150 Years of Grace - Society of Mary, Marists in the US

Brief Sketches of the
Foundation Years
150 Years of Grace
Marist Provincial House
Washington D.C.
2013
i
Acknowledgements
•
The sketches presented here derive from a
number of sources. Claude-Marie Chavas was
authored by Henri Beaune S.M. and translated
by Philip Gage S.M. He also translated the
sketch of Jean-François Denis which was
written by Philippe Gobilott S.M. The piece
on Richard Henry Smith was written by
John L. White S.M.
•
Further Acknowledgements:
Fr. William Rowland, SM
summarizing the work of Fr. Charles Girard, SM
Fr. Nicholas Hengers, SM
Fr. Michael J. Larkin, SM
Fr. John J. Emerick, SM
Fr. Lionel F. Beaudoin, SM
Mr. Jack Ridout, Vocation Office
Mr. Paul Carr, Office of Development
California Region for their guidance and encouragement
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SOCIETY OF MARY, U.S. PROVINCE
Dear Fellow Marists:
The gracious moment is always in the present, but as we proceed into
the future of Marist life in the United States, we thought an important
part of the celebration would be to present some sketches (literally—
often portions of longer studies) of the amazing energy with which
the our Marist life was seeded around the country in so brief a period
of missionary activity. You will find stories of individual Marists (and
a touching short memoir) as they worked to keep the vision of JeanClaude Colin alive by doing the “work of Mary” in a New World. Their
work was made possible not only by their own inspiring forgetfulness of
self, and by the continuous support and supply of men from the French
Province under the leadership of Fr. Favre himself and his early
successors.
Their efforts provide an insight into the outlook and spirituality of their
time, and their lives demonstrate faith in the enduring charism of the
Society of Mary. We have included Marist foundational stories from:
Louisiana, New England, West Virginia, Georgia, Idaho, California,
Minnesota, and Utah. They all show us a rich fabric of Marist life at its
beginnings here in the United States and boundless energy of movement across this vast and challenging nation in those early years. We
pray that we may be worthy sons of these pioneers.
Fraternally,
Ted Keating, SM
Provincial
Society of Mary, USA
“To be Marist is to be called to live the Gospel as Mary did, in a
society which bears her name” (Society of Mary Constitutions)
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The Venerable John Claud Colin
1790 -1875
Founder of the Society of Mary
“But I feel very consoled as I tell myself, if I am successful in training
even one of these young men, and that young man saves just one
soul, it is worth more than all the wealth in the world.”
On training missionaries from A Founder Acts, page 227
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Table of Contents
Title Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Origins of the Marist Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Marist Arrival in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Marist Biographical Sketches
Fr. Richard Henry Smith, SM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Fr. Claude-Marie Chavas, SM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Fr. Jean-Francois Denis, SM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Marist Foundations in the Eastern United States
Arrival of the Marists in New England, 1881 . . . . . . 26
Our Lady of Victories, Boston, MA, 1883 . . . . . . . . 31
A brief Summary of the arrival of the Marists in Georgia . . 33
The Missions of the Marist Fathers in West Virginia . . 36
Marist Foundations in the Western United States
St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Mission San Jose, CA . . 46
Notre Dame des Victories Church, San Francisco, CA . 48
All Hallows College, Salt Lake City, Utah . . . . . . . . 48
St. Paul’s Church, Nampa, Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
St Louis Church, St. Paul, Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . 54
Additional Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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St. Michael’s Church, Convent, Louisiana
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THE MARIST ARRIVAL IN AMERICA
The Marist Fathers came to the United States at a critical
period in the history of that country. They arrived in 1863,
during the war between the states. In all of the Western world,
the middle of the nineteenth century saw a great emphasis on
unification and centralization. The war between the North and
the South resulted in the triumph of federal authority over the
independence of the individual state. In 1870 Italy was united
in one kingdom under the house of Savoy. The same year saw
the establishment of the German Empire. A central government was constituted in America’s neighbor to the north,
Canada, within the decade. And in the Catholic Church, the
ultimate in centralization was achieved with the declaration of
papal infallibility.
But what was the nature of the particular Catholic church in
which the Marists were to exercise their ministry by coming to
the United States? The Marist Society was born in France and
for its immediate apostolate it came in its French personnel to
serve the French-speaking among America’s citizens. The first
missionaries brought with them their French culture and outlook and fitted in well with the Louisianians who had a similar
origin and background. The American Catholic Church, as a
whole, had however its own culture and perspective which has
its influence even to the present. It is impossible to grasp the
significance of Richard Smith without understanding the
church in which he was born and raised.
A REVOLUTIONARY CHURCH
The American nation was born in revolution and revolutionary ideas became a characteristic of the Catholic Church in it
ever since. To comprehend how the republican revolution
affected the way Catholics thought about their church we must
look at the life and thought of John Carroll, the first Roman
Catholic bishop in the newly constituted United States. He
became the principal spokesman for the Catholic community,
1
and his voluminous writings are the best available record of
the history of American Catholicism at its inception. They not
only reveal the thinking of this leader, but they are also an
indispensable resource for understanding the subsequent
development of the Catholic community.
THE FIRST AMERICAN BISHOP
John Carroll, born in 1735, was the third son of Daniel
Carroll, an Irish immigrant merchant, and Eleanor Darnall,
members of the gentry society of Maryland. His family was
part of the Catholic aristocracy of the colony and among his
relatives were the Darnalls, the Brents, and the Carrolls of
Annapolis - the first families of Catholic Maryland. As was the
custom with the high-blooded Catholic families, when he was
twelve, John was sent to the Jesuit Bohemia Manor School,
Maryland, where his cousin, Charles Carroll, the future signer
of the Declaration of Independence, was a classmate and in
1748 was sent with Charles to study at the Jesuit college in St.
Omer, France. Five years later the future bishop joined the
Jesuits. He made his studies in philosophy and theology at
Liege, Belgium and was ordained in 1769. He stayed on in
Europe teaching for a while and then spent two years touring
the continent as tutor and travel guide for an English nobleman’s son. When the Jesuits were suppressed by the Franciscan
pope, Clement XIV, in 1773, John returned to Maryland where
he could live, as he said, far from the scandal and defamation
that followed in the wake of the Society’s dissolution. Arriving
in Maryland in 1774, he was thirty-nine years old with half of
his life already behind him, but the most momentous and historically significant part remained.
After working as a missionary priest in both Maryland and
Virginia, John Carroll had a totally unexpected and extraordinary experience as a revolutionary diplomat, an event that
germinated into his becoming the first leader of the American
Catholic church. In 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress, eager to get the help of
the Canadians in its struggle for freedom from England, constituted a committee to go to Canada and achieve this purpose
through diplomacy. The members were Benjamin Franklin,
Charles Carroll to Carrollton, Samuel Chase, and Father John
Carroll. The appointment of a Catholic priest as an envoy was
most unusual, considering the anti-Catholic bigotry prevalent
2
at the time, but it was thought that the presence of a Catholic
priest would have a beneficial influence on the French Catholics in Canada. John Carroll's colleagues considered him “a
man of liberal sentiments, enlarged mind and a manifest friend
to civil liberty.” The mission was not successful but during the
course of the negotiations Carroll became friendly with Benjamin Franklin and this relationship would have a profound infiuence on his career.
THE PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH
AFTER INDEPENDENCE
After the war ended, John Carroll began to assay the future
of Catholics in the new nation. The ex-Jesuits were old and
lacking in leadership as well as initiative. Father John Lewis
was their superior but he had given little direction to the aging
missionaries and the future was ominous. Since suppression in
1773, the ex-Jesuits took no steps to provide for the future of
the church in America. Organization was needed and the issue
of ownership of the large estates acquired by the Jesuits in the
colonial period was a pressing problem.
Not one to stand idly by, Carroll proposed a constitution for
the organization of the clergy. In his own words, it was “to
establish some regulations tending to perpetuate a succession
of labourers in this vineyard, and to preserve their morals, to
prevent idleness, and to secure an equitable and frugal administration of our temporals.” The clergy met at the Jesuit farm
at Whitemarsh in 1783, and using Carroll’s draft as a basis
drew up a constitution to achieve the purposes Carroll
intended. At Whitemarsh, too, they petitioned the pope to
confirm Father Lewis as superior of the American mission and
to grant him the faculties needed to govern the church. A most
remarkable statement was made in this petition to Pius VI “BECAUSE OF THE PRESENT ARRANGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA, WE ARE NO LONGER ABLE AS
FORMERLY TO HAVE RECOURSE FOR OUR SPIRITUAL
JURISDICTION TO BISHOPS OR VICARS APOSTOLIC
WHO LIVE UNDER A DIFFERENT AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENT AGAIN AND AGAIN THIS FACT HAS BEEN
URGED ON US IN UNMISTAKABLE TERMS BY THE
OFFICIALS OF THE REPUBLIC; NEITHER COULD WE
ACKNOWLEDGE ANY SUCH PERSON AS ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERIOR WITHOUT OFFENSE TO THE CIVIL
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GOVERNMENT.” Very evidently, the first official meeting of
the American clergy had its own ideas of what the church in
the United States should be.
