USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume I > Part 14
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From the latter part of the year 1842 to the fall of 1846, though nominally attached to the diocese of Bardstown, whose see had been removed to Louisville in 1841, Father Badin spent most
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of his time in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. He made long visits to South Bend, and to other towns and villages contig- uous to the great northern lakes. On the 25th of May, 1843, fifty years from the date of his ordination, Father Badin celebrated his golden jubilee in Lexington, Ky., where, in the first year of his priesthood, he offered up the holy sacrifice of the mass for the first time in the state named.
In September, 1846, the aged missionary again severed his connection with the Kentucky mission, and accepted the pastorship of the congregation of Bourbonnais Grove, Kankakee county, Ill., in the diocese of Chicago. 1
Much enfeebled by age, Father Badin returned to Kentucky some time in the winter of 1848-49. His idea, it is generally supposed, was to pass the remainder of his life where he had achieved the greatest of his missionary triumphs. To the venera- ble Bishop Flaget, who was now an invalid, and evidently nearing the end of his days on earth, the presence of his old friend was a source of great joy and profound thankfulness to God. Both him- self and his coadjutor, the Right Rev. Martin John Spalding, took infinite pains to show how much they felt themselves honored through his comning, and the latter was especially earnest in his endeavors to render his condition altogether pleasant and comfort- able. He had a room fitted up for him in the bishop's house, and another in that of his friend Charles Maquaire, in Portland, and for several months of the winter of that year his time was about evenly taken up with light labors between the city and that suburb.
Father Badin's last public appearance in Louisville was on the 15th of August, 1849, on the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the new cathedral, against the erection of which, on " the spot it now occupies, he had vainly protested. He might have been made a conspicuous figure in the ceremonial of the day, but he was not; and for the reason, as is supposed, that he did not wish to be regarded as friendly to an undertaking which he looked upon as a blunder. A few days later he astonished his friends, both of the clergy and laity, by taking leave of them and of the diocese. Seated upon his box of chattels, which had been placed upon a dray, he was drawn from his lodgings in the bishop's house to the
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river front, where, so to speak, he shook from his feet the dust of his adopted state, and took passage to Cincinnati.
The last three years of the life of Father Badin were passed in the diocese of Cincinnati. With no obligation to labor at all, and incapable, indeed, by reason of age and infirmity, of attend- ing to the wants of a congregation, he showed himself ready, nevertheless, to prosecute any special work that promised in any wise to lessen the burdens of the local pastors. Though nomi- nally attached to the cathedral, his restless nature propelled him often in other directions. It was his habit during these years to make short visits to the country parishes, more particularly to those of Hamilton, Columbus, Chillicothe, Somerset. Zanesville, and the French settlements of Shelby and Darke counties.
On one occasion he made a somewhat extended visit to Fort Wayne, Ind., where the pastor, Very Rev. J. Benoit, was his warm friend and fellow-countryman. One day, while engaged about the house, Father Benoit was disturbed by sounds of con- tinuous knocking, which appeared to come from the belfry of his little church. Hastily going out and looking upward, he was sur- prised and not a little indignant at seeing his ancient friend, with hatchet in hand, busily employed in knocking away the lattice work by which the space occupied by the bell was surrounded. "What are you doing there, Father Badin ?" shouted the pastor in a voice that was indicative of his displeasure. "Don't you want your bell to be heard ?" demanded the missionary by way of answer, "and if you do," he continued, " why do you crib up the sound with these painted boards ?" There was a modicum of both wit and reason in this reply, and Father Benoit was at once mollified. He put an end to the proceedings aloft, without abso- lutely breaking with his friend; but he took good care to keep his tool chest locked during the remainder of his visit.
The annexed most interesting account of Father Badin's last illness and death is from a distinguished ecclesiastic of the arch- diocese of Cincinnati :
"I have been asked to give the particular incidents attending the last days of Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin. For years before his death he was a frequent visitor at the house of Archbishop Purcell, (148)
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where he was always a welcome guest. The last five months of his life were spent there almost continually. The many years of arduous labor to which he had been subjected had evidently exhausted his physical strength, and though suffering from no dis- ease, he was seen to decline from day to day. To the very last, his mind was clear and even vigorous, in the expression of his great faith in God and gratitude to those from whom he received either favors or attentions. In fact, his death was like that of all the first missionary priests of the West. They were grand old men, and when they yielded to death, it was not in consequence of disease, but of the great labors by which they had been oppressed.
