sermon showing the spiritual advan-
tages to be gained by those who would join it:
1. Holy Mass would be said every Sunday at 7 A. M.,
for the living and the deceased members.
2. A special memento for all the members would be made
at every Mass celebrated by the Fathers of the church.
The membership at present is 2,100. The parish is
divided into 77 districts, each of which is canvassed
CHURCH SOCIETIES 413
every month by a duly accredited collector. The
monthly assessment is 25 cents. A meeting of the
collectors is held on the second Sunday of every
month in the office of the rectory.
To both the collectors and the members, who have
done so much for the church, heartfelt thanks are
due. May Our Lady of Perpetual Help bless and
reward them!
The St. Vincent de Paul Society.
The Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society
was organized in 1876, with a membership of 25 men
prominent in the district, among whom were doctors,
lawyers, and men of large business affairs. In 1879,
it was reorganized and Colonel P. T. Hanley was
elected President. The latter conference continues
in existence to this day. At first the members
assembled in the room above the sacristy, but, in 1884,
at the suggestion of Father Henning, the meetings
began to be held in the old rectory. The funds of
the society were raised from collections in the church,
from annual picnics, from donations, and from
bequests.
Till 1915, the Conference of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help was under the jurisdiction of the Metro-
politan Council of New York, but in that year it
became subject to the Metropolitan Council then
established in Boston.
Mr. Eugene J. Farley is now in charge of the Con-
ference. Of the six former presidents, only one, Mr.
John Reardon, is living.
The Conference has been activly engaged in all
kinds of charitable work. It has not only provided
for the "worthy poor" of the district, but has also
414 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
taken a lively interest in outside enterprises of wider
scope. At the time of the earthquake in San Fran-
cisco, it sent generous donations to the Conference
there, and also to that at Halifax, after the disaster
that visited that city. During the epidemic of
influenza in 1918, it did a vast amount of good for
the poor of our own district.
The present list of " worthy poor " embraces fifty
families, with an average of five members, who every
week are provided with provisions, and in the winter
with fuel, clothing, and shoes also. The Conference
pays special attention to furnishing suitable raiment
for children who are about to receive their First Com-
munion or to be confirmed. About 250 pair of shoes
and 550 pieces of clothing are distributed annually.
According to the official report of the Metropolitan
Council of Boston, for the year ending September
30, 1912 (pp. 35 and 40), the Conference of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help was first in the number of
visits made (2,024), and in the amount disbursed
($2,915). The following year, it again headed the
list in the same two points: number of visits made,
(1,909) ; funds distributed ($2,630) (pp. 37 and 43).
For the year ending September 30, 1914, it was again
first in the amount expended ($2,445) (p. 41).
The Conference is at present composed of the
following members :
John Burns Alexander O'Handley
Eugene J. Farley A. A. Tapp
W. T. Phipps M. J. Dolan
Peter Kelly Raymond A. Bacon
John Sullivan Michael Coughlin
CHURCH SOCIETIES 415
The Society for the Propagation of the Faith;
The Society for the Propagation of the Faith dates
back to November 12, 1899. On that day, the Rev.
Joseph Treacy, D.D., General Director, preached
at all the Masses, explaining the aims, obligations,
and benefits of the organization. At once 134 pro-
moters were enrolled. The Rev. Thomas Donohue,
C. SS.R., was appointed Local Director, and by the
end of the year there were 1,300 members. At present
the Society counts 4,122 members, including 160
promoters. The great increase in numbers has made
it necessary for the promoters to meet bi-monthly;
the place of assemblage is St. Gerard's Chapel; the
time, Monday evening at 8 :00 P. M. The Society in
the Mission Church has always made a creditable
showing; the returns for 1918 were $4,570.26 (fifth
highest), and for 1919, $7,080.41 (third highest).
May Our Lady of Perpetual Help instill into the
hearts of the people of the parish an ever-growing
love for those benighted souls who are groping in the
darkness of paganism and infidelity, and may She
stimulate and energize the fine spirit of faith which
lias animated the zealous promoters and the generous
contributors !
PILATE'S DAUGHTER
It is a source of great pleasure to treat of a parish
activity quite peculiar to the Mission Church the
annual reproduction of Pilate's Daughter. It must
be counted as one of " The Glories of Mary in Bos-
ton," that this drama, dedicated to Her and performed
under her patronage within the shadow of her
Shrine, every Lent for the past eighteen years, has
brought through her intercession, numberless souls to
the Sacred Heart of her Divine Son.
Pilate's Daughter is such a unique contribution to
dramatic art that a brief page of its early history will
surely be of absorbing interest. It was written by
the Rev. F. L. Kenzel, C.SS.R., in 1901, for the
single women of the Archconfraternity of the Holy
Family at their own urgent request. The author was
greatly encouraged in his task by the extraordinary
talent he had discovered among the young ladies dur-
ing the performance of a play that he had arranged
for them, entitled " The Promise."
He felt that such unusual ability could not be bet-
ter employed than in a great spiritual effort to make
God better known, by means of a sacred drama in
which the loving kindness and mercy of Our Divine
Lord would be revealed in vivid representation and
pathetic narrative. While he was seeking material to
the purpose, the play "Pontia" by Rev. F. Felix,
O. S. B., came to his notice. Finding in this drama
the incident of a rose offered to Christ in testimony of
affection, Father Kenzel conceived the idea of writing
a miracle play in which a rose that had touched the
PILATE'S DAUGHTER 417
robe of Christ, would become the medium of His
miraculous power, and would also give occasion for
the tender pathetic story of His Passion and Death.
The text was soon completed and a meeting of the
prospective players called. All who had taken part
in "The Promise" attended, besides many other
young ladies of the parish. The play was read to
them by Father Kenzel and met with enthusiastic
applause. The rules which were to govern the per-
formers were then explained. No one could be
admitted to the cast who was not actuated purely by
the desire to bring souls nearer to God. There was
to be no place for personal ambition, and, hence, each
player was obliged to declare her perfect willingness
to take the most humble and unimportant part if
assigned to her. Any discussion or uncharitable
criticism of one another, any failure to grasp the
religious tenor of the work, should entail dismissal.
Every correction was to be received with the most
ready submission; for the play was to take on the
character of a devotional exercise rather than of a
dramatic entertainment. It was to be in deed and
truth a serious and touching sermon, which was to be
studied and delivered in a devout and prayerful
spirit; hence, all participants were required to
approach Holy Communion frequently, to recite the
Rosary, and to make a visit to the Shrine before each
rehearsal and performance. Scrupulous compliance
with all these demands insured only such performers
as were deeply imbued with the sacred character of
the effort and actuated by the highest spiritual
motives.
The large cast was selected by Father Kenzel and
the coaching entrusted to a devout Catholic pro-
fessional actor of middle age, who was guided in his
interpretation of the text by the author himself.
418 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
While the rehearsals were in progress, special scenery
was designed and painted by the scenic artist of one
of the large theatres in Boston. The costumes were
made with historical accuracy by a number of
efficient dressmakers of the parish, who cheerfully
gave their services gratis for the good cause. The
many and difficult electrical effects were furnished
by competent electricians, while the stage equipment
was given to a corps of young men of the parish,
whose task was to assemble the numerous properties
of the play. The "Angry Mob" was selected from
the Married Men's Branch of the Holy Family, and
carefully trained by Father Kenzel. Incidental
music and appropriate hymns were written by a noted
composer of the city.
The fifty ladies of the cast and the equally large
number of men who assisted in the production, all
labored hard and faithfully without remuneration
for weeks, and in such a spirit of harmony and
enthusiasm as to render it a pleasure rather than a
task for Father Kenzel to superintend the work. He
has always looked back on that busy period of prep-
aration with sincere gratitude for the noble and self-
sacrificing labor of his willing and earnest assistants.
The difficulties were, of course, immense; and there
were occasional moments of misgiving and of grave
apprehension as to the ultimate success of the under-
taking; for the production was by far the most pre-
tentious that had ever been attempted in the parish.
The expenses, too, were enormous, and no one was
overconfident that the four evening performances and
the two matinees which had been planned, would
cover the expenditure. However, Father Rector
Frawley, with his characteristically keen vision,
never wavered in his conviction that the play would
receive instant and universal recognition. He bade
XE\V HIGH ALTAR
Erected in 180,6
SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELI>
ST. ALPHONSUS' HALL ON SMITH STREET
Erected in IQOO
(The following are some of the views in the Hall)
THE THEATUE
PILATE'S DAUGHTER 419
no expense to be spared, for he felt certain that the
compelling force of its lesson would make the play a
spiritual awakening for thousands. In order to ex-
tend its influence, he limited the price of the best seats
to 35 cents; a price which continued for some years,
till the audience became too large to be accommo-
dated.
The events of the first night will never be forgotten
by those who took part. The picture of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help was placed in all the dressing-rooms.
Her medal was attached to the switchboard and to
the various electrical machines. Her assistance was
earnestly and constantly invoked by all, for they
knew that it was to be her play. Before the curtain
rose, every one engaged in the performance knelt for
the priest's blessing, and the stage and the properties
were sprinkled with holy water. Owing to the sacred
character of the production, the audience was
requested to abstain from every species of applause.
After the first act, a large basket of beautiful flowers
was presented to the cast by the ushers; and the
appeal for applause was so completely forgotten, that
it was feared the wild enthusiasm of the audience
would utterly ruin the solemn effect of what was to
follow. This, however, was not the case. The players,
encouraged by this spontaneous outburst of appreci-
ation, were more deeply impressed with the responsi-
bility of delivering their holy message, and the play
ended with the audience deeply moved, reverent and
thoughtful. They left the hall as a congregation
leaves the church after Benediction. "Pilate's
Daughter" had been launched on its career which
has proved marvelous in the fullest sense of the term.
The box-office was besieged till midnight for tickets.
The press notices next day were lengthy and most
flattering. Several newspapers devoted a whole page
420 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
to a synopsis of the play, with photographs of the
scenes and the players in the next Sunday edition.
The advertising agency connected with the Elevated
Road offered free advertising space in the cars and
at the various stations. But the audience proved the
best advertising medium. They had been strongly
and strangely moved, and they desired everyone else
to have a similar experience.
Within twenty-four hours, every seat had been
sold for the remaining performances ; and the demand
was so great that at once arrangements were made
for four extra evening performances and two more
matinees. The tickets for these were sold immedi-
ately ; even then hundreds had to be turned away, and
were satisfied only when assured that another series
of performances would be given during the follow-
ing Lent. The promise was kept, and sixteen or
eighteen performances were given. Later on, the
number was increased each Lent to twenty-five and
sometimes more. On the occasion of the hundredth
rendition, the Rev. Father Rector Hayes presented
a small gold rose to all the players who had not missed
a single performance. The popularity of the play
has never been confined to Catholics. Even from the
beginning many non-Catholics mingled with our
people in the audiences, and the attendance of large
Bible classes and Protestant societies in a body was
not infrequent.
In seeking a reason for the phenomenal success of
the play in Boston, we are forced to demand some-
thing more than the beauty of the text or the strength
of the incidents; something more than the superb
scenery, the wonderful lighting effects and the
gorgeous costumes; something more, even, than the
deep sincerity of the players and the dramatic charm
of their action and delivery. All this we witness in
PILATE'S DAUGHTER 421
many other spiritual and biblical performances that
are lamentable failures with the general public. It
is simply the unseen, the supernatural element that
makes "Pilate's Daughter" a success. It is the
earnest prayers and the frequent Holy Communions
of those who take part. It is the responsive piety
and devotion of audiences that seek elevation of soul
in spiritual things ; and it is, above all, the wonderful
assistance of Our Lady of Perpetual Help who dis-
penses to both performers and audiences the sweet
graces of her Divine Son, as is evinced by the numer-
ous conversions of Catholics and non-Catholics that
have marked the progress of the play ever since its
first performance.
SYNOPSIS OF PILATE'S DAUGHTER.
Act 1
Pilate's daughter Claudia, a little girl of ten years, casts
a rose over the balcony of her father's palace, as Christ
goes forth condemned to death. The flower touches the robe
of the Master and thenceforth not only does not fade, but
is endowed with most marvelous power. The dream of
Pilate's wife, spoken of in St. Matthew, 27:19. Her message
to Pilate. Rebecca, whose lover, the youth of Nairn, has
been restored to life by Christ, loves the Nazarene, and
believes in Him. Leah, whose father, a money changer, has
been struck by the Saviour, swears vengeance on Christ,
aids Judas in betraying Him, and is punished with the loss
of reason. Pilate's household views the Crucifixion from
the palace Mysterious darkness "He dies, the devils tell
me so."
Act 2
Ten years later, Christian women led by Claudia and
Rebecca meet at midnight in a woods on the Alban Hills
to bury a child. Claudia reveals herself and restores the
422 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
child by laying the rose on its breast. The Christians are
captured and lodged in the Mamertine prison. Leah plans
Claudia's death, but is foiled by the miraculous power of
the rose. "It palsies every sinew of my hand."
Act 3
Preparation for the Feast of Vesta. Rubia, a Vestal Vir-
gin, loses faith in the gods and goddesses of Rome and dis-
covers that Claudia, her friend in childhood, now a Chris-
tian, is about to suffer martyrdom. She determines to save
her. The Vestals dispute. The fire of the goddess expires,
on which account great calamities are supposed to threaten
Rome. Afra's prophecy.
"Woe, Woe, to thee, O Rome ! this crime appals,
And gloomy vultures settle on thy walls,
The fire of Vesta sleeps,
And in the shadows all thy greatness falls."
Act 4
Pilate's daughter and her friends in the Mamertine prison.
Nemis, through love for her aged - father, wavers in her
faith, but is encouraged by Claudia, who, by a touch of the
rose, causes a spring of water to flow from the rocky wall of
the prison cell. Rubia and Claudia meet again. Leah views
the Christians through the bars. "Like rats and moles, ye
huddle there together." Rubia's conversion to the faith by
the sudden appearance of a luminous cross. "I am a Chris-
tian."
Act 5
Jupiter's Feast, the Empress Agrippina presiding. "All
hail to Jupiter." The festal dance. The Empress sacri-
fices. Rubia's absence discovered. Servia's counsel. Afra
produces Pilate's daughter and the Christians. Leah re-
stored to reason by the rose. Conversions in the court.
Rage of the Empress. The last proof "If Jupiter be God,
the rose shall fade; if Christ be God, let Jupiter perish."
The statue crumbles. The sacred wine. "There's murder
in the goblet." Claudia's martyrdom. Grand finale. Claudia
in glory.
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION
The St. Alphonsus Association was founded
March 1, 1900, by the Rev. Father Frawley. It
superseded the Young Men's Mission Church Associ-
ation, which had been established about ten years
previously.
Father Frawley, to whom the young men had
always been specially dear, was forcibly impressed
by the following significant pronouncement and
recommendation of the Third Plenary Council of
Baltimore:
"We likewise consider as worthy of particular encourage-
ment associations for the promotion of healthful social
union among Catholics, and especially those whose aim is
to guard our Catholic young men against dangerous in-
fluences, and to supply them with the means of innocent
amusement and mental culture. It is obvious that our young
men are exposed to the greatest dangers, and, therefore,
need the most abundant help. Hence, in the spirit of our
Holy Father, Leo XIII, we desire the number of thoroughly
Catholic and well-organized associations for their benefit
greatly increased, especially in our large cities. We exhort
pastors to consider the formation and careful direction of
such societies as one of their most important duties."
Within a few months after his induction as Rector,
Father Frawley took the first steps towards the
organization of such a society as the Third Plenary
Council had in mind. At the beginning of February,
1891, he issued a prospectus which stated that the
object of the association he designed to establish was
424 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"to provide every kind of innocent amusement and
recreation that circumstances will permit, as well as
to offer every means for intellectual improvement
and general culture."
On February 9 and 10, an entertainment was given
under the auspices of the Young Men's Holy Family
Association, with the avowed object of bringing the
young men of the parish into closer social touch and
thus promoting the fraternal spirit. A few days
later, February 14, a meeting was called, at which an
agreement to form a social organization was speedily
reached and a committee appointed to draw up con-
stitution and by-laws. At the next meeting of the
young men, held about the middle of April, said con-
stitution and by-laws were unanimously adopted and
a motion made to proceed to the election of officers.
The formal establishment of the society was effected,
April 26, the octave day of the Feast of the Patron-
age of St. Joseph, who had been chosen patron of the
Association. A Solemn Mass marked the event.
The constitution called for a Reverend President,
in the person of the Reverend Rector of the Mission
Church, or the Spiritual Director of the Young
Men's Holy Family Association, the latter to act in
the name and by the authority of the Reverend Rec-
tor; a President, Vice-President, Recording Secre-
tary, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian,
Sergeant-at-Arms and nine directors, six of whom
were to be elected by the members and three to be
appointed by the Reverend President. According to
the terms of the constitution, the object of the
Association was to unite the young men of the
Mission Church parish, as well as other Catholic
young men, to keep them from evil influences by pro-
viding them with innocent recreation, to improve
them physically and intellectually, to interest them
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 425
in the lay work of the church and the parish, and to
serve as a bond for the preservation of faith and
morals. The constitution required every member to
be a strict Catholic, and at the same time, an active
member of the Archconfraternity of the Holy
Family, or of some other Confraternity, Sodality or
Conference established for the promotion of piety or
good works. The Reverend President had the power
to veto any act of the Association or of any depart-
ment thereof; and to call or adjourn a meeting or
preside thereat, as circumstances might require. The
first officers were: the Rev. President, Father Fraw-
ley ; Spiritual Director, the Rev. Alexander Klauder,
C.SS.R.; President, Michael W. Costello; Vice-
President, Mark B. Mulvey; Recording Secretary,
John Keenan; Financial Secretary, Mark Flanagan;
Treasurer, James Muldowney; Librarian, Patrick
McLoughlin; Sergeant-at-arms, Thomas Desmond;
Directors by election, Neil Tracey, John J. Kelly,
James McLoughlin, George Cunningham, William
Dowling, Joseph Judge; Directors by appointment,
Mark B. Mulvey, Charles Corbett, and Edward
McHugh.
In the matter of accommodations, the Association
had, indeed, a humble beginning. Its headquarters
were in the school building; at first, only one room,
with a piano; later on, three rooms, one of which
served as a gymnasium, were set aside for its pur-
poses. Nevertheless, as time advanced, the member-
ship steadily increased, the activities of the Associ-
ation constantly multiplied and widened, and in the
promotion of the interests of the parish, it began to
exert a mighty influence.
Father Frawley, who was a man of large and bold
ideas, quickly grasped the situation, and resolved to
enlarge the scope of the Association, to perfect its
426 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
organization, and to build for it a magnificent hall,
which should be the last word, so to say, in young
men's parochial clubs. The result was that the
Young Men's Mission Church Association became
the St. Alphonsus Association, with headquarters in
St. Alphonsus' Hall, elsewhere described.
In substance and in general trend, the constitution
and by-laws of the old organization were retained,
yet, of course, some changes and additions had to be
made to meet the growth and development of the
Association. According to the present-day rules, the
Board of Directors consists of 15 members, of whom
seven are appointed by the Reverend President and 8
elected by the Association; the Board of Directors
choose annually from among their number, by a
majority vote, a President, Vice-President, Secre-
tary, and Treasurer; as the Spiritual Director has a
vote, making in all 16, nine votes constitute a
majority; the term of office is one year; the day of
election, Low Sunday ; at least four general meetings
of the Association are held each year, while the Board
of Directors meets, usually, every Thursday evening ;
a general Communion followed by breakfast at the
rooms of the Association, takes place on Low
Sunday.
Membership is open to all Catholic young men over
18 years of age. The dues are $5.00 a year, payable
semi-annually; the initiation fee is $1.00. The present
membership is about 600.
There are seven departments: athletics, aquatics,
card games, bowling, billiards and pool, dramatics,
and music; each of which is administered by a com-
mittee and represented on the Board of Directors.
The Association conducts lectures, ladies' nights,
whist parties, bowling and pool tournaments (for
members), an excellent dramatic club, the leading
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 427
10-mile road race of New England, and the following
teams: football, basket-ball, track, and shell-racing.
The Association brings together in congenial com-
panionship those who wish to perfect themselves in
various lines of endeavor ; it may, therefore, be called
an educational institute which, as far as circumstances
allow, aims at developing the whole man. The in-
tellectual, the physical, and the social welfare of the
members all receive due attention. The intellect is
developed by the lectures given bi-monthly and by
informal talks with professional men who belong to
the Association: doctors, lawyers, teachers, and
musicians. The physical advantages center in the
gymnasium, and in the boating, bowling, and running
contests. The social inducements are found in fre-
quent entertainments, receptions to ladies, whist par-
ties, card games, pool and billiard games, in the
orchestra, and in the mandolin and glee clubs.
An example of the intellectual appeal which the
Association makes to its members, is afforded
by a course of lectures delivered in the hall
by Thos. A. Mullen, Esq., beginning Thursday,
November 22, 1900. The general subject of the lec-
tures was "The Outlines of the Constitutional and
Political History of the United States, from the be-
ginning of the Government to the Civil War."
Among the points which the broad theme embraced
were:
"The New: Government" (Monday, December 3).
"Political Development from 1801-1829" (Monday,
December 10).
"Slavery Questions" (Thursday, December 13).
"Slavery in the Territories " (Thursday, December 20).
"The Causes of the Civil War" (Thursday, December
27).
428 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Between September 1, 1900, and February 1, 1901,
about 200 new members were enrolled.
The Dramatic Class presented, January 8, 1901,
the drama, "Honor Vindicated," which, in the
opinion of some competent critics, was the best
amateur play produced up to that time in Boston.
Owing to the immense crowds that flocked to the hall,
the sale of tickets had to be stopped.
The first anniversary of the opening of St. Alphon-
sus' Hall was appropriately observed, with Mayor
Hart as the guest of the evening. His Honor made
an interesting speech, in the course of which he said
that when he arrived at the hall, he knew nothing
about the Association, its headquarters, or the work
it was doing. He was as much astonished as Thomas
Jefferson would have been had he gone to Washing-
ton that day and witnessed the magnificent cere-
monies that marked the inauguration of President
McKinley. The hall was an honor and credit to all,
and he congratulated the young men on their efforts.
To erect such a hall should be the crowning aim of
every religious organization, whether Protestant or
Catholic. He was glad to be present, and he would
tell other churches of the work being done here.
In June, 1901, the Association conducted a two
weeks' festival to defray the expense entailed by the
enlargement of the Sisters' convent. On each of the
twelve evenings an entirely new entertainment was
given in the hall.
Another highly interesting event of 1901 was the
victory of William Beatty of the St. Alphonsus
Bowling Team, who twice broke the world's candle-
pin record. In the first of two competitive tests, he
bowled 802, in seven consecutive strings; in the sec-
ond, 376, in three consecutive strings. The same
year, out of ten games of pool with various clubs, the
St. Alphonsus team won seven.
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 429
The St. Alphonsus Congress was organized Jan-
uary 12, 1902. Its object was to discuss topics of
local and of general interest, and to train the mem-
bers in parliamentary practise. On September 23
and 24, the annual convention of the Catholic Young
Men's Union of America was held in Hartford,
Conn. The St. Alphonsus Association was repre-
sented by the Rev. Francis L. Kenzel, C.SS.R., the
Spiritual Director, and by Dr. T. H. O'Connor,
Richard H. Baker, and Eugene J. Farley of the
Board of Directors. As a mark of appreciation of
the good work accomplished by the Association dur-
ing the past year, the President, Dr. O'Connor, was
unanimously chosen Vice-President of the Union
the highest office attainable by a layman. The Union
also voted to hold its next convention at St. Alphon-
sus' Hall.
In 1903, the St. Aphonsus Bowling Club won the
championship in the Catholic League of Greater
Boston. The prize consisted of a beautiful cup. Dur-
ing the last three months of this year, 93 new mem-
bers were admitted into the Association.
At the Marathon Race in St. Louis, in 1904,
Henry Brawley of the Association won seventh
place in a race in which the best runners in the world
took part.
The leading event of 1907 was thus described by
the Boston Herald, January 31, 1907:
" Archbishop Guest of Roxbury Society Gives St.
Alphonsus Association 'Unity and Loyalty' as Motto.
"Archbishop O'Connell celebrated the first anniversary of
his appointment to the archdiocese of Boston by attending
as the guest of honor the sixth annual banquet of the St.
Alphonsus Association of Roxbury last night. The 450
members present greeted him standing, with three hearty
cheers.
430 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
"The Archbishop complimented the members on the
strength of the organization and commended their success
in athletic and intellectual fields. 'I learned', he said, 'that
the organization has no motto. Let me suggest that it be
"Unity and Loyalty." '
"The motto was declared, unanimously adopted by the
association.
"Cups and flags, trophies won by the athletic teams, were
arranged around the hall, and over the guests' table a large
red, white and blue sign read 'Welcome'. President William
McGlinchey introduced William J. Shiels as toastmaster.
Michael Sughrue, ex-District Attorney of Suffolk county,
spoke of the rapid growth of the society and of the number
of representative men in its membership.
"Frank Ford, president of St. Vincent's Holy Name So-
ciety of South Boston, spoke of the need for more sym-
pathetic cooperation among Catholic societies.
"Father Hayes, Rector of the Mission Church, made prac-
tical suggestions for the improvement of the society and
admonished its members to turn out in large numbers on all
occasions.
"The Rev. D. J. O'Sullivan, of Boston College, ....
made a witty speech, choosing as his text the old adage,
'Save the pennies and the dollars will take care of them-
selves.'
"Between speeches the members were entertaind by vaude-
ville artists.
"The guests of the evening were Mayor Fitzgerald, Dr.
Hugh Cabot, President of the Union Boat Club ; Medical
Examiner Magrath, City Clerk Donovan, Dr. Timothy Rear-
don, Father Grant of St. Vincent's parish, James Moloney,
President of the Charlestown Literary Union; Henry V.
Macksey of the Catholic Union, Matthew Sheehan, President
of the Young Men's Catholic Association, and Asst. District
Attorney Dwyer."
On February 13, 1911, one of the grandest ban-
quets in the history of the Association was held. The
principal speaker was the veteran Congressman and
orator of national fame, Hon. William Bourke
Cockran of New York. The Boston Herald of the
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 431
following day gave the subjoined account of the
event :
"Bourke Cockran praises Lincoln Eulogizes War
President at Banquet of St. Alphonsus Association
--Calls him Divine Agent Rates Him as One of
Greatest Influences of All Time for Civilization.
"Bourke Cockran, speaking to 700 men at the annual
banquet of the St. Alphonsus Association, in Roxbury last
night, eulogized Abraham Lincoln, as a supreme leader in
many lines, but above all as an instrument of God, working
out in political institutions the principles of equality laid
down by Christ.
"Count John Grant Coyle of New York, the Very Rev.
James Hayes, C.SS.R., rector of the Mission Church, Rox-
bury, and Joseph A. Woods, president of the Association
were the other speakers. James S. Mahoney was toast-
master.
"Besides the speakers, at the head table were seated Col.
John L. Sullivan, Commissioner O'Meara, J. Frank Facey,
Joseph O'Neill, Daniel L. Prendergast, Mayor William T.
Shea, of Quincy, Michael H. Fahey, James P. Maloney,
Peter Tague, the Rev. James A. Cunningham, Dr. P. J.
Dervin, William F. Garcelon, Dr. Timothy Reardon, the
Rev. Peter Corr, director of the association, and the Rev.
Francis L. Kenzel of the Mission Church. J. P. Fox, pre-
sented athletic trophies to Michael O'Hara, Matthew
O'Hara, and John Cavanaugh.
Mr. Cockran 's Remarks.
Summing up his address Mr. Cockran said :
" 'What is Lincoln's place among the leaders of the world
in the days of civilization? How shall we judge his contri-
bution to the progress of mankind? In this, I believe, he
gives way to no man and, indeed, takes first place.
" 'If it be true that from the moment when Christian
revelation was made complete, it was inevitable that, if the
spiritual belief that all men were equal in the sight of God
were to be universally accepted, then it must be followed by
432 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the erection of political institutions which had as their
corner-stone the equality of all men, and all movements from
that hour were but steps leading slowly up to the establish-
ment of this republic, which is but the application to politi-
cal institutions of that fundamental truth revealed by the
Saviour. After him the forces which gave most to progress
were King Alfred of England, King Louis of France, Wash-
ington and Lincoln of America.
" 'And never was the doctrine of the Sermon on the Mount
better applied to political institutions than when it was
applied by Abraham Lincoln.
" 'His life and career are an exemplification of the funda-
mental truth that the justice and morality which Christ
revealed to us, and of which His Church is the repository,
are the foundation of the policy which nations must pursue
to attain to the full measure of prosperity which a benefi-
cent Creator intended for all his creatures.
" 'It is then not as orator, not as political leader, as
lawyer, statesman or military chief, though he was great in
all these, but as an instrument of God that Lincoln is
greatest, proclaiming the policy of God before a people
chosen of God to illustrate in the severest crisis that there
was no power so great as the justice which God enjoined on
all men.'
"Mr. Cockran declared that the nation would become
great only so far as it proceeded along the lines of morality
which the Catholic Church taught.
"Joseph A. Woods said that the St. Alphonsus Associa-
tion had passed through a successful year and urged loyal
support.
"The object of the association the safeguarding of the
moral, mental, and physical welfare of its members was
outlined by the Very Reverend James Hayes, rector of the
Mission Church. He said that the organization could be
a strong influence for good, and exhorted the members to in-
creased zeal in striving to perfect themselves and the
society.
"Dr. John Grant Coyle of New York, who has the honor
of the Papal appointment as Knight Commander of the
Holy Sepulchre, took up the history of the westward prog-
ress of civilization from the days of Babylonian supremacy,
and said^that the noblest and bravest of mankind had been
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 433
the men who led the human wave sweeping gradually towards
the setting sun.
"He told of the sterling characteristics of the men who
had first discovered, then amifl great difficulties settled the
western hemisphere. Catholicity had exerted an ennobling
influence for centuries, he said. He praised the qualities of
Catholic immigrants who, he said, were making this country
better and stronger and preparing it to grow more indis-
putably than ever the greatest nation of the world and the
marvel of all ages."
In an interesting article, the Boston American for
July 2, 1911, said:
"St. Alphonsus' Association a Power in Religious and
Civil Life Young Men's Society at the Mission Church
is Planning to Enlarge 'Scope of Its Most Successful
Work. . . .
"Founded by a Redemptorist Father, the organization
now has the largest private auditorium in New England,
model athletic quarters and reading rooms, and model bath-
house on the Charles River.
"The St. Alphonsus Association of the Mission Church
parish, Roxbury, one of the largest and most active organ-
izations of Catholic young men in the city of Boston, is
making elaborate plans to enlarge during the present season
the scope of its activities and to enlist as members still
more of the progressive young men of its own and 'adjacent
parishes.
"The Association is well known not only in the religious
but in the athletic and social life of the city. Its primary
object is for the training of the ambitious boy and for the
betterment of his civic and social position. It was organ-
ized as an institution of the Mission Church parish, which
is under the direction of the Redemptorist Fathers, by the
Rev. John J. Frawley, C.SS.R. Rev. Father Hayes is now
rector. Generous advantages are offered to the members
of the Association spiritually, socially and materially.
"Through the unceasing and enthusiastic work of its
present spiritual adviser, the Rev. Peter Corr, C. SS. R.,
the association has grown to proportions far exceeding the
434 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
hopes of its most sanguine founders. The membership num-
bers over 600. Father Corr would like to see it a round
thousand before the year closes. . . .
"The customary collegiate 'merit system' has been in-
stalled in the rules of the association, which gives the mem-
bers who have earned a place in the athletic competition
the right to wear the monogram. . . .