Carroll heard that the Vatican was in the process of appointing
a superior for the American church independently of the
American clergy. He was gravely perturbed. He wrote to his
English colleague Charles Plowden: “This you may be assured
of that no authority derived from the Propaganda will ever be
admitted here; that the Catholick Clergy and Laity here know
that the only connexion they ought to have with Rome is to
acknowledge the pope as the spiritual head of the Church;
that no Congregation in his states shall be allowed to exercise
any share of his spiritual authority here; that no Bishop Vicar
Apostolical shall be admitted; and if we are to have a Bishop,
he shall not ‘in partibus’ (a refined political Roman contrivance), but an ordinary national Bishop, in whose appointment
Rome shall have no share." But as it happened, Rome made
the right decision after much diplomatic consultation with
American and French authorities. An American was appointed
to head the church in the new nation, and to the surprise of
the clergy, it was not John Lewis, but John Carroll. Benjamin
Franklin, once Carroll’s name surfaced, and given the priest’s
relative youth and personal qualities, exerted all his influence
to press his good friend’s appointment. The American statesman was in a strong position to do so for he was at the time of
the deliberations on diplomatic duty in Paris. So in June of
1784 John Carroll was appointed “Superior of the Mission in
the thirteen United States." That empowerment and the
clergy’s acceptance later in that year of the constitution drawn
up earlier at Whitemarsh marked the beginning of an
organized Catholic “religious society" in the United States.
The new ecclesiastical superior now planned vigorously for
the future. He believed as he wrote that religion had “undergone a revolution, if possible, more extraordinary, than our
political one." As he saw it, in a striking way all things were
beginning anew - a new political and social order was being
born and a new religious environment was being created.
Together with his associates among clergy and laity he began
to articulate an understanding of Roman Catholicism that was
unique in Christendom. Central to this understanding was the desire
of American Catholics to be free and independent from all foreign
influence or jurisdiction. The result was that neither John Carroll
nor the other priests were satisfied with his appointment as
4
Bishop John Carroll, the first American bishop of the Catholic church, who
set the development of Catholicism in the United States
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superior of a mission church, because this meant that the
church in America would be dependent on the Propaganda
lidei, the Roman congregation in charge of the missions. This
was something no one wanted, least of all ex-Jesuits who had
already suffered from the capriciousness of Rome when their
order was suppressed. He went on to assert that, by virtue of
the revolution, Catholicism “had acquired equal rights and
privileges with that of other Christians” and we priests form
“a permanent body of national Clergy, with sufficient powers
to form our own system of internal government, and I think,
to choose our own Superior.” The laity also were resentful of
“all foreign jurisdiction” so much so that a group of “outstanding Catholics were of a mind to point this out” in a letter to
the pope, but Carroll persuaded them to allow him to be the
spokesman on this issue. He summed it up when he said that
Rome should grant the church in the United States “that
Ecclesiastical liberty, which the temper of the age and of our
people requires.”
THE CARROLL LEGACY
INDEPENDENCE, AMERICANISM, PLURALISM
The desire for independence persuaded Carroll and the rest
of the clergy that what American Catholicism needed was a
bishop who by virtue of his office would be dependent upon
the Pope alone and only in matters spiritual. Moreover, they
wanted this bishop to be elected by the American clergy “instead of being appointed by a foreign tribunal which would
shock the political prejudices of this Country.” They sent these
reflections to the Pope and he went along with their request.
The first election of a bishop in the United States took place
in May 1789 and the popular choice was Carroll. The election
of a native American as the first bishop was a major step forward in the ongoing organization of the church. lt also symbolized the spirit of independence among American Catholics.
They were Roman Catholics to be sure, but their loyalty to the
papacy was neither exaggerated nor uncritical. It was rooted
in an ancient religious tradition that acknowledged the pope
as the spiritual head of the Church, seriously challenged only
by the Photian schism which resulted in the establishment of
the Eastern-Orthodox churches and the Protestant reformation which spawned innumerable sects since 1517.
Catholics in the new nation, like most of their fellow citizens,
6
were caught up in the enthusiasm of nationalism. They were
Americans and they wanted their church to reflect the spirit of
the new country rather than reflect the ethos of a foreign state.
This was abundantly evident in the desire for a specific American quality in the priests who would minister to the United
States. Cries for priests echoed from all the areas where Catholics were beginning to migrate and establish themselves. Carroll stated the problem in no uncertain terms to Rome. To
combat this bad situation he proposed that a school be
founded where American youth could be educated and candidates for the priesthood recruited. These young men would
then enter a national seminary to pursue a theological education. As early as 1783 the bishop had this idea of founding a
school which would serve as a “nursery for the seminary.” He
wrote “on this academy is built all my hope of permanency
and success to our Holy Religion in the United States. He convinced the other priests to go along with his plan and in l79l,
Georgetown Academy, now Georgetown University, the first
Catholic college in the U.S.A.. took in its first students. That
same year saw St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore open its doors
to prospective candidates for the Catholic ministry. It was
housed in a reconstructed tavern. In less than a decade, Carroll’s
dream of a national college and a national seminary was fulfilled. His concept was to form a body of native clergy, as he
said, “accustomed to our climate, and acquainted with the tempers, manners and government of the people, to whom they
are to dispense the ministry of salvation.” It would be a long
time before this prospect would ever be realized, and so he was
forced to accept just about any priest who turned up in the
United States. But in accepting Europeans to alleviate the
extreme scarcity of priests, Carroll insisted that they not only
become adept in English but also sensitized to American culture. It is true that the Marists first came here in l863, but to
minister to a specialized segment of Catholics, those with
French language and culture; however, they soon adapted to
American ways, serving in any missionary capacity and recruiting Americans for the Society of Mary.
The third Carrollinian character insculpted by the first
bishop of the United States was PLURALISM. In its most
obvious form, written into the charter of government, it meant
separation of church and state. The acceptance of this characteristic was the most important issue that found support
among American Catholics. Such an outlook persuaded them
7
to look upon religious pluralism as a benefit. John Carroll
wrote, “lf we have the wisdom and temper to preserve (civil
and religious liberty), America may come to exhibit to the
world that general and equal toleration. by giving a free circulation to fair argument, is the most effectual method to bring
all denominations of christians to an unity of faith.” Separation
of church and state went against the practice of Western
nations at the time as well as against the traditional medieval
Catholic position, but the validity and truth of the position
based on freedom of conscience was finally affirmed years
after the United States pioneered in this direction by the declarations of the Second Vatican Council. lt was an American
Jesuit theologian, John Courtney Murray, who was a prime
instrutnent in that declaration. And it was a pluralism that
Richard H. Smith, the fitst provincial of the Washington Province
of the Marists, helped to achieve in that religious congregation.
Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy S.M., S.T.D. (left) on the day of his ordination as Bishop of Seattle.
On his right is Most Reverend Michael J. Keyes S.M., D.D., Bishop of Savannah who was assistant
ordaining prelate. The ordination took place in Washington, D.D. at the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception, Sept.19, 1933. Among his many other deeds mentioned in this book,
Bishop Shaughnessey was entrusted with the care of the religious congregation of the Missionary
Servants of the Most Holy Trinity during a critical period of their history by the Holy See. His
intervention was so successful that he was viewed rather like a second founder of the society.
8
FATHER RICHARD HENRY SMITH, S.M.
Richard Henry Smith was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut on
August 7, 1868 and within a few years his family moved to Monroe
Louisiana, the scene of the first labors of the Marists in this country
The story of Fr. Smith and the Marists intersects with the Church
in early America. The Church gained “equal rights and privileges with that of other Christians”… and in a letter to the Pope,
Bishop Carroll (the first native bishop) maintained that Rome
should grant the Church in the United States “that Ecclesiastical
liberty, which the temper of the age and of our people requires”.
Bishop Carroll believed that the American Church was to be
reflective of the new American spirit of nationalism, not the
culture and influences of foreign states; that priests should be
educated in America and the promotion of the separation of
church and state which to many religious pluralism as a benefit.
In 1863, the first Marists arrived in the United States to minister to French speaking Catholics, and began serving in “any
missionary capacity and recruiting Americans for the Society of
Mary”. This combination of the American view of the Church
and his exposure to the Marists by attending Jefferson College
was to give Richard Smith the “cultural and spiritual background
against which his love for the Marists took hold and grew”.
He professed his vows to the Society of Mary on December
8, 1890, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 21, 1896.
His many accomplishments, I believe, can be attributed to his
ability to meld his love of the Marists with the unique character of the American Church. Fr. Richard Smith became
the first native born American Provincial of the American
Province and the first Provincial of the Washington Province;
first superior of Marist Seminary, Superior of Jefferson College for 16 years, named a delegate to the General Chapter
of 1921 and promoted the relocation of the General House
9
to Rome, became head of St. Mary’s Manor and during his
tenure, 33 students were ordained Marist priests, and established the Marist Mission Band. He died December 8, 1935.
The illustration indicates the offshoots and bneficiaries of the
orignial American Province.
10
FATHER CLAUDE-MARIE CHAVAS, S.M.
The Louisiana Mission
(1864-1874)
Six months had hardly elapsed when Fr. Chavas, aware that
the ministries which the Society of Mary had just taken charge
of in Louisiana needed reinforcements, “begged for the favor
of being sent to the new missions.”
The name “mission” rather than “parish” was certainly the
appropriate term for St. Michael’s, fifty miles upriver from
New Orleans on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. If it didn’t
exactly amount to starting from scratch, still the work did
mean organizing and improving almost everything. A house
of the Madames of the Sacred Heart was nearby, and their
religious services had been assured. Farther away, a mile downriver from the church, there was a college which Fr. Henri
Bellanger had been asked to take over and which was opening
July 1, 1864 with twelve students. As determined as a young
man, Fr. Chavas, who was verging on sixty (in fact, he was
fifty-seven years old), wrote from London (April 11, 1864)
where he awaited embarkation. “I am peacefully applying
myself to picking up some notions of the English language so
I can be a little more useful over there.” Not that he was unconcerned. More than ever, he asked for prayers, sacrifices, Holy
Communions, etc. All still more than ever, he felt he was disposed “to taste that heavenly motto: ‘To love here below only
to sacrifice . . . to sacrifice generously everything one loves for
Him who loved us first, even to death on the cross.” (Letter to
one of his dirigées, a Marist tertiary.)