" All who knew Father Badin were more or less acquainted with his eccentricities. When he was in vigorous health, so unusual did these appear to me, that I was inclined to the belief that they were assumed; but the last days of his life convinced me that they were due to the natural exuberance of his character. One day, I remember, he described to me in his inimitable way his journey to Europe in 1819, and his efforts while there to secure for himself the place of coadjutor to the bishop of Bardstown. This was within a week of his death, and yet his recollection was so vivid and his fancy so engaging, that he kept those who were sitting around his bed constantly smiling, and sometimes breaking into fits of laughter. 'It was a very good thing, sir,' said he, ' that I did not succeed. Had I done so, I would have plagued myself, plagued my clergy, and plagued my people. I thought at the time that I was wise. but '- and this was added with a laugh-' Our Lord was wiser than Father Badin.'
"One day he left his bed for the last time, and to the surprise of the archbishop and those who were at the table with him, entered the dining-room. We all rose to receive him, and he was given a comfortable place. 'I have come, sir,' said he address- ing himself to the archbishop, 'to have a last talk with you and your priests.' In the course of the conversation that followed he alluded to his fondness for the Latin poets, and he and the archbishop quoted from the odes of Horace. All were astonished at the wit he displayed, and they were charmed as well at the
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happy application he made of the poet's words to what was pass- ing at the moment. At this same time his appearance was that of a corpse. He concluded by wishing us all farewell; and so feel- ingly spoken was his short address to the archbishop, that all pres- ent were affected beyond measure.
"That same night it was thought advisable to give him the sac- rament of extreme unction, which was administered by Very Rev. E. T. Collins. Father Collins was as slow and methodical as. Father Baden was quick and impulsive, and while the former was administering the sacrament, the dying priest sank into and waked from unconsciousness more than once. The last of these fitful awakenings was phenomenal. Coming to himself, and finding Father Collins still engaged in rubrical work, he exclaimed: 'Is it possible you haven't got through yet!' The attempt to keep. serious under such provocation was manifested most ludicrously on the faces of the attendants.
"As was usual with me since he had been confined to his bed, I called to see him next morning. Observing me, he said with a smile: 'Here I am yet, sir! Could you not give me a push around the corner?' Almost immediately afterwards he exclaimed: 'O God, have mercy on us!' These were his last words on earth. Soon after he fell into his agony, and for five days he was wholly unconscious. I have seen many die, but none who struggled so- long with death. On the morning of his death, Archbishop Pur- cell and the priests in his house were summoned to his sick chamber, and while they were kneeling beside his bed a thunder-storm swept over the city. When the skies became again serene, it was observed. that the proto-priest and great missionary had passed away."
In an address delivered by him in the former cathedral of Cin- cinnati, a quarter of a century before the date of his death-April 21, 1853-Father Badin had alluded to the possibility that his own ashes might one day rest beside those of Dr. Fenwick, first bishop of the see, beneath the altar upon which he had that day offered up the sacrifice of the mass. The venerable prelate who had given honor and protection to him living, was pleased to grant an honorable resting-place to his remains under the chancel of his own metropolitan church.
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CHAPTER X.
THE DECEASED BISHOPS - JOHN HENRY LUERS - HIS LIFE AND SERVICES-JOSEPH DWENGER AND HIS LONG ADMINISTRATION.
