USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume I > Part 18
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The ceremony began by the reading of the papal brief announcing the appointment, which was read in Latin by Rev. J. F. Lang, the bishop's secretary. This ended, the appointee read the profession of faith, after which the benediction of the rochet, mantelletta and ring took place, then the investiture, after which pontifical mass was begun.
The officers of the mass were as follows: Celebrant, Right Rev. Bishop Dwenger; assistant priest, Rev. A. B. Oechtering, of Mishawaka; deacons of honor, Rev. M. O'Reilly, of Valparaiso, and Rev. E. P. Walters, of La Fayette; deacon and subdeacon of the mass, Rev. T. Wilken, of Decatur, and Rev. H. A. Boeckel- mann; masters of ceremonies, Rev. J. H. Brammer and Rev. J. F. Lang.
Those present in the sanctuary, in addition to those already mentioned, were Right Rev. Joseph Rademacher, bishop of Nashville; Right Rev. Julian Benoit, the newly appointed Monsignor; Very Rev. E. Sorin, superior general of the order of Holy Cross, Notre Dame; Very Rev. A. Granger, C. S. C., provincial of the same order, Notre Dame; Rev. T. E. Walsh, C. S. C., president of Notre Dame university; Revs. L. A. Moench, Plymouth; F. C. Wiechmann, Warsaw; J. H. (198)
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Guendling, LaFayette; D. Heile, O. S. F., LaFayette; C. Lemper, Attica; J. H. Bathe, Wabash; B. Wiedau, New Haven; C. Maujay, Fowler; H. M. Plaster, Cov- ington; D. Duehmig, Avilla; F. G. Lentz, Tipton; J. Uphaus, New Corydon; B. Roche, Academy; C. M. Romer, city; B. Hartmann, Arcola; F. Koerdt, Sheldon; T. Hibbelen, hospital; T. Borg, Avilla; J. Quinlan, Union City; W. Schmidt, Muncie; J. H. Oechtering, city; J. R. Dinnen, Crawfordsville; M. F. Kelly, LaGro; A. Messmann, city; T. Vagnier, Leo; H. Meissner, Peru, and E. Koenig, city.
All in all, the ceremony was not only grand, but of an edifying nature. Everybody knows the Monsignor is happy over his new dignity and the feast of the day. Congratulations poured in upon the new prelate after the ceremony all the afternoon. The day is one long to be remembered in the history of Catholic- ity in Fort Wayne, and of the well merited ,honors conferred through our right reverend bishop by Leo XIII on Monsignor Benoit.
Earlier, even greater honors seemed in store for Father Benoit, but he declined them. When, in 1871, he learned to a certainty that among the three names forwarded to Rome from which one should be selected as the next bishop of Fort Wayne, his own was strongly urged, he wrote to the Eternal city and presented his rea- sons for not desiring the appointment. Among other things he stated his advanced age, his feebleness and rapidly declining strength, adding that the propaganda could spare itself much unnec- essary work by overlooking his name in the case entirely; that he could not under any circumstances consent to accept any such position.
The only memorandum written by Father Benoit concerning the early history of Fort Wayne Catholics is as follows:
The Jesuit missionaries that may have visited Fort Wayne when it was a mere trading post have left here no record of their labors. The few Catholics that resided here were visited for the first time on record, on the 1st of June, 1830, by Very Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin, the first ordained priest in the United States. He was then vicar-general of the dioceses of Bardstown, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio. At that time (1830) the state of Indiana was within the limits of the diocese of Bardstown, the bishop of which was the Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, con- secrated November 4, 1810. His first coadjutor was Right Rev. John B. David, consecrated bishop of Mauricastro, August 15, 1819; and his second coadjutor was Right Rev. Guy Ignatius Chabrat, consecrated bishop of Bolivia, July 20, 1834; whilst his third coadjutor was Right Rev. Martin John Spalding, consecrated Sep- tember 10, 1848, bishop of Langone, after the see of Bardstown had been trans- ferred to the city of Louisville, in the same state of Kentucky
The same Very Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin repeated his visits to Fort Wayne in 1831, offered the holy sacrifice of the mass and preached in the residence of Francis Comparet, and in 1832, when he performed the functions of his ministry
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in the residence of John B. Bequette, whose wife is still living in Fort Wayne at the present day.
The next priest who visited this city was Rev. Picot, then pastor of the Catholics of Vincennes, Knox county, Ind., September 25, 1832 Then Very Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin was again in Fort Wayne, December 25, 1832; Rev. Boheme also in 1832; Very Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin in 1833 and 1834 Rev. Simon P. Lalumiere, who died when pastor in Terre Haute, visited this place in 1835; Rev. Felix Matthew Ruff, in 1835: Rev. 1. F. Terooren, in 1835. Rev. Father Francis, stationed at Logansport, visited the Catholics of Fort Wayne in January, February, May, June, July and August.