From Liverpool to New York the crossing was difficult for his
companions, Fr. Onésime Renaudier, the superior, and two
coadjutor Brothers. As for himself, he never got seasick, which
made the others think they saw “a real wonder of the Blessed
Mother.” They arrived May 29, the feast of Our Lady of Miracles. Delighted at the most pleasant welcome of Frs. Henri
Bellanger and Jean Gouttenoire, he stated, that he was already
“nicely acclimated to America.” (Letter to Fr. Lagniet, June 7, 1864).
11
We might ask if Chavas had to use English often, learned as
it was so late. It seems not. Right away his ministry was limited
to hearing the confessions of the Sacred Heart Sisters and
French-speaking boarders.
As in anything else, trials were not lacking. Coming most
often from around him, they could be felt particularly by one
of his temperament and age. One day he was enumerating his
annoyances and little sufferings to Fr. Henri Gaud, superior of
Jefferson College: “I willingly accept all this to expiate my
faults.” Was there anything he could be criticized for? The
superior did pass on some complaints and wanted to know if
Fr. Chavas had “demands that were too great” or if “with his
little tricks” he made life, in fact, “annoying to the confreres in
the rectory. . .” The inquiry made directly by Fr. Gaud showed
up some facts so trifling, of such little importance, that those
in high places should have been rather edified. Fr. Chavas,
besides, conscious of his own defects, was the first to accuse
himself before his General calling himself “the poor repentant
prodigal,” adding the following explanation, “Daily thorns and
St. Michael’s Church, c. 1825 at Convent, Louisiana, the first foundation of
the Marists in the United States.
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crosses, which I have experienced, grow like mushrooms, and
I do not always have enough strength or virtue to swallow
everything joyfully. That would be, I believe, my greatest misery.”
To these deficiencies we could add that of giving his opinion
too easily, and of piling up in his room all sorts of objects as if
Providence was going to fail him.
The builder’s “eye,” which never left him, allowed him to
bring to bear on the major construction, undertaken at that
time for the rectory and church at St. Michael’s, a detailed
judgement which particularly enlightened the top religious
authority. A man of the golden mean, he knew how to determine which projects were necessary and which others could
wait without detriment to the whole plan.
FINALE
(]uly-August, l874)
Thus he applied himself with the full measure of his good
will to his tasks until June 1873 when his strength underwent
a significant decline. It was then that he expressed his desire
to the Sacred Heart Sisters to be relieved of his functions, at
least partially. In October a terrible epidemic of yellow fever
hit like a hurricane. At nearby Jefferson College he saw in just
twenty days three of his confreres carried off by the fever: Frs.
Matthew McGrath (October 3, twenty-six years old), Henri
Gaud (October 8, forty years old), and Pierre Freyssinet (October 23, thirty-six years old). In the preceding month of September, coadjutor Brother Joseph had heralded, if we could
put it that way, these sudden departures.” Death seemed to be
on the lookout. In these circumstances could one not think
about it?
So, at this point, redoubling one’s activities seemed the best
way to prepare for death. A return letter from Louisiana to Fr.
Lagniet shows Chavas hard at work. ‘Ave Maria! Heartfelt
thanks . . . the volume arrived just in time for my doctrinal
and domestic instructions. I have told you this before; my eyes
are becoming altogether powerless, forcing me to simplify as
much as possible any work of composing. You have done me
such a great service. Thank you! Thank you!” ‘Always young
13
at heart,” (according to Fr. Gouttenoire), still alert, despite his
long and laborious career “venerable Fr. Chavas continued to
preach and hear confessions up to the last day.”
The fatigue of age, while making itself felt already, did not
bring anything unusual. But from July 1874, with the intense
heat getting to be overwhelming, Fr. Chavas felt depressed, yet
did not give up his duties.
“Wednesday evening, August 12,” wrote Fr. Renaudier,
his superior, “he asked me to find a replacement for the
next day’s Mass, complaining of fever. The doctor came to
see him and told him, that a few days rest would put him
right again. But, from that time on, the fever didn’t leave
him in spite of strong medication during the following
days. When a feeling of weakness came over him on the
feast of the Assumption, he asked to make his confession.
To put him at rest I heard it, and for the rest of the day
he didn’t cease thanking the Holy Virgin . . . In the morn ing, on the I6th, he asked me earnestly to bring him Holy
Viaticum. ‘Ad cautelam,’ he said. I gladly yielded to his
wishes, and he received Our Lord with great fervor.
The rest of the day, Sunday the 16th, went rather well.
The Fathers of the college came to see him in the after noon and, like us, found nothing alarming about his con dition. That was also the doctor’s thought when he came
to visit him in the evening . . . I stayed by him until 10:00
p.m.; then I asked Br. Marie to continue looking after
him. Some time later the fever picked up again with new
vehemence. About midnight Fr. Chavas sent for me,
requesting Extreme Unction while he was still conscious,
since he felt that his mind was beginning to get confused.
I administered the Sacrament, and a few moments later
delirium set in. All the rest of the night saw a terrible
struggle, a struggle peculiar to these fluctuating fevers:
the patients do not want to stay in bed, and they don’t
have a minute’s rest. On the 17th, in the morning about
9:00, calm came back, and we took advantage of it by hav ing him renew his vows. After that we helped him to recite
some prayers. Around 11:00, after he had recited for one
last time, “Jesus, Mary, Joseph,” he lost his speech. Finally,
14
about l:30 the dear Father expired gently, leaving me so
sad at losing my old traveling companion to America, with
who I had lived almost eleven years.”
Thus the religious whom everyone was used to calling “the
good Father” left this world. His loss is felt by those around
him as a great void.
As epitaph he had wanted only the following: “He was Mary”s
child, Mary was his mother!”
POSTSCRIPT
A letter from Fr. Firmin Coppin, S.M.
July 15, 1874
(About a month before Fr. Chavas died, a dramatic scene
unfolded in the refectory at St. Michael’s which one of his companions, Fr. Firmin Coppin (+ 1891) narrated in a letter to Fr.
Favre. One will notice the humorous and colorful tone.)
During our dinner not long ago, an enormous rattlesnake
got into the dining room after struggling briefly with our Newfoundland dog. Surprised by such an unexpected visitor, I
leapt to my feet and proceeded to cower courageously in the
corner of the room. Hardly had I cried out, “There’s a snake”,
when the animal was already coiling around Fr. Chavas’s foot.
“But it’s only a big rat,” the good Father cried back. (As you
know, he’s quite nearsighted.) He didn’t budge, which saved
his life. Father Renaudier got scared and pushed his chair back
to get up, but he didn’t have time. The noise excited the snake,
and it darted over beside him. Fr. Renaudier had time only to
lift his feet up in the air and plop them down on the table
right in the middle of the dishes. I have never seen such a spry
superior!
The rattler was coiling up under the chair, going on the
defensive. I will let you figure out the gentle emotions of our
Fr. Superior, sitting on his chair, his feet on the table, with this
pleasant prospect . . . seeing the snake coming up at him
through the slats of the seat. He didn’t dare make the least
movement and was growing visibly paler and paler. “Does it
want to get any higher? Is he going to strike me?” “No, but
don’t move,” I answered still cowering in my corner. Then after
15
a few seconds of anguish he asked again, “Is he going to get
any higher?” “No. For heaven’s sake don’t budge!” We stayed
that way for two or three minutes under the spell of those
“gentle emotions.”
All at once, I saw Fr. Chavas coming back into the dining
room armed with a huge wooden log. Imagine! A log of wood
to fight a rattlesnake! We would have certainly burst out laughing if we hadn’t been so afraid! All the same, at the sight of
that giant weapon, or better yet - that formidable weapon, the
snake surmised something was up and slithered against the
wall, on guard. Finally, Fr. Renaudier was able to get out of his
terribly inconvenient position. When Fr. Chavas saw his enemy
fleeing at his approach, he felt the courage of a lion. Whack!
He flung the big log, a little haphazardly, since it first just
missed smashing Fr. Superior’s skull, then went on to crack
against the wall, only to fall back on the floor about six feet
from the snake!! Then Fr. Chavas went back to look for more
ammunition. Provoked now, the rattler sprang at us. We tried
as best we could to defend ourselves with our chairs, when the
dog jumped into the fray and merely got in the way rather
than helping us. Such was the overall chaos that Fr. Chavas’s
log had leashed.
We would probably still be there if our cook, who is much
more used to this type of visit than we are, hadn’t come to our
rescue. Before you could blink an eye, she took over and dispatched the snake with one blow.
No need to add that dinner was over then and there. We
certainly were no longer hungry. In fact, fear along with a
spoiled digestion had banished our hunger.
Now, if it didn’t depart from the spirit of our rule, I would
ask you, Very Reverend Father, kindly to propose Fr. Chavas to
the President of the Republic, Marshal MacMahon, for the
Cross of the Legion of Honor, on the grounds that, in order
to save two Frenchmen, he wielded his weapon with remarkable courage and above all with precision.
16
FATHER JEAN-FRANÇOIS DENIS, S.M.
First Venture in Louisiana
It was not Haiti but to the people of Louisiana that Fr. Denis
was sent. Two years before, in 1862, Archbishop Jean-Marie
Odin of New Orleans, a Vincentian, had offered an important
parish in Louisiana to the Superior General of the Society of
Mary and had intimated the possibility of the Society’s taking
over a college ( Jefferson College), located a short distance from
the church. Father Favre did accept, and on February 2, 1863
Henri Bellanger, former superior of the colleges of Brioude
and of Montlucon, and Joseph Gautherin embarked at be
Havre on the ship “Sainte-Genevieve.” They were the first volunteers of the Society of Mary now being called to a magnificent flowering in America. Two months later on April 3rd they
landed at New Orleans, after having to comply with any
number of formalities demanded by the special circumstances
of the American Civil War. For two years this conflict had pitted
the Southern States, defending the slavery of African Blacks
above all for the growing of cotton, against the Northern
States, demanding abolition of the degradation of slavery. It
was about a year now that the great city of the South, New
Orleans, had fallen to the North.