"Under the energetic guidance of the Board of Govern-
ment, a healthy activity is maintained throughout the year.
Frequent social events are offered to its members. These
include banquets, smoke talks, debates, concerts, gymnastic
exhibitions and theatricals.
"The members have acquired an excellent reputation
through their prominence in athletics. They secured 225
prizes during the past year. . . .
"Under the direction of the Dramatic Club several of the
latest theatrical productions will be presented. It will be
a round of pleasure and activity for the entire year. Its
members are most enthusiastic for the fulfillment of the
plans, and are eager to bring to a still greater degree of
elaboration the many advantages offered.
"The one star possession of the association is its boat
club, the formal opening of which, for the present season, will
take place on July 4. Several hundred invitations have
been issued for the event. The club house is ideally located
upon the bank of the Charles River, close to Cottage Farm
Bridge. The house was purchased some three years ago from
the West Boat Club of Harvard University. Extensive
renovations have since been made. It is now one of the finest
boat club houses in the country. Its members include some
prominent oarsmen, such as John J. Kavanaugh, Martin
O'Hara, Michael O'Hara and Harold K. Blackman. The
club is the Mecca of hundreds of boat-loving visitors in the
summer season, as well as members of rival clubs attending
the various races held on the river.
"On the night before the Fourth, the association will
entertain its friends at an open house party. And on Inde-
pendence Day the members will occupy a prominent place in
the program arranged for the celebration of 'Roxbury Day.'
In addition to marching in full ranks, the association will
contribute three large floats, handsomely mounted. Five
VERONICA SHOWING THE TOWEL TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN
Celebrated Painting by Roab
THE FOYER
TICKET OFFICE
GYMNASIUM
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 435
hundred members will precede the floats, headed by the Mis-
sion Church Band, one of the leading boys' bands in
America."
The St. Alphonsus Association took an active part
in the movement to have the playground located near
the church. At a general meeting, attended by 500
members, on Sunday, November 26, 1911, they regis-
tered an emphatic protest against the proposition to
choose the site on Halleck St.
Of the banquet of 1912, held January 15, the Bos-
ton Globe said:
"Hold Religion National Need Walsh and
Malone at Roxbury Banquet Sons of Immigrants
Coming to High Posts, Says Former Session of
St. Alphonsus' Association.
"The rising influence of the sons of immigrants in Massa-
chusetts and the part which the Cathplic Church is taking
in the solution of the problems of Government and civiliza-
tion in this country were discussed by David I. Walsh of
Fitchburg and Dudley Field Malone of New York at the
llth annual banquet of the St. Alphonsus Association of
Roxbury last night.
"Fully 700 members and friends were present, including
priests of the Mission Church and other parishes. The
parochial school hall on Smith Street was decorated with
red, white and blue electric lights, bunting, streamers of
buff and blue and evergreen. At the rear of the head table
a large electric illumination spelled 'Welcome.'
"A reception in the parlors and library preceded the
banquet. Orchestral music and singing formed part of the
program.
"Seated at the head table with President Joseph C. Woods
were: David I. Walsh, State Senator from Fitchburg; Dud-
ley Field Malone of New York ; Rev. James Hayes, C. SS. R.,
rector of the Mission Church; Rev. Peter Corr, spiritual
director of the association ; C. O'Connell Galvin ; Rev. Peter
Cusick, S.J., of Boston College; Rev. Francis L. Kenzel,
C. SS. R., and Rev. Richard Donohoe, C. SS. R., past rev-
436 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
erend spiritual director of the association ; President George
T. Daly of the Young Men's Catholic Association of Bos-
ton ; President Peter Daly of the Canton Catholic Club, and
the association officers.
"Hugh J. McElaney was toastmaster. Father Hayes, the
first speaker, said the prosperity of the nation rests on a
moral and God-fearing manhood, the goal that the St. Al-
phonsus Association is striving for.
"Mr. Walsh took for his subject 'The Education of the
Citizen.' He said, in part : 'Massachusetts is not yet ready
for the sons of immigrants to hold high public office, but the
day is not long distant when the barriers will be removed
and maybe one of us will hold sfill higher office than we
have sought. I want to show this Commonwealth that the
denial of public position to the children of immigrants is
costing more than she knows.
" 'What are the duties and responsibilities of the private
citizen? In my judgment he is greater than the highest
public official, he can drive out of government bossism and
corruption. What is the power and influence that must be
exerted to make good citizens? Religion and religious edu-
cation.
" 'Our idea in the Catholic Faith is not only men trained
and educated, but also of a trained and educated heart and
conscience. The greatest questions of today are answered
successfully by the man who looks up. Shall this be a gov-
ernment of commercialism or shall it be one of humanitar-
ianism? We have the answer because we have the religion
that is training the heart.
" 'There is but one force that can and is successfully
combating socialism and that is the Catholic Church. The
same is true of the divorce evil, for in our religion we have
the solution.
" 'Take courage ; be a man in the full sense of the word, a
man in the meaning of our religion, a man who looks up.
Do something somewhere to make life a little brighter, a
little happier and a little better for those that are to come,
so that this world of ours, when we leave, will be a little bet-
ter and a little brighter than the day we came into it.'
"Mr. Malone said, in part :
" 'My fellow-citizens, there never has been a time since the
days of the Revolution when really disinterested patriotism
was as ardently needed for the protection of our institutions
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 437
as it is needed today; there never was a time when the Re-
public needed citizens who could rise above personal advan-
tage and the spirit of partisanship as it needs them today.
" 'We have just passed through an ethical revolution in
business and politics, and it is a subject of sincere con-
gratulation that we have returned to an independent adop-
tion of many moral principles which imbued and impelled
our forefathers.
" 'We are as prosperous materially as we were before the
panic. We do not gamble as much. We are not living as
luxuriously as we did. Business men are not making the
tremendous profits they made from our extravagances, but
there are 200,000 more bank accounts in New York City
than there were two years ago, and we are a wiser, a healthier
and a more provident people.
" 'But the great evil and the great danger of today is
represented in the general lack of reverence for and indif-
ference to religion. Men are indifferent to religion. Pros-
perity is killing faith. It would almost be better for the
morality of our country that we had religious fanaticism
than that we should have lethargy, for one spells life, the
other, death.
" 'That brilliant scholar, historian and statesman, Gov-
ernor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, though himself not
a Catholic, in speaking some years ago of the regeneration
of society, said:
" ' "No society is renewed from the top. Every society is
renewed from the bottom. The only reason why govern-
ments did not suffer dry rot in the Middle Ages under
the autocratic system which controlled them was that the
men who were efficient instruments of government most of
the officials of government were drawn from the church.
" ' "The Roman Catholic Church then as now, was a great
democracy. What kept government alive in the Middle
Ages was the constant rise of the sap from the bottom, from
the ranks from the rank and file of the great body of the
people through the open channels of the Roman Catholic
priesthood." ' "
The list of speakers at the banquet of 1917, given
January 22, included besides the Rev. Father Hayes,
the Hon. Samuel W. McCall, Governor of Massa-
438 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
chusetts, the Hon. James M. Curley, Mayor of Bos-
ton, the Hon. William Charles Adamson of Carroll-
ton, Georgia, Member of Congress and author of
the Adamson Eight-Hour Railway Law, and Judge
Michael Murray. Congressman Adamson, at the,
close of his speech, which dealt with the great
economic measure which he had originated, made an
impassioned plea for practical religious belief in pub-
lic as well as in private life.
During the Great War, the Association made a
proud record along all lines. Besides giving 185
members to the service, it interested itself in every
project making for the well-being and happiness of
the soldiers and the sailors at home and abroad. The
Military Aid Committee of the Association, organ-
ized in the autumn of 1917, was composed of the fol-
lowing members: Joseph V. Comerford, Chairman;
John J. Counihan, Secretary; Joseph T. Watson,
Treasurer; George W. Hoar, and James S.
Mahoney. Its object was to look after the needs of
the members who responded to the call of our beloved
country in the war. Through energetic work this
committee raised $1,920.77, which was expended for
the comfort of the members in the Army and in the
Navy. Each member who had rallied round the flag,
received a comfort kit which contained the following
articles: sweater, wristlets, helmet, cigarettes, candy,
gum, tooth paste, chocolate, shaving-soap, writing-
paper, stamps, envelopes, foot-powder and toilet-
soap. The committee followed the members from
camp to camp, so that their friends, when they wished
to communicate with them, could always find their
addresses on the bulletin-board of the Association.
During the season of 1918, Mr. George W. Hoar,
member of the Committee, was accidentally killed,
and Mr. Joseph V. Comerford, Chairman, was
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 439
appointed an ensign in the Navy and assigned to
Pelham Bay; the work of the Committee thus fell on
Messrs. Watson, Counihan, and Mahony, with Mr.
Watson as Chairman. Under his management the
St. Alphonsus Association was the first organization
in Greater Boston to start a movement for the erec-
tion of a permanent memorial to its hero members
a project which was put through with enthusiasm.
On Sunday, April 27, 1919, one of the greatest
events in the annals of the Association took place, in
the solemn dedication of a solid bronze tablet in-
scribed with the names of the 185 members who took
up arms at the call of President Wilson. The dedi-
catory exercises began with a Solemn Mass at 8
o'clock, celebrated by the Rev. James Hayes, who
was Rector of the Mission Church when most of the
boys entered the service. Every member of the Asso-
ciation received Holy Communion. An elaborate
musical program was rendered by Prof. Frank E.
Fassnacht. During the Mass the names of the four
members who had made the supreme sacrifice were
read; the buglers in the choir- loft blew taps and
the color-bearers lowered the colors. The tense sad-
ness of the moment brought tears to nearly every
eye.
After the Mass the members marched to the Asso-
ciation building; those who had served in the Army,
were in charge of First Lieutenant John J. Riley;
those who had served in the Navy, were under
command of Chief Warrant Officer Daniel G. Sheils.
A New England breakfast was then given by the
Fathers, after which the memorial tablet was blessed
by the Rev. Father Kenna. Speeches were made by
Gov. Calvin Coolidge, Congressman Tinkham, Capt.
Reily, Capt. Hourihan (for Commander Wood) , and
the Rev. Fathers Kenna, Hayes, Clark, and Murray.
440 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
The memorial tablet, 53 by 53 inches, was pro-
nounced by the Regan, Kipp Co., the Boston agents
of the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Provi-
dence, R. I., to be the finest of its kind ever cast. It
now adorns the wall in the foyer of the St. Alphon-
sus Hall.
On January 19th, 1920, the " Victory Banquet "
of the Association took place. Among the speakers
were Rear Admiral Benson, U. S. N., Major Hugh
A. Drum, U. S. A., who is a member of the St.
Alphonsus Association, Captain James J. Raby, U.
S. N., the Rev. Michael Dwyer of Rensselaer, N. Y.,
the Hon. Eward Quinn, Mayor of Cambridge, and
Lieutenant Edward Isaacs, U. S. N. Nearly a thou-
sand members and friends of the Association were
present.
Rear Admiral Benson, who was appointed Chief
of Naval operations in May, 1915, defended the
Navy against unjust criticism leveled at it, and
declared that "the accomplishments of the Navy in
the past two years speak sufficiently for it." He
described the system of convoying troops to and from
France, and outlined the campaign against the de-
structive submarine. Most of the work, he said,
which closed the Straits of Dover, and over
80 per cent of the North Sea barrage of mines, was
done by the American Navy. He was present at the
Paris Peace Conference and gathered the impression
that if the world was to be saved it devolved on the
United States to save it. Major Drum, who was
Chief of Staff of the A. E. F., referred to the much-
discussed question of the fighting .after eleven o'clock
on the day the Armistice was signed. He pointed
out how difficult it was to get the message to all
before the stated hour. Shortly after that time he
received a radiogram from the German officers say-
THE ST. ALPttONSUS ASSOCIATION 441
ing: "The Armistice has been signed, please stop
the fighting." Major Drum, quoting the figures of
the A. E. F., which showed that 30 per cent, of that
body were illiterates, advocated preparedness along
the lines of better education and more enlightened
citizenship.
The Rev. Michael J. Dwyer, former District At-
torney of Suffolk County, and for many years a
member of the St.Alphonsus Association, captivated,
the gathering with his eloquent address on " Patriot-
ism and Religion." The various speeches concluded,
Father Dwyer rendered several ballads, which
brought back the old days when he ranked as one of
the best singers in Greater Boston.
Lieut. Edward Isaacs, U. S. N., describing his cap-
ture, and escape from a German camp, gave a talk
that was full of " thrills." He told of the weird sen-
sation of being held captive in a German submarine
for ten days; and, in a nonchalant, matter-of-fact
way, rehearsed the story of his attempted escape from
a German train, when, plunging through the window,
he landed in another train, and received injuries that
made further flight impossible. He was awarded a
Distinguished Service Medal by the War Depart-
ment.
A very pleasant smoke talk was held in the rooms
of the Association, Sunday afternoon, February 15,
1920. The speakers were Capt. Billy Murray of Har-
vard, who gave his expediences in football, and Eddie
Casey, also of Harvard, who described his trip to the
Pacific Coast.
On June 3, the Association tendered a reception to
Mr. Arthur Roth, the noted runner, who made a
splendid showing in the Marathon conducted April
19, under the auspices of the Boston Athletic Asso-
ciation. Mr. Roth, who has represented the St.
442 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Alphonsus Association on the track for the past four
years, has a record which entitles him to compare with
some of the best long-distance runners in the coun-
try. He won the B. A. A. Marathon in 1916 ; finished
fourth in 1914, and eleventh in 1917. He was the
first member of the St. Alphonsus Association to at-
tain a place on the American Olympic Team.
The past spiritual directors of the St. Alphonsus
Association have been:
The Rev. Joseph McGrath, C. SS. R.
The Rev. Francis L. Kenzel, C. SS. R.
The Rev. Richard Donohoe, C. SS. R.
The Rev. Peter Corr, C. SS. R.
The Rev. James J. Lynch, C. SS. R.
The present officers and directors are :
The Rev. William B. Kenna, C. SS. R., Reverend President
The Rev. Joseph P. Leddy, C. SS. R., Spiritual Director
Frank V. Ward President
* John J. Counihan President
Joseph T. Watson Vice-President
Joseph C. Woods Treasurer
John W. Grady Secretary
Directors
f John J. Casey Charles G. Macullar
John G. Cleary Stephen H. O'Meara
Joseph M. Conway John E. O'Neil
Lawrence A. Kelledy Daniel G. Sheils
Thomas B. Kenney Richard T. Wyllie
John A. MacDonald, Jr.
The members of the St. Alphonsus Association,
during the 21 years of its existence, have so comported
*Mr. John J. Counihan was chosen President at the annual
elections in April, 1920, but resigned some months later, and was
succeeded by Mr. Frank V. Ward.
fResigned.
THE ST. ALPHONSUS ASSOCIATION 443
themselves as to reflect in their lives the lessons
taught by the great Saint whose name they bear.
May they continue to exercise in the future, as they
have exercised in the past, the fruitful apostolate of
good example! The record of the Association is a
glowing ruby inset in the history of the parish.
THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND.
With the establishment of the St. Alphonsus Asso-
ciation the young men of the parish had been admir-
ably provided for, but so far there was no social or-
ganization for working boys under 18 years of age.
In order to fill this want Father Hayes, who had al-
ways taken the keenest interest in the boys, organized
February 5, 1900, with the approval and sanction of
Father Frawley, the St. Joseph's Society for Work-
ing Boys. The object of the Society was to keep the
boys from evil influences of whatever kind and to
provide them with wholesome amusement. The lads
showed a spirit of appreciation rare for their age, and
not only fulfilled the obligations of the Society faith-
fully, but also formed a warm and lasting personal
attachment to Father Hayes.
About ten months later, at a supper given to the
boys, Father Hayes conceived the idea of organizing
a fife and drum corps from among the members of
the Society. In this move he received invaluable aid
from Mr. J. M. Fitzgerald, who by long experience
as a leader of boy musicians, was admirably qualified
for the undertaking. The boys took to the idea at
once; practically all of them threw themselves heart
and soul into the project and began to devote them-
selves enthusiastically to the task of learning the in-
struments. The fife and drum corps soon developed
into a field band; and the school hall was devoted
to the use of the boys, where every evening they could
THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND 445
practise on the instruments and learn the rudiments
of the military drill. The amount of natural talent
for music that showed itself among the boys was both
surprising and gratifying.
The lads worked so hard and learned so quickly
that in about six months the Mission Church Field
Band was able to make its first public appearance.
On Memorial Day, 1901, the fife and drum corps,
in full uniform, high-spirited and enthusiastic, with
colors proudly floating to the breeze, escorted the
Roxbury Veterans of the Spanish- American War to
Holyhood Cemetery. Like crusaders going to
fight for a high and holy ideal, the boys marched in
exact alignment through the streets of Roxbury and
Brookline, and played so well as to reflect lasting
credit on the Mission Church.
In the grand parade on the following Labor Day
the Mission Church was represented for the first time
in the history of Boston by the field band. Scores
of the parishioners asserted that they never felt
prouder of their church than when they saw the way
the boys bore themselves, and especially when they
heard the spontaneous bursts of applause with which
they were greeted by the people of Boston. It was
the well-nigh universal judgment of the spectators
that one of the most attractive, if not the most attrac-
tive feature of the whole parade was the Mission
Church Field Band. The beautiful uniforms and
the excellent music of the boys were admired on all
sides, while their manly appearance and military car-
riage were favorably noticed and loudly applauded
all along the line.
Eight months later, when the Boston Fusiliers, one
of the oldest and most respected military organiza-
tions in the State, began preparations for the celebra-
tion of their 115th anniversary, three of the leading
446 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
brass bands in New England offered their services
free of charge, regarding the honor of furnishing the
music for such a body of men as sufficient compen-
sation for their work. The officers of the company,
however, wrote to the manager of the Mission Church
Field Band and asked to have the boys play. These
gentlemen said they had seen the lads on Labor Day
and had been so favorably impressed by them that
they preferred the Mission Church Field Band to any
other in New England. Their request was favorably
received, and on May 12, the boys met the Fusiliers at
the State Armory on Irvington Street, where supper
was served at 6 :45. After supper ranks were formed
and the Fusiliers with their guests, headed by the
band, paraded through the principal streets of Boston
to Music Hall. After the entertainment given in
honor of the occasion, when the Fusiliers were re-
turning to the armory, the band again furnished the
music. As soon as ranks had been broken, the soldiers
applauded the boys heartily, praised them to the skies
and declared themselves not merely pleased but high-
ly delighted with the Mission Church Field Band.
Some of the most prominent military men of the
State were present, and the general verdict was that
the boys were a credit to any organization, civic or
ecclesiastical, and that those in charge of the Band
need not fear to accept any engagement. The sen-
timents of the Fusiliers were thus voiced by one of
the members who had fought throughout the Civil
War: " I have marched," he said, " behind the leading
military bands of the country, but never have I
marched with more satisfaction and pleasure than
tonight behind the Mission Church Field Band."
Another flattering compliment paid the Band in
the early days of its existence is found in the fact
that it was among the first organizations engaged by
THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND 447
the City of Boston for the grand celebration of
Bunker Hill Day, June 17, 1902. The Band led one
of the largest divisions of the great Charlestown pa-
rade. When the company that held the right of line
in the division saw the Band they objected to being
led by " a band of boys." They were told by the mar-
shal, however, to give the boys a chance, and, if the
music proved unsatisfactory, another band would be
furnished them. But before long the marshal was
assured that the company was fully satisfied, and, in
fact, better pleased with our Band than with any
other in the parade. Even the city officials joined
in the generous tributes accorded the boys for their
spirited playing, fine marching and military appear-
ance. One of them, a member of the City Music
Committee, actually went so far as to say that the
Mission Church Band made the finest showing of
any in the city, that he had changed his position, for
the sole purpose of viewing the boys a second time,
and that in the future, when there would be a ques-
tion of the City's engaging bands, the Mission
Church Field Band would be one of the first to be
considered.
When the Labor Day parade of 1902 was being
formed, as many as twenty- one organizations ex-
pressed the wish to hire the Band ; and when positions
in the line were assigned, the Mission Church Field
Band had the honor to lead the entire second division.
All along the route they were acclaimed with generous
plaudits, especially in front of the State House, when
they passed the Governor's reviewing stand, through
two solid masses of spectators. From the stand at
the City Hall the keen eye of Mayor Collins per-
ceived the boys in the distance and watched them in-
tently as they approached. When they had passed
he declared: "That band is by far the finest of the
448 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
entire parade." Certainly an extraordinary tribute,
when we remember that every band in the city of
Boston had been engaged to accompany the 18,000
men in line. The following day the newspapers, in
their several accounts of the parade, omitted mention
of every band except that of the Mission Church.
At the celebration of " Patriots' Day " in historic
Salem, in 1903, our Band led the parade. The im-
pression made by the boys is the best told by the fol-
lowing quotation from one of the Boston papers:
"Along the route the sidewalks were crowded with specta-
tors, who applauded several of the companies for their fine
appearance and fine marching, and were favorably impressed
with the general good appearance of every company in line.
The column numbered 2,137 men. The music was furnished
by ten bands and eight drum corps, the Drum and Bugle
Corps of the Mission Church, Roxbury, making the finest
appearance. The corps comprised sixty boys, who played
superbly. The aftermath was that four of the organiza-
tions taking part applied at once for the services of the
band on Bunker Hill Day."
A day or two later one of the highest officials of
the city government wrote a letter heartily compli-
menting the boys and referring to them as "one of
the most striking elements of the entire parade."
In its description of the " Old Home Week " cele-
bration in Hull (August 1, 1903), the Boston
Herald said:
"The music of the first division was made by the Mission
(Church Field Band of Roxbury. The boys had a full turn-
out and the drum corps made an excellent appearance and
performed well."
The Firemen's Muster in Salem (August 20) , with
five thousand men in line, came next on the list of
triumphs for the Band. The Salem News made this
remark :
THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND 449
"The Mission Church Field Band accompanied the Red
Jackets. They were dressed in blue coats, trimmed with
silver braid, white breeches with red stripes, and numbered
sixty pieces. They made a big show and were one of the
features of the parade."
The climax hit of the season, however, was made
September 7, in the Labor Demonstration, in which
fourteen thousand men participated. Two of the
Boston papers made the following comments:
"The Mission Church Band, composed of boys, was ap-
plauded everywhere, the Mayor joining in at City Hall."
Boston Post.
"The supply of music in the second division was beyond
the average of former years, some five hundred pieces being
in line. The Mission Church Band of Roxbury, which
marched at the head of the paving department men near
the head of the division was given the palm along the route.
The band numbered one hundred and six pieces, and the lads
dressed in their natty blue uniforms trimmed with white
were given hearty applause." Boston Globe.
At the Bunker Hill parade, June 17, 1904, our
boys again won proud distinction. Preceded by a
score of mounted police the Mission Church Field
Band marched at the head of the great parade,
round the famous monument, and up and down the
streets of Charlestown. At almost every step they
were greeted with tumultuous applause.
In August of the same year the Boston Herald
sent a representative to Father Hayes to ask him to
allow the Band to accompany the newsboys to the
train on their departure for the St. Louis Exposition.
Father Hayes gladly consented; the Band played in
its best style, and the Herald for August 14 said:
"Not only is the band of this boys' organization one of
the largest in the country, but the excellence of its music
has received the commendation of several band leaders of
450 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
reputation. . . . They were repeatedly cheered along the
route yesterday afternoon, to all of which the Drum Major
made artistic response."
Two days afterwards, at the G. A. R. parade, the
most prominent place, the lead of all Massachusetts
State troops, was again accorded the Mission Church
Field Band. The soldierly bearing of the boys as
they marched in front of the veterans of our wars,
won favorable attention from every commander in
line.
In 1907, in an article on the Bunker Hill parade,
the Boston Globe said:
"Undoubtedly the one musical organization which at-
tracted the most attention was the Mission Church Band,
fife, drum and bugle corps, which not only played fine
marching music, but was a veritable parade in itself. The
applause which greeted the boys was almost sufficient to
drown their music at times."
During the entire week beginning August 5, 1907,
the city of Bath, Maine, celebrated the 300th anni-
versary of American shipbuilding, the first American
ship having been built there in 1607. A large body
of the citizens of Bath, knowing the Mission Church
Field Band by reputation, solicited their services to
help make the occasion a success. What the upshot
was, the following extract from the Bath Daily
Times will tell:
"Boys Praised Everywhere, Mission Church Band
Scattered Music Through City.
"The famous Mission Church Field Band of Roxbury, 100
pieces, arrived this morning on the steamer Penobscot and
was received at the wharf by Rev. R. W. Phelan, and
escorted to St. Mary's Church, where the boys will be en-
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THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND 4-51
tertained during their stay in the city. The band is com-
posed of 100 boys, all expert musicians. J. M. Fitzgerald
is leader. . . .
"During the morning the boys gave a concert in Sagad-
hoc Square which was hugely enjoyed. They then traveled
over the local electric line in two special cars. In the after-
noon they serenaded Collector Crosby at his home on High
Street and were treated to refreshments. The party then
proceeded to the residence of Mayor Hughes and serenaded
his honor in spirited style. Mayor and Mrs. Hughes en-
tertained many guests during the concert and served the
boys with lemonade and sandwiches. The concert closed
with the 'Star Spangled Banner,' amid cheers from the vast
crowd surrounding the grounds. In the evening the band
delighted a large crowd in the park with a two-hour concert,
and every number was heartily applauded."
Owing to a demand from the public the boys post-
poned their departure from Bath for a whole day.
In the morning they paraded through the principal
streets of the town and in the afternoon gave a con-
cert in the park.
The Band won fresh laurels when, as a special dele-
gation, it traveled to the National Convention of the
American Federation of Catholic Societies in Balti-
more, in 1914.
On Sunday, September 27, the boys, having made
a visit to the Shrine, in order to implore the protec-
tion of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, began the jour-
ney, in charge of Father Hayes. They arrived at
Baltimore the following evening, and on Tuesday
morning early called at Convention Hall, to pay
their respects to the assembly and to receive their
delegate- or guest-badges. In the afternoon the Band
took part in the Holy Name parade of the parishes
of Baltimore and of the vicinity. The boys were to
lead the delegates from Boston, but, unfortunately,
the latter were detained by business at the conven-
452 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tion. When it was learned that they would be unable
to parade, the Band fell in line at the head of the rep-
resentatives from St. Mary's Church, Annapolis. As
usual, the boys by their fine marching and beautiful
music covered themselves with glory. From all quar-
ters they received high encomiums and were loudly
applauded when they passed the reviewing stand oc-
cupied by Cardinal Gib.bons, in front of the historic
Baltimore Cathedral.
On Wednesday the Band went by boat to An-
napolis and the following day journeyed to Washing-
ton, where they had the honor of being received by
President Wilson. So favorable was the impression
they made on the delegates at Baltimore that they
were invited to attend the next convention to be held
the following year in Toledo.
On August 12, 1915, the boys, under care of
Father Hayes, started on their long trip. That morn-
ing they received Holy Communion in a body, and
in the afternoon, playing a hymn to the Mother of
Perpetual Help, they marched to the Church. After
a visit to the Blessed Sacrament the alignment was
made, and the boys proceeded to Roxbury Crossing,
where they boarded the car for the South Station. At
4 :45 they left over the Boston and Albany Line for
Buffalo. Before retiring they recited the Rosary in
common. On arriving at Buffalo the next morning
at 6:30 they repaired to St. Mary's Church, where
they heard Mass and received Holy Communion.
After touring the city and seeing Niagara Falls they
left by boat at 9:00 P. M. for Toledo. They gave a
concert in the saloon in honor of the delegates, es-
pecially in honor of the Rt. Rev. Bishop McFaul of
Trenton, " The Father of Federation." Their music
was highly appreciated. The Bishop made an ad-
dress, in which he congratulated " Boston, its Cardi-
THE MISSION CHURCH FIELD BAND 453
nal Archbishop and the parish which could produce
such a Band." At 7:00 P.M., August 15, the boys
arrived at Toledo. Led by the Band the delegates
marched to the Boody House, the National Head-
quarters. A little later the Band went to the Union
Station, in order to greet the Apostolic Delegate,
Archbishop Bonzano. His Excellency was visibly
affected by the reception, and cordially thanked the
young musicians. On Sunday morning the Band
led the line of march from the headquarters to the
Cathedral. At 7 :30 P. M., the boys appeared at the
Coliseum, and on entering the vast edifice met with
loud applause. The concert they gave was appre-
ciated very much, and at the close of the mass-meet-
ing they played the accompaniment to the hymn
"Holy God."
In August, 1916, the Band went with the Massa-
chusetts delegation to the National Convention of the
Catholic Federation in New York. The presence of
the three American Cardinals made the occasion a
truly historic one. The principal address, a master-
piece of eloquence, was delivered by His Eminence
Cardinal O'Connell. As he rose to speak the entire
delegation, led by the Mission Church Field Band,
sang his hymn, " The Cross and the Flag."
Throughout its whole history the Band has re-
flected such great credit on the parish that if Father
Hayes had never done anything else than organize it,
his name would be immortal in the annals of the
church, as it is forever enshrined in the affections of
the boys. Even though three years have elapsed since
he severed connections with the church, they still
cling to him, and whenever opportunity presents it-
self, never fail to visit him. Some of the original
members, now married men nearing middle age, de-
light in being known as " Father Hayes's Boys."
THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.
The Alumni Association of the Mission Church
School was organized in 1897 by the Rev. John J.
Frawley, C. SS. R., with the Rev. Henry Gareis,
C. SS. R., as Spiritual Director, and Mr. Henry G.
Cleary as president.
"The aim and object of the organization is to
strengthen among the members the bonds of friend-
ship formed beneath the roof of their Alma Mater
and to keep alive the sacred memories of the happy
days spent within its hallowed precincts. This end is
to be attained by annual reunions and frequent meet-
ings."
The first of these annual reunions, held July 6,
1898, was marked by a very pleasant entertainment,
including an eloquent speech by Father Frawley. At
every such gathering since then about 700 members
have been present, some coming even from distant
cities to honor the occasion.
The greatest event in the history of the Association
was the celebration of the silver anniversary of the
school, which was observed in November, 1914. On
Sunday, the 15th, Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving was
celebrated by the Rev. Father Rector Hayes, assisted
by the Rev. Charles Hoff, C. SS. R., as deacon, and
the Rev. James Lynch, C. SS. R., as subdeacon.
The preacher, the Rev. Father Frawley, briefly re-
viewed the history of the school and paid a well-de-
served tribute to the deceased founder, the Rev.
THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 455
Augustine Mclnerney, C. SS. R., and to the noble
pioneer staff of teachers. The Alumni appeared in
splendid numbers at the Mass and entered with un-
bounded enthusiasm into the spirit and purpose of the
commemorative exercises. The Rev. Henry Gareis
came from Ilchester, Maryland, in order to take part
in the festivities.
The following evening, the 17th annual reunion,
silver-tipped in scope and character, brought the cele-
bration to a brilliant close. At the reception, which
took place in St. Alphonsus' Hall at 8 :00 P.M., near-
ly a thousand members were present. The appearance
of the Rev. Father Gareis and of Sister Thomasine
(Superior of the school from 1900-1904) was a source
of unfeigned delight to the happy company. After
the reception a brief comedy, entitled, " The Wayside
Inn," was rendered by the Dramatic Committee.
Thereupon followed an address of welcome by the
President, Mr. John J. Sullivan. Father Rector
Hayes then made a beautiful speech, at the close of
which he read several letters of congratulation from
the original staff of teachers, in which they expressed
regret at their inability to be present, and offered best
wishes to the Alumni. Father Frawley felicitated the
organization on the success it had achieved, and
Father Gareis indulged in a vein of pleasant reminis-
cences. The Alumni and their guests then repaired
to the school hall, where an elaborate supper was
served by the caterer, Mr. John Gouldin. The last
number on the program was a reel of- motion-pictures
portraying the lighter side of life. The Reunion of
1914 was an event of triumph and an occasion of
rededication to the high ideals for which the school
and the Alumni Association stand.