The first priest permanently appointed pastor of the Catholic congregation of Fort Wayne was Rev Louis Muller, who took possession in August, 1836, and remained until the 16th of April, 1840.
In 1835 Fort Wayne was visited by the saintly Right Rev. Simon Gabriel Bruté, first bishop of Vincennes In the beginning of 1840, Bishop Guynemere de la Hailandiere, second bishop of Vincennes, appointed Rev. Julian Benoit pastor of St Augustine's church, Fort Wayne, having to attend LaGro, Huntington, Col- umbia City, Warsaw, Goshen, Avilla, New France, New Haven, Besancon, Hesse- Cassel and Decatur His first assistant was Rev. Joseph Hamion, a saintly young priest, who died at Logansport in the early part of 1842. His second assistant was Rev. Joseph Rudolph, who died in Oldenburg, Franklin county, after many years of hard missionary ,abors His third assistant was Rev A Carius, who remained but a short time. The fourth was Alphonse Munschina, who is pastor of Lanes- ville, Vincennes diocese. The fifth was Rev. Edward Faller. Under him the German speaking part of St. Augustine's congregation built a church and school- house, and that formed the first German-speaking congregation in Fort Wayne. Rev. Edward Faller was the first pastor of the new church, placed under the patronage of the mother of God and called St. Mary's. The division took p ace in 1849.
Father Benoit, as he was lovingly continued to be called, devoted himself to the duties of his position of vicar-general and pastor of the cathedral with great zeal till November, 1884. Then he complained of a severe pain in his left ear and in his throat. He would not consent to have a physician called, even though the pain became intense. On Bishop Dwenger's return from the third plenary council, at Baltimore, the malady growing worse, the bishop concluded to send for Dr. Dills, who came and examined the ear, but found nothing wrong with it. Examining the throat, however, he soon discovered that the venerable father was afflicted with a disease that would end his days. On his second visit Dr. Dills brought with him Drs. Woodworth and De Vilbess, and the three pronounced the disease cancer of the throat. Father Benoit was not slow to discover their diagnosis, and, with a calm and
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deliberate spirit of resignation, he began to prepare for his final dissolution. "Is Providence desires to take me by the throat," he jocosely remarked, " then God's will be done."
An altar was placed in his room, and for a few times he still felt able to offer the holy sacrifice of the mass. Owing to the weakness of his eyes he had received, some time in November, per- mission from Rome to use the votive mass of the Blessed Virgin. He said mass for the last time on Sunday, January II, 1885. On Friday morning, January 23d, the right reverend bishop offered mass in the room of his saintly vicar-general. It was the last time the latter ever assisted at the holy sacrifice. The evening preced- ing, he was at tea with the episcopal household, and spent a half hour with several of the visiting and home clergy in the bishop's room. Then he returned to his own apartments, never in life to leave them again. His sufferings from this time increased, yet he bore all with that calm resignation to God that is characteristic only of a saintly soul schooled in virtue and abandonment to God's will.
One of the Sisters of St. Joseph's hospital had been detailed to attend Father Benoit, and she took care of the aged prelate till he closed his eyes in death, scarcely allowing herself the few hours of needed rest during the three weeks of het devoted minis- trations. At five minutes after eight o'clock on Monday evening, January 26, 1885, the household was called together and notified of his fast approaching death. The Right Rev. Bishop Rade- macher, of Nashville, Tenn., formerly the pastor of St. Mary's church, Fort Wayne, had reached the house a few hours before. With Bishop Dwenger, and the Rev. Fathers Koenig, Brammer, Lang, Boeckelmann and Ellering, he entered the room. Kneeling about the bedside of the dying prelate were also a number of Sis- ters, together with Mrs. Legraw and Miss Rousset. Bishop Rade- macher read the commendatio animæ, the others responding, whilst Bishop Dwenger held the hands of the expiring pioneer priest, whose hands in turn clasped the crucifix. The last sacraments had been administered to him at his own request, in the full enjoyment of his mental faculties, by Rev. A. Messman, of St. Peter's church. Thus passed from its earthly home the spirit of Julian Benoit, softly
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as the ripened fruit is detached from the parent bough. Yea, still more gently and with better fragrance did the soul of Julian Benoit, on the eve of his patron saint's feast, passed to fruition in its heav- enly home.