Archbishop Odin confided to the Marists the parish of St.
Michael, 50 miles (80 kilometers) upriver from New Orleans
along a stretch of 24 miles on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River (or the “Meschacebe” as Chateaubriand called it in
his Les Natchez).
Near the church stood a convent of the Madames of the
Sacred Heart. A mile downriver, on a wide promontory jutting
into the river, rose a college named “Jefferson” in honor of the
third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, 18011809). He it was who had written the famous remark, “Everyone has two homelands: his own first and then France.” The
college had been founded in 1838 by some secular teachers
and had experienced more than its share of ups and downs.
Now at the moment federal or Northern troops were occupy17
ing Jefferson College. Although the war was still on, the troops
wound up evacuating the buildings and on July 1, 1864, the
Marists took possession of the college with twelve students.
One month before that, on June 1st, Claude Chavas and
Onesime Renaudier and two coadjutor Brothers had arrived.
On October 15th of that same year Fr. Denis embarked at
Le Havre, along with Jean-Baptiste Bigot, Jean Goutenoire,
Pierre Freyssinet, and an English scholastic, Mr. Glynn, and
just one month later St. Michael’s welcomed them. According
to Fr. Favre’s decision Fr. Bellanger from now on would have
only Jefferson College to attend to (which would have been
enough to occupy all his activity) while Fr. Denis was to take
charge of the parish.
One of Fr. Bigot’s letters to the Superior General shows with
what ardor Fr. Denis carried out his responsibilities: “Fr. Denis
has seen his zeal blessed in a way that is more than satisfying.
The parish is being renewed and is changing its appearance
from one day to the next. People admire him, they love him,
they consider him a saint. And all this success is simply the
result of his zeal, which knows no rest. He is on the go, he runs
wherever there is good to do - and really, there is no lack of
opportunity for that here - but there is a fear that his energy
might not be able to respond very long to his charity. It has
happened that he has gone all day, even till 7:00 p.m. without
eating anything!”
ALGIERS APOSTOLATE
At the same time Fr. Bellanger didn’t delay in leaving for
France so as to acquaint the Superior General and Council
with the situation and to present them with Archbishop Odin’s
new proposal, which was accepted. This time it concerned the
parish of Algiers (named at that time St. Bartholomew), situated
on the west bank of the Mississippi, stretching for 6 miles
across from the city of New Orleans, separated from it by the
muddy “Father of Waters.” In 1870 Algiers would become part
of the city of New Orleans, forming one of the areas of the
great city. Fr. Denis was named rector of the parish, arriving
there June 4, 1865 with his two vicars, Joseph Gautherin and
Nicolas Binsfeld.
18
JEAN-FRANÇOIS DENIS
First Marist Pastor in Algiers
19
After four years of constant battle the Civil War was finally
about to end. ‘Industry would be able to start up again but
slowly, because in defeat the South was almost ruined. At the
navy construction docks and in railroad depots in Algiers there
were Black, Irish, German, French, and Spanish workers — in
all, three to four thousand Catholics, or about half the total
population. Their fervor was somewhat questionable.
On July 7th Fr. Denis wrote to Fr. Favre: “We are going to
get working. We have to prepare First Communion and to
celebrate the Jubilee devotions. Next Sunday, we will organize
catechism in the three languages - French, English, and
German. Each one of us will take care of the group which is
appropriate to him. If that did not suffice to keep us busy, we
would ask His Excellency for more work. Soon, perhaps, we
will request the 60 miles separating us from the ocean. (Gulf
of Mexico). It is quite an extensive mission, crisscrossed with
bayous. If God entrusts this new zone to us, with your
approval, Reverend Father, I shall claim it for my own. Charity
will give me a horse and a cloak. With these and living only
from alms, I will be the happiest man in the world. A missionary has a special happiness: his ideal day would go like this:
starting off at three or four in the morning with his horse, a
breakfast of wild berries while his horse feeds on the forest
grasses. Provided that he can have the happiness of saving one
soul about to leave this world, what does the missionary care
about torrential rains, mud, or the rumbling of thunder?
Carrying the Sovereign Master on his breast he fears nothing
and makes his way joyously singing the Benedictus or the Magnificat . . . If we do not find enough to keep us busy in Algiers,
I hope, Reverend Father, that you would permit me to take a
post that all others refuse. You already know well, and I will
say it again to you: I do not desire to be vice-provincial or
superior or to have any other honor. What I yearn for with all
the longing of my soul is to remain unknown, to devote myself,
to sacrifice myself completely for the glory of God, for the
salvation of my soul, and for the salvation of my brothers white, red, or black.”
20
ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S
THE FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ALGIERS
Algiers, right across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, had a population of approximately several thousand
in 1840. Farther up the river other communities had well
organized parishes by that time, but Algiers had not even
a chapel, much less a resident priest. Catholics from Algiers had to go across the river to attend mass at St. Louis
Cathedral. When an offer of a plot of ground by the four
daughters of Barthelemy Duverje was made on December 19, 1848, Archbishop Blanc accepted the land in the
name of the New Orleans diocese.Thus it was that the first
Catholic church in Algiers was placed under the patronage of St. Bartholomew in honor of Barthelemy Duverje.
21
A sizable majority of parishioners was English-speaking.
Father Gautherin, who had spent some time at St. Anne’s in
London, took care of them. Father Binsfeld looked after his
German-speaking compatriots. As for Fr. Denis, he could
scarcely exercise his ministry in English. And yet, on the other
hand, the French-speaking faithful in Algiers were too few to
exhaust the ardor of his zeal. He obtained permission from
the Archbishop to minister to the church of Our Lady of
Angels, 10 miles upriver, among the Creole population of
French descent and French language. For the frequent trips
between the two places - not at all distant from each other Fr. Denis didn’t need a horse; he could use the train. It goes
without saying that the people of Our Lady of Angels lost no
time in bestowing their deepest veneration on him.
Because of the economic crisis caused by the war, it was a
constant struggle to maintain the schools in Algiers. In 1870
Fr. Denis had the Redemptorists give a mission at Holy Name
of Mary which produced quite favorable results, but heavy
trials were about to befall Fr. Denis. While he was delivering a
sermon, a heavy squall blew up, shaking the wooden church
which was not too solidly built. At the sound of the beams
cracking and breaking apart the faithful fled terrified. Fr. Denis
had to have the ruins pulled down completely. Foreseeing such
an eventuality, he had already purchased a lot for a new building to be constructed. While they were waiting for the new
church, he obtained from the government the use of a vast
wooden hall, a former school.
At the same time, he was also thinking of the rectory. One
of its rooms was being occupied by a certain association, religious in name only, whose ideas Fr. Denis was not about to
approve. With the wish to become master of his own house, he
ordered the group to vacate the rectory. If he had been able
to foresee the consequences of this step, he probably would
have dropped the idea, or at least, he would have gone about
it a different way. As it happened, a storm of protest broke out
in the parish, with parishioners loyally supporting the ousted
association. Although complaints were multiplying to the new
Archbishop, Napoleon Perche, he supported the pastor who
had been within his rights.
22
Holy Name of Mary Church in Algiers as it stands today
23
Fr. Denis felt the bitterness of this quarrel quite keenly. The
mental torture, along with physical fatigue, was wearing out
his robust constitution, and he developed edema. The doctors
declared the illness incurable. Bathing in the sea would do
him some good, but he was already too weak to manage that.
They advised country air for him. At the end of August 1870 he
went to Jefferson College for treatment. The disease continued
to progress. The superior, Henry Gaud, lavished attention on
him, and along with Jean-Baptist Piot, stayed up every night
looking after him. The two house doctors came frequently to
visit him, not so much to care for him as to witness the death
of a saint.
Here are some passages from one of Fr. Gaud’s letters
recounting Fr. Denis’s last days:
“Despite what seemed at first a slight improvement in
his condition, there was a pronounced (and) alarming
decline of his strength. In the last two weeks of September
he was condemned to remain on his bed of pain which he
would not leave again except for the grave.
On October 27th, at his request and on the doctors’
orders, he asked for the Last Rites, which he received with
that faith and devotion which had always distinguished
this dear confrere. Ah, the wonderful night I just spent,’
he told me the next morning. ‘How happy one is to feel
the moment approaching when one will be reunited with
God!’
On November 17th, he eagerly asked for the recitation
of the prayers for the dying, ‘because,’ he said, ‘I still have
the strength to respond’ All the confreres gathered
around him. When the prayers were finished, the superior
asked him not to forget the Society of Mary once in
heaven, nor its works in America to which he had shown
himself so totally devoted. His reply touched us to the
point of tears. He asked pardon of all those whom he
might have offended. He spoke to us about life and death
as only a saint could on the threshold of eternity. And he
concluded by giving us his last blessing. The disease
progressed markedly. There were times when his reason
gave way to delirium, and we thought that death would
24
certainly come quickly. With a smile on his lips, he saw it
coming. One only had to talk about the things of heaven,
or of Mary, or St. Joseph, for him to recover his reason
which the violence of the disease had been consuming
little by little. On Thursday, November 24th, at 2:00 a.m.
Father Denis departed for heaven to receive the reward
he had so well earned.”
At the end of this same letter addressed to the Superior
General, Very Rev. Julien Favre, Fr. Gaud wrote:
“Very Rev. Father, the list of dead of your sons in America
will have at its head a saint, a true Marist, one of the
religious most dedicated to the Society, to his superiors,
for whom he professed respect and affection without
limits until death. Voices are raised here publicly, from
everyone, paying loud tribute to the virtues of our venerable deceased. And however one judge this or that aspect
of his life which was so rich, each one concludes his assessment by summing up François Denis in these words, He
was a saint!”