JOHN HENRY LUERS was born near the city of Munster, J
Westphalia, a province of lower Germany, on the 29th of Sep- tember, 1819. His parents, though poor in the goods of this world, were possessed of a generous faith and well endowed with the graces. of religion. They were particularly solicitous for the moral and religious welfare of their children. In 1833 this pious family, urged by poverty, emigrated from their native country, and, after a tedious voyage in an emigrant ship, landed at New York, June 7, of the same year, friendless and almost alone. John was then. in his fourteenth year. The father of the family, with the char- acteristic thoughtfulness of his race, lost no time in fruitless efforts. to make a livelihood in our Atlantic cities, but pushed onward toward the west. Ohio was at that time the pioneer state in industry, enterprise and development, and was particularly attract- ive for Catholics. The saintly Bishop Edward Fenwick had traversed it from one extremity to another; he had wished to. place a priest in every thriving mission or village, but when this. was impossible, he girded himself for the work of saving souls, and gave to the poorest hamlets the consolation of his own apostolic ministry. Thus, while struggling to build up his own diocese, he was laying the foundation of the three flourishing sees of Cincin- natti, Cleveland and Columbus.
Religious training was what the father of this good family mainly desired for his children. Piqua was at that time promi- nently mentioned as likely to outstrip Cincinnati itself in growth, and located as it was on the Miami river, and being the terminus
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of the Miami canal, it connected Cincinnati, on the Ohio river, with Toledo on the lakes. Here the emigrants determined to settle. Locating themselves upon a farm in the neighborhood of the town, the boys united their labors with those of their father in supporting the family. But John was placed as clerk and assistant salesman in the store of a Protestant merchant in Piqua, where his strict integrity and attention to business won for him the respect and confidence of his employer and all who saw him. But alas, while gaining the encomiums of men, he was losing grace with God. Without deviating from the moral lessons of his youth, he was fast neglecting and forgetting his religion. Upon one occa- sion, when the young clerk returned home for a short vacation, it fell to his lot in turn to recite the night prayers for the assembled family. To the amazement of the father, his son couldnot remember a word of his prayers. The bishop often afterward jocosely said, whilst reciting this incident: " The subsequent inter- view between my father and myself was of such a striking nature that I received sufficient reasons to promise to relearn what I had forgotten. It was a sore lesson, but one which I never forgot."
A most effectual change now manifested itself in his thoughts and feelings. The things of God now greatly engrossed his mind. He began to perceive that those who labor for the salvation of souls were the favored ones of heaven. He even began to sigh to become one of the dwellers in the sanctuary. But how could he acquire the education required for this exalted station, or even cherish a hope of ever attaining it? Events, however, showed that heaven had marked him out for one of its own. It was not long afterward that Archbishop Purcell, the successor of the saintly Fenwick, visited the vicinity of Piqua, in order to confer confirmation. On the roadside, as he was riding along, he over- took a lad trudging right manfully in the same direction. Im- pressed with the boy's appearance, the prelate reined up his horse, and the following conversation ensued: " Where are you going, my son?" asked the archbishop. "I am going to mass, sir. " an- swered the youth. " It is a long way to walk, my boy, and you may get up behind one of these gentlemen," replied the arch- bishop, pointing to a priest who was riding by his side. "Thus," "
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said the archbishop, in preaching the funeral sermon of Bishop Luers, "did I become acquainted with your bishop thirty-six years ago." The conversation which followed disclosed the young man's religious aspirations, but in his situation there seemed to be no hope of attaining the object of his desire. But the archbishop inspired him with hope, and remarked to him: " Fear not, my son; if God has destined you for the sanctuary, and has given you a vocation, he will in his wisdom provide the means. But you must pray that God's will may be done." From that moment the desire of devoting himself exclusively to God's service took posses- sion of the heart of young Luers. He became fond. of study, and was rarely afterward seen by the companions of his sports. Gen. M. D. Morrison, then one of his companions, and later a member of congress from Indiana, has related, since the bishop's death: " Bishop Luers, when quite a boy with us in Piqua, suddenly stopped playing with the boys, and this being something unusual, we often asked, ' What has become of John Luers?' The reply was given, ' Why, he's got hold of some old Latin books, and he is studying them; he is going to be a Catholic priest.' The next thing I heard of him was, that he had gone off somewhere to school."
