USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > The history of Catholicity in Stephenson County; Illinois > Part 9
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" All the year round Your Grace's portrait smiles down upon us High School boys and girls ; from this time, onward to your own Golden Jubilee, may the remembrance of us ever call to your venerable living face a smile of approval.
" It is with varied emotions that we greet Your Grace, on a many-sided occasion, such as this Golden Jubilee day presents, and we rejoice that it is not necessary, amid so much harmony, for us to decide which affords us the greatest happiness, the glory of our parish, the success of our pastor, or the presence of our Archbishop.
10
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Golden Jubilee Souvenir.
The second number was a literary garland of original essays, with the following readers and subjects: "Modern Progress," Frances Fee; "True Advancement," Laura Steffen and Mary Reardon ; " Ancient Poetry," Kittie and Clara Killion; "Lit- erature," J. Allen ; " Modern Poetry," Helen Burns ; "Woman's Pen," Lorine Byrne; " Oratory," John Flanagan ; "Shakespeare and Milton," John Scanlan ; "Scientific Writers," Louis Knip- schild ; "Historical Writers," C. Dubs ; "Philsophical Writers," John Manion ; " Aesthetic Writers," Lizzie Corcoran ; " Religious. Writers," Clement Gordon and Edward Dubs. These essays were delivered as orations, without paper, and embellished with graceful and appropriate gestures.
The pupils of the school joined in singing a patriotic song,. after which Edward Dubs spoke the following Jubilee Greeting to all present :
" As the universe lies pictured before us, by that magic household artist, our imagination, we behold its suns in blazing glory, its planets and satellites in soft radiance, its mighty sys- tems in admirable harmony, all moving majestically in circles ; each about its grand centre, each satellite about its primary, each primary about its sun, each sun, with its stupendous system of planets and moons, about some greater sun in distant space, and so on, almost infinitely, circles within circles, until the whole magnificent universe moves, in stately harmony, about the throne of God !
"Circles within circles !- this is the universal plan-this, the- unfailing arrangement ; this, the prevailing law-that all things. shall have a centre about which they shall unceasingly revolve. Had we sharper sight, we could discover, everywhere, an obedi- ence to this law, not only among the vast orbs of space, but among the countless atoms, of which all material things are com- posed ; not only above and around the earth, but on it and in it, would we find this mystic revolution of circles within circles, in obedience to an attraction at the centre. We would behold it in the unfolding of the flowers of spring, in the waving branch of tree. and shrub, in the murmuring leaves and in the bending blades of
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grass, in the rippling stream and in the bounding, crested waves. Motion everywhere, fleet, graceful motion, in obedience to some powerful central attraction.
" Not only in the material world does this beautiful law have- force ; in the invisible world of thought and sentiment it likewise prevails. The ever-circling thoughts and the ever-revolving emotions of humanity have, too, their powerful attracting centres, exerting an irresistible energy in opposing, with a beneficent cen- tripetal force, the baleful centrifugal force of foreign and danger- ous outer attractions.
" Now, in events like those of the past few days, where shall we find the animating principle of all the energy and enthusiasm ? What constitutes the centre of all the circling virtue and piety, beneficence and prosperity ?
" Turn to what page you will in history, whether sacred or profane, you will find that of every series of events, some one man is the centre, be he king or general, pope or emperor. Now, who is the centre of all that has delighted and impressed you during your sojourn among us? 'The man at the centre' in this case has been, and is, our reverend pastor, the leader of his people, in all enterprising affairs, their model in piety, their guide in all the pathways of civil and religious advancement. Rev. William A. Horan is the 'man at the centre ' of all St. Mary's present suc- cess and prosperity. Under God, he has been to his people a. special providence.
" In making this public announcement of our appreciation of this fact, we, the pupils of the school he has sacrificed so much to establish, desire to honor him and to gratify our illustrious guests, by voicing the sentiments that we feel assured are filling their hearts and minds.
" We most cordially thank our distinguished friends for their presence among us, and we accord them, from our heart of hearts,. a thousand loving and reverent greetings."
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THE GOLDEN DIADEM; OR, THE JUBILEE CROWN.
(Written expressly for the occasion by a Dominican Sister.)
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
The Spirit of the Past. . Miss Mary Vail
The Spirit of Memory Miss Annie Summers
The Spirit of Zeal. Miss Alice Cummisford
The Spirit of Holy Vocation Miss Lizzie Corcoran
The Spirit of Holy Infancy . Miss Kittie Killion
The Spirit of Divine Grace. Miss Clara Killion
The Spirit of Baptism. Miss Laura Steffen
The Spirit of Penance. Master Clement Gordon
The Spirit of the Tabernacle Master John Manion
The Spirit of Confirmation Master Joseph Allen
The Spirit of Matrimony ..