A committee of arrangements was selected from the several churches of the city to take charge of the remains. It consisted of the following gentlemen: Cathedral-H. C. Graffe, C. F. Muh- ler, K. Baker, James Fox, E. F. Carry, R. W. T. De Wald, P. H. Kane and W. P. Breen. St. Mary's church-H. C. Berghoff, J. B. Monning. St. Paul's church-Joseph Fox. St. Peter's church -George Jacoby. The cathedral was heavily draped in mourning. On Thursday morning at seven o'clock the casket, containing the body of the dead prelate, robed in clerical vestments, was placed in the center aisle.
All the day, and deep into the night whilst the taper flickered toward its socket and the four guards of honor, men selected from the several city congregations, watched the hours away until others relieved them, a stream of people came and went. They took a last look upon the genial countenance, genial in death as it was in life, a last look upon him who for nearly forty-five years had walked among the people of Fort Wayne, the model man, the honored citizen, the pious priest, the servant of God.
On Friday morning, at nine o'clock, the great concourse of clergy that had gathered assembled in the sanctuary recited the " office of the dead."
At half-past nine the officers of the mass filed into the sanc- tuary. They were as follows: Celebrant, Rt. Rev. Joseph Rade- macher, bishop of Nashville; assistant priest, Rev. A. B. Oechter- ing, of Mishawaka; deacon, Rev. John Bleckmann, of Delphi; sub- deacon, Rev. H. A. Boeckelmann; masters of ceremonies, Rev. J. H. Brammer and Rev. John F. Lang. The following additional clergy were in the sanctuary: Rt. Rev. Joseph Dwenger, bishop of Fort Wayne, orator of the day; Rt. Rev. H. J. Richter, bishop of Grand Rapids; Monsignor A. Bessonies, vicar-general, Indianapo- lis; Very Rev. A. Scheideler, vicar-general, Indianapolis; Very Rev. C. J. Roche, vicar-general, Grand Rapids; Very Rev. E. Sorin, superior-general of the order of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame;
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Revs. A. Messman, Fort Wayne; B. Roche, Academy; L. J. Le- tourneau, Notre Dame; T. Vagnier, Leo; A. Young, Auburn; J. Quinlan, Union City; H. T. Wilken, Decatur; A. J. Kroeger, Goshen; J. A. Twigg, LaFayette; C. Lemper, Attica; J. H. Hues- er, D. D., Huntington; J. R. Dinnen, Crawfordsville; W. Schmidt, Muncie; D. J. Mulcahy, Lebanon; J. Hoss, Monroeville; C. M. Romer, Fort Wayne; F. X. Ege, Girardot; C. Maujay, Fowler; J. A. Mark, Hesse Cassel; H. Meissner, Peru; M. F. Kelley, Kewan- na; C. Nigsch, Winamac; H. F. J. Kroll, Chesterton; D. J. Hag- erty, South Bend; L. A. Moench, Plymouth; M. P. Fallize, South Bend; P. Johannes, South Bend; C. V. Stetter, D. D., Dyer; F. Koerdt, Sheldon; F. G. Lentz, Tipton; B. Wiedau, New Haven; P. Guethoff, Roanoke; A. Ellering, Warsaw; J. H. Oechtering, Fort Wayne; H. A. Hellhake, Columbia City; J. H. Guendling, LaFayette; J. H. Bathe, Wabash; P. F. Roche, LaGro; J. B.' Crawley, Laporte; M. Benzinger, Kendallville; T. M. O'Leary, Valparaiso; B. Hartmann, Arcola; W. Kroeger, Elkhart; J. Demp -. sey, LaFayette; D. Heile, LaFayette; F. C. Wiechmann, Ander- son; T. Hibbelen, St. Joseph's hospital, and Rev. F. Veniard, Besancon. Attendants to Bishop Dwenger, Rev. E. Koenig, of Fort Wayne, and Rev. M. O'Rielly, of Valparaiso.
The following clergymen were selected as pall bearers: Revs. E. Audran, Jeffersonville; E. P. Walters, LaFayette; D. Dueh- mig, Avilla; M. Zumbuelte, Rensselaer; B. Kroeger, Logansport; A. Heitman, St. John. The following from among the laity acted in the same capacity: H. C. Graffe, K. Baker, C. F. Muhler, Ed. F. Carey, R. W. T. DeWald and Louis Jocquel.
In close proximity to the casket, among others, were the ven- erable Jesse L. Williams and F. P. Randall; Rev. S. A. Northrup, of the First Baptist church; Judge O'Rourke, Drs. Dills and Din- nen, Louis Peltier, Hon. John Roach, of Huntington; nineteen Sisters of Providence, eight Sisters of Charity from St. Joseph's hospital, and six Brothers of the order of the Holy Cross.