The old seminary of St. Francis Xavier, in Brown county, Ohio, conducted by the Lazarists, a religious congregation dis- tinguished for training young men for the ministry, was the only alma mater of Bishop Luers. To its classes and privileges he was introduced by Archbishop. Purcell, to whom he applied to be received as a candidate for the priesthood. He could not have fallen into the hands of better masters for worldly science, and above all for the science of the saints. It was at the feet of the good sons of St. Vincent that his natural qualities were developed by study and sanctified by grace, until he became a fit instrument in announcing the word of God and in performing his divine min- istry. During his seminary life none gave more evident marks of a sacred vocation, none was more edifying in conduct, none more proficient in study. Bishop Luers did not possess what would be ·called a quick or brilliant mind, but, what was far better, a pro- found mind. He thoroughly understood the sciences he applied
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himself to, and mastered them in all their depths and ramifica- tions. His good memory enabled him to treasure up all he acquired, and to draw upon his well-stored mind with aptness and facility. The reports sent by the superiors of the seminary to. Archbishop Purcell from time to time were of the most satisfac- tory character. To a close application to study he united solid piety, ardent zeal, and a generous desire to devote himself to the service of God and the good of his neighbor. - Having been found worthy of the exalted office to which he aspired, he was ordained sub-deacon by Archbishop Purcell in the cathedral of Cincinnati on All Saints' Day, November 1, 1846; deacon on the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, November 4th, and on the feast of St. Martin, November IIth, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, he was ele- vated to the holy priesthood. He was the last priest ordained from the old seminary in Brown county, which is now succeeded by the Ursuline convent of St. Martin.
He zealously embraced the new career of usefulness and labor now opened to him. Archbishop Purcell exhibited great discern- ment in selecting him, though so young a priest, for one of the most important posts in the diocese. The congregation of St. Joseph was struggling to erect a church, the walls of which were half up, but a heavy debt was hanging over them and paralyzing every effort. In this emergency Archbishop Purcell appointed the young priest pastor of the new and struggling congregation. From that moment new life was infused into the enterprise, and it was not long before the archbishop had the consolation of dedicating to the service of God that first fruit of his labor. Not only was the church of St. Joseph finished, but it was also cleared from all incumbrances. But his work was really now only begun. He realized in his own person a remark which he frequently addressed to his own clergy when he was bishop: " I have somewhere read that more men rust out than wear out; a piece of mechanism is- more apt to get out of repair when not employed than when per- forming its accustomed labors." He took a census of the chil- dren of his parish, and discovered one thousand young ones need- ing instruction. He also found that many parents could be reached only through their children. It was chiefly through the rising gen-
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eration that the faith could be preserved in a city like Cincinnati, where infidelity and irreligion stalked abroad in the open day, spreading moral poison through all the walks of life, showing con- tempt for Christianity by devoting the Lord's day to frivolity, self- indulgence and amusement, and in throwing open the places of dis-
sipation to both sexes and to all ages and conditions. Catholic schools were the weapons he used against these evils. Soon a sub- stantial school-house arose, and the children were gathered in num- bers under its roof. He thus had the happiness of seeing those whom he had baptized now reared in the faith, and in a pure and holy life. He made it a rule, while in Cincinnati, to visit the schools every day. How acceptable must have been the atonement for the sins of that city, when from the hearts of so many innocent children arose the prayer of faith and love on high, "May Jesus Christ be beloved!"