The Alumni glory in the fact that on their roster
glisten the names of 26 priests, 20 Redemptorist
seminarians, 100 nuns, and hundreds of good fathers
and mothers who have transmitted to their children
the precious heritage of a truly Christian life, the
cardinal principles of which they learned in happy
school days at the feet of their devoted teachers.
From a material standpoint also, the Alumni have
done their full duty by the church. By their frequent
entertainments, their whist parties, and their active
cooperation in the various fairs that have been held
from time to time, they have rendered notable
financial assistance. Whenever help was needed, they
have stepped forward in solid phalanx, and in glori-
ous unanimity, have aided the cause with head and
hand and heart.
By their patriotic activities during the Great War,
they have given the lie to the base and baseless accusa-
tion that parochial schools do not teach love of coun-
try. To the Red Cross Association the Alumni gave,
in 1917, $825; in May, 1918, $13,187.30; at Christ-
mas, 1918, $1,251, making a total of $15,154.30. To
the War Savings Drive of 1918, they subscribed
2,709 cash pledges with a value of $19,965.96. But,
best of all, to the service of our country they gave
nearly a thousand boys.
In almost every line of endeavor, the history of the
Alumni is high-lighted with substantial victories for
parochial school education.
The former spiritual directors of the Association
have been:
The Rev. Henry Gareis, C. SS. R (1897-1910)
The Rev. William V. Knell, C. SS. R (1910-1915)
The Rev. James J. Lynch, C. SS. R (1915-1920)
The Rev. John Shaughnessy (1920-1921 )
The present officers are :
THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 457
The Rev. President, William B. Kenna, C. SS. R. (Rector)
President John Casey
Vice-President Sadie Cordingley
Secretary Jennie Dooley
Treasurer James Sullivan
Board of Government:
John Downey Lucy McKenzie
John Counihan Lillian Clark
Frank McGeough Mary Gorman
James Shannon Mary Conway
Patrick Colleran Katherine Keane
The Guild of Our Lady.
We have noted the growth of various activities in
the parish tending towards the advancement social
and intellectual of the classes of the community
especially interested. The school had its Alumni
Association; the working boys were organized into a
strong corps, with a band noted throughout New
England for the skill and the gentlemanly conduct
of the members ; the young men were in possession of
a newly built club-house, a magnificent tribute to St.
Alphonsus, under whose patronage the Association
grew in strength and, numbers.
It would seem that every need of the community
had been met, but, reviewing the works he had reared,
the Very Reverend John J. Frawley, C. SS.R., then
the spiritual head of the Mission Church parish, was
not satisfied. He said there was yet one division of
his people for whom nothing special had been done,
though they had worked for all the others to assure
their success. Calling together the women and the
girls of the parish, the Rev. Father Rector outlined
his plans for their benefit. He proposed to found an
association that would afford social enjoyment, while
having as its chief aim the providing of educational
facilities literary, musical and industrial. The
project was warmly approved, and plans for the
development of the work went forward rapidly.
The following officers and directors were appointed
by the reverend founder:
THE GUILD OF OUR LADY 459
Very Rev. John J. Frawley, C. SS. R.. .Honorary President
Rev. Henry Mohan, C. SS. R Spiritual Director
Miss Mary B. O'Sullivan President
Miss Rose V. Collier V ice-President
Miss Mary E. Kelley Treasurer
Miss Louise Lyons Secretary
Directors
Misses Margaret C. Brawley, Mary Crosby, Annie Cullen,
Agnes G. Daley, Katherine Dowling, Sabina Egan,
Mary Garritty, Mary Gormley, Delia Killion, Annie
McCarthy, Charlotte McKenney, Katherine McKenzie,
Margaret Whalen, Ellen Whelton.
With a few exceptions, these ladies formed the
official staff during the period of the Guild's exist-
ence. After a two-year term Miss O'Sullivan was
succeeded by Miss Killion as president; Miss
McKenzie assumed charge when Miss Killion retired.
Miss KcKenney succeeded Miss Collier in the vice-
presidency and Miss Brawley was appointed secre-
tary, succeeding Miss Lyons.
So many associations were already in operation
that the question of a name for the new organization
was a problem happily solved by dedicating it to
the Exemplar of Catholic womanhood, and thus
" The Guild of Our Lady " took its place in the life
of the parish.
The large brick building on St. Alphonsus Street,
that had served as a temporary rectory, was con-
verted speedily into the handsomest, most finely
appointed club-house for Catholic women in the
States. The informal opening, January 13, 1904, is
still remembered as one of the most enjoyable social
affairs ever held in the parish.
Nothing that could add to the attractive and practi-
cal usefulness of the Guild had been omitted
thanks to the energy and great-hearted generosity of
460 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the reverend founder. There were beautifully fur-
nished reception-rooms, a well stocked library, class-
rooms, tea-room for small social gatherings, a spa-
cious assembly-hall, fully equipped gymnasium, and
a kitchen that figured largely in winning for the
Guild a reputation for hospitality. The spiritual
influence of such an ideal community center was sug-
gested on every side, from the statue of Our Lady
greeting each comer to the pictures adorning the
walls, and the blessing of the Holy Father on the
members and their work. The motto of the Guild:
" Serve God and be cheerful " was carried out practi-
cally in a spirit of helpfulness and unity among the
members.
The membership roll included representatives of
almost every craft and profession open to women.
There was an abundance of talent, always cheerfully
placed at the service of the Guild when the need arose.
We wish that space would permit individual mention
cf the volunteer teachers and other members whose
work produced splendid results, ably supplementing
the paid staff of instructors.
Classes were opened in music, singing, elocution,
French, dressmaking, millinery and embroidery; a
reading circle met weekly and lecture courses, free to
members and their friends, attracted large numbers.
Among the distinguished speakers who addressed
the Guild were the Very Rev. William G. Luecking,
C. SS.R., then Superior of the Baltimore Province,
the Very Rev. Francis Clement Kelley, head of the
Extension Movement, the Rev. Michael Scanlon, the
Rev. Hugh F. Blunt, Seamus McManus, the Hon.
Joseph Sheehan, the Hon. Thomas Dowd, Miss
Katherine Conway, Miss Mary C. Mellyn, Miss
Mary Catherine Crowley, Miss Anna Seaton
Schmidt.
THE GUILD OF OUR LADY 461
With the purely intellectual features of the Guild
there were blended the social and recreational. Whist
parties, original dramas, concerts, guest-nights and
other pleasurable gatherings, helped to make the
Guild a very busy and happy community center.
Too much cannot be said in praise of Father
Mohan's work for the Guild during the brief time he
remained in charge. In the midst of his activities he
was summoned to another field of labor, and the Rev.
A. J. Duke, C. SS. R., succeeded him. Dur-
ing his term of office, Father Duke developed not
only a marked capacity for financial administration,
but also a fine talent as a lecturer on Sacred Art. His
lectures filled the assembly-hall throughout the
course.
We have referred before to the spirit of unity
among the members of the Guild that contributed so
materially to the success of the work, but more than
all and above all other factors was the inspiration of
Father Frawley's presence the encouragement he
was ever ready to give. It is a pleasant memory to
recall the quick, glad welcome that greeted his
entrance when, after a day of arduous effort, Father
Rector dropped into the Guild to see how everything
was going on. Passing from room to room, he had
a cheery word for all, or a witty comment that made
even the official staff forget their difficulties. Often
the Reading Circle had the pleasure of hearing
Father Frawley speak, or read from a favorite
author. Another evening the elocution class or the
mandolin club would claim his attention or the sew-
ing classes would proudly exhibit their skill. Every-
one was sure of his interest. One memorable evening
the beloved founder made his accustomed round of
the classes, leaving, as usual, courage and happiness
in the hearts of all. The next evening : " Father Rec-
462 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tor is gone!" was the explanation of the gloom that,
for once, had settled on the Guild.
Following the example of his predecessor, Father
Hayes gave generous support to the Guild interests,
leaving no means untried to promote its welfare.
When Father Duke was appointed Rector of St.
Peter's Church, St. John, N. B., Father Hayes
designated Father Kenzel, and later Father Hoff , to
take charge of the Guild. Both put devoted effort
into the work; but a problem gravely affecting the
future of the Guild had arisen in the parish.
The school building on Smith Street had become
overcrowded. Many more pupils were asking for
admission. How to accommodate them became a seri-
ous problem. The Guild offered the only solution.
The third floor of the building was already occupied
by primary classes. "More room" was still the
urgent demand. The children must be provided for.
The Guild was not a necessity. The governing board
met the issue squarely. First one room, then another
was yielded up, until at last the entire building was
converted to school purposes. The Guild as a dis-
tinct body ceased to exist, but its influence on the
social life of the parish endures in the many friend-
ships formed in its genial atmosphere. In another
way, the beautiful club-house is carrying out the aim
of its founder, who built deep and strong the founda-
tions of Christian education under the patronage of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The Mission Church Choir
"Like an image on the waters, which is ever the
same, though the waters ever flow," the Choir,
through its many changes of leadership and of mem-
bership, has always rendered generous and noble
service. At every period of the church's existence,
the organists and the choir members have contributed
substantially to the beauty and solemnity of Divine
worship and have made the sacred music what the
Church intends it to be an instrument of prayer
and pious affection.
In the past the following ladies and gentlemen
have served in the dual capacity of organist and choir-
director: Dr. Hart, Dr. Werner (who composed a
hymn book), Mr. F. N. Seibold, Miss Mary E.
McGowan, Mr. E. J. Dooley, Mr. James T.
McLoughlin, Mr. Edward McGoldrick, Miss Nellie
McCarthy, Mr. Meisner, Mr. Thomas Waterson,
Mr. A. Bartschmitt, Miss Nellie McCormack, Mr.
William J. Finn, Mr. O'Brien, and Mr. Gannon,
brother of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Gannon of Erie, Pa.
It is worthy of special record that Mr. W. J. Finn,
now the Rev. W. J. Finn, C. S.P., leader of the
famous Paulist choristers, organized the male choir
in October, 1902, under the direction of Father
Frawley. In this point the latter anticipated by more
than a year the law of Pope Pius X, enacted Nov-
ember 22, 1903.
The Mission Church Choir, as at present consti-
464 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tuted, was organized in 1910, by our present able and
experienced organist, Prof. Frank E. Fassnacht, who
has filled the position for twelve years longer than
any other in the history of the church.
The Girls' Choir is composed of about 50 pupils
chosen from the higher grades of the parochial
school. They sing regularly at the Saturday evening
devotions and at the 7 o'clock Mass on Sunday. Con-
jointly with the adult members of the male choir, they
render on Palm and on Passion Sunday evenings
" The Seven Last Words " by Dubois, and " Olivet
to Calvary" by Maunder. On these occasions the
church is always overcrowded, and common report has
it that lovers of artistic music come from far and
near, in order to hear the rendering of the sublime
themes.
The principal choir of the church is made up of
about 25 men and 60 boys. The latter, carefully
chosen from the school, have reached, through pains-
taking and persevering efforts on the part of Prof.
Fassnacht, as high a standard as any other boy choir
in Boston. This proficiency involves daily laborious
practice, but the fruits of the grinding toil are mani-
fest in a beautiful execution of some of the most diffi-
cult Masses and other sacred productions in the cata-
logue of Church Music.
Speaking of one of the notable achievements of the
choir, the Pilot for June 22, 1912, said:
"The choirs of the Mission Church gave an unusually
good recital of church music on Sunday evening last. Under
the able direction of the organist, F. E. Fassnacht, the
numbers were rendered with splendid effect. The tone qual-
ity of the boy sopranos was of the purest quality, more
especially in the high register. The rendition of the vesper
psalms in false bordoni style by the entire choir was in
accordance with the spirit of present requirements in ves-
per music. Mr. Fassnacht's two selections on the magni-
THE MISSION CHURCH CHOIR
465
ficent organ were very happily chosen and played with
great ease and skill. The introduction of the girls' chorus
was a most agreeable feature of the evening's program."
The adult members of the male choir are :
Frank O'Meara
Thomas H. F. Murphy
Thomas Rafters
Edward B. Manning
Michael Bradley
Arthur Murphy
J. J. Rochefort
Joseph J. Gormley
Joseph Graber
Thomas Lannon
Joseph Lannon
Philip
Edmund Devlin
Joseph M. Weidmann
Thomas A. Scanlan, Jr.
Thomas W. Ken-
John McGrath
Patrick A. Cronin
Joseph Mulvey
Joseph Walsh
F. L. Fassnacht
Joseph Dillon
Daniel Prendergast
Wallace
Members of the Girls' Choir :
Eileen Ahern
Rose Barrett
Esther Buchanan
Catherine Buckley
Edna Buttimer
Mary Coyne
Helen Colleran
Mary Duggan
Lillian Ferriter
Mae Fallon
Margaret Fallon
Josephine Gorman
Constance Grant
Catherine Hagerty
Helen Lorden
Helen McCarthy
Florence McNichols
Julia McGillicuddy
Mary Manning
Elsie Phinn
Margaret O'Leary
Paulene Shea
Mary Barrett
Mary Bowen
Anna Brannen
Helena Burke
Kathleen Cleary
Elizabeth Cooney
Margaret Desmond
Catherine Downey
Frances Fassnacht
Laura Fallon
Mary Flannery
Teresa Goetten
Mary Hughes
Helen Hub an
Helen Leonard
Elizabeth Murray
Mary McGillicuddy
Mary McDonald
Loretta Phinn
Catherine Pierce
Mary Sullivan
Catherine Somers
466 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Mary Stone Teresa Sullivan
Madeline Wing Lillian Wing
Gertrude Whelan Mary Welsh
Mary Hallisey
May the great St. Cecilia obtain for Prof. Fass-
nacht and all the members of the choir God's best
blessings !
The Ushers.
The ushers, 28 in number, work in two sections. In
their operations they alternate between the upper
church and St. Gerard's Chapel. Every member of
both divisions is on duty every Sunday throughout
the year. To handle such large crowds as frequent
the church requires tact, intelligence, and great
patience. The ushers, past and present, have uni-
formly shown themselves so firm, yet so considerate
and courteous in the discharge of their duties as to
merit the gratitude of both priests and people.
The personnel of the two corps of ushers is as
follows :
William O'Regan Cornelius Mahoney
Patrick Daley John F. Downey
Patrick Murphy John J. Connell
Dennis McGowan Thomas Tobin
Jeremiah Murphy Ambrose Woods
Nicholas Hayden Henry Rochefort
Bernard Colleran Patrick Finan
John Dillon William Volk
Joseph Walsh Frank Burke
Dennis Dooley Aaron Tapp
John E. Kuhn John McKenzie
Michael Stone Joseph Dooley
Charles Nicholson John W. Grady
Patrick Cotter Michael Flannigan
May Our Blessed Mother reward them a hundred-
fold and conduct them to a; high place in the eternal
kingdom of Her Son!
SOME PARISH ACTIVITIES.
Hospitals.
The following hospitals, all of which are located
within the parish limits, are attended regularly by
the Fathers :
1. Peter Bent Brigham 2. Robert Bent Brigham
3. Good Samaritan 4. Women's Massachusetts
5. Elks' 6. Baptist
7. Cushing 8. Children's
9. Infants' 10. Psychopathic
11. Huntington (Cancer)
Of these hospitals the biggest and the busiest is
the Peter Bent Brigham. Every day, except Sunday,
the Father in charge spends practically the whole
morning there.
The number of hospitals in the parish is so large,
because in it is situated the best site in the city for
such institutions, the summit of Parker Hill; and
also because the Harvard Medical School, round
which the hospitals wish to center, is within our limits.
' Confessions of Nuns.
The Fathers serve as ordinary and extraordinary
confessors to the three following religious institutes:
School Sisters" of Notre Dame, Smith Street, Roxbury
(35 nuns).
SOME PARISH ACTIVITIES 469
Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Thomas', Jamaica Plain (20
nuns).
Sisters of St. Francis, St. Elizabeth Hospital, Brighton,
Mass. (40 nuns).
As ordinary confessors only, to the five following:
Roxbury Academy, Sisters of Notre Dame (67 nuns, 150
pupils).
House of the Good Shepherd, Roxbury (59 Sisters of the
Good Shepherd, 42 Magdalenes).
St. Regis Convent, Canton, Mass., Sisters of St. Joseph
(24 professed nuns, 35 novices).
Discalced Carmelite Sisters, Roxbury (19 professed nuns,
3 novices).
Sisters of Charity, St. Peter's, Dorchester (22 nuns).
As extraordinary confessors only, to the six fol-
lowing :
Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Mary's, Charlestown (17 nuns).
Sisters of St. Dominic, St. Francis De Sales', Charlestown
(25 nuns).
Sisters of St. Joseph, Mt. St. Joseph's Academy, Brighton,
Mass. (61 professed nuns, 39 novices).
Sisters of St. Joseph, Williams Memorial Church, Framing-
ham, Mass. (5 nuns).
Sisters of St. Joseph, Immaculate Conception Convent,
Stoughton, Mass. (8 nuns).
Sisters of St. Joseph, Boston School for the Deaf, Randolph,
Mass. (32 nuns).
Masses at Convents.
The Fathers say Mass, as indicated, at the follow-
ing religious houses :
Sisters of Notre Dame, Roxbury Academy Daily.
School Sisters of Notre Dame, Smith Street, Roxbury
Daily except Sunday.
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Roxbury Sunday, Monday,
and holy days of obligation.
Discalced Carmelite Nuns, Roxbury Daily.
470 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Sunday Work.
" Bearing the burden of the day and the heats."
The following schedules will give the reader an idea
of the amount of work done by the Fathers at home
and abroad on Sunday. The first Sunday of Feb-
ruary and the first Sunday of August are offered as
specimens. They were drawn by lot, not designedly
selected.
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1920.
Masses at Home Sermons
5 :30 Very Rev. Father Rector Rev. Father Dugal
7 :00 Rev. Father Gilhooly Rev. Father Conway
8 :00 Rev. Father Mulheran Very Rev. Father Rec-
tor
8 :30 Rev. Father McDonnell Rev. Father McDon-
nell
9 :00 Rev. Father Mulheran Very Rev. Father Rec-
tor
10 :00 Rev. Father Dooper Rev. Father Roche
10:30 Rev. Father Lynch (Chapel) Rev. Father Lynch
11 :30 Rev. Father Lynch (Chapel) Rev. Father Lynch
11 :30 Rev. Father Dooper Rev. Father Roche
Masses Abroad.
Good Shepherd Convent .... Rev. Father Roche
Notre Dame Convent Rev. Father McDonnell
Carmelite Convent Rev. Father Dugal
St. Benedict's, Somerville. . Rev. Father Dugal (10:30)
St. Aiden's, Brookline Rev. Father Gilhooly (9:00)
St. Aiden's, Brookline Rev. Father Wheelwright
(10:00 and 11:30)
SOME PARISH ACTIVITIES 471
Williams Memorial Church . Rev. Father Gunning
St. Charles's, Waltham Rev. Father Leddy
St. William's, Dorchester. . Rev. Father Conway
St. Mary's of the Angels. . Rev. Father Vollmer
St. Mark's, Dorchester. . . . Rev. Father Schneider
St. Joseph's, Taunton Rev. Father Treanor
Wellington Rev. Father Shaughnessy
Distribution of Holy Communion.
5:30 Rev. Fathers McDonnell and Dugal.
6:15 (Convent), Rev. Father Gilhooly.
7:00 Very Rev. Father Rector, and Fathers Mulheran,
Conway, and Wheelwright.
8:00 Very Rev. Father Rector, and Fathers Lynch,
Dooper, and Roche.
8:30 Fathers Lynch and Roche.
9:00 Very Rev. Father Rector, and Fathers Lynch,
Dooper, and Roche.
10:00 Rev. Father Roche.
Benediction of ilie Blessed Sacrament.
Good Shepherd Convent Rev. Father Roche
Notre Dame Convent Rev. Father Wheelwright
Notre Dame Academy Rev. Father Schneider
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, AUG. 1, 1920.
Masses at Home Sermons
5 :30 Very Rev. Father Rector Rev. Father Dugal
7 :00 Rev. Father Tobin Rev. Father McDonnell
8 :00 Rev. Father McCarthy Rev. Father Vollmer
8:30 Rev. Father McDonnell Rev. Father Shaugh-
nessy
9 :00 Rev. Father Vollmer Rev. Father Connell
10:00 Rev. Father Shaughnessy Rev. Father Gilhooly
10 :30 Rev. Father Schneider
(Chapel) Rev. Father Mulheran
472 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
11 :30 Rev. Father Gunning
(Chapel) Rev. Father Mulheran
11:30 Rev. Father Lynch Rev. Father Gilhooly
Masses Abroad.
Good Shepherd Convent, Roxbury . Rev. Father Gilhooly
Carmelite Convent, Roxbury Rev. Father Mulheran
Hampton Beach, N. H Rev. Father Sanderson
Hampton Beach, N. H Rev. Father Wheelwright
Houghs Neck, Mass Rev. Father Conway
St. Peter's, Cambridge Rev. Father Leddy
Notre Dame Academy, Roxbury . . Rev. Father Connell
Kittery, Maine Rev. Father Leonard
Hyannis, Mass Rev. Father Turner
Wareham, Mass Rev. Father Collins
Danvers, Mass Rev. Father Dugal
St. Joseph's, East Boston Rev. Father Roche
Notre Dame Convent, Roxbury . . . Rev. Father Dooper
Distribution of Holy Communion.
5:30 Rev. Fathers Mulheran and Dugal.
7:00 Rev. Fathers Vollmer, McDonnell, Schneider, and
Shaughnessy.
8:00 Rev. Fathers Vollmer, Gunning, Schneider, and
Shaughnessy.
8 :30 Rev. Fathers Lynch and Gilhooly.
9 :00 Rev. Fathers Lynch, McDonnell, Gunning, and Mul-
heran.
10:00 Rev. Father Gilhooly.
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Good Shepherd Convent Rev. Father Schneider
Notre Dame Academy Rev. Father Vollmer
Notre Dame Convent Rev. Father Shaughnessey
Note: The Rev. Fathers Leonard, McCarthy, Connell, Sander-
son and Tobin were not members of the community, but guests
who kindly volunteered their services.
SOME PARISH ACTIVITIES 473
LENTEN SEBMONS
1920.
Sunday
St. Joseph's, Maplewood, Mass. . . Rev. Father Vollmer
St. Francis', South Weymouth,
Mass Rev. Father Leddy
Sacred Heart, West Lynn, Mass.. Rev. Father Gunning
Mission Church (St. Gerard's
Chapel) Rev. Father Mulheran
Mission Church (Upper Church) . Very Rev. Father Rector
Tuesday
Sacred Heart, Fall River, Mass. . . Rev. Father Mulheran
St. John's, Concord, N. H Rev. Father Gunning
St. Charles's, Woonsocket, R, I. . . Rev. Father Gilhooly
St. Joseph's, Laconia, N. H Rev. Father Wheelwright
Sacred Heart, So. Natick, Mass. . . Rev. Father Leddy
Wednesday
Immaculate Conception, Ports-
mouth, N. H Rev. Father Wheelwright
St. Monica's, South Boston Rev. Father McDonnell
St. Michael's, Avon, Mass Rev. Father Shaughnessy
Our Lady, Help of Christians,
Newton, Mass Rev. Father Lynch
Blessed Sacrament, Providence,
R. I Rev. Father Gilhooly
Manchester Cathedral, N. H Rev. Father Gunning
Friday
St. Matthew's, Dorchester, Mass. . . Rev. Father Vollmer
Sacred Heart, Newton Center,
Mass Rev. Father Gunning
Good Friday
Sacred Heart, Fall River, Mass. . . Rev. Father Turner
Sacred Heart, South Natick, Mass . Rev. Father Leddy
474 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
St. Monica's, South Boston Rev. Father McDonnell
St. Michael's, Avon, Mass Rev. Father Wheelwright
Our Lady, Help of Christians,
Newton, Mass Rev. Father Lynch
St. Joseph's, Maplewood, Mass . . . Rev. Father Vollmer
St. Francis', So. Weyraouth, Mass. . Rev. Father Conway
Manchester Cathedral, N. H Rev. Father Gunning
St. John's, Concord, N. H Rev. Father Treanor
Blessed Sacrament, Providence,
R. I Rev. Father Gilhooly
Mission Church Rev. Father Shaughnessy
Immaculate Conception, Ports-
mouth, N. H Rev. Father Dugal
PARISH STATISTICS.
Number of Baptisms (April 8, 1883-Dec. 31, 1920) 12,517
Number of Converts (April 8, 1883-Dec. 31, 1920) 1,121
Number of Marriages (April 8, 1883-Dec. 31,
1920) 2,181
Number of First Communions (April 8, 1883-Dec.
31, 1920) 9,964
Total Number of Communions (Jan. 29, 1871 -Dec.
31, 1920) 6,822,000
OUE BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN.
One of the most beautiful passages in the whole
range of Sacred Scripture is that which describes the
call of the Apostles by the lakeside. The morning
light had broken bright and clear over the shifting
and shimmering waters of the Lake of Genesareth
when Christ, " like a vision of glory," appeared on the
glistening shore, and called His disciples, first one,
then another, to the sublime task of following in His
footsteps; and in the simple, yet sublime words of
the Evangelist, "leaving all things they followed
Him."
In substance and in main outline, that touching
scene has been reenacted hundreds of times over in
the lives of the children of the Mission Church. At
the call of the same loving Saviour, they, too, have
gone forth, most of them in mere childhood, to tread
the path marked out by Him, who when His hour had
come, bade a fond adieu to His Blessed Mother, and
left the sacred retreat of Nazareth, in order to begin
the work appointed unto Him by His heavenly
Father. Now, it was the little altar-boy, just out of
school, who heard the loving invitation, and who, in
joy of spirit, answered, "Behold! here I am; send
me." Again, it was some beautiful girl, with "the
royal heart of innocence," who casting aside the
alluring prospects which the world held out to her,
exclaimed : " The kingdom of the world and all orna-
ments of the earth I have despised for the love of
Jesus Christ; whom I have seen, whom I have loved,
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 477
in whom I have believed, towards whom my heart in-
clined," and the farewells were spoken with
exemplary resignation.
Years of anxious care and worry for the parents
roll by; but at last the scene shifts to one of radiant
glory. In some distant chapel, a mitred figure act-
ing in the plenitude of the priesthood, imposes conse-
crated hands on the head of the young Levite, and
the little altar-boy of former days, becomes a priest
forever according to the order of Melchisedech; or a
fervent novice, trained in the principles of the religi-
ous life, as Gamaliel was trained by St. Paul, kneels
before the altar of the Most High God, and in falter-
ing accents pronounces the holy vows which bind her
forever to the service of her Crucified Spouse.
One of the strongest proofs that a parish has been
blessed by God is to be found in the number of her
children who have been enrolled in the ranks of the
priesthood, or who have embraced the religious life.
Proceeding on that principle, we are surely justified
in asserting that in this, as in other points, Almighty
God out of love for His Holy Mother has singularly
favored the Mission Church Parish. To Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, under God, we must ascribe the
extraordinary number of vocations to the priesthood
and to the religious life which the parish has fostered.
It is the sacred influence going forth from the Shrine
of Our Blessed Mother that enlightens the minds and
moves the hearts of so many of our boys and of our
girls to devote their lives to the service of God as
priests or religious. To Her, therefore, be the honor
and glory which arises from the splendid showing
which the Mission Church Parish has made in this
respect.
In drawing up the tables of priests and of religious
which follow, we have been careful not to make larger
claims than we can substantiate, and have, therefore,
478 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
omitted the names of about forty Redemptorists,
priests and seminarians, who owe their vocation,
humanly speaking, to the influence exercised by the
Mission Church, but who were not members of the
parish. In the case of female religious, in order to
make assurance doubly sure, we wrote to the Supe-
riors of the different orders requesting them kindly
to send us the names of their subjects who belonged
to the Mission Church Parish. If in spite of this pre-
caution, the names of some who were not from the
parish appear here, our defense is that we felt justi-
fied in publishing every name contained in a list sent
to us as official by the competent authorities.
REDEMPTORIST PRIESTS
Rev.
*Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
*Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
*Rev.
*Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
Rev.
*Dead.
John J. Frawley
Joseph Cunningham
Michael J. Sheehan
Peter Doyle
Martin Mulligan
Charles Nolen
James Doyle
Richard O'Regan
Cornelius Warren
Joseph Krickser
John Toohey
John O'Leary
John O'Regan
Stephen Ahern
Edward Holland
James Lynch
John Phinn
Henry Murphy
Joseph Murphy
Francis Murray
Charles Crowe
Patrick McGowan
George Conway
Rev. Paul Dugal
*Rev. Victor Burns
Rev. Patrick J. Downey
Rev. Richard Keenan
Rev. John Hegarty
Rev. William C. McCarthy
Rev. John Shaughnessy
Rev. Thomas Tobin
Rev. John Murphy
Rev. Joseph Lorden
Rev. John Waldron
Rev. John Sephton
Rev. George Acres
Rev. John R. O'Brien
Rev. Francis Neville
Rev. Thomas Lapsley
Rev. John Prendergast
Rev. Nicholas Hayden
Rev. Thomas Cronin
Rev. Francis Walsh
Rev. Joseph Daley
Rev. Joseph Fitzsimmons
Rev. Albert Waible
Rev. John O'Keefe
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 479
SECULAK PRIESTS
Rev. Francis Cunningham *Rev. John W. F. Power
Rev. George A. Crimmen Rev. Ambrose Walker
Rev. Walter Mitchell Rev. Patrick Scannell
Rev. Thomas O'Dowd Rev. Robert J. Manning
Rev. J. Walter Lambert Rev. John O'Connor
Rev. William O'Connor
JESUIT FATHEES
Rev. Aloysius M. Thibbitts
FRANCISCAN FATHERS
Rev. Paul Neville
PASSIONIST FATHERS
Rev. Father Gregory (Edward Donohue)
REDEMPTORIST SEMINARIANS
*Timothy Sheehan Thomas Sullivan
*John Burns Jeremiah Scannell
* Joseph DeCoste Jeremiah Hurley
*Edward Sephton Edmund Bowen
Geoffrey Stone Matthew Tobin
William Stanton Edmund Murphy
Timothy Cronin Eugene McGillicuddy
Joseph Driscoll Peter Hines
Walter Reilly James Gilmore
Henry Goetten Thomas Waldron
William Greene John F. McCarthy
Dennis Scannell James T. Connolly
Joseph Douglas D. Andrew Rush
William Fitzgibbon
JESUIT SCHOLASTICS
Daniel Sullivan Raymond Sullivan
Raymond Mclnnis John Reed
Paul Conway Russell Sullivan
John Collins Harold Sullivan
'Dead.
480 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
VINCENTIAN SEMINARIANS
Gerard Murphy Edward M. Shannon
James J. Salway
PASSIONIST SEMINARIANS
Conf rater Francis (John Shea)
REDEMPTORIST BROTHERS
*Bro. Alphonsus Knaup Bro. Columba Mahoney
Bro. Stanislaus Murphy Bro. Vitus Martin
Bro. Alban Cuddihy Bro. Innocent Carrol
Bro. Xavier Heslan Bro. Matthew Mikutovitch
*Bro. Timothy Mahony Bro. Giles Phelan
*Bro. Oswald Fitzpatrick Bro. Majella Reardon
Bro. Dominic Haley Bro. Ferdinand Conners
Bro. Philip Doyle Bro. Mathias Mathis
Bro. Francis Leary
BROTHERS OF CHARITY
Brother Telesphore (Francis J. O'Hare)
XAVERIAN BROTHERS
Brother Harold (John O'Hare)
SCHOOL SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME
Sister Mary Dympnette Norton
Sister Mary Assumpta Joyce
Sister Mary Relindis Lindermann
Sister Mary Martin Mulligan
Sister Mary Grace Sullivan
Dead.