Miss Lorine Byrne
The Spirit of Holy Orders. Miss Helen Burns
The Spirit of Extreme Unction Master Louis Knipschild
The Guardian Angel Miss Mary Riordan
The Messenger from the Nations. Master Chas. Dubs
The Messenger from St. Thomas. Master John Flanagan
The Messenger from the Sacred Heart of Jesus Master John Scanlan
The Messenger from the Sacred Heart of Mary Miss K. Kavanaugh
The Spirit of Time. Master Edward Dubs
FINALE.
SPIRIT OF THE PAST-DELIVERED BY MISS MARY VAIL, '95.
In hours of meditation, in chance moments of deep reflection, it is upon the Past that the mind dwells ; it is from the Past that humanity learns the grave lessons of moral responsibility, and acquires the wisdom wherewith to meet its difficulties, or to sup- port its weight. The consideration of the past brings to human hearts the greater portion of their joys and of their sorrows. It is the past that we celebrate to-day ; a past full of sacred signi- ficance; a past that gives to our present all its higher meanings ; a past that must give to our future its richest values.
Come, then, holy spirits, sister spirits, join me in weaving a memorial crown in St. Mary's honor, on this, St. Mary's Jubilee Day. Since, of precious metals, or of precious stones, we cannot make it, we will give the gems of noble thoughts, in a golden setting of loving and enthusiastic expression.
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R. SHERIDAN.
JOHN TRACY
A. J. MCCOY.
JAMES DARRAH.
THOMAS GRANT.
MEMBERS OF COMMITTEES.
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I am the Spirit of the Past, ever within call of the beautiful faculty of the soul named Memory, and ever obedient to her behests. Does she wish to warn the heedless, or caution the guile- less ? She turns to me to picture for them the fate of others, like unto themselves. Does she wish to recall some wanderer, who has wofully strayed to dreary pathways? She demands of me to picture for him the darksome consequences that have befallen others, who have walked in the shadows of sin. Does she long to comfort, strengthen and encourage the despondent soul? She entreats me to depict, with my magic brush, the scenes of a life and a death that were devoted entirely to man's temporal and eternal welfare; a life that was a divine model, a death that was an infinite ransom.
On this occasion, I may surely claim the first place, I and my sweet interpreter, Memory. Our friends are here assembled to celebrate events that we have cherished for half a century, and all the sacred ceremonies of the Church have been presented, with stately solemnity to commemorate them. Come, then, fair spirits, let each one contribute to the universal joy that pervades St. Mary's parish, by the utterance of holy greetings and sacred histories, of joyous behests and happy promises.
What has my guardian spirit, sweet Memory, to say on an occasion that is all our own ?
SPIRIT OF MEMORY-DELIVERED BY MISS ANNIE SUMMERS, '95.
As I look backward, through the magic glass of reflection, each beautiful division of the half century, so memorable for St. Mary's people, lies bathed in the golden light of God's special love and benediction, and gleams, with the splendid flashing of brilliant gems, of earnest human endeavor and saintly effort.
Fifty years in the life of a parish constitutes a majestic rec- ord for Memory to keep! Only God and His angels might gratify, to the full, the holy inquisitiveness of a devoted people, as to the lives and the deeds, whence came the princely value of those years.
That the half century has glided into eternity, laden with im- measurable merits for many a faithful soul, we may not doubt.
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G. W. FARNUM.
C. A. MCNAMARA.
T. D. OSBORNE.
J. B. J. DUFOUR.
F. CHAS. DONOHUE.
MEMBERS OF COMMITTEES.
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It is my sweet privilege, as the Spirit of Memory, to recall the sacrifices of the early missionaries, the sacred memories of St. Mary's pastors, holy men of valiant lives and noble deeds ; the earnest efforts of the Sisters, devoted women, animated with lofty zeal; the generosity and fidelity of St. Mary's good, whole-souled, pious people, men and women, known far and wide for a living faith, supported unflinchingly by a sublime hope and an ineffable charity.
Ah, the visions that Memory pictures, in each mind, to-day, are they not wonderful, in their transitions from log huts, with deal tables for altars, to stately stone temples, with tabernacles of marble and onyx and beaten gold-transitions, from the congre- gation of ten or twelve individuals to that of two or three hundred families ? Ah, yes, this is Memory's own fair feast and joyous festival, and the angels of heaven join with her, in chanting glad hymns of thanksgiving and hosannas of exultation.