Twelve years of zealous pastoral labor and devotion to the good of his flock rolled around, during which Father Luers won the esteem of his bishop and the love of his people. In the mean- time great changes were being wrought in the Catholic church of America. When he was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's, the three states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana were under the spiritual rule of one bishop. Catholics were few in numbers, except in the large cities and towns, and did not usually belong to the wealthy classes. Their ranks had been increased to some extent by conversions from the sects. But during the years 1847, 1848 and 1849, causes were at work in Europe which greatly affected the growth in population of the United States, and more than a corresponding increase in the Catholic population. The tide of immigration. poured its masses into the United States, and in the three states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana twenty thousand Catholics were added to our population annually. A multiplication of Catholic dioceses resulted from these causes. Northern Ohio was erected into a separate episcopal see, located at Cleveland. In 1853, Kentucky felt the swelling tide, and the eastern part of the state was formed into the diocese of Covington. Indiana had not yet increased her Catholic population to the same extent, owing in part to the location and physical formation of the state. Her
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shape is long and narrow, being two hundred and seventy-five miles long, and about one hundred and seventy-five miles wide. A trav- eler from Ohio, on reaching the Wabash, would imagine himself in a different country. The southern part of the state, in which Vincennes is located, is high, hilly and rolling; that portion which lies north of the Wabash is level, flat and, in 1846, was marshy, requiring a vast expenditure of labor and money before it could be rendered available for cultivation. Besides the more favorable condition of southern Indiana in respect to soil and topographical formation, it was thrifty and prosperous, and was readily and con- veniently reached by immigrants following the Ohio, then the great highway of travel. But northern Indiana was the route to the great northwest; railroads were constructed across her bosom, ditches were opened at the public expense, and competition of travel enlivened and enriched her territory; and what had been regarded as a vast morass, now became a blooming garden. The university of Notre Dame, located at South Bend, contributed its. share in changing the face of the country; Fort Wayne, at the junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers, suddenly became a place of importance, as did also Logansport, LaFayette, Laporté and other flourishing towns, in which churches had been erected and schools established. It was under these circumstances of progress and development, added to the remoteness of the northern part of the state of Indiana from Vincennes, that the Right Rev. Bishop de St. Palais proposed its erection into a separate diocese. The military highway, known as the National road, which divided the state in two, was chosen as the dividing line. The provincial council adopted the suggestion, and Rome ratified the action of the council. It was thus that the diocese of Fort Wayne was created in 1857.
The wisdom of the council was still further manifested in the selection of Father Luers as the first bishop of Fort Wayne, a result least anticipated by himself and by the congregation of St. Joseph's. He humbly bowed his head to the mandate of the Holy Ghost, expressed through Rome and the council, exclaiming: " Behold thy servant, O Lord!" He was consecrated in the cathedral of Cincinnati, the same temple that had witnessed his (156)
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ordination as a priest, by Archbishop Purcell, on the 10th of Janu- ary, 1858. The assistant prelates were the Right Rev. Maurice de St. Palais, bishop of Vincennes, and the Right Rev. George Aloy- suis Carrell, bishop of Covington. The assistants in the pontifical mass were the Very Rev. E. T. Collins, vicar-general, archdeacon, and the Rev. Messrs. J. Albrinck, of Pomeroy, and C. H. Borgess, of Columbus, later bishop of Detroit, deacon and subdeacon. The solemnity of the occasion was increased by the presence of the rep- resentatives of many religious orders, among whom was the Right Rev. Boniface Wimmer, mitred abbot of the Benedictine convent of St. Vincent, near Latrobe, Pa. The consecration sermon was preached by the Right Rev. Martin J. Spalding, then bishop of Louisville, Ky., and later archbishop of Baltimore, Md.
On the day of his consecration a tribute was rendered to the newly consecrated bishop, which was a striking evidence of his recognized worth and services, and of the pious gratitude of his devoted flock. The entire congregation of St. Joseph's came forth in the afternoon of January 10th, to testify their love for the pastor whom they were about to lose, their appreciation for his labors, and their admiration for his virtues. The new bishop was requested to meet them at the altar of St. Joseph's, the scene of his long and faith- ful missionary career. The sanctuary was brilliantly illumined, the church thronged to overflowing. A framework erected in the sanctuary bore, in the midst of light, appropriate texts of scripture; the choir commenced the proceedings with a hymn. The Rev. Mr. Stehle, aided by the Rev. Mr. Sommer, who were afterward charged with the care of the congregation, arranged rich offerings appertaining to the episcopal office on a credence table and an address was read to the new bishop. The little boys and girls of the school, handsomely dressed, the girls in white and wearing bright crowns, the young unmarried men and ladies, the fathers and mothers of families, the officers of religious societies and all the German Catholics of Cincinnati, through their able representa- tive, Rev. Father Otto Jair, O. S. F., later vicar-general of the diocese, had a word and a gift for their right reverend friend, the delivery of which was interspersed with music from the choir. It was a heart-offering from all present to the merit and virtues of
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