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