THE SPIRIT OF ZEAL-DELIVERED BY MISS ALICE CUMMISFORD, '95.
What were this earthly home of ours did not the blessed sunlight warm it into life and beauty ? Where then the verdure ? Where then the glowing hues of flower and fruit? Where the thousands of life-supporting products ? A wide waste of desola- tion and horror would lie, where now are spread smiling plains and gleaming waters, where now are grass-grown, snow-capped mountains and sunny, fruitful vales.
What the sun, with its life-giving, life-sustaining warmth and light, is to the world of nature, that Zeal is to the world of earthly spiritual existence. Zeal warms the heart, enlightens the mind, inspires the free will of man and fructifies his soul. Where Zeal radiates its blessed light and heat, there will there be noble growths, of exalted virtue, and a rich abundance of the fruits of true charity.
This band of gracious spirits would be imperfect indeed, with- out the presence and active assistance of the fervid, the enthusi- astic, the dauntless Spirit of Zeal.
Without Zeal, there would not now exist even a priesthood, much less a hierarchy, in this broad, new land. Had Zeal not
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breathed her spirit into human hearts, there would be no Arch- bishop of Chicago to-day, to receive our loyal greetings; no Rev. Fathers to represent religion, in our Jubilee Celebration ; no mis- sionary priests, and no first Mass to be recalled with joy and veneration ; no succession of revered pastors, at St. Mary's, each to be remembered, on this occasion, for having aided, with all his heart, mind and soul, in the gradual advancement of St. Mary's Church, from the small frame building of '45, to the present beautiful structure.
The new St. Mary's, in particular, had its origin in the Zeal, the wondrous Zeal, of a united priest and people. But even Zeal, with all her ardor and her strength, could not have accomplished the grand work that receives it crown to-day, had there not been the closest and holiest union between priest and people, pastor and parishioners.
Let it be my part, then, in the memorial meeting of Jubilee Spirits, to inscribe on the tablets of future fame, with the name, "St. Mary's Church," the significant words, " Zeal " and " Unity."
SPIRIT OF LIFE-SUSIE STEFFEN.
To me, the Spirit of Life, belongs the noble office of attend- ing newly created souls; immortality's beginning, it is mine to bless.
It is an hour of solemn import that marks the beginning of a human life, a mysterious hour when, from nothingness, the soul springs forth, in obedience to the divine voice, and enters a frail human body to abide there, during the brief span of infancy only, or for some longer portion of the promised three score and ten years of earthly existence.
From those dread regions, whence the creative power of the heavenly Father calls the animate and the inanimate, the mortal and the immortal, there came forth the happy, blessed band of noble souls who, as an especially privileged congregation, have wrought the Golden Diadem of St. Mary's honor. Animated by me, and making the best use of the gifts that I offer to all with whom I dwell, they have merited, and have received, certain priceless treasures, reserved for a certain few, who make of life a
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holy joy to themselves, and a precious benefit to others. With delight do I join this band of radiant spirits assembled to honor St. Mary's Jubilee Day.
GUARDIAN ANGEL-PERSONATED BY MARY RIORDAN.
When you, fair Spirit of Life, having committed to human, mortal bodies ineffably precious, immortal souls, winged your way in return to heaven, we, Guardian Angels, left the celestial abode, and, having taken our flight to earth, stood, in obedience to God, as a guard about those beings to whom you, great Spirit, had brought the royal gifts of life and immortality. In memory of that sweet inission, and of the sacred intimacies of the human soul with our spiritual being, during the years of nobly spent lives, I stand among you to-day to aid in forming St. Mary's Jubilee Crown.
SPIRIT OF BAPTISM-REPRESENTED BY LAURA STEFFEN.
Dear Angel, representative of the guardians of highly favored souls, I am sure that you forget not that, until Baptism had been administered to those souls, celestial spirits could but stand beside them, guarding, indeed, but not embracing. There was a dark- ness that repelled your brightness; there was a stain that your spotlessness abhorred ; but when the mystic waters of Baptism washed away all imperfection, making the soul a child of God and an heir of heaven, how eagerly you and your companions spread, about these infant possessors of priceless treasure, your radiant, snowy wings of pure devotion, of unfailing love and care. Yes, now you could love those souls, as well as guard them. In memory of that sacred cleansing of the souls of St. Mary's parishioners, I offer my jewels for the adornment of the Golden Diadem.