Jefferson College Baseball Team 1912
25
Arrival of the Marists in New England – 1881
The founder of the Society of Mary, Father John Claude Colin,
wanted his Society to spread all over the world. Since he died in
1875, he lived to see it take root in the United States. In 1863,
two Marist Fathers Henri Bellanger and Joseph Gautherin, were
sent to take charge of St. Michael’s Parish in Convent, LA. For
twenty years the Marists limited their activities in this country to
their foundations in Louisiana: two parishes and a high school.
With the expulsion of religious from France in 1880, the Marist
General Administration sought new opportunities for their
members in the United States. There were more opportunities
than they could handle, but no more than in the New England
states, where French-Canadians were pouring in to find employment in the mills that had sprouted up all over the area. It is
most fitting then that a French-Canadian Marist be the founding father of the future Northeast Province in the United States:
Father Elphege Godin.
Born in 1847 at Trois-Rivieres, P.O., Canada, Father Godin
was ordained in 1871 for the diocese of Trois-Rivieres, where
he served for several years. He joined the Society of Mary in
France in 1878. His first assignment as a Marist was to teach
at Jefferson College in Convent, LA, and to preach parish missions. Able to speak English as well as French, his services as a
preacher were much in demand.
In the early part of 1881, he was invited to preach in Old Town,
ME, and spent some time as a missionary in Waterville, Augusta, Biddeford and Brunswick, ME, and also in Manchester
and Lebanon, N.H. In May of that year, Father Olivier Boucher,
the pastor of St. Anne’s in Lawrence, MA asked his assistance.
While he was in Lawrence, the Archbishop of Boston, John
Williams, called on him to replace Father Leon Bouland, the
pastor of Our Lady of Victories in Boston, MA, while he toured
26
Sacred Heart Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts
27
Europe on a fund-raising campaign. On Father Bouland’s return to his parish, Father Godin went back to Lawrence. A short
time later, Father Olivier Boucher, the pastor of St. Anne’s with
the approval of Archbishop Williams, relinquished his parish to
the Marists. Father Godin was named the first Marist pastor of
the parish, where he remained from 1882 till 1888.
Father Godin was instrumental in the acquisition of the parish of Our Lady of Victories in Boston, MA, as a Marist parish.
Though never the pastor there, it was he who solely responsible
for the finances of that parish in the first two years of its existence
under Marist administration.
When his term expired at St. Anne’s, he was named pastor in St.
Paul, MN, but early misunderstandings with Archbishop John
Ireland convinced him that he would not be able to accomplish
much there. He returned to Boston where he once became a
missionary, preaching parish missions for the next three years.
In 1892, Father Godin became the first pastor of Our Lady of
Pity Church in Cambridge, MA, where, though he stayed only a
year, he had time to build their first church on Harvey Street. At
the end of that year, he was named the first Marist pastor of St.
Joseph’s Church in Haverhill, MA, where he was pastor for the
next ten years: 1893 to 1903.
In 1903, he became the first Marist pastor of Mt. Carmel Church
in Lower Grand Isle, ME, a parish administered by the Marists
from 1903 until 1924, when it was returned to the diocese of
Portand, ME. Father Godin was its pastor from 1903 to 1913.
He then resided at St. Anne’s, Lawrence, MA, from 1913 until
1923 and was the administrator of the mission of Mt. Carmel in
Methuen, MA. Following this, he became a curate once more,
this time at Our Lady of Pity Church, the parish he had founded
thirty years before. He remained there two years: 1923 to 1925
and then was named curate in Chelsea, MA from 1925 to 1929.
28
He returned to his native Canada in 1929 and taught a year in Sillery, P.Q., Canada: 1929-1930. At the end of that scholastic year
he retired in Sillery and died a year later in 1931. He is buried in the
parish cemetery of St. Columban’s Church in Sillery, P.Q. Canada.
Father Godin was a Marist pioneer who planted the seed, nurtured and cared for it while it grew and, by the time he took
leave of this earth, saw it firmly established. When he began
at St. Anne’s in Lawrence, MA, in 1882, this was the only
house the Marists had in the whole northeastern section of
the country. When he died, 51 years later, in1931, besides St.
Anne’s the province included Our Lady of Victories, Boston,
MA; St. Bruno’s, Van Buren, ME, St. Mary’s High School,
Van Buren, ME, St. Mary’s College, Van Buren, ME (1887 to
1926), St. Joseph’s, Haverhill, MA, Our Lady of Pity, Cambridge, MA, Sacred Heart, Lawrence, MA; Immaculate Conception, Westerly, RI, St. John the Baptist in Brunswick, ME,
St. Charles Borromeo in Providence, RI, St. Remi’s, Keegan,
ME, a novitiate on Staten Island, NY, and two minor seminaries: one in Bedford, MA and one in Sillery, P.Q. Canada.
With the enterprising steward of the gospel, Father Godin could
rightly say, “ The ten talents you gave me have produced ten more.”
Father Elphege Godin
29
Our Lady of Victories, Boston
30
Our Lady of Victories, Boston, MA, 1883-present
The parish was originally established as a diocesan parish in Boston
for the many French speakers coming into the Boston area. It
is still known and referred to as the “French Church” in Boston
and is the second oldest Marist community in the former Boston
Province of the Society of Mary. In spite of the many efforts
of the diocesan clergy to establish a parish for French speaking
parishioners, the diocese turned to the Marists who took charge
in December 1883 at the request of Archbishop Williams.
With the rapid growth of the parish, it became evident that the
small church on Freeman St. was too small and in 1885, pastor, Fr.
Audiffred, SM began to look for new sites, and bought the property on Isabella St for $22,277.95. The cornerstone was blessed
on September 31, 1886 and the following October 31st the
crypt church was blessed by the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston, and the first Mass was celebrated by Fr. Audiffred.
The building of the new church took place during the administration of Fr. Onesime Renaudier, SM, who had come from San
Francisco, and on November 13, 1892 the church was dedicated
by Archbishop Williams of Boston. As the city grew, so did
other parishes that ministered to the French speaking population. As a result, many families moved away from Our Lady of
Victories and worshipped in their new local parishes. Furthermore, business establishments replaced many of the residences
in the vicinity of the church, and as a result, the parish became
less a national parish and a central church for the workers of
downtown Boston.
At present, from coast to coast and from countries abroad, the
“French church in Boston” still draws its devotees. Since many
of them belong to the traveling world of business, sports, stage
and screen, from the fields of politics and professions. These
transient groups have made Our Lady of Victories their church
away from home.
31
Marist College, Atlanta, Georgia, front entrance
32
A Brief Summary of the Arrival of the Marists in Georgia
By William Rowland, SM,
summarizing the work of Charles Girard, SM
The first Marists to arrive in the United States were Fathers
Henri Bellanger and Joseph Gautherin. They disembarked in
New Orleans from a French warship Sainte Geneviève on Good
Friday, April 3, 1863. They would eventually make their way to
Convent, Louisiana where they would staff a parish and a college. One year later and on the same date, four more Marists
arrived. Father Onésime Renaudier was among them. He would
later become provincial of the Marists in the United States and
send the first Marists to Georgia.
In 1897, Bishop Thomas A. Becker invited the Marists to accept
charge of the entire southeast region of the Diocese. On the occasion of the celebration in 1997 of the “Centennial of its Mission in
the State of Georgia,” then Bishop J. Kevin Boland of the Diocese
of Savannah, wrote, “Their parish extended from the Ogeechee
River south to the St. Mary’s River, and from the Atlantic Ocean
to the Okefenokee Swamp. From the parish in Brunswick, your
confreres spread out to serve seven mission congregations.”
Later on, in the same letter, the bishop would pay tribute to Bishop Michael J. Keyes, SM, eighth Bishop of Savannah. “He led us
after World War I and then during the Great Depression, [and
the] challenging times of bigotry, racism and economic disaster. I am privileged to use his crozier for Episcopal ceremonies.”
On June 4, 1897, Marist Fathers Gibbons and Guinan arrived
in Atlanta to take charge of Saints Peter and Paul Church. The
Atlanta Constitution reported on June 5th, 1897: “The new
parish extends from a line drawn midway through Atlanta
clear to the northern boundary of the state, includes the missions of north Georgia and the churches at Rome and Dalton.”
The initial assignment of the north Georgia missions also included Marietta and Marblemines. In 1898, the missions of
33
Budapest, Nitra and Tallapoosa were added. During the succeeding decades, the missions were turned into parishes. The role of
the Marists also changed to providing assistance to the pastors,
serving as temporary replacements when needed.
Because Saints Peter and Paul Parish was not easily accessible to
most of the congregation, the need for a new church was obvious right from the start. On July 12, 1897, the Society of Mary
purchased property on Ivy Street, now Peachtree Center Avenue,
near the junction of Peachtree Street. On the day of its dedication, Sunday, May 1, 1898, Bishop Becker signed a document
which also gave a new name to the new parish: the Sacred Heart
of Jesus.
The intention to build a school was there fromt the very beginning because education is understood by the Society of Mary as
belonging to the very core of its mission. Marist founder, JeanClaude Colin, made that clear on a number of occasions. He
once said, “The Society is called to teaching and we must try
to prepare for it.” Father Gunn, in a letter of January 6, 1901,
reflected the founder’s thinking when he wrote in response to a
question by Bishop Keiley asking if the Marists would be willing
“to undertake such a work in this city.” Father Gunn replied that
“one of the chief reasons for our being in Atlanta at all was to
teach no less than to preach, that your predecessor understood
that a college would be started and conducted by us, as soon
as we could possibly manage.” The new school, Marist College,
opened its doors most likely on Wednesday, October 2, 1901.