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 481
Sister Mary Joanella Driscoll
Sister Mary Lucida Dooley
Sister Mary Coeline Lyons
Sister Mary Nola Colahan
Sister Mary Agatha Burns
Sister Mary Berchmanna O'Regan
Sister Mary Maurice Flood
Sister Mary Virginia McElroy
Sister Mary Theophane Donovan
Sister Mary Victor Burns
Sister Mary Paraclete Mahan
Sister Mary Gerardine Hoban
Sister Mary Michaeline Power
Sister Mary Timothea O'Brien
Sister Mary Harriet Callahan
Sister Mary Kevin Lyons
Sister Mary Regis Garrity
Sister Mary Theonilla McDonald
Sister Mary Eduardo Hayes
Sister Mary Vebantia McNeil
Sister Mary Denise Dooley
Sister Mary Martina Martin
Sister Mary Harold Sheerin
Sister Mary Sperta Colleran
Sister Mary Isidora Condon
Sister Mary Basilides White
Sister Mary Bertran Conroy
Sister Mary Leon Walter
Sister Mary Memoria Hearn
Sister Mary Brendan Burns
Sister Mary Lazarine Ginnety
Sister Mary Serenus Ryan
Sister IV^ary Maud Lorden
Sister Mary Febronia Kelly
Sister Mary Hilaire O'Connor
Sister Mary Theresa Cunningham
Sister Mary Blase Donovan
Sister Mary Venantia Hickey
Sister Mary Alma McNichols
Sister Mary Gratia Ennis
Sister Mary Fintan Callaghan
Sister Mary Fides Willis
482 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Sister Mary Eudoxia Normile
Sister Mary Valentine McCarthy
Sister Mary Alma Brennan
Sister Mary Theophanes Gray
Sister Mary Alphonsetta Gormley
Sister Mary Illidia Cunane
Sister Mary Allowine Mahan
Sister Mary Myra McHugh
Sister Mary Erharda Sommer
Sister Mary Euphebia Dodds
Sister Mary Ethelbert Roach
Sister Mary Januarius Shannon
Sister Mary Etienne Salway
Sister Mary Lothaire Hession
Sister Mary Alfrieda Goetten
Sister Mary Justitia Downing
Sister Mary Lucille Gorman
Sister Mary Viviana Tuohey
Sister Mary Aquila Duggan
Sister Mary Benet Fitzgerald
Sister Mary Stella Ferrick
Sister Mary Linus Cummings
Sister Mary Daniela Sullivan
Sister Mary Liliosa Pierce
Sister Mary Eleanora Reilly
Sister Mary Agnessa Hurley
Sister Mary Placide Ennis
Sister Mary Alexandrine Guentner
Sister Mary Rosamund Sullivan
Sister Mary Silva Kelly
Sister Mary Mervina McNichols
Sister Mary Gratian Norton
Sister Mary Ulicia Nagle
Sister Mary Marcellus O'Rourke
Sister Mary Albert Ferriter
Sister Mary Alban Maguire
Sister Mary Walburga Goetten
Sister Mary Berlindis Hanley
Sister Mary Owen Connolly
Sister Mary Benedict Malloy
Sister Mary Pancratia Pierc?
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 488
Miss Agnes Colleran Miss Eleanor Welch
Miss Anna Finn Miss Anna Coppenrath
Miss Julia Clifford Miss Catherine Duggan
Miss Helen Burke Miss Dorothy O'Rourke
Miss Martha Anderson Miss Catherine Schaeffer
Miss Catherine Kearin Miss Madeline Linehan
Miss Margaret Doheny Miss Mary Lyons
SISTEES OF OUR LADY OF THE GOOD SHEPHEED
Sister Mary of St. Lillian McGowan
Sister Mary Virtues Frawley
Sister Mary of St. Magdalen of Jesus O'Kane
Sister Mary of St. Martha O'Kane
Sister Mary of St. Cip O'Kane
Sister Mary Julitta O'Kane
Sister Mary of St. Raphael Gunter
*Sister Mary of St. Vitalis Weissel
*Sister Mary of St. Francis Assisi Cohen
Sister Mary of St. Philip Clinton
Sister Mary of St. Alexis Dunbar
Sister Mary of Our Lady of Grace Dunbar
Sister Mary of St. Rosina Fitzgibbons
Sister Mary of St. Henrietta O'Keefe
Sister Mary of St. Ethelreda Hobbs
Sister Mary of St. Alphonsus Ligouri Gallagher
Sister Mary of St. Euphemia Russel
Sister Mary of St. Vitalis Winkler
Sister Mary of St. Priscilla Dunn
Sister Mary of St. Edmond Lyons
Sister Mary of St. Anselm Mclntegart
Sister Mary Holy Redeemer O'Regan
Sister Mary Divine Redeemer O'Regan
Sister Mary Immaculata O'Grady
DAUGHTERS OF CHAEITY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL,
EMMITSBUEG, MAEYLAND
Sister Margaret O'Keefe Sister Ignatia Herbert
Sister Josephine Harkins Sister Aloysia ConneJl
484 THU GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Sister Mary Michael Keany Sister Pauline Casley
Sister Mary Elizabeth O'Keefe Sister Louise Daley
Sister Vincent Loftus Sister Ambrose Russell
Sister Teresa Tirrell Sister Isabelle Toohey
Sister De Sales Yendley Sister Mary Matthew Morton
Sister Helen Maguire Sister Josepha Murphy
SISTERS OF CHARITY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL,
NEW ORLEANS, FLORIDA
Sister Loretta O'Connell
SISTERS OF CHARITY, NAZARETH, KENTUCKY
Sister Philippa Kelly
SISTERS OF CHARITY, MADISON, NEW JERSEY
Sister Mary Urban Herlihy
Sister Helen Maria Ryan
Sister Inez Marie Sephton
Sister Maria Matthew Coulahan
Sister Grace Veronica Herlihy
Sister Alma Perpetua Lamb
Sister Anna Rose Killian
Sister Mary Perpetua Killian
Sister Agnes Perpetua Coulahan
SISTERS OF CHARITY, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
Sister Anne Elizabeth Halpin
Sister Mary Margaret Mclnnis
Sister Maria Magdalene Johnson
Sister Theresa Agnes Mahan
Sister Frances Sullivan
SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR
Sister Alphonse Josephine Burke
SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH, BRIGHTON, MASS.
Sister Mary Daniel Shalley
Sister Mary Editha Daley
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 485
Sister Mary Majella Finn
Sister Mary Bernardine Huber
Sister Mary Thomas Madeline Shalley
Sister Mary St. Francis Sullivan
Sister Mary Anna Magdalen Kenney
Sister Mary Adele Needham
SISTEES OF ST. JOSEPH, BUFFALO, N. Y.
Sister Mary Gerard Murphy
Sister Mary Sylvester Hurley
Sister Mary Thomasine Murphy
Sister Alma Perpetua Cullen
Sister Mary Prudentia McKenna
Sister Anna Maria Houlihan
Sister Mary Mercedes Driscoll
Sister Mary Amelia Penders
SISTERS OF ST. DOMINIC, ROSARY HILLS HOME,
HAWTHORNE, N. Y.
Sister Mary Vincent de Paul Wynne
SISTERS OF ST. DOMINIC, SPRINGFIELD, KENTUCKY
Sister Mary Sylvester Sullivan
Sister Mary Eileen Driscoll
MARYKNOLL SISTERS OF ST. DOMINIC FOR THE FOREIGN
MISSIONS
Sister Mary Teresa Sullivan (one of the three
original members of the Sisterhood)
SISTERS OF MERCY, ST. MARY'S ACADEMY, BURLINGTON, VT.
Sister Mary Antonia Ball Sister Mary Immaculata Ball
SISTERS OF MERCY, MANCHESTER, N. H.
Sister Catherine Loftus
486 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
SISTERS OF THE HOLY CROSS, NOTEE DAME, INDIANA
Sister Mary Lucy McCormick
Sister Mary Camillas Smith
SISTEES OF ST. FEANCIS, GLEN RIDDLE, PENNSYLVANIA
Sister Mary Concordia Fenders
Sister Mary Anatolia Bisch
Sister Mary Nazarene Doemling
Sister Mary Bertilla Deveney
Sister Mary Aldonzo Flynn
Sister Mary Archangela Fenders
Sister Mary Theodula O'Leary
Sister Mary Florida Coeli Brinkley
SISTEES OF ST. FEANCIS (TEETIARIES), ST. BONAVENTURE,
N. Y.
Sister Mary Huberta Smith
Sister Mary Corrine Ryan
Sister Mary Wilfreda Hart
Sister Mary Dorothy Burke
Sister Mary Thomas Cronin
Sister Mary Concetta Brawley
Sister Mary Christopher Loftus
Sister' Mary Cecile Giblin
SISTEES OF PEOVIDENCE, GALESBUEG, ILL.
Sister Mary Antoinette Dolan
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 487
THE FATHERS ATTACHED TO THE MISSION CHURCH,
1871-1921.
Most Rev. Wm. H. Gross Rev. John O'Brien
Rev. Joseph Wissel Rev. Charles Schmidt
Rev. Adam Kreis Rev. Eugene Walsh
Rev. Timothy Enright Rev. Augustine Weisser
Rev. Louis Koch Rev. Paul Huber
Rev. William O'Connor Rev. Leonard Lentsch
Rev. Francis X. Miller Rev. Michael Corduke
Rev. Charles Rathke Rev. Theodore Schaak
Rev. Michael Mueller Rev. Thomas Ott
Rev. Alfred DeHam Rev. Adalbert Frank
Rev. Henry Kuper Rev. Augustine Dooper
Rev. Augustine Freitag Rev. Patrick McGivern
Rev. John Schneider Rev. Francis Delargy
Rev. Francis X. SchnuettgenRev. John Beil
Rev. Leopold Petsch Rev. William G. Luecking
Rev. Matthew Bohn Rev. Andrew Wynn
Rev. Theodore Lamy Rev. John Leibfritz
Rev. Lawrence Werner Rev. Aloysius Lutz
Rev. Philip Colonel Rev. Joseph Kautz
Rev. Nicholas Jaeckel Rev. John Hickey
Rev. Louis Dold Rev. James Rein
Rev. Augustine Stuhl Rev. Michael Sheehan
Rev. Michael Gates Rev. John Frawley
Rev. Augustine Mclnerney Rev. Augustine Thumel
Rev. Peter Bausch Rev. Sinon Grogan
Rev. John Lowekamp Rev. William Crosby
Rev. John Rebhan Rev. Henry Gareis
Rev. Charles Sigl Rev. James Feeney
Rev. Joseph Schwarz Rev. Joseph Schnorr
Rev. Philip Rossbach Rev. Thomas Galvin
Rev. William Lowekamp Rev. Henry Mohan
Rev. Peter Frischbier Rev. Bernard Cullen
Rev. Frederick Brandstaetter Rev. Peter Corr
Rev. Peter Trimpel Rev. Thomas Donohue
Rev. Benedict Kolb Rev. Archibald Anderson
Rev. Louis Zinnen Rev. Peter Curran
Rev. Joseph Henning Rev. Joseph McGrath
488 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Augustine Fransioli Rev. Joseph Courtade
Rev.
Rev. William White
Rev. James Hayes
Rev. George Hespelein
Rev. Edward Scully
Rev. Francis L. Kenzel
Rev. Augustine Duke
Rev. Richard Donohoe
Rev. Francis Gallagher
Rev. John Hanley
Rev. Andrew Gunning
Rev. Charles McCormick
Rev. Charles Hoff
Rev. John Kane
Rev. Daniel Collins
Rev. Henry Borgmann
Rev. William Knell
Rev. William Kenna
Rev. Patrick Mulhall
Rev. Thomas Mullaney
Rev. John O'Leary
Rev. John Lawler
Rev. Joseph McGurk
Rev. William Lindner
Rev. Michael Gannon
Rev. Stephen Connolly
Rev. James Clark
Rev. Bernard Luecking
Rev. James Lynch
Rev. John Feldmann
Rev. Charles Nolen
Rev. John Conway
Rev. Alfred Jones
Rev. Joseph Turner
Rev. Joseph McLaughlin
Rev. Edward Meehan
Rev. John Sippel
Rev. Louis Bloechl
Rev. Henry Knecht
Rev. Thomas Hanley
Rev. Ferdinand Lutz
Rev. Joseph McQuaid
Rev. Thomas Gilhooly^
Rev. Paul Dugal
Rev. Vincent Watson
Rev. Thomas Raynor
Rev. John Byrne
Rev. Timothy McDonnell
Rev. William Treanor
Rev. John Guillo
Rev. John Shaughnessy
Rev. William Brick
Rev. Edwin Shearer
Rev. George Schneider
Rev. Eugene Mulheran
Rev. Thomas Wheelwright
Rev. Louis Vollmer
Rev. Joseph Leddy
Rev. Thomas Roche
Rev. Albert Schmering
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 489
Our Devoted Lay Brothers.
No history of the Mission Church would be com-
plete without a grateful reference to the noble
Redemptorist Brothers of the community, who for
the past half century have faithfully contributed in
their own way and measure to promote " The Glories
of Mary in Boston." Let no man belittle their
labors, for their work, weighed in the mysterious
scales of the sanctuary, may have availed as much,
perhaps even more than the achievements of the
Fathers.
In the service of God there are unseen battlefields,
where the truest heroes, the grandest warriors, and
the greatest Saints move noiselessly about, intent
only on leading a " life hidden with Christ in God."
Such has been the career of the many self-sacrificing
Brothers who for fifty years have toiled and spent
themselves in the performance of the menial duties
of community life. Not for them the false glitter or
the tawdry tinsel of human praise, not for them the
intoxicating glamour of earthly glory; their only
meed was the approbation of their conscience and the
radiant smile of the Mother of Perpetual Help, as
She whispered of the blessed rest and peace in the
land that lies beyond the grave.
Did the Fathers in their apostolic labors meet with
flattering success? Then give them the credit which
under God is their due; but in your calculations for-
get not the part which the humble lay brothers played
by their wearisome grind of toil and their incessant
round of prayers. They it was who by their kindly
offices lightened the burdens of the Fathers, and by
their supplications obtained for them that gift of
490 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
grace which alone can soften the heart of the sinner
and lead him captive to the feet of Her who is the
Refuge of Sinners.
The Redemptorist Brother, whether employed in
the office, in the sacristy, or in the kitchen, is, like
Martha, busy "with much serving," but when the
day's work is done, he sits, like Mary, at the feet of
Jesus and communes with Him about the things of
Heaven. Night after night
"All alone in the dark
Except for a little red spark
Which flickering sways before
The tabernacle door"
he tells his beads, or makes the Stations of the Cross,
or, like the seraphic St. Alphonsus, silently adores
Him, the Hidden God of the Eucharist, "before
whom angels bow and devils tremble." May wei not
justly believe that the history of the Mission Church
is, in a way, simply the answer to the prayers of the
Brothers? Hence we owe it to them publicly to
acknowledge on this joyful occasion the deep feel-
ings of gratitude which stir our hearts at the thought
of the valuable service they have rendered.
They have all without exception been such good
and faithful servants that it would be invidious to
single out any one for special mention; wherefore,
with a fervent prayer that Our Lady of Perpetual
Help may grant to all of them her choicest favors,
we shall give the complete list of the Brothers who
have been attached to the community since the estab-
lishment of the Mission Church.
Brother Dennis (Dennis Halpin)
Brother Seraphicus (Francis Krim)
Brother Christopher (Christopher Froehlich)
OUR BLESSED MOTHER'S OWN 491
Brother Baptist (John B. Hermann)
Brother Joachim (Theodore Kutter)
Brother Mathias (John Kodisch)
Brother Chrysostom (Chrysostom Zimmer)
Brother Aloysius (Peter Reeber)
Brother Eustace (William Reinhardt)
Brother Simon (Francis X. Ernst)
Brother Thomas (Thomas Luette)
Brother Columban (John V. Higgins)
Brother Sixtus (John McEntee)
Brother Theobald (John Zimmermann)
Brother Edward (Nicholas McCarthy)
Brother Bernard (Bernard Pollmann)
Brother Lawrence (Lawrence Kallenbach)
Brother Ignatius (Ignatius Unser)
Brother Florian (John Grix)
Brother John (John Voelker)
Brother 'Alexander (William O'Neill)
Brother Albert (Valentine Boll)
Brother Wolfgang (Augustine Deckelmann)
Brother Leonard (Leonard Ullmeier)
Brother George (George Meier)
Brother Raphael (Theodore Metzler)
Brother Melchior (William Van der Minde)
Brother Bernardine (George J. Stoessel)
Brother Modestus (Henry Giloth)
Brother Xavier (Henry Heslan)
Brother Benedict (Hugh Hinchey)
Brother Oswald (James Fitzpatrick)
Brother Oscar (John O'Keefe)
Brother Francis (Francis Hoefling)
Brother Severinus (Wendelin Greulich)
Brother Richard (John Frings)
Brother Philip (John Mclsaac)
Brother Terence (Terence Dougherty)
Brother Alban (James Cuddihy)
Brother Louis (Valentine Kirchner)
Brother Stanislaus (James Murphy)
Brother Linus (Mark Kearns)
Brother Ambrose (William Moran)
Brother Christopher (John Doyle)
Brother Erasmus (John Bock)
492 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Brother Matthias (James Mathis)
Brother Edmund (John Regan)
Brother Eugene (William Nugent)
Brother Landelin (Joseph Vogel)
Brother Lambert (George Garpstas)
Brother Aloysius (Joseph Koch)
Brother Leo (Joseph Streit)
Brother Dominic (John Haley)
Brother Arthur (Arthur Fairbourne)
Brother Vincent (Vincent Crotty)
Brother Genesius (Frederick Klarmann)
Brother Edward (Thomas Hurley)
Brother Silverius (Joseph Nist)
Brother Alphonsus (Leonard Nenning)
Brother Hubert (Edward Meckletitsch)
ASLEEP IN THE ARMS OF OUR
BLESSED MOTHER
A Shadow ! hast seen in the summer
A cloud wear the smile of the sun?
On the shadow of death there is flashing
The glory of noble deeds done;
On the face of the dead there is glowing
The light of a holy race run ;
And the smile of the face is reflecting
The gleam of the crown he has won.
Still, shadow ! sleep on in the vestments
Unstained by the priest who has gone.
Rev. Abram J. Ryan.
THE REV. LEOPOLD PETSCH, C. SS. R.
The first member of the Boston community to rest
from his labors was the Rev. Leopold Petsch, who
died June 20, 1882.
Leopold Petsch was born August 23, 1821, at Kor-
nitz, Moravia, a province of the Austrian empire.
Through the fair fabric of his childhood and youth,
ran the golden threads of innocence and piety. Nat-
urally of a serious disposition, he showed little liking
for the ordinary pastimes of boyhood, and preferred
prayer and pious reading to the boisterous enjoy-
ments of his classmates and companions. Thus pro-
tected from the many occasions of sin that might
otherwise have allured him, he steadily advanced in
494 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
virtue, and prepared himself unconsciously for the
life of sacrifice he was destined to lead.
In 1842 Leopold Petsch entered the Redemptorist
novitiate at Eggenburg, and on November 13, 1843,
made his religious profession at Mautern in Austria.
As a seminarian, he was a shining example to his
fellows, being especially noted for his humility. On
the completion of his theological studies, he was
ordained priest July 26, 1846.
At that time a great field for apostolic labor was
opening in America, and a fine opportunity was thus
afforded Father Petsch of showing his spirit of sacri-
fice by quitting his native land and consecrating him-
self to the salvation of needy souls in this country.
In his burning zeal he offered himself to his Supe-
riors for this apostolate ; his offer was gladly accepted,
and on March 24, 1848, in company with another
Redemptorist Father, he arrived at New York.
Father Petsch's Superiors at once sent him to Bal-
timore, where the Fathers attached to St. Alphonsus'
Church had to tend all the German Catholics in the
city and in the suburbs. In the performance of their
priestly duties, they were often obliged to travel miles
and miles afoot. Father Petsch was placed in charge
of St. James's Church, where he displayed energy
and ability of the highest order.
In October, 1849, he was transferred to Buffalo,
and in April, 1851, to Rochester, where he remained
until May, 1852. During the following seven years,
New York City was the scene of his labors. The
small number of priests who at that time ministered
to the wants of the German Catholics in the metropo-
lis, made the work of the Fathers very difficult,
especially because they had to provide not only for
two German congregations in the city, but also for
many others in the environs. Moreover, they attended
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 495
the public hospitals, and on account of frequently
recurring epidemics, they had a multitude of sick
calls. For four years Father Petsch was an assistant
at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, and for
the next three, had the care of St. Alphonsus' Church.
Here he showed consummate zeal. Immigrants
found in him a kindly guide and prudent adviser in
the land of their adoption. They soon learned to
look up to and lean on him, and by him were pre-
served from the many dangers to their faith. Men
who had been strangers to religion for well nigh a
lifetime, and who with seared conscience had run the
gamut of the vices, after listening to the earnest
exhortations of Father Petsch, resolved to forsake
their evil ways, and were reconciled by him to God in
the Sacrament of Penance. He wielded a peculiar
influence over the hearts of even the most obdurate
sinners, and seldom failed to bring them to the mercy-
seat of God.
In April, 1859, the voice of obedience called him
to Baltimore; here he acted the part of a conscien-
tious steward for two years, until appointed Rector
of St. Alphonsus' Church. In the annals of that
parish he bears an honored name.
In 1862, Father Petsch was transferred to the rec-
torate of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer,
N. Y. We may form some idea of his labors here,
by taking a glance at the baptismal register and the
school report. During each year of his administra-
tion, there were more than a thousand baptisms, and
the parochial school was attended by more than fif-
teen hundred children. Serious and pressing prob-
lems affecting the immortal destinies of souls arose
almost daily. The times, too, were bad. The war
between the North and the South, which was then
at its height, greatly increased his anxiety; for, on
496 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
the one hand his religious community might at any
time have been exposed to danger, and, on the other,
his poor flock was distracted and distressed by the
horrors of war. But a still heavier cross awaited him.
In 1865, Father Petsch was nominated Rector of
St. Mary's Church, Annapolis. Here he had to bear
in all its appalling gravity the overwhelming sorrow
caused by the terrible disaster of July 9, 1866. On
that doleful day, three Redemptorist priests and
two seminarians met death in a drowning accident on
the Chesapeake Bay. This sudden and awful blow
completely prostrated him; his health was seriously
impaired, and it became necessary to remove him
from Annapolis.
His Superiors sent him to Pittsburgh, as Rector
of St. Philomena's Church, which office he held till
July, 1871. His two great works in this field were
the beautifying of the church and the promoting of
devotion to the Infant Jesus.
From Pittsburgh Father Petsch went to Baltimore
as Rector of St. Alphonsus' Church. One day shortly
after his arrival at his new post, he was called to
administer the last Sacraments to a dying man. On
account of the intense heat, the devoted priest suf-
fered a sunstroke which brought him to the verge of
the grave. For several days his life hung in the
balance. Finally he recovered, yet his health was
never entirely restored; still, he performed all the
duties of his office with conscientious fidelity.
In 1873, when the Rev. Father Gross was chosen
Bishop of Savannah, Father Petsch was selected to
succeed him as Superior of the Mission Church, Bos-
ton. His master achievement here, which won him
deathless fame, was, as the reader knows, the erection
of the present church. When, in 1874, ground was
broken for the new edifice, it was Father Petsch him-
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 497
self who drew the lines, planted the stakes, and
directed the work of excavation. " I remember well,"
says an eyewitness, " how I admired his large heart in
taking in so vast an area, and so far back into the
garden, the more so, as a considerable part of it con-
sisted of a large hill which had to be removed. But,
Father Petsch was not the man to begin the work,
and such a work, in a puny style. He looked to the
future need and usefulness of a large structure, and
he would consequently lay the foundations broad and
deep." Father Petsch was surely a man of vision.
He saw at least one generation ahead of his time. As
he planned the stately structure, he must have
visualized the Mission Church of 1921 a teeming
center of spiritual activity. He was a dreamer, but
a practical dreamer one who knew how to translate
his dreams into living pulsing realities. The church
is an enduring monument to his piety, confidence in
God, and superabundant zeal. But what it must
have cost him, God alone knows. Who shall tell the
anxious days and sleepless nights Father Petsch must
have spent while it was in the course of erection ? To
build such an edifice in what was then, we may say,
a country district, was, indeed, a herculean task,
especially as the church was at that time without
parochial rights. But this brave athlete of Christ
knew no such word as "Failure," and went ahead
courageously until, when the church was nearly
finished, he was relieved of the heavy burdens of
office.
After he had stepped down into the ranks,
although his strength must have been sapped by the
heavy strain he had undergone, Father Petsch
labored as hard as ever, especially in the confessional.
When urged to spare himself, he made light of his
infirmities. But at length, on June 14, 1882, he was
498 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
forced to take to bed. The doctor pronounced his
trouble fatty degeneration of the heart, and gave him
at most three months to live. But the end came much
sooner than anticipated. On the 19th, Father Petsch
was so weak that the physician declared he could not
live more than forty-eight hours. The last Sacra-
ments were at once administered to the dying man by
Father Henning, who, with the other Fathers of the
community, kept constant watch at the bedside.
In the last hours of his earthly sojourn, Father
Petsch spoke rarely, for his mind was lifted up to
Heaven and to the things of God. The one senti-
ment that ruled his soul was " I desire to die and to
be with Christ." During his long spells of delirium,
he seemed to show an ardent desire to be sprinkled
with holy water, and blessed himself repeatedly. He
was also observed to make the sign of the cross, as if
over the host and chalice, in imitation of the priest
celebrating Holy Mass. His death was the echo of
his life. Near the altar he had always lived; at the
altar in spirit, he died. About noon on June 20, the
community was hastily summoned to the cell of the
dying priest, where the Litany for the departing soul
was recited and absolution once more conferred.
After a hard and prolonged struggle, Father
Petsch's saintly spirit shook off the trammels of the
body and winged its flight to Him who made it.
The following morning the mortal remains were
removed to the church and a Solemn Requiem Mass
was sung by Father Henning, assisted by Father
Bausch and Father O'Brien. The body lay in state
all day, and hundreds of the faithful to whom the
dead priest had been father and guide came to pay
a last tribute of respect and love to one they so
deeply venerated. On the 22d, after the recitation of
the Office for the Dead, the Solemn Funeral Mass
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 499
was celebrated by Father Magennis of Jamaica
Plain, with Father Moran of St. Stephen's, Boston,
as deacon, and Father Fitzpatrick of Milton, as sub-
deacon. The Most Rev. Archbishop Williams,
attended by Father Sigl, C. SS.R., and Father
Donnelly, presided at the Mass. The eulogy was pro-
nounced by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Connor, S. J., who
reviewed the life of the deceased from his birth in
1821 to his entrance into religion in 1843, and from
his elevation to the priesthood in 1846 to the time of
his death. The preacher depicted in glowing colors
the sublimity of the religious and the priestly voca-
tion, dwelling especially on the latter. He then
referred to the striking virtues of Father Petsch, the
religious and priest, as displayed in all the houses of
his order in which he had been stationed. The last
grand and mighty work of his zeal, said Father
O'Connor, was the beautiful Church of Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, which would stand as an eternal
monument to his memory. The congregation was
much affected when the preacher quoted those re-
markable words of the dying Redemptorist, who,
when asked if he wanted anything, replied, " I want
God." After the sermon His Grace pronounced the
final absolution. Tender and loving hands then bore
the body of Father Petsch to the grave prepared for
it in the community garden, where, within shadow of
the great church he had built, they gave him back at
last to his kindred dust. About six years later, his
ashes were removed to Calvary Cemetery, where they
await a glorious resurrection.
Regret for the loss of Father Petsch was general
and sincere, as he was cordially esteemed as a gentle
and charitable priest and an excellent director of
souls. One of his most prominent virtues was his
spirit of faith. It was from his calm, serene, and
500 TflE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
boundless faith that he drew that unfailing strength
which sustained him in all difficulties and that re-
markable courage which enabled him to bear up
under such trying ordeals as the accident at Ann-
apolis. It was his faith that filled him with burning
devotion to the Adorable Sacrament of the Altar and
to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary two practises of
piety most earnestly recommended by St. Alphonsus.
As a Redemptorist, Father Petsch was faithfully
observant of the rules of the Congregation. He
realized fully that only within those rules, approved
by the Church, could he please God, and labor
efficaciously for the salvation of others. From the
day of his profession, he practised the evangelical
counsels with the greatest exactness. He strove to
inspire those whose spiritual father he was with his
own esteem for the religious state, and thus encour-
aged many of his younger penitents to forsake the
world and all that it prizes and to give themselves
entirely to God. He had an abiding conviction of
the truth of the saying of St. Alphonsus that after
the grace of Baptism, that of a religious vocation is
the choicest of God's gifts.
In humility, which gives to the other virtues their
genuine Christian character, Father Petsch distin-
guished himself to a high degree. Never was he heard
to speak of himself, nor to defend his own opinion
obstinately. Never was he seen disturbed, when in
any way hurt or offended. He was tranquil and
resigned under crosses, and though constantly tor-
mented by corporal sufferings, no word of complaint
or murmur escaped his lips. Thus died this true
servant of God and disciple of St. Alphonsus.
Sleep, beloved Leopold Petsch, Redemptorist,
priest and man of Gfod, gently sleep beneath the
shadow of the Cross, in thy appointed chamber in
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 501
God's acre! Sleep, where the din and strife of the
city is hushed, where the birds sing sweetly, where the
stars for funeral tapers burn, and where the weeping
willows sob the De Profundis! Sleep on till the dawn
of never-fading light, sleep on till the Angel of the
Resurrection quickens thy ashes to new life, and thou
arise in radiant and resplendent vesture, to take thy
place in "Mount Sion and the heavenly Jerusalem,"
in "the company of many thousands of angels, the
Church of the first-born who are written in the
heavens," with " God, the Judge of all, and the spirits
of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the Mediator of
the New Testament, and the blood which speaketh
better things than that of Abel!"
THE REV. JOHN O'BRIEN, C. SS. R.
Father O'Brien fell on the field of battle, Novem-
ber 8, 1885. He was born in County Tipperary, Ire-
land, April 1, 1850. When he was two years old his
father died, and six years later his mother came to
this country and settled in New York City. Here
John was sent to St. Peter's parochial school and
later to De La Salle Academy.
When a mere boy he determined to become a relig-
ious, but was undecided as to what order he should
choose. On the one hand the life of a Christian
Brother appealed to him; on the other, he felt drawn
to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
One day in May, 1870, he went to the Redemptorist
rectory on E. 3d Street, N. Y., and asked to see
Father O'Connor. The latter, on meeting him, said,
"What can I do for you, my young friend?"
"Father," replied the stalwart youth, "I have
502 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
thought very seriously of becoming a religious of
your order. I have considered the step long and
well, and I have no doubt that God wishes me to
leave the world." " But are you aware," said Father
O'Connor, "that in our order there are priests and
lay brothers? The Fathers devote themselves to the
work of the sacred ministry, principally by giving
missions; the brothers lead a more retired life and
give themselves exclusively to manual labor for the
good of the Congregation." "Father, I wish to be
a lay brother in the Congregation. I would not dare
aspire to be a missionary," answered the sturdy lad.