SPIRIT OF HOLY INFANCY-PERSONATED BY KITTIE KILLION.
Holy Angel Guardian, when the spirit of Baptism had worked the marvellous change in the child's soul, did you not, ever after, find me in his heart, me, the pure spirit of his child- hood, and were you not happy to meet my inspirations in the
LOYOLA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTSI BRARY
Stephenson County, Illinois, 1820.
early thoughts of his tender mind, my impulses în s the cartless, CAL
emotions of his youthful heart ?
Ah, with what joy do I contribute to the celebration of this great day, and to the memory of the children of St. Mary's parish who are now grown men and women, earnest, self-sacrificing parishioners. Happy am I to recall the memory of the infants who have been summoned to heaven, ere they lost their baptis- mal innocence, and joyously do I congratulate those who have lived to become St. Mary's happy, favored school children.
THE SPIRIT OF PENANCE-PERSONATED BY CLEMENT GORDON.
A heavenly companionship is that of the Guardian Angel with the Spirit of Baptism, but alas, it does not continue. With youth there comes the awakening of strange new powers, in both the spiritual and physical being, strange new impulses fill heart and soul. The war of life begins. In passive bliss of innocence and in perfect peace, the infant has been growing stronger, in all those qualities that are to make its youth a warfare, wherein the soul is often wounded. And where or how shall spirit, invisible and intangible, be healed ?
Our band of militant souls, and our choir of triumphant spirits, the subject of to-day's joyous greetings, met in their sim- ple forest or prairie homes but few spiritual enemies, and they were but feeble ones. Yet slight as were the wounds, from them received, only one healing was permitted, and that was sought in the Sacrament of Penance. Sweet is the memory of those hum- ble accusations and of those bravely fulfilled penances which purified the souls of the faithful men and women of olden times, when log huts were our temples, and the sacraments were con- ferred amid the simplest surroundings. Let these memories find an emblematic place in the Jubilee Crown, which, without them, would have only one gem, that of Baptism.
SPIRIT OF THE TABERNACLE-REPRESENTED BY J. MANION.
True, sadly true, gracious Spirit of Penance, is it that in every human life there comes a day when the Angel Guardian, glorious, heavenly spirit though he be, has no longer the power
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to shield the human soul from danger. Over man's free will, he has only the power of whispered persuasion ; he cannot, unaided, still the tempest, nor stop the deadly strife, that youth and its attendant circumstances arouse. In early life, the war of the flesh begins, and only with death will it end.
Though frequently wounded in life's battles, in penance the soul is healed ; but something more is needed ; to be a victor in strife, to earn the conqueror's crown, the soul must be not only purified but strong. Strong, not only in the power of external aid -be it that of angels even-but with the strength of holy, interior grace, the invincible strength of God-given power. This strength, this grace, comes to the soul in the reception of the Holy Eucharist.
The First Communion means to the faithful soul the begin- ning of an eternal communion with God in heaven. Among your memorials, then, none will be so magnificent as mine, that of the Spirit of the Holy Eucharist, that which finds a place in the Golden Crown as a sacred memorial of the many souls that have received their First Communion in, both the old and the new St. Mary's Church.
THE SPIRIT OF CONFIRMATION-PERSONATED BY J. ALLEN,
A child of God, an heir of heaven, a communicant in God's choicest gift, the Body and Blood of His divine Son,-it would seem, surely, that even divine generosity could go no further, but. it is infinite, and has for the human soul another great gift. Life is a season of strife; the child of God must be likewise a. soldier of Christ ; the heir to heaven must fight for his birth-right ; for these reasons is the Holy Paraclete sent to abide in the soul ; for this reason does the Sacrament of Confirmation present to the soul its special graces and blessings. In the Golden Crown, then, do we place remembrances of the visits made to St. Mary's Church by holy bishops, to call down into her parishioners' heart-temples, the Holy Spirit of God, in Confirmation.
THE SPIRIT OF DIVINE GRACE-PERSONATED BY CLARA KILLION.
A wondrous office is mine; to await the divine choice, and then to carry, to the favored soul, God's message; to await the
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selection made by the Eternal King, from among the children of men, of certain highly favored souls, to be marked for special ser- vice on earth and a special throne in heaven.
The divine selection having been made, I, as did the Angel Gabriel, centuries before me, make his glorious visit to the blessed Mother of God, took my flight to earth, and remaining invisible, yet tried, in many a mysterious way, to gain the chosen soul's con- sent to God's design in its behalf, for even the choice of God will not constrain the soul's free will.