At the conclusion of the mass, Rt. Rev. Bishop Dwenger ascended the pulpit and pronounced the eulogy, which was as fol- lows:
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
The words which I shall read to you are taken from the 9th chapter of the first book of Maccabees, beginning with the 19th verse:
And Jonathan and Simon took Judas, their brother, and buried him in the sep- ulcher of their fathers in the city of Modin. And all the people made great lamentation, and they mourned him many days, and they said: How is the mighty man fallen that saved the people of Israel.
Dearly Beloved in Christ: There was great sorrow and lamentation in Israel when they buried the great hero and priest, Judas, the Maccabee. There is great sorrow and grief to-day in our midst when we bury the grand, noble prelate, the ven- erable pioneer priest, the truly apostolic man who for nearly forty-five years has zealously and incessantly labored in our midst, and of whom we can say what St. Luke says of the father of St. John the Baptist, that he walked in the com- mandments and justification of God without reproach. Next April it would be forty-five years that our dear Father Benoit has been in Fort Wayne. During this long period of time he has indeed walked in the commandments of God without reproach. In all that long period of time, whatever part or portion we may pick out, he is to us a beautiful example. We may recall the days and years-we may recall the different incidents-everything will cause us to love and to cherish the memory of the noble priest who has gone to his eternal reward. Many here in Fort Wayne and the neighborhood who have already passed the meridian of life were baptized by his hand; many to-day venerate their father who instructed them in the holy faith, who prepared them for their first communion; many are here to-day whose marriage he has blessed; manv remember how faithfully he visited their dying father, or mother, or brother, or sister, how cheerfully he brought them the last consolations of religion. In truth, it is only a few days since, that a ven- erable matron told me how cheerfully Father Benoit had attended her sick daugh- ter. Forty-five years of constant labor are now over. He has gone to his eternal reward. We mourn to-day the loss of our dear old pastor; of a dear old father, . who was a father to all. We mourn to-day the loss of a noble, generous benefactor to the poor. In fact, my dear brethren, a man must be a stranger in Fort Wayne who does not know and appreciateour sorrow. I am sure there is no one that ever knew Father Benoit but mourns to-day with sincere grief. There is no one that ever knew him but loved and venerated him as a true priest of God.
Father Benoit, as you know, was born in France, on the 17th of October, 1808, of humble, pious, but well-to-do parents. Repeatedly have i heard him speak of his pious, good parents, especially of his saintly mother; and tears would some- times stand in his eyes when he would tell me: "} never disobeyed my mother. I never refused anything to my mother." It was especially to this mother that he owed his vocation in the priesthood. As a mere child he commenced his study for that holy office, and endowed with splendid talents he graduated - completed his course of theology before he could be ordained. At the early age of twenty- three he was already selected as professor, and at the early age of twenty-four he occupied a professor's chair in the Grand seminary at Lyons. Shortly after the French revolution, when the ranks of the clergy were thinned, for a man of his tal- ents, of his great learning, for a man who at such an early age already had gained such a high rank and position, every prospect of honor, of ecclesiastical prefer- ment, was open. It was under these circumstances that he met, for the first time,
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the saintly Bishop Brute, the first bishop of Vincennes. The diocese of Vincennes, embracing all the state of Indiana, nearly all the state of Illinois, with the exception of a few towns and settlements on the Mississippi, was erected in the year 1834. Just think of that grand country now dotted with churches, now embracing the dioceses of Vincennes, of Fort Wayne, of Chicago, of Peoria, of Alton - that grand country was then a mere wilderness. There were only two priests in that whole district, and a third one was allowed to remain a short time. It was under these circumstances that that saintly bishop went to Europe to gather apostolic men, who would come with him to preach the gospel. It was in the house of a merchant that Father Benoit met the saintly bishop, who, attracted by his sanctity and by his learning, invited him to occupy his apartments in the sem- inary. He became his host; he attended him on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fouvrieres near Lyons, and at that celebrated pilgrimage, after serving the mass of that apostolic bishop, he offered his services. "You," the saintly Bishop Brute told him, " are a spoiled child; you will never do for the missions in America; you are accustomed to all comforts; you have such a beautiful position, but in Amer- ica I can offer you nothing but corn bread and bacon, and not enough of that. There will be many a night when you will have no shelter, many a night when you will have no bed, many a day and night when you will have to be on horseback through the wilderness." Father Benoit merely answered, " Monseigneur, if you can do it, why cannot 1 ? If you can make a sacrifice and do it for the love of God, why should not 1, a young man, be able to do it ?" " Well, then, come in the name of God," the holy bishop said, and he did come. He came to this country in the year 1836, and remained at first with the Sulpitians to study the English lan- guage, and was ordained the 24th of April, 1837.