From its very beginning, Marist School did not limit its admissions to Catholics. “It is for the boys of Atlanta,” said Fr. Gunn,
“irrespective of religious restrictions. It was built by Catholics;
it will have Catholic teachers, but the doors will never be closed
against a good boy who wants to study.” The presence of Jews
and Protestants who were among the first students to enroll at
Marist College continues to this day. In 1976, girls who, too, want
to study, were admitted to Marist School located at its present
campus on Ashford-Dunwoody Road, NE.
34
From the very beginning in Georgia, the Marists have worked
side-by-side with bishops, diocesan clergy, religious and laity. In
referencing the Centennial of its [the Society of Mary] Mission
in the State of Georgia, Archbishop John F. Donoghue acknowledged this partnership when he wrote in a letter dated June 6, 1997:
“From one end of this state to the other, there is hardly a place
where the influence of generations of Marist priests and brothers
cannot be felt. In a grand way, the history of the Catholic Church
in Georgia is a history of the participation of Marists in our parishes, in our schools, and in our institutions of Christian charity.”
And that participation continues in new and dynamic ways.
Marists still continue to perform sacramental ministry in
those very places that were once shepherded by their predecessors. Marist School now sponsors the Notre Dame Academy in Duluth and, in Atlanta, the Sophia Academy that is
dedicated to teaching children with learning disabilities. Our
Lady of the Assumption Parish, staffed by the Marists, has
partnered with Marist School to sponsor a Hispanic Adult
Learning Center that prepares students to obtain a GED.
The next phase will involve developing young adult Hispanics
into pastoral leaders. Finally, the partnership with the laity is
expanding to include a variety of methods by which they can
share in the mission and spirituality of the Society of Mary.
The Society of Mary understands itself as being one of the ways
that Mary continues to be present to the Church. Just as Mary
was present to the Church when it was being born at Pentecost,
she intends to be present to the Church today, especially where
the Church is struggling to be born or to be renewed and where it
is suffering persecution. At the very beginning when the Church
of Savannah and the Church of Atlanta were going through its
growing pains; the Mother of Jesus was present through the religious that bore her name and the laity who imbibed her spirit. Her
presence did not draw attention to herself and still is not easily
perceived – “hidden and unknown in the world” as our founder described it. The presence of Marist religious augmented, now with
an educated and committed Marist Laity, assures the Church in
Atlanta that her unobtrusive yet effective presence will continue.
35
THE MISSIONS OF THE MARIST FATHERS
IN WEST VIRGINIA
A 1930 Memoir of Reverend Nicholas Hengers, S.M.
Reverend Nicholas Hengers, S.M. was born in Wintringen, Luxembourg, on July 21, 1875. He first prepared for a teacher’s position in the public schools of the Grand Duchy. Having obtained
his normal diploma, he decided to study for the priesthood and
attended various Marist institutions in Belgium, France and the
United States. He became a professed member of the Society of
Mary, December 21, 1899, while at Marist College (at Brooks
Mansion), Washington, D.C., and was ordained to the priesthood there on June 21, 1901.
His first year in the priesthood was spent at St. Michael’s Church,
Wheeling, where he was assistant to Father Basile Mader. In
1902 the Society of Mary accepted the care of a portion of missions in the southwestern part of the diocese of Wheeling and
Father Hengers was placed in charge. For thirty-four years he
carried on the ministry in these extensive missions covering six
counties. Churches, mission chapels, hospitals and schools in
these sections give testimony to his fruitful labors. In 1936 Father Hengers was appointed pastor of the parish of St. Vincent
de Paul in Elm Grove. On the morning of July 6, 1936, he expressed himself as feeling ill. He said Mass, called the doctor,
and on the advice received, entered North Wheeling Hospital.
The following day he suffered a stroke and died that evening.
The mission territory, of which both Buckhannon and Richwood
are center today, came under the care of the Society of Mary, on
December 15 1902, when the late Most Reverend Bishop Donahue, of Wheeling, entrusted to the Society the spiritual care
of the center of this State. This territory comprised about 4000
square miles, covered by vast tracts of unbroken forests and wild
mountain ranges.
At the beginning of the 20th century, there set in a wave of
36
industrialism which only now, in 1932, seems to have reached its
end. A feverish activity in exploiting forests, and coal deposits,
brought to this center of the State an unwanted activity. Railroads were built, lumber towns and mining camps were opened.
As the number of native laborers was inadequate, thousands of
laborers from different countries of Europe were brought in, out
of the agglomeration of humanity in our Eastern and Northern cities. A great percentage of these men were Catholics; or
at least, so they were classified in their native homes. Father
Hengers had been appointed pastor of this vast territory; and he
established his first home in Buckhannon, W. Va. on December
15, 1902.
St. Anthony’s Chapel, West Virginia
37
1902
Buckhannon in 1902. Buckhannon lies in one of the most
beautiful spots of the Little Mountain State, and takes its name
from the Buckhannon River, on both banks of which it is situated. The name of the river itself was formed in an attempt to
anglicize the Indian name of the river: Buckongahelas, the river
of many bends. The town derives some importance from the
fact, that it is a county seat; also the seat of what is now the W.
Va. Wesleyan University (in 1902 only an Academy); and that it
is the trading center for a vast “hinterland”, given over to cattle
grazing, lumber industry and coal mining. During the era of industrial expansion, in the days when trains were still running, it
also had become a busy railroad center. The native population of
this territory is solidly Methodist, and in 1902, only two Catholic families were to be found here; but it was, and still is, a natural
center from which to radiate into all the adjoining territory.
Century in 1902. About twelve miles to the North of Buckhannon, there is the coal mining camp of Century, so named,
because the Coal Company was organized during the last days
of the old century. As yet, there was no direct rail connection
between Buckhannon and Century; and to reach the village by
rail, it would take a round about way of over one hundred miles,
with changes to five different trains, the last of which would be
a coaltrain of 50 coal cars, with a caboose attached at the end for
passengers. As it would take two days to make this trip, most of
the travelling between these two points, in those early days, had
to be made on foot. Most of the workmen in Century were “foreigners”, mostly Lithuanians and Poles, with a good sprinkling
of Italians, Hungarians, and a dozen other nationalities and languages. Few of them in those days understood any English, and
the hardest task for the priest was to learn enough of foreign
tongues, to make himself understood and to do his work in this
Babel of tongues.
Pickens in 1902. To the South of Buckhannon, at a distance
of 36 miles, there was an older settlement of German-Swiss
population, among whom there were eight Catholic families. A
38
church had but recently been built at Pickens and it became the
center of worship for these families, scattered over the rural districts
Richwood in 1902. Far away, 113 miles from Buckhannon, in a
South-Westerly direction, there was just coming into existence,
a new center, Richwood. A company had been organized to
exploit the untouched forests of the headwaters of the Gauley
River and tributaries. In August 1900, the first surveyors penetrated into this territory, and soon, in the midst of a vast forest
wilderness, on the banks of the Cherry River, a small lumber
camp was established. By December 1902, there were as yet only
eight Catholics to be found there. But a railroad had just been
built into this country; and in a few years, with lumbermills, and
tanneries, papermills, and lesser wood industries locating there,
this camp developed into a town of 5000 inhabitants, with a
Catholic congregation of about 70 families, with many hundreds
of “foreigners”, especially Slovenes, working in the woods.
Summersville. About 40 miles away from Richwood, 21 miles
inland from the railroad, was another old settlement, Summersville, a rural district. The history of the Catholics in Nicholas
County dates back to at least 1818. Before the civil war, it had
been a rather promising field; and at a time, when only three
priests pastorized what is now the Diocese of Wheeling, Summersville had been the center of activity of one of them. The
civil war had destroyed these splendid promises. The country,
settled as it had been from New Orleans, was Southern in its
sympathies, and relied on slavery for its wealth; and the end of
the civil war found the population scattered, its prosperity wiped
out, a beautiful Catholic church, built of brick, destroyed, the
pastor dead from exhaustion. In the fall of 1902, we found ca. 25
Catholic families, scattered far and wide in the wilds of Nicholas
County.
Besides these main points, a Catholic family or two, perhaps
a Catholic individual could be found here and there, perhaps
long distances away from any other Catholic, as for instance at:
Clay C.H., Sutton, Webster Springs, Palmer, Centralia, Cowen,
39
Queens. Such was the condition of the church in this 4000
square mile territory, on Dec. 15 1902. The first efforts of Father
Hengers had to be to reconnoiter this vast territory, to find out
the Catholics in the older settlements, as well as in the newly
developing towns, or in the far flung reaches of the country, to
find means of traveling over the country, to try to get on in some
way with the population of Slavic tongue to find some means to
be able to hear confessions, etc. etc.
Holy Family Richwood, West Virginia
40
1902 to 1920
After some time, he was joined by Father Glodt as assistant, later
by Fr. Capesius, and after him by Father Delaire. By 1905, he had
erected a church in Century; also a new railroad had been built, considerably reducing the distance between Buckhannon and Century.