In memory, then, of the ready consent of holy missionaries and faithful priests to my widespread calls and inspirations, I place, in the Jubilee Crown, my sacred memento.
HOLY VOCATION-REPRESENTED BY LIZZIE CORCORAN.
When, after her successful mission to earnest young hearts, the Spirit of Divine Choice returned to the throne of God, and showed there that she had found, in those hearts, naught but loving reverence for the divine will, then was I, the Spirit of Holy Vo- cations, sent to whisper the divine message, to the favored souls, that my sister spirit had selected, in accordance with the divine command.
In the beauties of nature, in the loveliness of art, in the seri- ous expressions of spiritual books, and in the simplicity of private prayer, as well as in the splendor of public ceremonials, I por- trayed, whispered or wrote the divine inspiration, and impressed upon heart and soul, the glowing characters of a most holy, most noble and most happy selection, the vocation to the priesthood.
The response to the call was immediate and generous; the vocation was welcomed, with joyous reverence, was received into the deepest depths of holy, grateful love. A tribute, then, do I pay to the hour of choice, and to the ready response of the faith- ful priests who have, in the past fifty years, served at God's altar, in St. Mary's Church.
THE SPIRIT OF ORDINATION-PERSONATED BY HELEN BURNS.
Since the moment of man's fall, since the beginning of his immense debt to God, there has been need of a form of religious
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service presenting, not only adoration, but reparation ; expressing not only love, but penitence ; offering not only worship, but sacri- fice.
This was not attained in the offering of finite victims, on altars of fire, but, in the old law, such worship was the best that man had to offer. After the coming of the Redeemer, this was changed ; priceless riches were at man's command, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Saviour; thenceforth, man was enabled to offer a sublime sacrifice, the eternal Son of God being the infinite victim, first on Calvary's cross, and, ever after that, on the altar, in the daily Mass.
For the offering of this superlatively acceptable worship, only highly favored and singularly gifted beings might be chosen -chosen to be ordained priests-priests of God and of His holy Church-men to be, thenceforth, stamped, in the soul, with a special character, which neither time, nor eternity, might oblit- erate.
None know, better than I, the Spirit of Ordination, what are the wondrous changes, interior and exterior, which are wrought in the honored soul by the consecrating hand of the Bishop. All previous graces and blessings were granted, with a view to this mystic hour, the hour of ordination. To this peculiar consecra- tion had the purification by Baptism referred, so that where another was simply freed from the stain of original sin, this soul was further adorned with special graces and blessings, whereby it might, from infancy to manhood, be always fitting itself for its high destiny. In the reception of the Holy Eucharist, for the first time, this soul received its call; the Divine Guest, in the boy's heart, whispered the sacred message, the first inspiration, awakening the first inclination towards the noblest and holiest of vocations.
For the hour of ordination, the Holy Ghost, likewise, in Confirmation, gave special light, grace and strength to the soul, and, for that same hour, the Guardian Angel set about it special safe-guards, to shield it from everything that might impair its fit- ness for its high destiny.
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Fifty years have passed since that glad morning, when the Holy Sacrifice was offered, for the first time, in our county. Fifty stanzas of a noble psalm have since been chanted in the church of God, chanted in tones low and faint, at times, when the burden of life was pressing heavily ; faint, but discordant, never ! Solemnly, reverently, harmoniously have the fifty stanzas suc- ceeded each other, delighting the ear of God ; and loud, clear and musical have been the voices of St. Mary's reverend pastors, as they have joined in this wondrous psalm. Some of them are low chanting the triumphant hymns of heaven ; all have been true to the grace of Ordination, loyal to their chosen vocation and faithful in the fulfillment of its sacred duties.
THE GUARDIAN SPIRIT OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY- REPRESENTED BY LORINE BYRNE.
Since we are all assembled here, we, the Spirits of the Sacra- ments, it were not well for the voice of holy Matrimony to be silent. Let it, then, be mine to recall the many occasions, in fifty years, on which the golden bands of a heaven-appointed union were clasped with the Church's most solemn benedictions, and most vigorous powers ; a union never to be severed, by man be- low, or angel above. Blessed forever be the marriages that have taken place in St. Mary's sanctuary, during the fifty glad years that we celebrate to-day ; blessed the families, the excellent par- ents and happy children, that have formed, and do now form, a part of St. Mary's highly favored parish.
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