My dear brethren, we admire the faith of Abraham when he left his father's house, when he left his kindred, when he went at the command of God into a strange country. The holy scriptures speak of this faith and its reward, but, my' dear brethren, we do not appreciate that grand, noble faith that animated these pioneer missionaries when they bade farewell to father and mother, when they bade farewell to kindred, to all that the world loved and appreciated, when they went into a strange country, into a mere wilderness, when they went with the absolute certainty that privations of every kind would be their lot, when they knew beforehand that work of the most severe nature would be demanded of them. When preaching the funeral sermon of one of his com- panions, one of these same missionaries that left France with him in 1836 -- when I preached the funeral sermon of Bishop de Saint Palais -I alluded to this grand faith which animated these pioneer priests, the grand faith that strengthened and nerved them to bid farewell to all, and 1 alluded to what is said of Joseph in Egypt, that he went to a land whose language he knew not-a strange country, a strange language, bidding farewell to all - it is a sacrifice that few of us appreci- ate and understand. Father Benoit was with me at the funeral, and when I said this he told me, with tears in his eyes: " I had the courage to come to America, to forsake all; I had the courage to work for God's honor and glory; with a sincere pang 1 bade farewell to father and mother; but I did feel homesick when I was in a strange country, the language of which I did not know."
Father Benoit, as you all perhaps have heard, for the first two years and a half attended the missions in the southern part of the state, mostly on the Ohio
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river and in its neighborhood. During this time, as he told me repeatedly, he had the magnificent sum of sixty-three dollars in two years and half. As he told me, " My business talents had to be developed; I had to see how to keep from starva- tion." After some time he was sent up to Chicago and in that neighborhood to attend the poor scattered Catholics that lived there. Of course, there were no railroads; of course, the whole distance had to be travele i on horseback through trackless forests and waste prairies, and only a few days before his death he told of a beautiful incident that happened on that trip, when, late in the afternoon, he had lost his way, and coming, tired and weary, to a lonely dwelling in the wilder- ness, he begged for shelter for the night, stating that it was impossible for him to go any further. The man said, "Stranger, it is hardly possible; I have but a poor hut; I have no bed to offer." Father Benoit said to him, "Merely let me have shelter for my horse. I will lie down on the floor or in the hay loft; any place at all." "Stranger," says he, " if you are so easily satisfied, you are welcome. Put up your horse, but I can not well entertain you, for my wife is on her death-bed." He went into the house and was astonished to see some few Catholic pictures. He addressed the sick woman with words of sympathy. He told her, " It appears to, me you are a Catholic." "I am," said the poor woman. "Now, would you not wish before you die to see a priest?" "Oh, this has been my prayer for seventeen years I have asked the intercession of the Blessed Virgin that I might see a priest before I die It is many and many a year since I have seen one. I have had no opportunity for receiving the sacraments " Father Benoit then told her, " Your prayer has been heard, for I am a Catholic priest. I am lost in the woods and it is God who has brought me here." He con- soled her; he heard her confession. There were three children. He found that they were perfectly instructed in their catechism, but that they had never received any sacraments. He remained up nearly that whole night and the next day, to prepare the mother and children, and the second day he gave the last sacraments to the mother and gave the first communion to the children, and the poor woman was in perfect ecstacy of bliss that she had that consolation for which she had prayed so many and many years, and whilst Father Benoit was taking his cup of coffee preparatory to leaving, the poor woman quietly slept away. What noble testimony to this pious woman that her children were well instructed in their faith.
As you well know, Father Benoit came to Fort Wayne the 16th of April, 1840. He was the only priest in this northeastern portion of Indiana. He had to attend the Catholics as far east as Defiance, as far as LaGro to the north, and to the south almost to an indefinite extent. We hardly appreciate, espec- ially we of the younger clergy, unless we are placed in exceptional circum- stances, we cannot appreciate the labor of these pioneer priests. Father Benoit very often told me himself, he would say mass in Fort Wayne, and then the same morning ride to Huntington or Decatur, and there say mass, of course fasting, preaching and att nding to all the work. I very often heard him say, " If we had a sick call, if it was only twenty miles, we thought it but a moderate distance, and did not think it a great hardship. But when it was sixty, seventy or eighty miles, when we had to be out day and night-then very often it was really hard." We, do not appreciate the hardships of these pioneer missionaries, because then the newly arrived emigrants were not yet acclimated, and were but poorly sheltered
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