But in the meantime, new problems arose from the fact that
Richwood took a spurt of development, and Father Hengers
transferred his residence from Buckhannon to Richwood. Again,
a new railroad, the Coal and Coke Railway was being built
through the territory and Gassaway, a town with rosy promise
at the time, was being built on the Elk River, to become a railroad center, and the location of the railroad shops. By 1906, a
church was built at Richwood, as also a small rectory. By 1908,
Mr. Richard C. Kerens, one of the directors of the C. & C. Ry.,
erected a rather pretentious Catholic church at Gassaway. The
following year, 1909, at Summersville the old St. John’s Church,
a ramshackle building, not much more than a shed, which had
served as place of worship since the days of the Civil War, was
replaced by a new brick building. In the meantime, smaller places were continually springing up, with a few Catholics among
the continually moving population, such as Tioga, Saxman, Red
Rock, Chemical. And the thought of a parochial school, where
at least some of the Catholic children from these more or less
temporary camps, could be gathered, became more and more
pressing. In 1909, a beginning was made for such a school, at
Richwood; the building was a two-story store; the staff: a priest
and one, later two Lay teachers. Assistants of this period were:
FF. Bellwald, Halbwachs, Schmitt. All attempts to get a community of Sisters to take over the school, seemed hopeless; but lo
and behold: in 1912, the Pallottine Missionary Sisters fresh from
Germany, consented to establish in Richwood their first house of
this continent, to take over the parochial school, to board children from outlying places, and even to open a Catholic Hospital in Richwood. Whatever success we have had in our work,
much of the credit is due to the self-sacrificing zeal of these religious women. In 1911, a frame school building was erected to
take the place of the store room school; in 1912, the rectory was
41
enlarged to accommodate two assistants; an additional school
room fitted out; temporary rooms fitted out for the Sisters; in
1913, their permanent home and the hospital were erected, and
completed in 1914. During the summer of 1914, this hospital
gave asylum to Father Dalle, S.M., whose disease-racked body
found some relief on account of the high altitude and the forests,
while slowly sinking into his grave. Then came the world war.
For some time it looked as if all our industries would come to
a standstill; but when Wilson decided to align first our industries, then our whole country on the side of the Allies, from the
summer of 1915 on, a renewed activity set in, which lasted until
1920. During these years of a false prosperity, still new towns
came into existence. In Clay County, it is Widen, a coal mining
camp, where the Coal Company built us a church, which unfortunately some years later was completely wrecked by a flood.
In several other places: Bower, Adrian, Peck’s Run, Chemical,
temporary chapels were opened. Assistants of the period were:
FF. Keltus and Hoff.
But the work increased more and more with the expansion of
our activities. We were three priests, and another one was urgently needed, if we were to attend properly to all our duties.
But Richwood, situated at one extreme and of the mission territory, was not suitable as headquarters of the whole territory. By
1920, we had seven mission churches, situated at appr. The following distances in miles from Richwood: 40, 65, 85, 113, 125,
150, 185. To attend to the whole territory from Richwood was
such a waste of valuable time and needed energy, not to speak of
the cost in money. Repeatedly the fathers had proposed that our
staff be divided into two groups, one for the southern half of the
territory with residence at Richwood; the other for the Northern end, with headquarters at Buckhannon. Finally, in 1920,
this request was granted, and the territory was divided into two
missions: Richwood and Buckhannon. On May 8, 1920, Father
Hengers, in charge from the beginning, turned the pastorate of
Richwood and adjoining missions and stations over to the new
pastor, Fr. Marx, and moved on to Buckhannon, there to start a
new parish.
42
III.BUCKHANNON SINCE 1920
Realizing the great good, which the Catholic Hospital produced
in Richwood, in saving souls of infants and preparing adults for
a happy death; and gradually, though slowly breaking down the
wall of misunderstanding and aloofness, which surrounds us on
all sides, and makes all our progress so insignificant and slow:
Father Hengers was anxious to reproduce in Buckhannon the
opportunity of reaching souls, which the hospital had given him
in Richwood. So, in 1921, the Pallottine Missionary Sisters
opened the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon, by purchasing a pretentious residence and converting it into the beginning
of the hospital. Soon thereafter, Father Hengers built the first
part of the rectory in the vicinity of the hospital. The Hospital
was well received by the solidly Protestant population, and by
1923-24, its success seemed sufficiently assured to dare risking
the extension of the work. So the second unit of the hospital was
erected in 1923-24; and in 1923, the St. Joseph’s Church building, which anyhow would have had to undergo a thorough overhauling and repairing, was taken down and re-erected next to
the rectory, and near the hospital. A one-room Parochial school,
opened in 1922, helps us to hold our own with the Catholic
children, and to instill into the minds of the coming generation,
solidly Catholic viewpoints. Also in 1924, several rooms were
added to the rectory.
In the meantime, with the advent of the automobile, this country is being crisscrossed by highways and all-year country roads
and that enable the priest to give better service to the outlying
districts. Take for instance Buckhannon and Century: Where
thirty years ago, it took a priest two days to go from the one
town to the other, he can now, with the help of an automobile,
give Sunday mass in one town and binate in the second one. Assistants during this time were: Fr. Palmowski 1921-27; and Fr.
Marren: 1927-31.
As these lines are written, in the Fall of 1932, Buckhannon has:
a Parish Church in Buckhannon with a one-room school; a rectory; a 30 bed hospital. The number of Catholic families has
43
grown from 2 Catholic families in 1902, to twenty in 1932, many
of them Converts; about 13 children are in the Parish school.
This is not much to build upon, it is true; and at times, a sense of
failure may well overcome the priest. But then, we are not here
to achieve great things: the Master above expects us to do our
work, and let Him grant success, if He chooses and when He
chooses.
Outside of Buckhannon, we have a territory of about 1800 square
miles, with an estimated population of about 20,000 souls, of
whom about 250 are Catholic. We have a church at Century, with
mass every Sunday; a church in Pickens, with mass monthly; and
several stations with temporary chapels and mass occasionally.
RICHWOOD SINCE 1920
Father Marx was pastor of Richwood from 1920 to 1927, during
which time buildings were repaired and improved; an additional
added to the rectory; the church at Summerville was lighted up
with electric light, etc. etc. Assistants under him were: FF. Hoff,
Keltus, Sullivan, Murphy, Fr. Ries, Paulin. From 1927 to the
time of his death in a hospital at Charleston in 1930, Fr. Ferd.
Ries was pastor; during his pastorate, a new brick school was
built; and further changes and improvements made on the other
buildings. When he died an untimely death, of pneumonia, in
Charleston, Fr. Petit became Pastor pro tem until in Summer
1931, Fr. Canning became pastor. Assistants during his time
were: FF. Paulin and Marx.
Since the Society of Mary is established in this field, we have
seen in the combined parishes of Richwood and Buckhannon:
Five young men, sons of this territory, raised to the Priesthood,
of whom one is today the Most Reverend Bishop of Wheeling:
three are members of the Marist Society, and one belongs to the
Precious Blood Fathers. Within a few months, two more are to
be ordained: one for the diocese of Wheeling, and one for the
diocese of Columbus. A number of young women have joined
different Religious Communities.
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THE SHADOW ON THE WALL
To foretell the future, is always an uncertain undertaking. When
everything is prosperous, the future also looks rosy to us; when
calamity has befallen us, we can see only the black clouds in
the sky, without seeing any silver lining to them. Writing of
the future therefore in the Fall of 1932, we cannot help but be
pessimistic. This whole territory is little adapted to agriculture;
only industry, based on lumber and coal, can make this country.
Lumber, slowly but surely, reaches its end; the soft coal mines are
shut down; railroads have just about ceased to operate; passenger
trains are a thing of the past; the banks are closed; the population
at large is barely saved from starvation, first by the charity of the
few, who have something left over; then by the Red Cross; and
finally by such heroic measures of the Government, as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. When does the end of the
depression come? And when everything will have been rebuilt
on new lines, and upon a different foundation, what will then be
the status of the Church in these mountains? What will be the
outlook for the future of Catholicism in the central part of W.
Va.? These are questions, the solution of which seems beyond
human power; and so we leave them to Divine Providence.
Fr. Nicholas Hengers, SM
Father Bellwald, Richwood, West Virginia
45
Marist Foundations in the Western USA
Fr. Michael J. Larkin, SM
St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Mission San Jose, CA 1882-1884
If Louisiana in the deep South justly claims to be regarded as the
cradle of the Marist Society in North America, California and the
West deserve a big share in mothering the baby since the early
1880’s by taking over a seminary, a parish and college.
It all started in 1878 on the occasion of Marist Bishop Vitte’s stopover in San Francisco on his return journey to France from his
missionary diocese of New Caledonia which he had been forced
to leave because of poor health. On that occasion, he made the
acquaintance of Archbishop Joseph Alemany, OP who told him
of his plans to establish a seminary in his diocese to train young
men for the priesthood. Would the Marists be willing to take
charge of a seminary? Bishop Vitte promised to present the idea
to the Superior General. At the time, the Marists had only three
houses in America, all in Louisiana.
The Superior General notified Archbishop Alemany on November 20, 1880 that the Marists would accept the offer to staff the
seminary for the San Francisco archdiocese. The construction
of the seminary began immediately, and the plans called for forty rooms to house the seminarians as well as the faculty. It was
ready for occupancy in October 1882, and Fr. Favre appointed Fr.
Regin Pestre as superior along with two other priests. Fr. Pestre
held a doctorate in Theology and had taught philosophy and theology in Marist seminaries in France.
They took possession of the seminary on January 13, 1882, and it
was found to be 34 miles from San Francisco which made it difficult to reach in those days of horse and buggy. Not dissimiliar
to today, there were few students, only five in fact and only one
of those was a major seminarian. The Marists stayed on for the
46
Mission San Jose
NDV Church, San Francisco, California
47
next school year, with the same number of students and asked Fr.
Favre to have them re-assigned which he did on June 24, 1884.
The two years at the seminary was not all lost, and from that
small number of students, six were ordained for the Archdiocese
of San Francisco!
Notre Dame des Victories Church, San Francisco, California
Archbishop Riordan became the next Archbishop of San Francisco in 1885, and invited the Marists whom he knew from Mission San Jose days, to take charge of the French National Church
and on July 24, 1887, the Holy See granted its approval and in
June of 1885, Fr. Onesimus Renaudier, SM was named the first
Marist pastor. He found the church and rectory in bad repair,
and proceeded to remodel them but on April 18, 1906, the Great
Earthquake and Fire destroyed the church.