When Father O'Connor introduced John O'Brien to
the Rector of the house, the Rev. Michael Mueller,
the latter was so favorably impressed by the young
man's manner and bearing that he encouraged him to
study for the priesthood.
A little later John O'Brien entered the Prepara-
tory College of the Redemptorists in Baltimore,
where he soon acquired the reputation of being the
most diligent student at college. His application to
study was extraordinary. Had he, in imitation of
St. Alphonsus, made a vow never to lose a moment of
time, he could not have displayed greater industry in
the pursuit of knowledge, filled as he was with ambi-
tion to render himself a fit instrument in the service
of God. If ever a man deserved success for his un-
tiring efforts that man was John O'Brien. Even
while other diligent students were seeking much-
needed recreation and enjoyment, he was buried
in his books ; such close application naturally brought
him to the front of his class; for what he lacked in
quickness of perception he more than gained by dili-
gence and industry.
His career, however, received a sudden check; for
not even an iron constitution is proof against the in-
roads of the many ills to which human flesh is heir.
Inflammatory rheumatism, the same disease which
later on caused his death, so tortured him in every
limb, that for seven weeks he was as helpless as a
babe. But after much suffering endured with great
patience, he recovered. A trip to his native isle
enabled him to return to his studies with renewed
energy.
In the summer of 1875, John O'Brien passed, to the
entire satisfaction of his Superiors, the entrance
examination into the novitiate. On August 2 he re-
ceived the habit of the Congregation of the Most
Holy Redeemer at Annapolis, and began his proba-
tion under the Rev. Henry Dauenhauer, C. SS.R.
During his entire novitiate he was invariably the
first in the chapel in the morning. This same prompt-
ness and fervor he exhibited at all the other exercises
of the day. So great was his desire to do all things
in the most perfect manner that it was apparent to
everyone. Those who saw him for the first time were
inclined to believe that his piety was too demonstra-
tive to be perfectly sincere. However, this was not
the case, for his ardent desire to do everything well
continued to the end of his life an infallible sign
that his fervor was genuine. On August 2, 1876, he
pronounced the holy vows and shortly afterwards
was sent to Ilchester, Md., to take up the higher
studies. Here, as in the preparatory college, he ap-
plied himself to his books with energy and deter-
mination; yet at the same time he made it his chief
study to become a perfect religious.
On March 13, 1880, John O'Brien was ordained
priest by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, and on the
following day celebrated his First Holy Mass in the
chapel of the Preparatory College at Ilchester. He
continued to prosecute his studies until February,
504 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
1881, when he was sent by his Superiors to Boston,
to begin the active life of the ministry.
As soon as Father O'Brien had arrived here, he
began to show what an efficient priest he was. His
first appearance gained him the good will of the
parishioners. By his urbane and gentle manners
and great zeal and efficiency, he won general admira-
tion. Before long he was busily engaged in every
phase of parish activity. During his term as Direc-
tor of the Sunday School, he tended with the utmost
care this chosen portion of Christ's flock. The differ-
ent branches of the Archconfraternity of the Holy
Family found in him a faithful guide. Now we see
him organizing the Juvenile Holy Family; again, at
the head of the Married Men's and Married Women's
Sodalities, giving them the solid bread of heavenly
truth. His confessional was at all times besieged by
the young and the old, who hastened to receive encour-
agement from the zealous priest and to rekindle their
faith by the warmth that proceeded from his.
After his second novitiate, in February, 1884,
Father O'Brien was appointed to the mission-
band. The confidence which his Superiors reposed
in his ability is evident from the fact that, when only
thirty-five years old, he was selected to give retreats
to the clergy of the dioceses of Erie, Halifax, New
Brunswick, and Burlington, and to the seminar-
ians at Overbrook, near Philadelphia. In all these
places he received the highest encomiums from bish-
ops and priests. One venerable member of the hier-
archy wrote of him: "Rev. Father O'Brien during
the several missions which he preached in my diocese
to the reverend clergy, the people and some religious
houses, gained the esteem and affection of all by his
zeal and piety. He was remarkable by the interest,
full of affection, which he bore to those for whose
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 505
welfare he labored." If we bear in mind that he be-
gan his missionary career in the spring of 1884 and
died in the autumn of 1885, it will help us to realize
what an immense amount of work he did in a short
space of time. But again, his old enemy, inflamma-
tory rheumatism, attacked him while he was assisting
at a mission in Dorchester. On the last day of April,
"J884, about 10:00 A. M., a carriage drove up to the
rectory of the Mission Church. In it lay poor
Father O'Brien, wrapped up in blankets. After a
month of patient endurance he was restored to his
wonted strength and rejoined the mission band.
In September, 1885, he and Father Delargy were
engaged on ai series of missions in the northern part
of Pennsylvania. When they had finished their la-
bors they set out for Boston, stopping at New York.
In the latter place they met the Very Rev. Father
Provincial, who spoke to them of the great and ardu-
ous labors of the missionaries in Philadelphia, one ot
whom, Father McGivern, had just been taken dan-
gerously ill. Father O'Brien begged to be sent to the
Philadelphia mission, but the Provincial replied,
'You must be worn out by constant work and in
need of rest." Stretching himself to his full height,
he exclaimed: "Look at me! Am I not a strong
man? Send me. I am ready for work." : 'Very
well," answered the Provincial, "you and Father
Delargy may go to the Philadelphia mission by the
next train." Father O'Brien was highly delighted.
At the same time he asked and received permission
to go to Ilchester during the time intervening be-
tween the women's and the men's mission, in order
"to embrace again the dear brethren on the hill."
Accompanied by Father Delargy he went to Phila-
delphia in order to take part in the mission at the
Church of the Annunciation. In the inscrutable de-
506 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
signs of God this was to be his last work in the min-
istry. As his priestly career had opened, so it was to
close at a church dedicated to the Queen of Heaven.
At the conclusion of the women's mission the two
Fathers availed themselves of the opportunity to re-
visit their Alma Mater at Ilchester, where they had
spent so many happy days in preparation for their
future labors.
Strange as it may seem, Father O'Brien appears
to have had some presentiment of his approaching
death. A few months before, he had told one of his
penitents that he had only a short time to live. The
night before he started out on his final series of mis-
sions he spoke so pointedly that in the light of subse-
quent events, the persons with whom he had talked
realized he was bidding them farewell. At Ilches-
ter, while engaged in earnest conversation with the
Fathers, he suddenly stopped short and exclaimed:
"Well, Ilchester is so nice and quiet, it would be a
holy place to die in." After retiring that night he was
suddenly seized with another attack of inflammatory
rheumatism. He had felt a severe pain in his foot for
several days, but had endeavored to convince himself
that it would pass away. In this instance, however,
the opposite happened; the affection spread over his
whole body, and every movement caused him excru-
ciating pain. For three days he suffered the most in-
tense tortures, but on Saturday he was much better.
Confident of his recovery the zealous priest spoke of
returning to the field of labor where his companion
had in the meantime gone. He even left his bed for
a short while, in order to see if he could walk. His
friends began to conceive high hopes that he would
soon be restored to health; but, alas! at half past six
the next morning he suffered a relapse and died half
an hour later, on Sunday, November 8.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 507
The sad news was at once telegraphed to Boston,
and caused sincere sorrow among priests and peo-
ple. The remains were shipped here for interment,
and lay in state in the church till Thursday morning,
when the funeral was held. At the conclusion of the
office for the Dead, Solemn Requiem Mass was cele-
brated by the Rev. Eugene Walsh, C. SS. R., assist-
ed by the Rev. Andrew Wynn, C. SS. R., as deacon,
and the Rev. Aloysius Lutz, C. SS. R., as subdea-
con. The Rev. William G. Luecking, C. SS. R., a
classmate of the deceased priest, preached an affect-
ing eulogy. About 50 priests and 2,000 of the laity
attended the funeral. Father O'Brien was buried in
Calvary Cemetery.
An eyewitness tells us that on one occasion the
Rev. John O'Brien, while giving a retreat to the
clergy of a certain diocese, betook himself to the
chapel, in order to pray for light and grace. Looking
about and seeing no one present, he prostrated him-
self before the altar and remained for a long time in
that humble posture. Meanwhile, however, he had
been closely watched from behind the sacristy door,
and his great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament in-
spired his young observer to join the ranks of the
Sons of St. Alphonsus. Father O'Brien evidently
practised what he preached when he taught the faith-
ful to have recourse to Our Lord in the Holy Euchar-
ist in all their needs and trials.
Father O'Brien was deeply devoted to the Mother
of Sorrows, and made it a rule to instil this devotion,
so touching and so consoling, into the hearts of his
spiritual children. After his death, one of his peni-
tents said: "I remember him telling that he always
said his Seven Dolor Rosary in any trial or to ob-
tain any favor, and that he was always heard. And
I can say for myself that through him I have obtained
508 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN fcOSTOiST
the same confidence, and by Mary's prayers have re-
ceived favors that seemed almost impossible. I think
if his penitents were brought together few would be
found without the Seven Dolor Rosary."
Another prominent note of Father O'Brien's char-
acter was his close study and still closer imitation of
the spirit of St. Alphonsus. To read the Saint's life
and to meditate on his many virtues, were practises
dear to him even when a young man in the world. It
was this attachment to St. Alphonsus, and this affec-
tion for him, which naturally led John O'Brien to
join the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer,
and when he had joined it, to live true and loyal to its
genius and its traditions. No wonder, then, that he
died with the habit of St. Alphonsus covering his
heart and the prayers of St. Alphonsus sustaining
his soul.
Father O'Brien's life was one animated and ener-
gized by the spirit of lively faith, of exact obedience,
of unsullied purity, and of sincere humility. It was a
life that should encourage us to tread in the footsteps
of Jesus Christ, so that we may deserve to close our
days in that childlike, peaceful trust in God, which
robs death of its terrors and makes it the gateway to
eternal bliss.
THE REV. JOHN BEIL, C. SS. R.
John Beil, the second of nine children, was born in
the city of Baltimore, in the parish of St. Alphonsus,
of whose zealous little band of missionaries he was
one day to be so bright an ornament. The date of his
birth was October 8, 1855; of his baptism, October 12.
The family dwelt within the shadow of the grand old
basilica, which was built by the Most Rev. Archbishop
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 509
Carroll, the patriarch of the American hierarchy, and
which has been the scene of the grandest ecclesiastical
functions. His parents were models of every Chris-
tian virtue. Full of faith and of zeal for the glory
of God, they were ever foremost in every movement
tending to promote the spread of religion. Their
home was a model one, where prayers were daily re-
cited at the appointed hours, where instructions in
Christian doctrine were given to the children by the
parents, where peace and harmony reigned, where
the poor were always kindly received, and where many
a one who had met with a sudden reverse of fortune
found the means to hide his poverty from the eyes
of the cruel world the blessing of God rested vis-
ibly on the home of John Beil.
A remarkable incident occurred when he was a
little boy, which points him out as having been even
then a particularly favored child of God an incident
of which he himself often spoke as a mark of God's
special goodness to him. When about five years of
age, boy-fashion, he climbed over the railing of an ad-
jacent porch. Suddenly he lost his hold and fell to
the ground, sustaining a fracture of the skull. For
twenty-four hours the child was unconscious. Every-
body had given him up for dead ; even the physician
after removing the stitches from the wound de-
clared that life had departed. His parents closed
the store they kept and prepared the shroud for their
little son. But the afflicted mother would not aban-
don hope. " My poor boy," she exclaimed, " no, he
cannot be dead. For Thy Blessed Mother's sake,
O Jesus, save my child! I will consecrate him to
Thee forever; only spare him this terrible death."
Thus she prayed, and amid the pangs that tore her
heart she made a vow to present a memorial offering
to the well-known shrine of the Fourteen Holy Mar-
510 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tyrs, if God would turn an indulgent ear to her sup-
plications. Suddenly the pale lips that had appar-
ently been sealed in death were seen to part and the
child was heard to utter the sweet word "Mother."
Thanks to Him who is ever ready to dry the tears on
the cheeks of suffering humanity, the boy was quickly
restored to perfect health !
As soon as John was able to learn he was sent to
St. Alphonsus' parochial school; and at the age of
seven he was chosen to serve at the altar. In May,
1867, when twelve years old, he received his first
Holy Communion. One morning, the following
October, after the lad had served Mass as usual, the
Rev. Elias F. Schauer, C. SS.R., a relative of the
family, said to him: "Johnny, tell your parents that
the Rev. Father Seelos died in New Orleans, of
yellow fever, and that you must take his place as a
Redemptorist." The words struck home. Previous
to this incident the little fellow had never thought of
becoming a Redemptorist, but from that moment on
he cherished the idea until it became a reality.
Shortly afterwards John Beil entered the Redemp-
torist Preparatory College as a day-scholar; but in
the beginning his path was not strewn with roses, as
Latin proved an insurmountable barrier to him. One
day the Rector of St. Alphonsus' Church called for
the boy's father and said to him: 'You had better
keep John at home. I don't think he'll ever be a
priest." Mr. Beil, disappointed, informed the reverend
director of the college of the advice he had received.
The latter replied: "My good man, you need have
no fears for John. Let him board at the college, that
he may have more time to devote to his studies, and
all will be right." And so it proved. With constant
care and diligence the boy thenceforth kept pace with
the brighter members of his class and in every other
respect also showed himself a model student.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 511
John Beil received the Redemptorist habit on the
Feast of St. Alphonsus, August 2, 1875, at Annap-
olis, Md. As a novice he was noted for his exact
observance of every rule and for his great devotion
to the Mother of Sorrows. He made his religious
profession on August 2, 1876, and shortly afterwards
began the study of the sacred sciences at the semi-
nary, at Ilchester, Md. During the epidemic of ty-
phoid fever which broke out there, in 1877, he showed
himself an apostle almost a martyr of charity.
He stood by his comrades who had been stricken, un-
til he himself was obliged to take to bed. When the
fever left him he was so weak that for a time he had
to suspend his studies. He was ordained priest
March 13, 1880, by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons,
and celebrated his First Mass in the chapel of the
Preparatory College, at Ilchester.
In June, 1881, he was appointed professor at the
college, which had just been transferred to North
East, Pa. There he soon became a great favorite
with the boys. Seeing in him a man of real and rare
kindness of heart they loved and idolized him.
His second novitiate over, in February, 1884,
Father Beil became a member of the Boston
mission-band. While serving in that capacity, New
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and Massachu-
setts, in this country, and Prince Edward Island in
Canada, were the scenes of his apostolic labors. After
some time he was assigned to the Church of St.
Peter, St. John, N. B., where his unctuous preaching
touched all hearts. In October, 1887, he was sent
back to Boston and at once made Superior of the
mission-band of the New England States. Where-
ever he preached missions he left behind him endur-
ing memorials of his zeal, of his eloquence and of his
charity. When in some of these parishes the an-
512 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
nouncement of his death was made, the congregation
burst into tears.
In February, 1888, Father Beil was appointed Min-
ister or Procurator of the Boston house, which office
carries with it the charge of the temporal affairs of
the community. This position dovetailed perfectly
with his kind and charitable nature. He was all eyes
to see the wants of his brethren and all heart to sup-
ply them.
The following summer the health of Father Rector
Mclnerney became so weak as to necessitate his pro-
longed absence from home. Thus the whole weight
of authority and responsibility was thrown on the
shoulders of Father Beil. In collecting funds for the
parochial school, and especially in directing the mon-
ster fair that was held to help defray the immense
expenditure, he labored to the point of utter exhaus-
tion. For four or five months before the fair opened
he was busy everywhere, superintending everything,
even the smallest details. When the fair had actually
begun he denied himself all rest. During the day he
was engaged in preparing for the evening; when even-
ing came he was on hand to see that everything went
well. In view of the generosity of the people he
yielded to the entreaties of various officials of the fair
and extended it beyond the original date, thus pro-
longing his agony of suspense, his loss of sleep, his
care and anxiety from a thousand and one causes.
The fair was a brilliant success. Father Beil realized
a large sum of money, but he ruined his health. Not
long afterwards he began to complain of insomnia
and of loss of appetite. The doctor declared that he
was threatened with nervous prostration. This attack
was his death-knell in the distance. But Father Beil
was a brave man and by sheer force of will he sus-
tained his sinking physical powers. His magnifi-
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 513
cent courage enabled him to rally, and for a while he
appeared as rugged as of old, but in reality his
strength had been forever sapped; however, he con-
tinued to perform his duties as devotedly as ever.
Father Beil did noble work as Spiritual Director
of the Single Men's Branch of the Holy Family
Association. Not only their eternal, but their tem-
poral interests also lay close to his heart. He over-
looked nothing that tended to draw them more closely
to Christ, the Exemplar of Manhood.
In the summer of 1890 four or five Fathers were
simultaneously removed from Boston to other fields
of labor. This circumstance brought added burdens
to Father Beil, especially the charge of the Sunday
school. On Wednesday, July 16, he took the teach-
ers on an excursion to Nantasket Beach. It was an
excessively hot day. From morning till night he was
busy ministering to the wants of his guests, and when
the time came to board the boat homeward bound he
was fairly dripping with perspiration. As he sat in
the bow of the vessel, he remarked to one of the
teachers: "How cold it has become! I am quite
chilled. Next time I shall bring my overcoat."
The next day he felt unwell. On Friday evening,
although there was no improvement in his condition,
he dragged himself to the confessional. While there
engaged, he was called to attend a sick person, and
though the shadow of death was upon him, he cheer-
fully responded to the summons. The next morning
he was in terrible pain and was unable to rise from
bed. The doctor who was called, saw that the patient
was a very sick man, and a consultation was held. The
verdict was that Father Beil could not recover. The
irrevocable decree had gone forth from the Most
High God that this noble priest must die. At nine
o'clock on Monday night, the attending physician
514 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
noticed signs of approaching death. He at once noti-
fied the Rector, Father Frawley, who broke the news
as gently as possible to the stricken man. Not in the
least alarmed, Father Beil calmly said: "May the
will of God be done." Then turning to the doctor,
he said with a smile : " Doctor, you need not have been
afraid to tell me, for I do not fear death." The last
rites of the Church were administered to him, but,
owing to constant vomiting, he was unable to receive
the Holy Viaticum. Sustained and soothed by his
perfect resignation to the will of God, he answered
the prayers for the dying with a firm unfaltering
voice. With serene joy of soul, he then renewed his
vows, and at the conclusion of that touching cere-
mony, remarked to one of the bystanders: "I never
thought it was so sweet to die in the Congregation."
Shortly after midnight, Father Beil called his Supe-
rior to his bedside, and said: "Father Rector, if I
have ever offended or scandalized anyone, I beg his
pardon, and hope he will forgive me." Those were
his last words ever spoken to mortal ear. How well
they portray his admirable spirit of charity and of
humility ! In a few minutes, the agony of death was
upon him, and in the early morning hours of Tues-
day, July 22, the beautiful soul of the Rev. John
Beil, radiant with the grace of ordination, sped
heavenward to the bosom of the Great High Priest.
"Father Beil is dead." Such was the sad word
that was passed from house to house throughout the
parish on that bright July morning. Fervent prayers
had ascended to the throne of God by day and by
night since the first signs of danger had been noticed ;
several Masses had been said, and as the Forty
Hours' Devotion was in progress at the time, it is
estimated that more than a thousand Communions
had been offered up to Almighty God for the
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 515
recovery of the beloved priest. When, therefore, the
hopes of the parishioners had been shattered by his
death, their sorrow knew no bounds. Women,
children, and even stout-hearted men were seen
shedding tears in church, on the street, or at their
homes.
The funeral was held on Thursday, July 24, at ten
o'clock. The celebrant of the Mass was the Rev.
Joseph Henning, C. SS.R., Rector of St. Mary's
Church, Annapolis, assisted by the Rev. Augustine
Mclnerney, C.SS.R., Rector of St. Patrick's
Church, Toronto, as deacon, and the Rev. Patrick H.
Barrett, C.SS.R., Superior of St. Clement's Col-
lege, Saratoga Springs, N. Y., as subdeacon. The
eulogy was pronounced by the Rev. William G.
Luecking, C.SS.R., Prefect of Students at Ilches-
ter, Md., a classmate f the deceased. The mortal
remains of Father Beil were laid to rest in Calvary
Cemetery.
The Rev. John Beil was a splendid type of
Redemptorist priest. If ever a man loved his voca-
tion and strove conscientiously to realize all its
ideals, it was he. He was one of whom the great St.
Alphonsus could truly say, " This is my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased." He revered every
thread of his religious habit, and beneath it he carried
a heart like in all things to that of the illustrious
Ligouri. Father Beil's priestly bearing and deport-
ment were simply the reflection of the priestly virtues
which adorned his soul. Those who were privileged to
know him will always hold him in loving remem-
brance, and in the history of the Mission Church, his
name is written in letters of gold.
516 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE REV. MICHAEL GATES, C. SS. R.
The Rev. Michael Gates was born August 27,
1839, in County Roscommon, Ireland. When a
youth he came to America, and cast his lot in New
Orleans, where he secured employment as a teacher.
Here he came in contact with the Redemptorist
Fathers, who quickly perceiving his admirable quali-
ties of mind and of heart, gave him the greatest
encouragement when he applied for admission into
the Congregation. In 1860 he made his religious pro-
fession, and in 1870 was ordained priest.
His first field of labor was in New York City,
where his zeal shone conspicuously. In 1874 he was
sent to Quebec, and the following year to Boston,
where for nine years he was a member of the mis-
sion-band. In 1884 he was transferred to An-
napolis, and in 1890 was appointed Rector of St.
Peter's Church, St. John, N. B. At the expiration
of his term of office, he was again attached to the Mis-
sion Church, where he remained until his death.
For a great many years Father Gates had suf-
fered from Bright's disease, but mindful only of his
Father's business, he fulfilled every duty as perfectly
as if in possession of robust health. Finally, however,
on January 18, 1897, early in the morning, he com-
pletely collapsed, and the last rites of the Church
were administered to him. The doctor said he was
beyond all medical aid. Uremic poisoning brought
on a state of coma from which he never rallied. At
2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 20th, he died a
calm and peaceful death. The last words that fell
from his lips were, "God bless you; you are all so
kind."
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 517
The funeral took place on Saturday, January 23,
at 10 :00 A. M. His Grace Archbishop Williams pre-
sided at the Mass, and sixty-one priests, secular and
Redemptorist, were present in the sanctuary. The
celebrant was the Rev. Michael Corduke, C. SS.R.,
the deacon, the Rev. William White, C. SS.R.; the
subdeacon, the Rev. Thomas Galvin, C. SS.R. The
Rev. Michael J. Sheehan, C. SS.R., delivered the
funeral oration. His Grace pronounced the last
absolution. The funeral corfege extended for blocks
and blocks, and hundreds of mourners followed the
corpse to the grave. Father Gates was buried in
Calvary Cemetery.
The Rev. Michael Gates was the soul of charity.
No matter how much it cost him, he was always
ready to do favors for others. He was also one of
the most unassuming of men; in fact, his humility
kept steady company with his charity. Whenever
he was praised, he simply smiled an incredulous smile,
and said in Irish, " Na bach lish," " Oh, don't mind
that."
On April 8, 1895, twenty-five years had passed
since he had been ordained priest. Father Frawley,
who was then Rector, wished to make the day
memorable in the history of the parish, and with that
end in view wrote to the Very Rev. Father Provincial
for permission to invite the Fathers of the different
houses in the Province, to grace by their presence the
happy occasion of the Silver Jubilee. Somehow or
other, Father Gates heard of the movement, and
begged Father Frawley so earnestly and so per-
sistently to abandon the idea, that the latter finally
yielded to his entreaties. But this was not all. Father
Gates also requested his Superior to make no
announcement whatever of the jubilee either to the
parishioners or to the members of the community.
518 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
His wish was respected, and the affair passed un-
noticed, except that at dinner Father Frawley con-
gratulated the reverend jubilarian in a few simple
words. Father Gates rose in his place and said merely,
" My dear Fathers and Brothers, I thank you."
On another occasion, while in the Public Library
with a brother priest, Father Gates picked up some
books, which, according to the regulations, visitors
were not allowed to handle on account of his poor
eyesight he had not noticed the sign to that effect. In
a very curt and gruff manner, one of the employees
bade him put the books down. Father Gates quietly
and smilingly did as he was told, and, thanking the
man for his "kindness," shook hands cordially with
him. The understrapper was so taken back by the
rare humility of the priest that he remarked to a
bystander, "Well, that is the strangest man I ever
met!"
THE REV. WILLIAM O'CONNOR, C. SS. R.
On July 27, 1899, the doctor ordered the grand old
veteran of the Mission Church, Father O'Connor, to
be taken to Carney Hospital, South Boston, as the
venerable priest, who had passed the scriptural age of
threescore and ten, had been unwell for some time.
Still critically ill, he was brought home on August 31,
and at once prepared for death by the Rev. Thomas
Donohue, C. SS.R. Nine days later, September 9,
at 7:30 P. M., Father O'Connor took his place in the
shining ranks of the just. The grief of his fellow-
religious and of the parishioners over his death was
sincere and profound, for he was universally regarded
as a saint.
William O'Connor was born in County Limerick,
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 519
Ireland, March 30, 1827. At the age of 21, he came
to this country, and was admitted into the diocesan
seminary of Cleveland, where, in 1851, he was
ordained for the diocese by its Bishop, the Rt. Rev.
Amadeus Rappe. After he had labored for more
than ten years with edifying zeal and marked success
in various places in Ohio, Father O'Connor was
prudently advised to enter a religious order. Accord-
ingly he applied for admission into the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer. He was accepted, and
sent to Cumberland, Md., to make his novitiate. On
June 14, 1863, he was enrolled among the Sons of
St. Alphonsus.
When this house was established, in 1871, Father
O'Connor was transferred here from New York, and
thus was one of the first to fling to the Boston breezes
the standard of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. After
doing " The Queen's Work " here for four years, he
was assigned to St. Patrick's Church, Quebec,
Canada, of which the Redemptorists had just
assumed charge. Six years later, in 1881, he returned
to his old love, Boston, where he remained for more
than 18 years till Our Blessed Mother called him
home, the day after the Feast of her Nativity.
During his long stay here, he labored with steady,
unswerving fidelity, especially in the confessional
and at the bedside of the dying. Wherever there was
a soul to be saved, there Father O'Connor sped " as
on the rush of Angels' wings." His tender and
childlike devotion to the Mother of Perpetual Help
inspired his Superiors to intrust to him the conduct
of the Wednesday afternoon exercises at the Shrine.
His kind and compassionate heart, ever prompt to
respond to the woes and sorrows of afflicted humanity,
made him a true friend and father to the tear-stained
thousands who come every week to lay their burdens
520 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
at the feet of the Consoler of the Afflicted. His name
became a talisman of high hope all over the city, and
was blessed and revered far and wide.
The constant strain which his unremitting labors
entailed, at last began to tell on his constitution, and
his Superiors were forced to check his zeal, but they
could not relieve him entirely of his charge, because
of the confidence the people had in his prayers. Nor
did he himself wish to relinquish his labor of love for
his Heavenly Mother, so long as he could raise his
consecrated hand to bless her grief-laden children.
But Nature in the end demanded her toll and Father
O'Connor was forced to bed to rise no more. May
we not piously believe that when the veil was break-
ing, when the absolving words were being said over
him, and the holy oils were signing and sealing him,
our sweet Mother Mary was at his side to breathe on
his wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning?
Immediately after Father O'Connor's death,
Father Frawley went to the church and announced
the sad news to the people. Many of the faithful
sobbed aloud when they heard that he who had so
often dried their tears was now no more. At 3:00
P.M., September 11, the remains of the dead priest
were borne to the church by the members of the com-
munity, amid the mournful chanting of the Benedic-
tus, the Miserere, and the De Profundis. During the
entire evening, though it rained heavily, people came
from all parts of the city to take farewell of the
saintly priest they loved so dearly.
At 9:00 A. M., the following morning, the final
obsequies were held. The Very Rev. Father Provin-
cial Luecking was celebrant of the Mass; the Rev.
Francis X. Miller, C. SS. R., of Toronto, "deacon,
and the Rev. John Klang, C. SS.R., of Baltimore,
subdeacon. Seated in the sanctuary were His Grace
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 521
Archbishop Williams, Auxiliary Bishop Brady, and
upwards of sixty priests. Every seat in the church
was occupied and hundreds were standing in the
aisles. The eulogy was pronounced by the Rt Rev.
Mgr. Magennis of Jamaica Plain, who said in part :
"Father O'Connor was a true priest. The sanctuary was
his dwelling-place, the altar was his daily refuge, the con-
fessional was his home. More than a hundred tongues, were
all his penitents alive, would rise up as one today and call
him blessed. I have known him intimately during all the
years of his residence in this parish, as intimately as one
man can know another, and I am sure whereof I speak
when I assert that a saint has lived among Us and we knew
it not. Like the saints of whom we read in the calendar of
the Church, his holiness of life was better known to God
than to his fellowmen. He was faithful and true to all the
various duties of his priestly office, and, even when failing
health might have legitimately exempted him from the per-
formance of his sacerdotal functions, by almost superhuman
efforts he was able to report at his post of duty, till duty
itself became for him a physical impossibility. . . . When
asked if he was afraid to die, the brave old soldier who had
taught so many others how to die, smiled at the thought of
fear, and replied, "I am not afraid of death, because I rely
upon the infinite mercy of my good God." How familiar
these words sound to those of us who have knelt at his feet
as penitents. . . .
*'He is now dead, but he has left behind him the memory
of a saintly character. His best monument and most elo-
quent eulogy is the record of a priestly life, with every duty
fulfilled. Though the echo of his paternal and sympathetic
voice still sounds in our ears, his penitents will miss his pious
and earnest exhortations to the practice of virtue, and the
wayward and sinful, his good counsel and encouragement.
You, the parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, will
never see him again, never again hear his voice, never again
receive his blessing. But as long as you live, let the name of
Father O'Connor be a household word among you, and held
in benediction. You, his friends, will all feel his loss now
that he is dead, and regret that you did not give greater
evidence of your love for him, while he was yet living to
522 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
appreciate it. But his friends are not numbered solely by
this mourning congregation; in every parish of the city of
Boston, while we here assembled join in this public testi-
monial to his many praiseworthy qualities, prayers are
being offered for the eternal repose of his soul and frequent
mention made of good Father O'Connor.
"Rest, then, dear Father O'Connor, rest in peace with
your God, whom you served so faithfully and well, mindful
that it was of such as you that the Great High Priest Jesus
Christ said, 'Serve me, and I myself shall be your reward
exceeding great.' "
THE REV. JOSEPH MCGRATH, C. SS. R.
One of the keenest losses that the community was
ever called on to sustain, occurred on June 4, 1900, in
the death of the Rev. Joseph McGrath.
He was stricken with appendicitis on June 1, and
the following day his condition became so alarming
that two specialists were called in. Their decision
was that he should, without delay, be taken to the
hospital for an operation. As his chances of recovery
were, in any case, very slim, he was prepared for
death. When the Father who administered the last
Sacraments informed him that he was very ill, he
expressed entire resignation to the Will of God. The
sad news of his untimely death brought sorrow to
every home in the parish. Stricken down as he was,
in the flower of his age, in the midst of the great
work he was doing, and carried off after only a few
days' illness, his death came as a stunning blow, and
left an aching void in the hearts of all who knew him.
Joseph McGrath was born in Dublin, Ireland,
February 17, 1862, and consequently at the time of
his death was only a little more than 38 years of age.
Even as a child he cherished in the deep recesses of
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 523
his heart the desire to become a priest. In his early
teens he went to Belgium, where he studied the
Humanities at a Jesuit College. After completing
his classical course, he returned to Ireland and was
admitted to the famous college of Maynooth, where
he made his theology. So rapid was his progress and
so abundant the confidence which his Superiors had
in him, that they allowed him to be ordained when
he was only twenty-two years and six months old.
By reason of his brilliant talents, especially his ability
as a theologian, he would have been an ornament to
the Church in Ireland, but he preferred to dedicate
his life to the foreign missions.
About the time of Father McGrath's ordination,
the Most Rev. Archbishop of Kingston, Canada,
visited Maynooth, and the young priest was intro-
duced to him. The Archbishop was so favorably im-
pressed by his learning and virtue, that he adopted
him into his diocese. For six years Father McGrath
labored with eminent success in that section of the
Master's vineyard, but all the while he felt within his
soul the call to embrace the religious life.
The Rev. Joseph Wissel, C. SS.R., while giving
a mission in the archdiocese of Kingston, was
approached by the brilliant young priest, who con-
fided to him the ambition that stirred within his
heart. The old missionary encouraged him in every
way possible, and directed him to seek admission into
the Redemptorist novitiate, at Annapolis, Md. On
March 25, 1890, Father McGrath was invested in
the livery of St. Alphonsus, and one year later pro-
nounced his vows as a religious.
His first appointment was to the Preparatory Col-
lege, at North East, Pa. In 1893 he was assigned
to the mission-band at St. Clement's College, Sara-
toga Springs, N. Y. In the capacity of missionary
524 THE GLOtOES Qi 1 MARY IN BOSTON
as well as of professor, his labors were signally
blessed by Almighty God. In 1898 he was attached
to the Mission Church, where up to the time of his
death he did splendid work, and endeared himself to
all by his kind and amiable disposition. He was in-
terested chiefly in the welfare of the young people,
to whom his death was a distinct personal loss. Every-
body in the parish was his friend, but he took special
delight in the confidence of the young men and the
boys. As Spiritual Director of the St. Alphonsus
Association, he came into close contact with them and,
strong personality that he was, he made a deep
impression on them by his lofty character and high
ideals. At their meetings, he was always present to
guide and enlighten them by his sane and sage coun-
sel. It was in no small measure due to his efforts that
the Association developed so wonderfully and re-
ceived into its ranks the best young men of the parish.
The little ones had in him, as Spiritual Director of
the Juvenile Holy Family, a bright example of true
Christian virtue.
As a preacher, Father McGrath ranked very high.
He had a fine pulpit presence and was as fluent in
French as in English.
His death evoked touching tributes from the dif-
ferent societies of which he had charge, as also from
the Sisters and the pupils of the Notre Dame
Academy, Roxbury, whom he served in the capacity
of confessor.
The funeral was held June 7, at ten o'clock. The
celebrant of the Mass was the Rev. Charles Schmidt,
C. SS. R., of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer,
N. Y.; the deacon, the Rev. Peter Ward, C. SS.R.,
of Toronto; the subdeacon, the Rev. John A. Han-
ley, C. SS. R., of Brooklyn, N. Y. More than seventy
priests were present in the sanctuary. The Rev.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 525
Joseph Wissel, C. SS.R., delivered the eulogy, in
which he spoke in touching terms of the dead priest's
charity, humility, and zeal for souls. Father McGrath
was buried in the community plot in Calvary
Cemetery.
THE REV. EUGENE WALSH, C. SS. R.
On July 17, 1905, the Rev. Eugene Walsh died at
the Carney Hospital, South Boston, as the result of
an operation.
Eugene Walsh was horn in County Sligo, Ireland,
November 14, 1835, and as a youth came to this coun-
try. Having resolved to become a priest, he began
the study of the Humanities at Holy Angels' Col-
lege, Niagara, N. Y. When that institution had been
destroyed by fire, he went to Cape Girardeau, but
after a few years returned to Niagara in order to
finish his studies. While a student of philosophy, he
applied for admission into the Congregation of the
Most Holy Redeemer, and was invested in the
religious habit at Annapolis, Md., October 15, 1867.
The following year he made his religious profession.
On June 6, 1872, he was ordained priest at St. Peter's
Church, Philadelphia.
A few months later, he entered the ministry, where
by his deep piety and genuine simplicity of soul, he
won many a soul to God. Whether engaged in parish
work, in teaching, or in giving missions, he was
always the same faithful religious, doing to the best
of his ability the work marked out for him, and con-
tributing to the happiness of those associated with
him, by his cheerful and kindly disposition. Self-
sacrifice was the dominant note in the Christian har-
mony of his character. The old saying that "death
526 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
changes no one," was fully verified in the case of
Father Walsh. He died as he had lived in intimate
communion with Jesus and Mary. Although suffer-
ing for years from a grave malady, he continued to
labor faithfully until the summons of his Divine Mas-
ter to a better life sounded in his soul. When finally
the Angel of Death beckoned to him to render an
account of his stewardship, his reply was, "Behold,
I am ready! " When those who had known him well
and had been witnesses of his many virtues, heard of
his death, they said instinctively, "Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord."
About 50 priests were present at his funeral, which
took place July 19, at 10 :00 A. M. The celebrant of
the Mass was the Very Rev. Father Provincial
Luecking; the deacon, the Rev. Ferdinand Bott,
C. SS.R.; the subdeacon, the Rev. John G. Kissner,
C. SS.R. The eulogy was pronounced by Father
Frawley. The interment took place in Calvary
Cemetery.
THE REV. BERNARD CULLEN, C. SS. R.
The Rev. Bernard Cullen died suddenly of heart
failure, September 23, 1907. About 4:15 P. M.,
when Father Grogan was about to leave his room, he
saw Father Cullen lying on his face in the corridor.
The dying man was at once carried to Father Gro-
gan's room; he was unconscious, and thick clotted
blood was oozing from his nose and mouth. Father
Grogan quickly administered the last Sacraments,
and while the members of the community were recit-
ing the prayers for the dying, Father Cullen breathed
his last.
The Rev. Bernard Cullen was born December 4,
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 527
1860, in County Cavan, Ireland. When a young
man he came to America, and not long afterwards
received the Redemptorist habit at Annapolis, Md.,
August 27, 1886. The following year he pronounced
his vows, and was ordained priest December 7, 1892,
at Ilchester, Md., by His Eminence Cardinal
Gibbons.
He began his ministerial career in February, 1894,
at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1895, he was transferred to the
Mission Church, where for nine years he was occupied
in giving missions in all parts of New England. He
was an enthusiastic and tireless worker who toiled
and spent himself like a true apostle. So unremitting
were his labors that at length his health began to fail,
and he was sent to Quebec, in order to recuperate.
After some time, he regained his strength, and was
assigned to St. Clement's College, Saratoga Springs,
N. Y. While stationed there, his missionary engage-
ments carried him as far north as Canada, and as far
south as the Carolinas. In the course of time, his
health again broke down, and in January, 1907, he
was sent back to Boston. Although severely handi-
capped by his weakened condition, he labored with-
out sparing himself, until at last he succumbed.
Father Cullen's funeral took place September 20,
at 10:00 A.M. The Rev. Joseph Hamelryckx,
C. SS. R., of Saratoga Springs, N. Y., a classmate of
the deceased, was celebrant of the Mass; the Rev.
Augustine J. Duke, C.SS.R., of St. John, N. B.,
deacon; and the Rev. William Crosby, C. SS.R., of
New York, subdeacon. Father Sheehan, who for
years had been a companion of the dead priest on the
missions, delivered the eulogy. Father Cullen's mor-
tal remains rest in Calvary Cemetery.
528 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE REV. ANDREW WYNN, C. SS. R.
Father Wynn received the reward of his labors
and sufferings July 13, 1914. Three weeks before,
he had contracted a heavy cold, which on July 10
developed into pneumonia. Two days later the doc-
tor pronounced his case hopeless, and the last rites
of the church were administered by Father Hayes, in
the presence of the entire community. As death
seemed a matter of moments only, Fathers Hayes,
O'Leary, and Clark remained at the bedside during
the entire night. At 5 :30 A. M., on the 13th, Father
Wynn peacefully expired. His death was announced
to the people by the tolling of the bell, which brought
many to Mass, in order to pray for the repose of his
soul. For Father Wynn death had no terrors, be-
cause for more than fifty years, he had lived as if
every day were to be his last. When told that his
life's thread was spun, he simply said, " God's Will
be done. If it please God, I am ready to die." From
that moment forward, with fervent prayers on his
lips, he calmly awaited his dissolution. The esteem
and affection in which he was held were evidenced by
the crowds that flocked to the church to view the re-
mains and to offer prayers for his eternal rest.
Father Wynn was buried on July 16. The Funeral
Mass was celebrated by the Very Rev. Father Pro-
vincial Schneider; the Rev. Francis T. Parr,
C. SS.R., Rector of St. Mary's Church, Buffalo,
N. Y., was deacon, and the Rev. Thomas Galvin,
C.SS.R., Rector of the Church of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, Brooklyn, N. Y., subdeacon.
According to the last wish of the deceased, there was
no eulogy, but before giving the final absolution,
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 529
Father Provincial made an appeal to the congrega-
tion for prayers for the dead priest. Owing to his
absence in Europe, His Eminence Cardinal O'Con-
nell was unable to attend the obsequies. The Rt.
Rev. Bishop Anderson also, because of a previous
engagement, was prevented from being present.
However, the Rt. Rev. Monsignori Farrell, Supple,
and Moriarity, and about 70 other priests, secular
and Redemptorist, were seated in the sanctuary. The
casket was borne to the hearse by the Rev. Fathers
Nolen, Toohey, O'Leary, O 'Regan, Conley, and
Dugal, all sons of the Mission Church Parish. The
services at the grave were conducted by the Very
Rev. Father Provincial.
The Rev. Andrew Wynn was born in Baltimore on
the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1847. He
made his religious profession, March 27, 1864, and
on March 30, 1872, was ordained priest at Ilchester,
by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Becker of Wilmington, Del.
After laboring zealously, both at home and on
the missions, Father Wynn was entrusted with
the office of Superior first at Annapolis, Md.,
and later on in Toronto, Canada. In 1884 he was
assigned to the Boston community, where by his
patience and charity he riveted the affections of the
parishioners and of his fellow-religious. Two years
later he was transferred to St. John, N. B. He re-
turned to Boston in 1901, and from then to the time
of his death, was engaged in parochial duties.
Father Wynn was a man of great heart. At the
time of his death, one who knew him well wrote :
"A sweeter, kinder, or more tender-hearted priest never
walked this earth. Who ever appealed to him in sorrow, be
that sorrow what it might, without finding comfort and con-
solatio'h, if not complete relief? Truly, Father Wynn was
a close imitator of his Divine Master, the Great High
580 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Priest. And if it be true that to live in hearts we leave
behind is not to die, then, Father Wynn . . . lives. His
memory shall abide in the hearts of his countless confreres
and loved ones, until time dissolves into eternity. God
grant that our end be like unto his."
BROTHER GEORGE MEYER, C. SS. R.
George Meyer was born in Germany, October 1,
1833, and professed July 22, 1861. He was assigned
to the Boston community, July 5, 1883. For some
time before his death, his health had been poor, but
his condition was not so serious as to cause appre-
hension. To the very day of his death, he performed
his customary tasks, but about noon, he was seen to
totter, and was assisted to his room by Father
Rathke. The doctor declared that the Brother was
suffering from an affection of the heart. About 10 :00
P. M. he died, on Good Friday, April 19, 1889.
The funeral took place three days later. The Rev.
Aloysius Lutz, C. SS. R., sang the Mass, assisted by
the Rev. Father Lambert, C. SS. R., as deacon, and
the Rev. Father Sheehan, C. SS. R., as subdeacon.
At the grave, in Calvary Cemetery, Father Mclner-
ney pronounced the last absolution.
BROTHER Louis KIRCHNER, C. SS. R.
Bro. Louis, while on his way to Nantasket Beach,
was accidently shot during target-practice on Long
Island, in Boston Harbor.
On July 9, 1901, he and Bro. Terence left Boston
on the 2:30 P. M. boat for the beach, in order to
make arrangements for a picnic for the members of
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 531
the choir. As the boat drew abreast of Long Island,
they were standing about 10 feet in front of the
cabin, when Bro. Louis suddenly gave a sharp cry
and placed his hand to his right side. When assisted
into the cabin he said, " I am shot." At Pemberton
he was removed to the boat bound for Boston, where
he was taken immediately to the Massachusetts Gen-
eral Hospital. Fathers Frawley, Gareis and Dono-
hue hastened to his bedside. An operation was at
once performed, and it was discovered that the intes-
tines had been pierced in seven places. The doctors
gave little hope of the unfortunate man's recovery
and Father Donohue administered the last Sacra-
ments. The next morning Bro. Louis rallied to some
extent, and it began to look as if he had a fighting
chance for life, but on July 12, at 7 :45 P. M., he died.
Bro. Louis (Valentine Kirchner) was born in Bal-
timore, July 21, 1864. He was graduated from St.
Michael's parochial school at the age of 15, and was
professed July 2, 1885. For some years he was sta-
tioned at St. Patrick's Church, Toronto, Canada; and
in 1899 was assigned to the Mission Church, where
he served as sacristan. He was a man of great in-
dustry and of fine talent. His cheerfulness and res-
ignation in the face of death were a 'source of edifica-
tion to all his religious brethren.
The celebrant of the funeral Mass, July 15, was
the Very Rev. Father Provincial Luecking; the dea-
con, the Rev. Matthew Bohn, C. SS. R.; the sub-
deacon, the Rev. Francis G. Fischer, C. SS. R.
Father Donohue paid a touching tribute to the de-
ceased. Bro. Louis was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
It is fitting to recall here the memory of certain
noble Redemptorist priests, who, while they did not
die as members of the Boston community, neverthe-
532 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
less labored here in bygone days and left behind
them the precious heritage of good deeds and of holy
lives.
THE MOST REV. WILLIAM H. GROSS, C. SS. R.
The Most Rev. William H. Gross, Second Supe-
rior of the Mission Church, was born in St. Vincent's
Parish, Baltimore, June 12, 1837. His grandpar-
ents, who were Alsatians, settled in that city before
the Revolutionary War. In September, 1850, he en-
tered St. Charles's College, Ellicott City, Md.,
where he showed himself a fine type of boy bright,
open, frank, kind, full of life and energy, yet sincere-
ly pious and virtuous. Such sterling qualities natu-
rally made him a great favorite with his fellow-stu-
dents and won for him the affectionate regard of his
Superiors.
During his happy student days at St. Charles's
College William H. Gross felt the first promptings of
the Holy Spirit to become a Redemptorist. In order
tc make sure of his vocation he sought the guidance
and direction of the saintly Father Seelos, C. SS. R.,
at that time Rector of St. Alphonsus' Church, Balti-
more. The good priest advised the brilliant boy to
obey without delay the call of God, and the latter
forthwith applied for admission into the Congrega-
tion of the Most Holy Redeemer; he had the happi-
ness of being received by the Very Rev. George Ru-
land, at that time Provincial, who, on March 25, 1857,
invested him in the religious habit at Annapolis, Md.
As a novice William H. Gross quickly grasped the
fundamentals of the religious life and faithfully mir-
rored them in his character and conduct. His soul
was an illuminated manuscript, in which his Novice
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 533
Master could read bright examples of every Chris-
tian virtue. But before he had completed his novi-
tiate his health failed to such an extent that grave
fears for his recovery were entertained; however,
through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, to
whom he bore the tenderest devotion, he was ulti-
mately restored to perfect health. Filled with a joy
caught from Heaven he made his religious profes-
sion on April 4, 1858. Immediately afterwards he
began his seminary course at Cumberland, Md.,
where his former director, Father Seelos, was his
Superior and Prefect. As a student of theology
William H. Gross, by reason of his great talents,
attained easy preeminence; yet at the same time he
maintained and strengthened the spirit of piety which
distinguished him even as a child. On March 21,
1863, with nineteen other Redemptorist clerics, he
was ordained priest by the Most Rev. Francis Pat-
rick Kenrick, Archbishop of Baltimore.
For two years after his ordination Father Gross
was stationed at Annapolis, where he did noble work
tending to the spiritual needs of the wounded and
dying Union soldiers in the hospitals in and around
the city. His zeal and charity embraced the impris-
oned Confederate soldiers also and the colored peo-
ple of Anne Arundel County. In 1866 he was as-
signed to the new mission-house attached to St.
Alphonsus' Church, N. Y. As a missionary Father
Gross was an indefatigable worker as well as a highly
gifted preacher. Within seven years he conducted
missions not only in nearly all the Eastern States,
but also in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and
Florida.
In 1873, as elsewhere told, Father Gross was con-
secrated Bishop of Savannah. "His great accom-
plishments in the South stand as living monuments
584 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
to his zeal, piety and energy. He built the Cathedral
of Savannah; St. Joseph's Infirmary, in charge of
the Sisters of Mercy; St. Mary's Orphan Home; St.
Benedict's Mission and School for colored boys at
Skedony Island, and many other religious and chari-
table institutions. During the twelve years of his
administration the Catholic population of the diocese
was increased 25,000." When he went to Savannah
the South was still suffering from the ravages of the
Civil War, but, kindly shepherd that he was, he quick-
ly bound up the wounds of his stricken flock and min-
istered to them with touching solicitude and fidelity
until a brighter day dawned. To non-Catholics as
well as Catholics he was an Angel of Mercy flitting
to and fro and bringing to all alike the " good tidings
of great joy."
In 1885, shortly after the Most Rev. Archbishop
Seghers of Oregon City had resigned, Bishop Gross
was chosen to fill his place and in May of that year
entered upon his new duties. Under Archbishop
Gross's administration the progress of Catholicity was
remarkable. When he arrived at his far- western post
he found 20,000 Catholics, 29 priests, 19 churches, 25
chapels and mission stations, 10 academies for girls, 1
orphanage and 2 hospitals. Within a period of thir-
teen years, owing to his untiring labors, the number
of Catholic laity, priests, and religious institutions
had doubled. In his frequent journeys throughout
his extensive diocese, which comprised 21,398 sq.
miles, he had to endure many hardships and priva-
tions ; still, he met with much encouragement and con-
solation. On his departure for Rome, in 1889, he said
in response to an address from the laity: "Four
years have passed years of labor and toil. I have
traveled on horseback and in buckboard, and camped
out, going to sleep to the music of the coyote's howl
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 535
and under the broad canopy of the sky. I have lec-
tured to non-Catholics frequently and have spoken
to audiences where there were few, if any Catholics,
and have always been cordially and hospitably
treated."
On April 27, 1898, His Grace had the sweet con-
solation of celebrating the Silver Jubilee of his epis-
copal consecration. He was then only 61 compara-
tively a young man but for him the day was far
spent, and his face was turned towards the setting
sun. The labors and struggles which for thirty-five
years had been his daily bread, had brought on heart
trouble. On the advice of his physician, in the au-
tumn of 1898, he came East, in order to breathe again
his native air. He stayed with the Redemptorist
Fathers at Ilchester and at Annapolis, Md., until his
condition had become serious, when he was brought to
St. Joseph's Hospital, Baltimore. In the closing
hours of his life the beloved prelate showed in many
touching ways that beneath his episcopal cross and
his archiepiscopal pallium the heart of a true Re-
demptorist had ever beaten. On Nov. 14, attended
by the Rev. Nicholas Firle, C. SS. R., Archbishop
Gross died in the peace of the Lord.
The following day the body was removed to St.
James's Church, where it lay in state until the morn-
ing of the funeral, which took place on the 17th from
the Baltimore Cathedral. At 8 :00 A. M. on that day
a High Mass of Requiem for the deceased prelate
was sung at St. James's Church. At the Cathedral
His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons celebrated the
Pontifical Funeral Mass. The deacons of honor were
the Rev. James F. Black, and the Rev. Adelhelm
Odermott, O. S. B., of the archdiocese of Oregon
City ; the deacon and the subdeacon of the Mass were
the Rev. Joseph C. Hild, C. SS.R., and the Rev.
536 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
John B. Hausser, C. SS.R., respectively, of the
Redemptorist Seminary at Ilchester, Md. The Rev.
Benedict Neithart, C. SS. R., of St. Michael's Church,
Baltimore, delivered the eulogy. After dwelling on
the lovable character of the deceased archbishop,
Father Neithart recounted his labors in Savannah
and in Oregon, pointing out that on one mission in
the former place he had made thirty converts. The
five absolutions were performed by the Rt. Rev.
Bishop Chatard of Vincennes, Ind., the Very Rev.
William G. Luecking, C.SS.R., Superior of the
Baltimore Province; the Rt. Rev. Bishop Curtis,
Auxiliary to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons; the
Very Rev. Daniel Mullane, C.SS.R., Superior of
the St. Louis Province, and the Most Rev. Arch-
bishop Ryan of Philadelphia. About seventy priests,
secular and regular, including Dominicans, Jesuits,
Sulpicians, and Redemptorists, were present in the
sanctuary.
In compliance with his formal request, the Most
Rev. Archbishop Gross was buried among his deceased
Redemptorist brethren in the Most Holy Redeemer
Cemetery, Baltimore.
"And they brought him home to the home he blest,
With his life so sweet and fair,
He blessed it more in his deathly rest
And his face was a chiseled prayer,
White as the snow, pure as the foam
Of a weary wave on the sea,
They brought him back and they placed him where
He would love at last to be."
Rev. Abram J. Ryan.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 53t
THE REV. JOSEPH WISSEL, C. SS. R.
Father Wissel was born at Rabach, Bavaria, Feb-
ruary 4, 1830. His family, whose faith was even
mightier and grander than the Bavarian Alps which
towered above them, gave to the Church a bright
galaxy of priests and of religious. One brother,
Raphael, joined the Benedictines; another, John,
became Brother Titus, C. SS.R. One of his sisters
and three of his nieces entered the Order of the Good
Shepherd, while a nephew, Joseph Raphael Wissel,
following in the footsteps of his uncle, became a
Redemptorist priest, and was until recently Rector
of St. Boniface's Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
In 1848, Joseph Wissel came to the United States,
and four years later, after he had completed his
theological studies, was invested in the Redemptorist
habit. On March 26, 1853, he made his religious
profession, and a few hours later, was ordained priest
at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, by the Rt. Rev,
John Nepomucene Neumann, C. SS.R., Bishop of
that diocese. By a happy dispensation of Divine
Providence, Father Wissel, in later years, was
appointed Postulator of the Cause of Beatification of
the saintly prelate who had raised him to the dignity
of the priesthood.
A few days after his ordination, Father Wissel
entered the ministry as a member of the newly estab-
lished community at Annapolis, Md., where he
labored zealously for a year and a half, until trans-
ferred to Baltimore. After serving at various other
posts, always with honor and eclat, he came to Bos-
ton, as our readers know, in 1871, as the first Superior
of the Mission Church. By that time he was a
538 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
seasoned missionary, a missionary "to match the
mountains." Too much praise cannot be given to
Father Wissel for the grand work he did on the mis-
sions during the nine years he was a member of this
community. When he left here, in 1880, well might
the Chronicler write:
"The removal of Father Wissel is a great loss to our
community, especially because of his work on the missions.
Good Father Wissel was best and most favorably known to
all the clergy of New England and generally headed our
missions, being frequently asked for by the pastors."
Almighty God bountifully lengthened out the days
of Father Wissel, and during the fifty-nine years of
his ministry, his apostolate extended to 29 dioceses
in the United States: North, East, South and West;
and to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince
Edward Island in the Dominion of Canada. He con-
ducted more than 1,000 missions and retreats, and
was called on no less than 100 times to give the
spiritual exercises to the clergy. In his long career,
he traveled about 400,000 miles, offered up Holy
Mass nearly 22,000 times, preached over 10,000 ser-
mons, and heard 1,000,015 confessions. Out of the
rich stores of his vast and varied experience, he wrote
a series of text-books covering the whole field of the
Redemptorist apostolate a work which is as timely
and practical today as when it first saw the light
nearly fifty years ago.
Father Wissel's industry was amazing. Hard work
was as natural to him as flight is to the eagle.
Apparently he never rested. With a zest and enthusi-
asm that never failed, he went from one mission to
another at a pace that fairly takes one's breath away.
Another striking trait of his character was his apos-
tolic fearlessness. When there was a question of com-
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 539
bating sin, Father Wissel thundered into the lists
with a "spear that knew no brother." He always
faced the enemy. All his battle scars were on his
breast, none between his shoulder-blades. Fierce
though his hatred of sin, he was to the penitent sinner
as merciful as St. Alphonsus himself. Among the
servants of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Father
Wissel was a knight " without fear and without re-
proach." At one time this remarkable man was
" about to be nominated bishop of an important see,
but his humility thwarted the nomination."
Father Wissel literally wore himself out in the
service of his Divine Master. Even when he had
reached the patriarchal age of 82, he was still actively
engaged in the ministry. While giving a retreat to
the Sisters of Christian Charity at Wilkesbarre, Pa.,
in July, 1912, he was stricken with paralysis, and on
September 7 following, he garnered into the heavenly
storehouses the magnificent harvest he had reaped.
Had he survived about seven months longer, he would
have celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination
and of his religious profession. Father Wissel lived
to be the Grand Old Man of the Baltimore Province,
and died esteemed and honored by all who knew him.
The writer reverently lays this wreath of immor-
telles on the grave of the sturdy old warrior in the
Grand Army of Christ's anointed priesthood, the
Rev. Joseph Wissel, C.SS.R.
THE REV. AUGUSTINE FREITAG, C. SS. R.
Father Freitag was born at Waake, in Hanover,
Prussia, July 1, 1836. His parents, who were strict
Lutherans, brought him up in the tenets and prac-
tices of that faith; and even as a child he imbibed bit-
540 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
ter prejudices against the Catholic Church. At the
age of 16 he came to this country, and made his home
with an uncle in Baltimore. A few years later he
became acquainted with the Archbishop of that city,
the Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, for whom
he conceived the highest admiration. Gradually,
young Freitag's antipathy to the Church softened;
he began to withdraw from Protestant influences and
to move in Catholic circles. In 1852, when he took
up his abode in Baltimore, negro slavery was there
the order of the day; and not only the blacks them-
selves, but also those whites who had any dealings
with them were heartily despised. One evening, on
going to the convent of the Oblate Sisters of Provi-
dence, who were all colored women, Augustine
Freitag was surprised to learn that the Rev. Thad-
deus Anwander, C. SS. R., who, of course, was white,
took the deepest interest in the nuns, and was never
tired of ministering to their spiritual wants. This
fact made a profound impression on the mind of the
young Lutheran, who realized forcibly that the
Catholic Church draws to her maternal bosom all
men without regard to race or color. The light of
faith began to dawn on his soul, and shortly after-
wards he was received into the Church by the Most
Rev. Archbishop Kenrick.
But another great blessing was in store for him. He
had come in contact with the Redemptorist Fathers
and had been so charmed with their manner of life
that he sought to be admitted to their ranks. His
petition was readily granted. He was invested in
the religious habit in 1856, was professed the follow-
ing year, and ordained priest March 21, 1863, by the
Most Rev. Archbishop Kenrick. In the course of
his sacred ministry he was attached to various houses
of the Congregation, among which were the Mission
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 541
Church, Boston ; St. Mary's Church, Annapolis, Md.,
(of which he was Rector, from January 30, 1871, to
January 30, 1873,), and St. Alphonsus' Church,
N. Y., where he died.
During his stay of nearly seven years and a half in
Boston, from February 7, 1873, to July 14, 1880,
Father Freitag was venerated and loved by the
people. Even to this day, the old parishioners like
to recall his memory. One gentleman in particular,
whom the writer interviewed, said : " The morning I
saw Father Freitag leaving, I could have cried. I
could not have felt worse had it been my own brother
who was going. I can remember Father Freitag bet-
ter than anyone else. He was a convert, and I think
he was one of the most sincere men I ever met in my
life. He told us that on one occasion, when he was
a young fellow, he took a long trip by boat, and was
obliged to share his stateroom with another man, a
Catholic, but at the time he would have preferred
rather to lie on the deck than go into a room with a
Catholic."
It is said that Father Freitag was a descendant of
a German nobleman. Be that as it may; this much,
however, is certain: he was one of Nature's noblemen
and of God's heroes.
THE REV. WILLIAM LOWEKAMP, C. SS. R.
The Rev. William Lowekamp, C. SS. R., second
Rector of the Mission Church, was born at Hunte-
berg, in Hanover, Germany, October 17, 1837, and
at the age of 14 came to America with his parents.
They settled in Baltimore, where their near relatives
two other families who bore the same name had
preceded them. In the course of time, six of the
542 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Lowekamps became Redemptorists four priests,
and two lay brothers. They lived in St. Alphonsus'
parish, where the young William became acquainted
with the Fathers and conceived the idea of joining
the Congregation. He was clothed in the habit of St.
Alphonsus, October 15, 1855, and one year later to
the day, made his religious profession. On March
21, 1863, he was ordained priest at Annapolis, Md.,
by the saintly Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick
of Baltimore.
The following year, Father Lowekamp began his
ministerial career at St. Philomena's Church, Pitts-
burgh, whence he was transferred to New York, in
1866. While there he served in a twofold capacity
as assistant in the parish and as missionary. In
October, 1867, he was assigned to St. Peter's Church,
Philadelphia, of which he was appointed Rector the
following summer; here he filled two terms success-
fully, during which he added much to the beauty of
the church. He was named Rector of St. Philomena's,
Pittsburgh, July 16, 1874. On December 9, 1875,
he was sent, as Superior, to St. Patrick's Church,
Quebec, Canada, and, in 1877, was designated Rector
of the Mission Church, Boston. In 1880, he returned
to Quebec, where he was Rector until 1884. In May
of that year, he was chosen Superior of the Province
of St. Louis, an office which he held for nine consecu-
tive years years crowded with splendid achieve-
ments. During his incumbency, he established the
Preparatory College at Windsor Springs, about nine
miles from St. Louis, and also founded new houses
in Chicago, in Denver, and in other cities of the West.
In 1893 he was appointed Rector of St. Alphonsus'
Church, St. Louis, where, on July 15, 1899, after a
lingering illness, he breathed forth his soul into the
hands of his Creator.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 548
Father Lowekamp was a quiet, deeply pious man
who was esteemed and respected by the people of
every locality in which his lot was cast.
THE REV. FRANCIS X. MILLER, C. SS. R.
Father Miller, the last of the Boston pioneers to
die, was a man who made true friends wherever he
went. When he came to the Mission Church, in 1871,
he was a very young man, not yet twenty-eight, and
not two years ordained, full of life and energy a
human dynamo. He was a prince of mirth, and saw
sunshine everywhere. He always kept the right side
and the bright side out, and made the service of God
a thing of joy. He was an eloquent and forceful
preacher ; most of his sermons were full of TNT and
other high explosives. He used to begin in easy,
suave tones, as gentle as the bleating of a lamb, but
when he had warmed up to his subject, he made a
noise like the storming of Verdun. A few years ago,
while the writer was on a mission in one of the
suburbs of Boston, an old resident of the place spoke
to him of a certain sermon which Father Miller had
delivered there 47 years before. "That sermon,"
said the gentleman, " I shall never forget, as long as
I live. It stirred the parish to its very depths and
did a world of good." Father Miller, at the time of
his death, February 25, 1919, was over 75 years of
age, more than 58 years a Redemptorist, and almost
50 years a priest.
544 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE REV. PETER BAUSCH, C. SS. R.
Father Bausch was an exemplary priest and fer-
vent religious, a powerful and eloquent missionary.
He was born in Germany, October 9, 1848, and at
the age of 9 came to the United States with his
parents, who established their home in Philadelphia.
While still a boy he became a Christian Brother, and
so striking were his professorial talents that at the
age of 18 he was appointed to teach the highest class
in one of the leading parochial schools in New York
City. But Almighty God had destined him for the
priesthood, and in 1867 he entered the Redemptorist
novitiate at Annapolis, Md. He was professed
April 15, 1868, and ordained at Ilchester, May 20,
1875, by the Most Rev. Archbishop Bay ley of Balti-
more.