Immediately, plans were made for a new church and the basement was opened for Mass in the autumn of 1907. The new
church was opened in 1915, and in 1921 a French school was
added to the parish at the request of Archbishop Hanna. The
Marists continue to this day to administer this well-loved downtown parish.
All Hallows College, Salt Lake City, Utah 1889-1918
It was founded in 1886 by the Bishop of Salt Lake, Bishop Lawrence Scanlan. The co-founder of the college was a Fr. Blake, a
former Marist postulant of Jefferson College and one of those
few students from the short lived seminary at Mission San Jose.
Bishop Scanlan learned about the work of the Marists from
Fr. Blake, and as a result the bishop invited the Marists to take
charge and in 1889 took over the administration of the school.
Many difficulties were encountered, namely food preparation,
administration and low attendance , but slowly student enrollments increased , if the school was to grow, it needed to be moved
48
away from its downtown location, so forty acres was purchased
outside of the city and new plans were in the making for the new
school.
All Hallows was a military school, and an Army officer was approved by the government to instruct students in military fundamentals. A gym instructor was also on staff as well as the usual
coaches for football, baseball and tennis. The principle course
of studies was classical, with courses in mining, engineering and
commerce.
Marist Fathers Dubois, Chauve, J. Sullivan, Keyes and Dagneau,
were members of the faculty at one time or another. It was common knowledge that the Marist Fathers had frequent clashes
with Bishop Scanlan and his successor, Bishop Glass, even to
the extent that they were denied the faculties of the diocese. The
Marists were in conflict with Scanlan over the question whether
their school chapel may have open services. The bishop opposed
the Marists because their competition in public services violated
the contract with the diocese and would destroy the Cathedral
parish.
Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco, the Metropolitan, was
brought into the picture by the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop
Bonzano, inquired whether the feud between the Marists for
refusing to advertise in the diocesan newspaper. The Marists,
Riordan learned, had never even taken out a subscription. He
was also sounded out regarding certain unnamed reports alleging deplorable conditions into which the Salt Lake diocese had
fallen: diocesan institutions and interests were neglected, the
quality of the clergy was low, and education was not promoted.
Riordan suspected that the source of the complaints were the
Marist Fathers. Archbishop Bonzano declined to implicate the
Marists or to identify the sources of information except to say
that they were “various and reliable”.
In 1918, the Marists leased the property to the State of Utah as
a National Guard Army drill field. In 1924, the buildings were
49
All Hallows College Band, Utah 1900
All Hallows College, Salt Lake City, Utah
50
sold outright to Utah as an armory and in 1941, the buildings
were torn down. The lack of staff members, shortage of funds,
lack of students and hostile Mormon influences are some of the
reasons alleged for its final closure.
The only reminder of the work of the Marists is in Salt Lake
City’s Catholic cemetery where a large cross stands over the
graves of Frs. Cyre, Chatainge and Henry, SM ( a former president of Jefferson College and Superior of All Hallows College.
The closing of the college was a mortal blow to Catholic education in Utah and every succeeding bishop following Bishop
Glass has made it known that they regretted its demise.
Many years after the closing, the work of the Marists was bearing fruit in the ministries of Bishop Michael Keys in Savannah, Georgia and Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy in Seattle, WA.
A confessor of sisters in Ogden Utah, a Marist from the college
discovered Michael Keyes who was then the gardener and handy
man for the sisters and was invited to the college to test his vocation before entering the Marist scholasticate in Washington,
DC. Gerald Shaughnessy found us after trying to make a living
working on street cars of Salt Lake City.
St. Paul’s Parish and Missions, Nampa, Idaho, 1903
In 1903, Bishop Glorieux of Boise addressed a letter to the Catholic people of the Missions entrusted to the care of the Marist
Fathers. The territory given included all of Owyhee County,
most of Canyon County and part of Gem County. In that letter he stated: “As I have the care of all the churches in the State
of Idaho, it will always be my earnest endeavor to provide them
with zealous and devoted priests…The Marist Fathers have
lately, at my earnest request, kindly and generously volunteered
to take charge of that promising field….After mature consideration, I have concluded that Nampa is the proper place for a
residence, being the most central…I beg of you to lend them all
possible assistance.”
51
Bishop Glorieux was well acquainted with the ministry of the
Marists attached to All Hallows College in Salt Lake City. They
were in great demand in many of the parishes and missions of
the Boise diocese during the summer months and the Christmas
vacations.
Nampa owes its origin to the railroad. In 1883 a railroad supply station was establisehed and settlement began . The first
Catholics were served by priests from the Cathedral in Boise.
The population was very cosmopolitan and among the Catholics the Franco Canadian element predominated. Germans and
Poles were next and then the Irish in very small numbers. The
first Catholic service was held around 1895 in Cottingham Hall.
Later, a residence on 14th Ave. North was used. In 1900, as the
population was increasing, a church was built at 1st Street and
14 Avenue South.
On September 25th, 1903, the Marist Fathers took over the parish and its missions. Fr. Aidan Dempsey, Irish born, was called
from Algiers, Louisiana to be the first pastor. By 1906, the population of the town had risen to over 5,000 of which 350 were
Catholics. Under his care, the church at 1st and 14th Ave South
was again enlarged, decorated and a bell tower erected and a bell
installed. The bell was rung 3 times each day and the Angelus
began to be recited by the parishioners.
The mission churches kept him busy, namely Caldwell, Silver
City and Emmett had Mass once a month. Those missions
without a church: Bruneau Valley, Castlecreek, Oreana, Pleasant
Valley and Smithscreek were happy to get Mass three or four
times a year and would travel to the missions by stage coach, but
mostly by horse and buggy. He had been afflicted with Bright’s
Disease for many years and finally succumbed to it in 1907. He
was so deeply mourned by the parishioners of Nampa and the
missions, and by non-Catholics that the basement hall of the
new church was named in his honor, Dempsey Hall.
52
Fr. Ries succeded Fr. Dempsey as pastor and soon realized that a
larger church was needed, so in 1909 he purchased the remainder of the Waterhouse block and on June 12, 1910, Bisho[ Glorieux blessed the corner stone of the new St. Paul’s. It was built
to accommodate 400 persons. Fr. Ries also acquired in 1909 ten
acres of land east of the city for what is now called Mt. Calvary
Cemetery and where two Marist Fathers, Canning and Moulton
are buried
Fr. Michael Larkin, SM as pastor built a new convent for the ten
Benedictine Sisters in 1955, as well as two new classrooms, a
library and a faculty room were added to the school. He also
called in a fund raising team to solicit from the parishioners the
needed funds to cover the expenses of the new buildings. Over
$110,000 was pledged and was paid over a period of three years.
It should be noted that Nampa has given three priests to the Society of Mary, Frs. Carver, Fisher and Rodenspiel. There is one
who deserves a special mention in the story of St. Paul’s Parish,
Fr. Charles Tracey was an assistant pastor for 17 years, 1935 to
1952. He took care of all the missions served by the Marists,
“No matter how many miles he had to travel, how many stopping places for Masses: the German POW camps, the Mexican
farm labor camps near Homedale, Melba, Oreana and Nampa,
he showed no signs of fatigue.” Sr. Idelfonse, OSB
He would take some of the Sisters with him to help with some of
the children and “he was very pleasant company” except when
the speedometer registered 90 mph! He was also chaplain to
Mercy Hospital and was appointed by the bishop to monitor all
the hospitals in the Diocese of Boise. He found time to build the
church at Homedale which was the last of the many missions
served by the Marists and which are all now flourishing parishes
with diocesan priests in charge.
53
St. Louis Church, St. Paul, Minnesota
Reflections by Fr. John J. Emerick, SM
from a history of St. Louis Church
There was a Marist connection from the very beginning with St.
Paul, Minnesota. Its first bishop, Joseph Cretin, was ordained in
the chapel of the episcopal residence of Belley. He asked to be
sent to the missions in China and be a martyr like his friend, Fr.
Peter Chanel, SM, likewise, Jean-Claude Colin, SM founder of
the Marists was well known to him.
Bishop Cretin asked Fr. Colin if he could send some Marist
priests to the diocese of St. Paul, Fr. Colin said he had no one
to spare, but could educate his seminarians at an early Marist
seminary. It was from this first group of students, that John Ireland would be ordained and eventually become the future Archbishop of St. Paul.
The first church was built in 1868 to minister to the numerous
French Canadians who settled in the area. At first, the parish
was staffed by diocesan clergy, soon to be followed by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, (1873 to 1877). The diocesan clergy
were once more given responsibility and served once more from
1877 to 1886. A Marist priest, Fr. Chesnais preached a mission at the church, and soon followed the offer of the parish to
the Marists. The Archbishop by now was John Ireland who was
very familiar with the Marists and now wished to have them
take over the parish on a permanent basis, and after a number of
conferences, the Marists assumed responsibility of the parish on
August 4, 1886.
Fr. John Baptist Bigot, SM arrived on August 30, 1886 was the
first Marist pastor and was previously superior of Jefferson College in Louisiana. Along with Fr. Bigot came Fr. John Portal,
SM, vicar at Lawrence, MA and together they took control of
the parish of St. Louis. There was only $120 in cash on hand
when they arrived, but they managed to furnish the new school
54
under their administration. Fr. Bigot could foresee the need for
expansion, so he bought a house and some additional land on
Cedar St.
The Marists continue to staff the parish and are responsible for
building the present church at the corner of 10th and Cedar
Street which was dedicated by Archbishop Ireland on December
19, 1909.
St. Louis Church, St. Paul, Minnesota, c.1915
55
Additional Pictures
Old Sanctuary, St. Louis Church, St. Paul, Minnesota
Notre Dame des Victoires School, San Francisco, California
56
Grotto of Lourdes, Convent, LA
St. Louis School, St. Paul, MN, Enlarged 1884
57
St. Mary’s Van Buren, Maine
58