On the completion of his studies, in 1876, Father
Bausch was sent to Boston, where he remained until
1881. Under a rough exterior and a brusque man-
ner, he hid as true a heart as ever beat. In the pulpit
he was a hard hitter, but even those who winced under
his blows, always felt a secret admiration for the man,
and were irresistibly drawn to him. During his five
years in Boston, he did a tremendous amount of
work, and made a lasting impression wherever he
labored. As late as 1910, a Brooklyn priest spoke to
the writer in the highest terms of a sermon that
Father Bausch had preached in Nova Scotia, as far
back as 1879. He had a physical makeup which lent
itself naturally to the delivery of the heavy sermons.
His sermon on the General Judgment was about as
near an approach to the reality as one could imagine.
As Rector of St. Michael's, Baltimore, 1886-1893,
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 545
he adorned whatever he touched. As professor at the
Preparatory College, North East, Pa., 1894-1895,
Father Bausch endeared himself to the boys, who
instinctively saw that he was fully worthy of their
respect, confidence and admiration. Stricken with
Bright's disease at the early age of 47, he died at St.
Clement's College, Saratoga Springs, N. Y., October
29, 1895.
THE REV. JOSEPH HENNING, C. SS. R.
Father Henning was born in New York City,
November 17, 1838. He studied the classics at St.
Francis Xavier's College in his native city; was
admitted to the novitiate in 1854; professed December
10, 1855; and ordained priest at Cumberland, Md.,
June 11, 1862.
For the next two or three years he preached mis-
sions with singular success in nearly all the large
cities of the East. In 1865 he was sent to England,
where the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
was then in its infancy. During his two years abroad,
he was occupied, of course, in missionary work. He
was Rector of St. Patrick's, Quebec, 1877-1880; of
the Mission Church, 1880-1887; of St. Patrick's,
Toronto, 1887-1890; and of St. Mary's, Annapolis,
1890-1893. For the next five years he was professor
of Moral Theology at the Redemptorist Seminary,
Ilchester, Md. While thus engaged, he was chosen
delegate to the General Chapter of the Redemptorist
Fathers, held in Rome in 1894. From 1898 to 1907,
he was again Rector of St. Patrick's, Quebec. In the
latter year, he was transferred to the Church of the
Immaculate Conception, N. Y., where he spent the
546 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
evening of his days, till his death, July 3, 1912. He
said Mass for the last time on the fiftieth anniversary
of his ordination.
THE REV. AUGUSTINE MC!NERNEY, C. SS. R.
Father Mclnerney was born in New York City,
November 8, 1843, and baptized in historic old St.
Peter's Church on Barclay Street. After his gradu-
ation from high school he took up a business career.
But before long he began to feel that he was not in
his proper sphere, and resolved to apply for admission
into either the Military Academy, at West Point, or
the Naval Academy, at Annapolis. When about to
enter the former institution, he providentially
attended a mission, during which he was inspired to
embrace the religious life. He was to be a soldier,
not, indeed, of any temporal ruler, but of the Eternal
King, Christ the Lord.
Spurred on by high aims and animated by a noble
purpose, Augustine Mclnerney sought membership
in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
Because of his sterling character and distinguished
talents, he was readily received, and on December 8,
1867, made his profession at Annapolis, Md. He was
ordained priest May 20, 1875, at Ilchester, by the
Most Rev. Archbishop Bayley of Baltimore.
When he had finished his studies, in 1876, Father
Mclnerney was appointed to the Mission Church,
Boston, but his weak constitution soon necessitated
a change, and he was transferred to St. Mary's
Church, Annapolis, where he was employed in the
lighter tasks of the ministry. In 1881 he was sent to
St. Patrick's, Toronto, where he labored with a zeal
far beyond the warrant of his physical strength. From
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 547
1884 to 1887 he served as Rector of St. Mary's,
Annapolis. During his three years there, he reno-
vated and beautified the church, and in other ways
showed such a marked capacity for large affairs, that
at the expiration of his term he was appointed Rector
of the Mission Church, Boston. The noble work he
did here is a familiar story, and we need not repeat
it. After one term as Rector of St. Patrick's, Toronto,
he was chosen, in 1893, Superior of the new founda-
tion in Brooklyn, N. Y.
In 1895 Father Mclnerney was stricken with
progressive paralysis, but fought it so bravely, that
for three terms he was able to act as Prefect of the
Second Novitiate. In 1898, however, his condition
became much aggravated and from day to day he
was rendered more and more helpless. In the hope
of recovery, he made a novena at the tomb of the
Venerable Bishop Neumann, but it was the decree
of the Most High God that he should drain the
chalice of suffering to the very dregs. Late in 1899,
he said Holy Mass for the last time; thenceforth life
was to him simply a martyrdom and a crucifixion. At
the age of 56, in the full glory of his manhood, and
at the height of his fine intellectual powers, he found
himself an utter cripple. Oh, what a picture of
human misery was he! this noble priest, once so full
of life and energy, but now unable to move hand or
foot, or to raise his head to Heaven, to which in by-
gone days he had directed so many hundreds of souls.
The bowed head, the bent form, the trembling palsied
hands whom do they suggest, if not St. Alphonsus?
But it was precisely when in this lamentable state that
Father Mclnerney gave the best proof of his true
greatness and heroic virtue. Crushed and tortured
with bodily pain, he was always cheerful, contented
and resigned. "Angels came and ministered to him,"
548 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
and beyond the crown of thorns, he beheld the aureola
of glory. Till a short time before his death, he retained
his clearness and keenness of mind, and every morn-
ing he had himself carried to the sacristy, where he
heard Mass and received Holy Communion.
In spite of his bitter affliction, Father Mclnerney
observed as best he could, the rules of the Congrega-
tion, with all the exactness and fervor of a novice. As
the weary years wore on, his crushing disease became
worse and worse. " I am come into the depth of the
sea; and a tempest hath overwhelmed me." But at
last, on July 23, 1914, the day of deliverance dawned,
" the chains were loosed to let the captive go." While
his brethren were reciting the prayers for the dying,
he made a supreme effort to raise the crucifix to his
lips, as if he would say with his dying Saviour, " It
is consummated." But the nerveless hand that held
the Sacred Image fell back limp and impotent, and
the purified and chastened soul of the holy old man
took flight from the gloom of Calvary to the glory of
the Eternal Hills. Thus ended the sufferings of this
exemplary religious, this worthy son of St. Alphon-
sus, this zealous missionary and bright pattern of
sacerdotal excellence, this marvel of patience and
resignation to the Adorable Will of God.
At the time of his precious death, Father Mclner-
ney was 47 years a Redemptorist, 39 years a priest,
and 71 years a gentle, kindly human being. His was
a grand life! Within the walls of the mortuary
chapel at Annapolis, awaiting a glorious resurrection,
rest the ashes of the martyr priest the Rev. Augus-
tine J. Mclnerney, C. SS.R.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 549
THE VERY REV. WILLIAM G. LUECKING, C. SS. R.
Father Luecjdng, who from 1884-1890 was an
assistant at the Mission Church, died of uremic
poisoning at St. Agnes' Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.,
Saturday, January 20, 1912.
William G. Luecking was born of model Catholic
parents in New York City, October 1, 1857. In 1869,
he entered the Preparatory College, then attached to
St. James's Rectory, Baltimore. Here he showed
himself a real boy, full of life and fun, but at the
same time observant of the rules of the college and
diligent in study. He was graduated in June, 1875,
and on August 2 received the habit at Annapolis,
Md. The following August 2 he made his religious
profession, and on April 3, 1880, was ordained priest
by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
From 1881 to 1883, Father Luecking was profes-
sor at the Preparatory College, North East, Pa. At
the close of his second novitiate, which he made here
in Boston, under Father Henning, he was assigned
to this community. Occasionally, he was employed
in giving missions, but for the most part, was occu-
pied with parochial duties. In putting the Sunday
school on a solid basis, in the early days of the parish,
he met with marked success.
In June, 1890, Father Luecking was appointed to
the important and honorable position of Prefect of
Students at the Seminary, at Ilchester, Md. So well
did he administer that office that in April, 1898, he
was promoted to the lofty dignity of Superior of the
Baltimore Province, which post he held for 11 years.
During his first term he remodeled the college at
North East, and erected there a beautiful Gothic
550 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
chapel of granite. A few years later, he achieved his
monumental work, the building of the magnificent
Seminary at Esopus, N. Y., justly ranked as one of
the finest institutions of its kind in the country.
In October, 1909, Father Luecking was relieved of
the heavy burdens of the Provincialship, and named
Rector of Esopus. Shortly afterwards, he began to
show symptoms of kidney trouble, and from that time
forward his health steadily declined. In the summer
of 1911, he was taken to the hospital, where he lin-
gered till the time of his death.
He was buried in the community cemetery at
Esopus, only a stone's throw from the great building,
which stands for all time as an eloquent testimonial
of his fatherly care of the students in particular, and
of his deep love for the Congregation in general.
THE REV. MICHAEL J. CORDUKE, C. SS. R.
Father Corduke, the genial, gentle priest, who dur-
ing his stay in Boston won a high place in the affec-
tions of the parishioners, was born at Ballyshannon,
County Donegal, Ireland, February 16, 1849. At the
age of 12, he immigrated to the United States with
his parents, who fixed their abode in New York City.
He pronounced the holy vows of religion at An-
iiapolis, August 2, 1875, and was ordained priest
June 7, 1879, at the Baltimore Cathedral by His
Eminence Cardinal Gibbons.
During the early years of his priesthood, Father
Corduke was stationed at Annapolis, in Quebec, and
in Toronto. In 1890 he was assigned to the Mission
Church, where for eight years, he gave to God, to the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and to
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 551
the people of this parish, the best that was in him.
As Procurator of the community, he was ever readj r
to provide for the comfort and happiness of his
religious brethren. His manner, his demeanor, but
above all his innate kindness of heart inspired univer-
sal confidence. To go to him was to go to a father,
and, therefore, all, but particularly the poor, could
unhesitatingly approach him. He was an ardent sup-
porter of every movement that contributed to the
welfare of the young people. His prudent counsel
warned them of dangers, and his delicate tact
smoothed away their difficulties.
In 1898 he was appointed Rector of St. Peter's
Church, St. John, N. B., where he labored with ad-
mirable devotion, until attacked by cancer of the
throat, in 1901. During the two years of slow tor-
ture caused by his frightful malady, he gave an
edifying example of patience. He never uttered a
word of complaint, nor showed the least craving for
human sympathy. The only sentiment that fell from
his lips was " Thy Will be done, O Lord ! " His spirit
of prayer was truly remarkable; he used to spend
nearly the whole day before the Blessed Sacrament,
communing with his Divine Master. On May 9,
1903, his life of virtue was crowned by a blessed
death.
REV. PETER CORK, C. SS. R.
Father Corr, who was attached to the Mission
Church for seventeen years and a half, was born in
New York City, May 26, 1868. He entered the Pre-
paratory College in 1881, was graduated in 1887,
professed as a Redemptorist August 28, 1888, and
552 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
ordained August 29, 1893, by His Eminence Cardi-
nal Gibbons.
During his long stay in Boston, Father Corr was
actively engaged on the missions, but he is, perhaps,
best known as the energetic director of the St.
Alphonsus Association. His influence over the
young men was wonderful; and his open, frank and
bluff manner strongly appealed to all who admire
sincerity between man and man. His constant
efforts to advance the Association physically, intel-
lectually, and morally entitle him to the eternal grati-
tude of the members.
On August 29, 1918, Father Corr quietly cele-
brated the Silver Jubilee of his priesthood at St.
Alphonsus' Church, N. Y., where he was at that time
stationed. Less than three weeks afterwards, he was
sent to give a mission at a little place on Staten Island.
Apparently in good health, he preached with his usual
force and vigor on the evening of September 18, but
some time during the night, he was stricken with
apoplexy, and the next morning was found dead on
the floor of his room. His sudden death, in the prime
of Life, while all alone on a country mission, was truly
pathetic. His funeral took place September 23, from
St. Alphonsus' Church, N. Y., where he had made
his first Holy Communion, served Mass as a boy, and
offered up the Holy Sacrifice for the first time. The
celebrant of the Funeral Mass was the Very Rev.
Joseph Schneider, C. SS.R., Provincial; the deacon
and the subdeacon were two classmates of the de-
ceased, the Rev. Augustine Duke, C. SS.R., Prefect
of Students at the Redemptorist Seminary, and the
Rev. James Hayes, C. SS.R., who had been Father
Corr's Superior in Boston for more than eight years.
The eulogy was pronounced by Father Duke. The
interment took place in the Redemptorist crypt, at
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 553
the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, East 3d
Street, N. Y.
The following deceased priests and seminarians
were boys of the parish our own kith and kin and
are, therefore, entitled to affectionate remembrance.
THE REV. JAMES DOYLE, C. SS. R.
Father Doyle, a young priest of singular amia-
bility of character, died November 6, 1901, at the
early age of 28. The son of exemplary Catholic
parents, he was born in Roxbury, March 1, 1873.
When he was a child, his mother died, and Father
Luecking, touched with sympathy, took a special in-
terest in the little fellow. James attended the Comins
School, and was one of the most steady and punctual
sanctuary boys of the Mission Church. In 1886 he
entered the lower branch of the Redemptorist Pre-
paratory College at Saratoga Springs, and in 1888
was promoted to the upper branch at North East; in
1892, he was graduated with honor and distinction.
On August 2, 1893, he was professed as a Redemp-
torist, and was ordained priest June 21, 1899, at
the Baltimore Cathedral by His Eminence Cardinal
Gibbons.
After his second novitiate, Father Doyle was
appointed to the mission-band at St. Mary's, An-
napolis. As he had ability, zeal, and gentle winning
ways, his Superiors entertained high hopes of his be-
coming a successful missionary. But alas ! on his sec-
ond mission, at the Church of Our Lady Star of the
Sea, in Baltimore, he was stricken with appendicitis.
An operation was performed, but septic poisoning
had set in, and Father Doyle's promising apostolate
554*
was cut short. In the arms of a fellow priest, the
Rev. Joseph Schonhart, C. SS. R., who had loved him
to the end, he peacefully expired. Father Doyle was
buried in the mortuary chapel at Annapolis, Md.
THE REV. JOHN PHINN, C. SS. R.
The death of Father Phinn, stricken down in the
early morning of life, was lamented by all who knew
his fine ability and sterling character. He was born
in Dundee, Scotland, June 25, 1881. As a child he
came to America with his parents and settled in Bos-
ton. After his graduation from the Mission Church
School, in 1893, he attended the Roxbury High
School, where he made brilliant studies. In 1899 he
entered the Redemptorist Preparatory College at
North East, Pa., and finished his course with high
honors in 1902. On August 2, 1903, he made his re-
ligious profession, and five years afterwards, on July
2, 1908, was ordained to the priesthood at the Re-
demptorist Seminary, Esopus, N. Y.
His first field of labor was the Church of St. Wen-
ceslaus, Baltimore, where he devoted himself to the
welfare of the Bohemian Catholics, whose mother-
tongue he had studied while a seminarian. A little
later he was appointed professor of Latin and Eng-
lish at North East, but he had scarcely taken up his
new duties when he became seriously ill. The doctors
diagnosed his trouble as cancer. He was removed
to the hospital in Buffalo, where he died on March
9, 1911.
The funeral took place from the Mission Church
March 13, at 10 o'clock. Very Rev. Father Rector
Hayes was celebrant of the Solemn Funeral Mass;
the Rev. Ferdinand Lutz, C. SS. R., of N. Y., deacon
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 555
and the Rev. John Barry, C. SS. R., of Brooklyn,
subdeacon. The eulogy was delivered by the Very
Rev. Francis Auth, C. SS.R., Rector of the Re-
demptorist College at North East, Pa. The inter-
ment took place in Calvary Cemetery. Father
Auth, in his beautiful tribute, brought out the fol-
lowing points: Father Phinn was remarkable for
his bright, cheerful and kind disposition and his spirit
of prayer. His beads were his invariable companion.
During his last illness over and over again he recited
with glowing fervor the chaplet of Our Blessed
Mother, who, we may easily believe smoothed his path
to Heaven and presented his soul, purified by long
and patient suffering, to her Divine Son, the great
High Priest, to receive the eternal reward of a well-
spent life.
THE REV. HENRY MURPHY, C. SS. R.
Father Murphy died December 7, 1913, at St.
Clement's College, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. He
was born in Taunton, Mass., April 8, 1883, and at
the age of 15 entered the Preparatory College at
North East, Pa., from which he was graduated in
1904. He made his religious profession August 2,
1905, and was ordained July 20, 1910. In February,
1912, on the completion of his studies, he was assigned
to the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, N. Y.
But after a few months his health gave way com-
pletely, and he was sent to the salubrious climate of
Saratoga Springs. For nearly a year and a half he
fought bravely against his malady, but at length suc-
cumbed to its inroads. His death was marked by
tranquil abandonment into the hands of God.
556 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE REV. VICTOR BURNS, C, SS. R.
On July 3, 1917, at the Redemptorist House at
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Rev. Victor Burns,
C. SS. R., after a lingering illness rendered his soul
peacefully into the hands of his Maker.
Victor Burns was born in Roxbury March 6, 1887.
After his graduation from the parochial school he
was admitted to the Redemptorist College at North
East, Pa., in August, 1900. On August 2, 1906, he
was clothed in the religious habit, but owing to
illness did not make his profession until October 15,
1908. He was ordained priest at the Redemptorist
Seminary at Esopus, N. Y., June 26, 1913. In the
summer of 1914 he was sent to North East, to
serve in the capacity of professor, but, like Father
Phinn, he had scarcely entered the classroom when he
was taken sick. To his own great disappointment
and to the deep regret of his Superiors, he was trans-
ferred, utterly broken in health, to Saratoga Springs.
For nearly four years thereafter he suffered from a
severe affection of the lungs; at times he rallied and
was able to perform some priestly duties, but for
more than a year before his death he sank steadily.
When no longer able to say Mass this had been
his only consolation he resigned himself entirely
into the hands of God and calmly awaited the end.
Without fear or tremor he faced death, saying the
while, " O Lord, teach me to do Thy will." When
dying his sole anxiety was lest he might show some
sign of impatience and thus lose the merit he would
otherwise gain. Truly could he say with St. Paul,
" For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."
The funeral took place from the Redemptorist
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 557
chapel at Saratoga Springs July 5. Father Hayes
was celebrant of the Mass; the Rev. Thomas Dono-
hue, C. SS. R., deacon, and the Rev. James Gunn,
C. SS. R., subdeacon. The Rev. Thomas O'Reilly,
C. SS. R., a classmate of the deceased, delivered the
eulogy. Father Burns was buried in the little ceme-
tery on the community grounds at Saratoga Springs.
THE REV. JOHN A. B. CONROY.
Father Conroy, who, as previously mentioned, was
the first newly ordained priest to celebrate his First
Mass at the Mission Church, died in the prime of life,
Nov. 15, 1885. During his short priestly career he
was an assistant at the Cathedral of La Crosse, Wis-
consin, and pastor at Eau Claire, at Ettrick, and sub-
sequently at Dellona, where after an illness of only a
few hours he died of neuralgia of the heart. In charge
of one of his sisters, his corpse was brought from Del-
lona to Boston, a distance of 1,300 miles. The funeral
services in that far-off western town were attended
by a large crowd of people, who, with every manifes-
tion of grief at having lost so kind a father and friend,
followed the cortege to the railroad station, seven
miles away. The Solemn Funeral Mass at the Mis-
sion Church was celebrated by the Rev. Eugene
Walsh, C. SS. R. The clergy and the laity were pres-
ent in large numbers. The eulogy was pronounced
by the Rev. Francis Delargy, C. SS. R., who, with a
fine touch of pathos, dwelt on the zeal and energy
displayed by the young priest in winning souls to
God.
558 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE REV. JOHN W. F. POWER.
Father Power was born in Roxbury in 1883. In
1896 he was graduated from our parochial school and
in 1900 from the Boston English High School. Dur-
ing the next four years he pursued the classical stud-
ies under the private tutelage of the Jesuit Fathers of
Boston College. In September, 1905, he was admitted
to the Grand Seminary, Montreal, where, in 1910,
lie received the degree of Bachelor of Canon Law.
On December 17 of that year he was ordained priest
by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Walsh, at the Cathedral of
the Immaculate Conception, Portland, Maine, to
which shortly afterwards he was assigned as assist-
ant.
Able, energetic and zealous he gave great promise
of accomplishing wonders in the vineyard of the
Lord, but only a few years after his ordination he fell
a victim to consumption and died August 1, 1914.
His death was universally mourned by the people of
the parish, with whom he was a great favorite. A
graduate of the school, a former president of the
Alumni Association, one of the first musical directors
of the St. Alphonsus Orchestra, a prominent figure
in all the parish entertainments, he was in the full
sense of the term, one of our own.
His funeral took place from the Mission Church
August 4; the Rev. John J. Frawley, C. SS. R., was
celebrant of the Mass; the Rev. Timothy Houlihan,
Rector of the Portland Cathedral, deacon; and the
Rev. John Finn, a classmate of the deceased, subdea-
con. The Rev. Richard Donohoe, C. SS. R., Direc-
tor of the Redemptorist College, at North East, Pa.,
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 659
paid a feeling tribute to the dead priest. A large
number of clergymen, especially from Portland, were
present in the sanctuary. Fully two thousand of the
laity attended the Mass.
Redemptorist Seminarians.
TIMOTHY SHEEHAN., C. SS. R.
Timothy Sheehan was born at Coachford, County
Cork, Ireland, August 27, 1862, and as a child came
tc this country with his parents. He was graduated
from the Redemptorist Preparatory College in 1885,
and admitted to the holy vows August 2, 1886. About
a year afterwards his health began to fail and he was
sent from the seminary at Ilchester, Md., to Saratoga
Springs, N. Y., where after a long period of suffering
borne with patience and resignation he passed to the
better life on August 3, 1888.
JOHN P. BURNS, C. SS. R.
The death of John P. Burns, which occurred at St.
Clement's College, Saratoga Springs, N. Y., was
sincerely mourned by the people of the parish and by
his brethren in religion, for he was a young man of
high character and of great talent.
John P. Burns was born in Roxbury, March 28,
1 873. As a boy he attended the Martin School, from
which he was the first pupil to be graduated. He be-
gan his classical course at the Redemptorist Prepara-
560 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
tory College at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., in 1887,
and finished it at North East, Pa., in 1893. On
August 2 of that year he was invested in the religious
habit at Annapolis, Md., and during his novitiate
showed solid piety and genuine fervor. When at the
end of his probation he was enrolled among the Sons
of St. Alphonsus, his joy knew no bounds.
Full of ambition to become an efficient priest he
began the higher studies at Ilchester, Md., in Septem-
ber, 1894, but in the spring of 1896 his health broke
down and thenceforth he suffered almost constantly.
However, he bore the martydom of his disease with a
resignation to the Will of God that was nothing less
than heroic. In the hope of preserving to the commu-
nity so promising a subject, his Superiors sent him to
Roxbury, thinking that his native air might effect an
improvement in his health. After a stay of six months
he returned to Ilchester, eager to resume his studies,
but only slightly, if at all better. Thereupon the stu-
dents began a series of novenas for his recovery, in
which they were joined by many other religious
communities. For a time he seemed to rally and was
able to attend class, but in reality his condition was
still very serious.
The Very Rev. Father Provincial, feeling that the
healthful climate of northern New York would
benefit him, transferred him to Saratoga Springs.
But the All- Wise God had decreed to take the pious
young man to himself. "Being made perfect in a
short space he f ulfilled a long time, for his soul pleased
God. Therefore, He hastened to bring him out of
the midst of iniquities." When told that he could not
recover, his reply was characteristic of his whole ca-
reer, " I am delighted to die. I am useless anyway."
Amid the prayers of his sorrowing companions in
religion, he peacefully breathed his last, Friday,
August 26, 1898.
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 561
EDWARD SEPHTON, C. SS. R.
A mournful day in the annals of the Redemptorist
Fathers of the Baltimore Province was the 26th of
August, 1906, when two seminarians of the Congre-
gation met death by drowning in the Severn River,
near Annapolis. One of them was Edward Joseph
Sephton of the Mission Church Parish; the other,
John M. Thaler of St. James's Parish, Baltimore.
Edward Joseph Sephton was born in Roxbury,
December 6, 1885. As a little boy he attended St.
Joseph's parochial school, and in September, 1899,
entered the Redemptorist Preparatory College, at
North East, Pa. He was a brilliant lad, whose
mental powers were far in advance of his youthful
years; and, happily, he was as truly pious as he was
highly gifted. During vacation time, he lived and
moved and had his being in the sacred atmosphere of
the Shrine, his prolonged and frequent visits to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help eliciting much admiring
comment. Throughout his six years at college, he
was a leader in his class ; and finding time to take up
extra studies, became proficient in Italian and in
dramatic composition. It goes without saying that he
was graduated with high honors, and seemed destined
to accomplish great and glorious things in the service
of Almighty God.
On August 2, 1905, Edward Sephton received the
Redemptorist habit and one year later pronounced his
holy vows. Before his enraptured vision now rose
the day of his ordination to the priesthood the final
goal in the realization of his life's dream. But the
God of Infinite Wisdom, who holds in His hands the
arbitration of man's future, had determined to call this
562 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
bright boy to Himself almost as soon as he had made
his religious profession. The light that had shone so
brilliantly was suddenly quenched, and Edward Seph-
ton, while engaged in the innocent pastime of bath-
ing, went down to a watery grave, just twenty- four
days after he had become a Redemptorist. Two days
later, he and John M. Thaler were laid away in the
mortuary chapel at Annapolis, where day after day,
and often during the day, their brothers in religion,
who survive them, pray for the repose of their souls.
JOSEPH DE COSTE, C. SS.R.
Joseph De Coste was born in Boston, May 18,
1883, and was graduated from the Mission Church
School in 1899. One year later, he was admitted to
the Redemptorist Preparatory College, at North
East, Pa., where he was known and esteemed for his
great industry, his love of prayer, and his cheerful and
unassuming disposition. In May, 1904, he finished
his course with credit and applause. He received the
religious habit on August 2, at Annapolis, Md.,
where on the same date the following year, he made
his religious profession. In September he began the
study of philosophy at Ilchester, Md.
Spurred on by the ambition to become a fit instru-
ment in the hands of God for the salvation of souls,
Joseph De Coste devoted himself to his books with
such unremitting diligence that his Superiors found
it necessary to moderate his ardor, lest he undermine
his health. In the autumn of 1906, he was attacked by
a fatal malady and rapidly declined. When the end
approached, he expressed the desire to die on a feast
of Our Blessed Lady, or within the octave of such
IN THE ARMS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER 563
feast. His wish was gratified, for it was on Feb. 8,
1907, within the octave of the Purification of the
Holy Virgin, that this fervent young Redemptorist
received the crown promised by St. Alphonsus to his
faithful sons, who die in the bosom of the Congrega-
tion. He was buried in the community cemetery at
Ilchester, where his ashes mingle with those of many
other holy Redemptorists who preceded him into
eternity.
The Dear Departed of the Parish
Before bringing to a close our narrative of "The
Glories of Mary in Boston," we regard it as a sacred
duty to recommend to Our Lady of Perpetual Help
the souls of those unnumbered thousands of parish-
ioners "who have gone before us with the sign of faith
and sleep the sleep of peace." They were once our
very own. "Every other thought which was within
us was shared by them." They were familiar figures
round the confessionals, at the Communion rail, and
at the Shrine; but now we see them no more. "The
bond of kindred is broken and the silver cord of love
is loosed." "But O ! for the touch of a vanished hand,
and the sound of a voice that is still!" Let us hope
and pray, today especially, that they have already
"washed their stoles in the Blood of the Lamb." But
if they have not yet been admitted to the heavenly
Jerusalem, let us hope and pray that they may soon
enter that blessed land, where "God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes ; and death shall be no more,
nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any
more, for the former things are passed away." And
let us console ourselves with the beautiful words of
the Book of Proverbs: "But the souls of the just are
564 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
in the hand of God and the torment of death shall not
touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed
to die, and their departure was taken for misery; their
going away from us for utter destruction; but they
are in peace."
May the deceased of the parish, for whom we pray,
raise their voices night and day, in fervent supplica-
tion, that He who is the "Ancient of Days," that He
who is "before Abraham was made," that He whose
years shall never fail, may amplify and enhance and
perpetuate "The Glories of Mary in Boston."
A COMMUNITY CHAPEL, C. SS. R.
(Dedicated to the Redemptorist Fathers of Boston)
By MARY SAESFIELD GILMOBE
(Written for the Irish World)
Where the city resounds with discords, and is rife with sad
human scenes,
An abode of Christ's mission-priesthood o'er the street like
an angel leans.
The strong wing of the church beside it seems to fold it in
tender peace,
And the weary of heart pass rested, and the wicked their
sins surcease.
For the steps linking pave and portal, like the ladder of
Jacob, span
Both the heaven of saintly vision and the earth that is plane
of man.
And tho' sordid the world, and sinful, yet a yearning in
souls survives,
For the grace of Divine ideals, and the glory of holy lives.
So the pace of the heedless slackens, and the laugh of the
reckless dies,
And the cheek of the woman blushes, and a tear softens
manly eyes,
Where the house of the Lord's anointed fills its mission, albeit
mute,
And a legion converted sinners are its unction's immortal
fruit!
* * #
Scarce a step from the public porchway
Is a shrine by the world unseen,
Since the rule of the cloister closes
Its inviolate doors between.
A COMMUNITY CHAPEL, C. SS. R. 567
But the keys of the holy Brother,
Or the novice who shares his trust,
In their charity grant a vision
Of the chapel where pray the just.
On its walls glints the green of Springtime,
Pale and tender, yet softly bright;
While low panels of gold and crimson
With the nave's velvet glow unite :
And the tri-colors blend their beauty
With the light like a lustrous mist,
Of the tapers whose rays illumine
The retreat of the Eucharist!
Oaken pews by an aisle divided,
Of soft cushions or down are bare ;
In their simple, ascetic beauty,
Perfect settings for pious prayer.
While o'erhead, where the carven choir
In desertion and silence lifts,
Psalm and chant seem to echo subtly
As dream-music thro' slumber drifts.
Face to face with chaste crystal windows,
Gleam aloft, mural paintings twain;
And the beautiful Christ presented,
The grand altar-piece shows again.
In the one, Jesus walks the waters
To concede sinking Peter aid,
Since his lip-faith appeals, "Lord, save me !"
Tho' at soul he is sore afraid.
In the other, there flows the Water,
That is not of the sea, but Life,
For it pictures the well of Jacob,
And the woman with evil rife ;
And the Saviour Who sorely thirsted,
While to serve Him her hand demurr'd,
Yet out-pour'd her the Living Water
Of Salvation's immortal Word.
568 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
So the lesson of both is tender,
Yet pathetic past human ken ;
For in Peter and he who faiPd Him,
Christ foretasted His cup from men !
O'er the altar, the Christ depicted
Walks abroad 'twixt apostles two ;
And His Figure is here majestic,
Yet benign as His chosen knew.
And so vivid in life-size beauty
Does the Saviour's presentment show,
That it seems like the incarnation
Of the Real Presence shrin'd below.
As the gold and white altar glimmers,
In the rays of the vigil-light,
O, the God-Man's own Sacred Heart-throbs
Seem to pulse to the dome's still height !
And perchance this is not mere fancy,
Since (O, touching!) in upper wall
The infirmary opes a window
Where the sick to the Healer call:
And lest souls that on Pain's cross languish,
From their Lord feel apart and far,
Faith reveals that the Christ-Heart whispers,
"I abide where My lov'd ones are !"
O, thou vision of peace and beauty ! O, thou haven of soul
and heart !
Thou art witness that e'en earth's guerdons are to them of
the "better part."
That "who loseth his life shall find it," if he lose it for love
divine,
In a measure that man conceives not, till he follows the
Master's sign.
There are tears of the spirits' shedding in our eyes as we
turn aside
From our glimpse of thy greater glory, to the world's empty
pomp and pride.
A COMMUNITY CHAPEL, C. SS. R. 569
Yet not all share the high vocation, since the chosen are but
the few,
While the many are call'd, like Martha, to the work that lay-
lives must do.
But the duty well done, tho' lowly, has a recompense all its
own,
And the common way fosters graces, e'en as stars o'er the
dark are sown.
Inspiration to live life purely, neither woman nor man can
lack,
Or the courage of high conviction, tho' the fury of hell
attack,
Whilst the glory of church and chapel pictures heaven's re-
quiting goal,
And the priesthood's heroic virtue proves the strength of
the Christian soul.
Then, O militant Churchmen, homage unto you and your
holy kind,
Under Christ, the supreme exalters of humanity's soul and
mind!
For your practice that crowns your precept, is a challenge
that man accepts,
A reproach to the self-indulgent, an ideal the world re-
spects ; -
And the voice of the mission-preacher, that transmits God's
impellent call,
By the Paraclete's tongue of fire, is the one voice that
reaches all.
So ye go forth to teach all nations, in the Master's Om-
niscient Name,
And eternal reward's forerunner is your world-wide, immor-
tal fame;
Since the Sign under which ye conquer, is no sceptre of
earthly dross,
But the mission's specific symbol, the Redeemer's triumph-
ant Cross !
LINES DEDICATED TO THE REV. FATHERS
PETSCH AND HAYES ON THE COMPLETION
OF THE MISSION CHURCH TOWERS.
"Slumbers thy dust, O champion of the Lord,
Whose love and thought designed this beauteous fane,
Well foughtest thou, a noble end thy sword,
When shall we look upon thy like again?
Now thy successor, Wisdom's chosen one,
Consummates the work, so well begun,
Both Temples types of that unfailing Church,
Founded by combats that not yet may cease,
And by the Spirit perfected in peace.
"Ah, venerated names ! not scrolled alone
By the architectural glories of the pile,
By gorgeous lights on richly carven stone,
By clustering columns of 'the long drawn aisle,'
Not in these priceless jewels of all arts,
But on a people's proud and grateful hearts !
Here shall in full toned harmonies of praise,
Angels ascendant and descendant soar
Whispering your sainted names for evermore."
VERSES INSPIRED BY THE ELECTRIC CROSSES
OF THE MISSION CHURCH.
CROSS OF LIGHT.
Symbol grand of love and pity,
Faith and hope and pure desire;
Gleaming high above the city,
Shines the Mission Cross of fire.
Oh! how dark were history's pages,
Had the light of faith not shone,
On the paths of men for ages,
Leading down from Calvary's Throne.
Paths where footsteps prone to falter,
Turned and wandered from the right,
Brought again unto the altar,
By the gleaming through the night.
Hearts when seamed by worldly furrow,
Swayed and bowed beneath the strain,
Leaned on thee, of greater sorrows,
By the firm light inspired again.
Light that cheered the brave crusader,
Through the Syrian desert sands ;
Turning back each new invader,
From thy flocks in many lands.
Gleaming now above the city,
In thy habiliments of fire;
Teach us still of love and pity,
Faith and hope and pure desire.
Timothy C. Murphy, in The Hibernian.
Dec. 15, 1910.
THE STARS AND STRIPES
FOREVER!"
MEMBERS OF THE PARISH WHO SERVED WITH THE
COLORS DURING THE WORLD WAR.
Chaplain, REV. STEPHEN L. AHERN, C. SS. R.
Chaplain, REV. FRANCIS A. MURRAY, C. SS. R.
Chaplain, REV. GEORGE A. CRIMMEN
Ago, John H.
Ahern, Cornelius G.
Ahern, George
Ahern, Joseph F.
Ahern, Michael A.
Aiken, Bernard J.
Allen, Amos F.
Anderson, Frederick A.
Anderson, L. Henry
Appicello, James E.
Badarraco, George A.
Barker, Peter
Barr, Chester W.
Barrett, John J.
Barry, Herbert
Barry, Patrick J.
Barry, Thomas F.
Bates, George R.
Biancone, Ferdinand
Bogue, John J.
Bohannon, Charles
Bohannon, Fred G.
Bohannon, John H.
Bowen, Harry W.
Bowen, Warren L.
Bowers, Robert E.
Bradley, John J.
Brady, Edward
Brady, Francis
Brady, J. John
Brady, Thomas
Brady, Thomas J.
Brady, William E.
Breagy, Richard T.
Breheny, Michael
Brennan, George
Brennan, George J.
Brennan, George J.
Brennan, John A.
Brennan, Michael J.
Brennan, Thomas J.
Brennan, William T.
Breslin, James E.
Brethney, Michael F.
Brodigan, Joseph J.
Brogan, Michael
Brogan, William J.
Brusch, Joseph A.
Buckley, Alfred J.
Buckley, Matthew J.
Burke, John A.
Burke, Michael
Burke, Thomas J.
Burns, Henry P.
Burns, John J.
Burns, Leo W.
CHAPLAINS
FRO/A
THE
IS-H-
"THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 573
Burns, William H.
Butler, John A.
Caden, James P. L.
Cadigan, John R.
Cady, Arthur L.
Cady, Joseph J.
Cahill, Arthur J.
Cahill, John W.
Cahill, Timothy
Callahan, James J.
Callahan, John A.
Callahan, Joseph A.
Callahan, Richard G.
Calnan, Thomas
Calnan, Thomas J.
Calnan, T. P.
Campagne, Salvatore
Campbell, John M.
Campbell, Thomas J.
Canney, James J.
Cannon, James P.
Carberry, Thomas J.
Carmody, Edward F.
Carmody, Patrick F.
Carney, Bernard A.
Carrigan, Dennis
Carroll, Fred H.
Carroll, James
Carroll, Joseph D.
Carty, Thomas P.
Casey, Dennis P.
Casey, Edward
Casey, Fred
Casey, John J.
Casey, Wm. L.
Cassidy, John E.
Cassidy, Joseph G.
Cassidy, Patrick J.
Caulfield, Edward L.
Caulfield, Fergus I.
Caulfield, James E.
Caulfield, John H.
Caulfield, Patrick J.
Chatain, Francis
Cheever, Charles E.
Clancy, Emanuel S.
Cleary, Charles J.
Cleary, Joseph R.
Clement, Phil
Clifford, Patrick J.
Clinton, David M.
Clinton, David M.
Cloonan, Patrick J.
Coakley, Joseph R.
Coffey, Wm. J.
Coghlan, Charles M.
Coghlan, Nicholas G.
Coleman, Benj. L.
Colleran, Patrick A.
Colleran, Patrick M.
Collins, Edward J.
Collins, George
Collins, Martin J.
Colsehel, Nicholas
Comer, William J.
Comerford, Joseph
Concannon, John P.
Condell, William J.
Condon, George J.
Condon, Thomas H.
Connell, John J.
Connolly, Edward G.
Connolly, Martin J.
Connolly, Thomas F.
Connolly, William H.
Connor, Daniel P.
Connor, Eugene J.
Connor, William J.
Connors, Patrick
Conroy, John J.
Conway, John A.
Conway, Joseph J.
Conway, Joseph M.
Cook, Frank
Cooney, Bernard P.
Corbett, William J.
Cordingley, John G.
Costello, Richard
Costello, Thomas J.
Cotter, Edward F.
Cotter, John J.
Cotter, Neil
574 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Coughlan, Arthur C.
Coughlan, Harry J.
Coughlin, Daniel J.
Coughlin, Edward
Coughlin, John
Coughlin, Stephen H.
Coughlin, Thomas A.
Coughlin, Timothy J.
Counihan, James F.
Coyne, John
Craighton, J.
Creighton, John
Crimman, Francis G.
Croiiin, Cornelius A.
Cronin, John G.
Cronin, John P.
Cronin, Joseph J.
Cronin, Leo
Cronin, Leo J.
Cronin, Mortimer L.
Cronin, William
Crossen, Henry T. G.
Crossen, Joseph M. A.
Crossen, Robert W.
Crowley, Caine
Crowley, David
Crowley, Gerard
Crowley, J. Joseph
Crowley, Jt>hn Joseph
Cullen, George W.
Cullen, Joseph
Cullen, Michael T.
Cullinane, John F.
Cunningham, Frank M.
Cunningham, John
Cunningham, Thomas
Cunningham, Thomas
Curnane, Augustine C.
Curran, Patrick
Curtin, Joseph
Cusick, Gerard F.
Cusick, John L.
Dacey, William F.
Dagnan, Peter
Daley, Bartholomew
Daley, James H.
Daley, John F.
Daley, Thomas
Danner, John W.
Darcy, Michael F.
Davin, Martin
Dawson, Clifford C.
Daylor, James F.
DeCourcy, Alfred C.
Delaney, James
Denning, Francis J.
Denning, John J.
Desmond, Patrick W.
Devaney, Augustus P.
Devany, M.
Develin, Charles M.
Deveney, Thomas F.
Devlin, Edmund C.
Devlin, Edward
Devlin, Francis J.
Devlin, Henry P.
Devlin, John G.
Devlin, John J.
Dillon, Edward
Dillon, John
Dillon, William
Dixon, Thomas
Dockray, Albert H.
Dockray, John
Doherty, Bernard
Doherty Dennis J.
Doherty, John J.
Dolan, Charles J.
Dolan, Daniel
Dolan, Edward
Dolan, James A.
Dolan, John
Dolan, John A.
Dolan, William J.
Donahue, Jeremiah L.
Donahue, Frank P.
Donahue, James
Donahue, Jeremiah A.
Donahue, Patrick
Donahue, William G.
Donlon, James J.
Donnelly, Peter M.
'THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 575
Donnelly, Thomas L.
Donohue, Henry P.
Donovan, Edward W.
Donovan, Francis C.
Donovan, Lawrence L.
Dooley, Harry J.
Dorr, William A.
Downey, John J.
Doyle, Frank R.
Doyle, James F.
Doyle, Joseph P.
Doyle, Philip L.
Doyle, Thomas
Doyle, Thomas J.
Driscoll, Francis J.
Driscoll, James S.
Driscoll, Michael A.
Duffy, Harold
Duggan, Francis D.
Duggan, Francis J.
Duggan, Patrick J.
Dunn, James E.
Dunn, Patrick J.
Dunne, Harold J.
Dunne, Martin H.
Dunne, William R.
Dunphy, J. Harold
Durkin, Clement A.
Dwyer, Albert E.
Dwyer, William J.
Early, James J.
Earley, George
Egan, James C.
Egan, Thomas
Egan, Thomas
Egersheim, Carl G.
Ellsworth, Roswell H.
Emmons, John H.
Ennis, Emmanuel
Ennis, Sylvester J.
Enright, Carlton J.
Enright, Victor J.
Fahey, Thomas E.
Fallon, Joseph J.
Fallen, Patrick J.
Fallon, Thomas A.
Fallon, William G.
Falvey, Daniel J.
Falvey, John J.
Farley, Albert E.
Farrell, Matthew E.
Fassnacht, F. G.
Fassnacht, Frank L.
Fay, Charles
Fay, George H.
Fay, John
Fay, Michael
Fay, Thomas E.
Feeley, James A.
Feeney, Daniel
Ferrick, James J.
Ferrick, Myles J.
Ferrick, Thomas J.
Ferris, Eugene F.
Ferris, James J.
Ferris, John M.
Ferris, Morgan
Ferris, Timothy J.
Finn, John J.
Finn, Pierce L.
Finn, William F.
Fitch, Joseph J.
Fitzgerald, John
Fitzgerald, John F.
Fitzgerald, Martin H.
Fitzgerald, Michael F.
Fitzgerald, Patrick J.
Fitzgerald, Thomas M.
Fitzgerald, William A.
Fitzpatrick, George A.
Fitzsimmons, Bernard T.
Fitzsimmons, Stephen G.
Fitzsimmons, Thomas P.
Fitzsimmons, William
Flanagan, James
Flannery, John F.
Flannery, Kieran
Flatley, William
Floyd, Thos. C.
Flynn, Michael J.
Fogarty, Arthur G.
Foley, James C.
576 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Foley, Joseph
Foley, Peter L.
Ford, Walter
Fox, Charles J.
Francis, Edward P.
Freely, Austin
Freely, Edward
Freely, James J.
Freely, Patrick J.
Freil, James C.
Funge, Isaac
Furey, William
Gaffney, George M.
Gallagher, Francis J.
Gallagher, Joseph G.
Gallagher, Robert
Gallagher, William
Gannon, Bernard
Garry, Edward A.
Garver, Ernest J.
Garvey, James F.
Garvey, Thomas H.
Garvey, William J.
Gately, Francis A.
Gately, Joseph H.
Gately, John F.
Gavin, James
Geary, Patrick J.
Gelenburg, John J.
Gemp, George W.
Gettings, Francis P.
Gibbons, John F.
Gill, Christopher J.
Gill, Patrick
Gilleran, Richard E.
Gilligan, James E.
Gilligan, John J.
Gillis, Daniel
Gillis, Thomas
Gilmore, William J.
Girouard, George
Gleason, Francis L.
Gleason, Thomas D.
Glennon, Patrick J.
Glynn, Joseph P.
Glynn, Joseph C.
Glynn, John F.
Glynn, Patrick
Golden, George Francis
Goode, Edward
Goode, Ignatius
Goode, Michael J.
Goode, William T.
Goodrich, George
Goodwin, Thomas J.
Goodwin, Thomas J.
Gorman, Francis
Gorman, Thomas J.
Gormley, James J.
Gormley, John R.
Grady, John J.
Granfield, Patrick
Grant, Frederick
Grant, George E.
Grant, John J. G.
Grant, Thomas F.
Greenall, Walter
Greene, Thomas M.
Greene, William V.
Greer, Thomas F.
Griffen, George A.
Griffen, George J.
Griffen, Martin
Griffen, Martin
Griffen, Patrick
Griffen, Thomas J.
Grourk, John J.
Gurney, Cornelius B.
Guntner, Lawrence
Hagerton, Bernard A.
Hagerton, Walter C.
Hagerty, Michael F.
Haggerty, Neil
Halloran, John
Hammond, Edward J.
Hammond, William J.
Hanley, Michael
Hanlon, Frank
Hanlon, Francis S.
Hanlon, John J.
Hannon, Dennis A.
"THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 577
Hanrcn, Patrick F.
Harriett, John P.
Harrigan, Thomas
Harrington, Arthur G.
Harrington, John B.
Harrington, John B.
Harrington, John J.
Harrington, Walter J.
Harrison, William H.
Hart, Fred
Hayes, Andrew F. J.
Hebert, Leon
Heiler, George J.
Heiler, Matthew J.
Higgins, Robert B.
Higgins, Thomas
Higgins, William E.
Hill, Charles E.
Hogan, Thomas E.
Hogan, William G.
Holland, John
Holmes, Oliver W.
Horgan, Dennis
Houghton, James A.
Houghton, John J.
Hourihan, Michael F.
Huban, Martin F.
Huban, Joseph E.
Huber, George L.
Huber, Rudolph
Hughes, Lawrence
Hughes, Thomas J.
Hunter, George
Hurley, Frank
Hussey, Dr. Earle
Hyde, John F.
Hyland, Patrick J.
Hyland, Robert F.
Igoe, Robert J.
Ippohto, Peter J.
Jamieson, Ray
Jandrne, Charles E.
Jenks, Joseph M. A.
Johnston, Andrew J.
Johnson, Alphonsus W)
Johnson, Herbert L.
Kane, Patrick
Kane, Thomas J.
Kanz, Walter
Kavanagh, Edward F.
Keady, James
Keane, John M.
Kearney, John J.
Kearney, William H.
Kearns, John J.
Keating, James F.
Keating, James
Keany, Coleman
Keaveney, Edward
Keefe, D. Joseph
Keefe, Francis P.
Keefe, John
Keene, Herbert W.
Kelleher, J. P.
Kelleher, Michael
Kelleher, Michael J. T
Kelleher, Thomas J.
Kelley, Francis M.
Kelley, George
Kelley, John A.
Kelley, John C.
Kelley, Joseph A.
Kelley, Michael E.
Kelley, M. Henry
Kelley, Thomas M.
Kelley, Walter F.
Kelley, William A.
Kelly, Charles J.
Kelly, James F.
Kelly, James T.
Kelly, Michael
Kelly, Thomas J.
Kennedy, Thomas J.
Kenney, Charles J.
Kenney, Edward
Kenney, John J.
Kenney, Thomas E.
Kerrigan, Francis J.
Keough, James F.
Keough, Joseph J.
Keough, Patrick J.
Kear, Francis N.
578 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Kerrigan, James L.
Kerrigan, William T.
Kerwin, C. A.
Kerwin, John J.
Kerwin, Thomas G.
Kieran, John F.
Kilday, John J.
Kilduff, Edward
Kilduff, Edward
Kilduff, William J.
Kiley, Cornelius J.
Kilroy, Frank
Kilroy, Joseph
Kilroy, Lawrence A.
Kilroy, Thomas F.
Kilroy, Walter E. J.
Kilroy, William F.
Kilroy, William F.
Kinsella, James L.
Kneeland, Joseph A.
Koelsch, Joseph M.
Koessler, Walter C.
Korman, Frank A.
Korman, Ignatius F.
Kuntz, Joseph G.
Lacey, James
Lamalfa, Pasquale
Lamar, Francis
Lambert, G. I.
Lane, Francis J.
Lane, George A.
Lane, James
Lane, Thomas
Lang, Louis G.
Langdon, Thomas
Lannon, John J.
Lannon, Joseph J.
Lannon, Michael J.
Lapsley, John P.
Leary, Cornelius
Leary, Michael
Lennon, Thomas B.
Leonard, Francis W
Leonard, John F.
Leverone, John L.
Lewis, Fred
Leydon, John
Loftus, Leo G.
Long, James J.
Long, John D.
Long, Michael
Loonie, Francis K.
Lordon, John J.
Lowney, John T.
Lundy, Thomas F.
Lydon, John J.
Lynch, Bernard G.
Lynch, Edward
Lynch, Edward
Lynch, Francis J.
Lynch, Joseph
Lyons, Edward F.
Lyons, Martin J.
Lyons, Thomas J.
MacDonald, John A.
MacDonald, Alfred C.
MacDonald, Francis W.
MacDonald, Frank A.
MacDonald, John
MacDonald, John E.
MacGillivray, Wm. W. S.
MacKenzie, Joseph C.
Mackin, Charles J.
MacLellan, Albert C.
MacLellan, Bruce J.
MacLellan, Wallace S.
Madden, Michael
Madden, Michael
Madden, Thomas E.
Magennis, Patrick J.
Maguire, Joseph T.
Magurrill, Francis J.
Mahan, Joseph H.
Mahoney, Francis C.
Mahoney, John J.
Mahoney, Thomas F.
Malley, Joseph R.
Maloney, Edward J.
Maloney, Francis
Maney, James P.
Mann, Joseph F.
Manning, John J.
"THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 579
Manning, Joseph P.
Manning, Patrick J.
Manning, Thomas J.
Marion, John F.
Marshall, Clifford W.
Martel, Alfred J.
Martin, Francis A.
Martin, Joseph A.
Mathi, George J.
Mathis, Harold F.
Mayock, John P.
Meade, Edward W,
Meade, Joseph F.
Meehan, John J.
Meehan, John P.
Menton, Thomas J.
Meskill, James J.
Meskill, Jeremiah
Meskill, William
Mone, John P.
Monohan, William C.
Montgomery, Richard A.
Mooney, Daniel H.
Moore, F. J.
Moore, James V.
Moore, John J.
Moore, Martin J.
Moore, Vincent W.
Moran, Thomas J.
Moriarity, Daniel F.
Moriarty, Daniel J.
Morrissey, Albert
Moylan, John J.
Moylan, Peter J.
Moylon, Michael G.
Mudge, William F.
Mulcahy, John
Mulkeen, John L.
Mullaney, Patrick J.
Mullaney, Patrick
Mullaney, Richard F.
Muller, William P.
Mulloy, Patrick J.
Mulrooney, John J.
Mulroy, Martin J.
Mulvey, Thomas H.
Murphy, Dr. Edward
Murphy, Frank J.
Murphy, Francis J.
Murphy, James A.
Murphy, James J.
Murphy, John F.
Murphy, John F.
Murphy, Michael J.
Murphy, Morgan C.
Murphy, Patrick J.
Murray, Charles
Murray, James A.
Murray, John H.
Murray, John
Murray, John J.
Murray, Kieran
Murray, Patrick
Murray, Peter J.
Murray, Thomas
Murray, William
Murray, William P.
McAdam, Alexander
McAuley, John E.
McAuley, John
McBrearty, John J.
McBrearty, Joseph
McCabe, Thomas F.
McCarron, Henry A.
McCarron, James
McCarthy, Chas. E.
McCarthy, Daniel G.
McCarthy, Edwin G.
McCarthy, Frederick L
McCarthy, James F.
McCarthy, James L.
McCarthy, James J.
McCarthy, James L.
McCarthy, John D.
McCarthy, John F.
McCarthy, John H.
McCarthy, John
McCarthy, John J.
McCarthy, John J.
McCarthy, Joseph W.
McCarthy, Michael J.
McCarthy, M. J.
580 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
McCarthy, Timothy
McCarthy, Wesley J.
McCarthy, Wm. H.
McCarthy, Wm. J.
McCauley, John J.
McCloskey, William F.
McCormack, James
McCormack, John
McCormack, Thomas A.
McCormick, Dan
McCourt, Thomas H.
McCue, John J.
McDaniel, Arthur M.
McDermott, Daniel
McDermott, John T.
McDermott, Patrick
McDermott, Thomas
McDonald, Donald J.
McDonald, Frank A.
McDonald, George A.
McDonald, George J.
McDonald, John R.
McDonald, Joseph W.
McDougel, Alexander G.
McElligott, E. Richard
McEnroe, Joseph F.
McFarland, Michael
McGann, John J.
McGarry, Francis F.
McGarry, Wentworth J.
McGillicuddy, Michael J.
McGilloway, Joseph
McGinnis, Patrick
McGinnis, Thomas
McGlone, Hugh B.
McGlone, James S.
McGlone, John J.
McGlone, Louis
McGowan, B. J.
McGowan, Chas. A.
McGowan, Wm. A.
McGrady, Henry F.
McGrail, John V.
McGrath, Thomas
McHugh, Gerald
McHugh, Joseph P.
McHugh, William T.
Mclnnis, Victor A.
Mclntosh, Wm. M.
Mclntosh, Thos. G.
Mclntyrc, James A.
McKenna, Daniel
McKenna, James J.
McKenna, Jeremiah J.
McKenna, Maurice C.
McKinnon, P. Russell
McKinnon, William
McLaughlin, Geo. J.
McLaughlin, John E.
McLaughlin, John J.
McLaughlin, Joseph D.
McLaughlin, Lawrence J.
McLaughlin, Wm. H.
McLelen, Thomas E.
McLoughlin, James P.
McManus, Charles
McManus, Dennis E.
McManus, Joseph
McManus, Wm. J.
McMillan, Daniel
McMillan, Hugh L.
McMorrow, Wm. J.
McMullen, Daniel P.
McNamara, Francis T.
McNamara, Henry E.
McNamara, Owen J.
McNicholas, James A.
McNicholas, John T.
McNicholas, Richard J.
McNulty, John J.
McRae, Joseph
McSharry, John
Nagle, George G.
Nagle, John F.
Nagle, Timothy
Nagle, Wm. J.
Nangle, John J.
Needham, Michael
Nelson, Charles H.
Nelson, Wm. H.
Neville, Edward A.
Nichols, George R.
"THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 581
Nicholas, Ray
Nicholson, Orrin A.
Niland, William J.
Noel, George L.
Nolan, James F.
Nolan, Stephen
Noll, Arthur
Noonan, Edward J.
Normile, Francis P.
Normile, Joseph P.
Norris, Wm. J.
Norton, John H.
Norton, Thomas
Norton, Timothy J.
Oakes, Peter
O'Brien, Chas. J.
O'Brien, Edward J.
O'Brien, Joseph F.
O'Brien, Joseph M.
O'Brien, Patrick
O'Brien, Patrick J.
O'Brien, Thomas J.
O'Brien, Wm. E.
O'Brien, Wm. J.
O'Brien, Wm. J.
O'Connell, Frank D.
O'Connell, George R.
O'Connell, George V.
O'Connell, Harold C.
O'Connell, James E.
O'Connor, D.
O'Connor, Edward
O'Connor, Edward B.
O'Connor, Edward T.
O'Connor, John F.
O'Donnell, George
O'Donnell, James F.
O'Driscoll, John J.
O'Hare, Albert
O'Hare, John J.
O'Keefe, Jas. F.
O'Leary, Frank J.
O'Leary, James P.
O'Leary, Thomas F.
O'Malley, Matthew J.
O'Mara, John J.
O'Meara, Jeremiah J.
O'Meara, Stephen H.
O'Neil, Arthur D.
O'Neil, John
O'Neil, John
O'Neil, Paul J.
O'Neill, Eugene J.
O'Rourke, James A.
O'Shea, John J.
O'Sullivan, Patrick J.
O'Sullivan, Thomas
O'Toole, Patrick L.
Pallis, James
Parsons, Lester J.
Pendergast, Patrick
Phinn, Frank G.
Phinn, Henry J.
Phinn, Peter J.
Pierce, John J.
Planey, Daniel T.
Pond, Edward C. J.
Power, Frank G.
Powers, John
Powers, Joseph F.
Prasse, Herman J.
Prendergast, Lawrence
Prendergast, John
Prendergast, Joseph
Prendergast, Norman
Prunty, Joseph
Prunty, Stephen L.
Prunty, Thomas V.
Quinlan, Jas. P.
Quinlan, John
Quinn, Patrick J.
Rauzieno, Luigi
Ready, Joseph F.
Reagan, Wm. F.
Reardon, George J.
Reardon, J. William
Reardon, Paul J.
Reidy, Cornelius J.
Reilly, Stephen F.
Reiss, Wm. F.
Resquets, Isadore
Reynolds, Thomas
582 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
Richards, John R.
Riley, Dennis J.
Riley, John J.
Rily, Stephen F.
Roberts, C. Joseph
Rochford, Patrick
Rogers, Francis
Rooney, James S.
Root, Russell
Roth, Frederick
Rowan, Joseph
Rowan, Martin
Rush, John J.
Ryan, Harold J.
Ryan, James E.
Ryan, John F.
Ryan, Michael
Saarm, Henry
Salmon, Michael
Sampson, Lewis S.
SanSouci, William J.
Santos, Gil
Sartous, Walter A.
Scanlon, Wm. F.
Scannell, Daniel
Schall, James
Schlier, Walter A.
Sears, Roy
Sears, W. R.
Shannon, James T.
Shaughnessy, Fred J.
Shaughnessy, John J.
Shaw, Carroll F.
Shea, Albert T.
Shea, Charles R.
Shea, Francis J.
Shea, James P.
Shea, John L.
Shea, John W.
Shea, Patrick
Sheehan, Cornelius F.
Sheehan, Lawrence F.
Sheehan, Jeremiah
Sheehan, Joseph J.
Sheehan, P. J.
Sheerin, Harold G.
Sheerin, Joseph
Sheehy, John J.
Sheils, Daniel G.
Sheils, Henry C.
Shepperd, George J.
Sherlock, Michael
Shine, Edward T.
Shinkwin, John J.
Shruhan, T. A.
Simpson, James
Simpson, John A.
Simpson, Wm. J.
Skinnion, Michael
Slattery, John J.
Slevins, Frank J.
Smith, Chas. B.
Smith, Frank G.
Smith, Frank T.
Smith, George J.
Smith, Herbert D.
Smith, John J.
Smith, John
Smith, Peter A.
Spellman, Charles R.
Spellman, Francis
Spellman, Harry J.
Spencer, Frederick J.
Spencer, Henry T. A.
Stapleton, Thomas J.
Stone, Edgar H.
Stone, Gerard M.
Stone, John J.
Stone, Milton A.
Stone, Oliver F.
Sullivan, Daniel A.
Sullivan, Daniel J.
Sullivan, Dennis J.
Sullivan, Eugene J.
Sullivan, Eugene L.
Sullivan, Francis P.
Sullivan, George T.
Sullivan, James F.
Sullivan, James F.
Sullivan, James J.
Sullivan, John F.
Sullivan, John H.
"THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER!" 588
Sullivan, John G.
Sullivan, John H.
Sullivan, John J.
Sullivan, Joseph
Sullivan, Joseph F.
Sullivan, Neil
Sullivan, Richard F.
Sweeney, Joseph P.
Sweeney, Robert
Swift, E. B.
Thornton, John F.
Tierney, Albert G.
Tierney, Patrick J.
Tobin, Richard J.
Toohey, John P.
Tracey, Harold
Tracey, James J.
Tracey, Patrick J.
Tracey, Thomas J.
Tracey, William
Trowbridge, Joseph F.
Tuohy, Jos. P.
Tully, Joseph R.
Tully, Leonard B.
Tully, William
Tumility, James J.
Troy, Maurice P.
Turly, Edward J.
Twiss, Patrick
Twomey, Thomas
Twomsley, James L.
Twomsley, Neil A.
Vandermace, Frank
Villaflor, Fortunata
Von Emo, Charles F.
Von Euw, Charles F.
Waddick, James H.
Waible, Leo J.
Waldron, George J.
Waldron, Michael D.
Zekan,
Walker, George
Wall, Joseph A.
Wallace, Philip
Wallace, William
Walsh, Andrew G.
Walsh, Arthur
Walsh, Gerald
Walsh, Martin F.
Walsh, Walter J.
Walsh, William
Walsh, Wm. C.
Walsh, Wm. H.
Ward, Edmund F.
Ward, Francis
Ward, Frederick A.
Ward, John H.
Ward, John J.
Ward, John M.
Ward, Wm. H.
Weidman, Joseph M.
Weidman, Lawrence J.
Welch, John H.
Welles, Wm. R.
Welsh, Michael J.
Wenger, Joseph A.
Wentworth, Walter W.
Whillen, Leo T.
White, Thomas J.
Wilkinson, John J.
Williams, John J.
Williams, Thomas F.
Willour, Mark
Winn, Charles
Winn, Owen J.
Woods, Ambrose J.
Wucher, Bernard F.
Whyllie, Richard T>
Young, George G.
Young, Leo T.
Yurawicz, Raphael
Alexander
584 THE GLORIES OF MARY IN BOSTON
THE FOLLOWING DIED IN THE SERVICE:
Carberry, Thomas J. Hurley, Frank
Condon, Thomas J. Kelley, John C.
Corbett, William J. Killduff, Edward
Davin, Martin Kilroy, Walter C.
Dolan, Edward M. Kuntz, Joseph G.
Dolan. Francis E. Mooney, Daniel H.
Fallen, Joseph J. McCarthy, Edwin G.
Fitzgerald, Martin H. McCloskey, Wm. F.
Fitzsimmons, Bernard T. McLoughlin, James P.
Golden, George F. O'Leary, Frank J.
Gormley, John R. Phinn, Frank G.
Gurney, Cornelius B. Shea, John W.
Hanlon, Francis S. Shea, Walter
Hayes, Andrew F. Tobin, Richard J.
Tracey, Thomas J.
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
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