USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume I > Part 49
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students' rooms. The friends of Notre Dame, everywhere, are gratified to find that the noble work here inaugurated shows no sign of weakening; but, on the contrary, in everything are shown signs of advancement towards the highest goal of excellence. The determination was never stronger to keep Our Lady's college in the place to which she has attained-in the van of the higher educa- tional institutions of the land.
In the summer of 1894 Notre Dame was honored by the pres- ence of the first American Eucharistic congress within its halls. (558)
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This great sacerdotal confraternity, numbering so many devoted members of the bishops and priests of Europe and America, has undoubtedly done inuch good in increasing devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. The first congress, as held here, was most successful and satisfactory to the numerous clergy present; and Notre Dame was greatly honored and edified by its presence. To be selected as the place where so great a work as that of the Eucharistic con- gress was inaugurated is, indeed, a mark of God's blessing. Not since the assembling of the Third Plenary council at Baltimore has there anywhere assembled so numerous and distinguished a body of Catholic priests and prelates.
It is needless to say that, notwithstanding the year 1893 was a year of sorrow, yet Notre Dame could not fail to take the keenest interest in an exhibition so dear to the Catholic heart as the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of our country by the great Catholic navigator. The fine Columbian paintings on the walls of the main entrance to the university, which have been already described, sufficiently attest this interest.
Notre Dame's exhibit at the world's fair, under the direction of Prof. Edwards, was enclosed in four departments, centrally located in the manufactures and liberal arts building. The first booth was twenty feet square and contained Gregori's life-size, full-length portrait of the founder of the university, together with specimens of the work of the pupils of Gregori and of Prof. Ackerman. Here also were shown a map of the grounds and buildings of the univer- sity, made by the pupils of Prof. McCue's surveying classes; sev- eral specimens of mechanical engineering work in wood and iron; blue tints from the institute of technology; 120 views of Notre Dame taken by Father Kirsch's class in photography; a complete set, twenty-five volumes, of the Notre Dame Scholastic, illus- trating the literary work of the students; copies of various books written and published at Notre Dame; objects of historical interest; photographs and paintings.
In the second booth, also twenty feet square, was a small but rich selection from the precious historical treasury of Bishops' Memorial hall. Among these treasures were many rare old Bibles published in the German language long before the birth of Luther.
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In the third booth were numerous precious manuscripts, mement os of distinguished lay men and women, and various other articles of interest shown in glass cases, including precious books and early Catholic newspapers, intended to represent the Catholic Reference library of America located at Notre Dame.
A history as full as that of the university itself might be writ- ten of the various churches erected at Notre Dame, culminating in the present beautiful edifice-the church of the Sacred Heart. Father Sorin found here the small " upper room " of the little log house built on the banks of St. Mary's lake by the poor Indians for the use of their revered Black Robe, the proto-priest, Father Stephen T. Badin, in 1830. In 1843, Father Sorin erected that other log structure, a little higher up from the lake, in whose upper chamber the inmates and the Catholics of the mission long contin- ued to worship. The precious relic, alas, perished by fire in 1852. Before this, in 1848, the first brick church was erected, east of the lake, upon ground now occupied by the rear of the present church. This church of 1848 was at first a little oblong building; in time additions were made to it, including wooden towers, in which was placed the exquisite chime of bells that still make music for Notre Dame. When the first great organ was obtained, an extension was made to the rear of the old church to receive it. The church so completed served until the erection of the present edifice.
The foundations of the new church of the Sacred Heart were begun by Father Sorin on the 8th day of December, 1868, the very day on which the Vatican Council was opened by Pius IX. It was also the twenty-fourth anniversary of the blessing of the well be- loved " chapel of the Novitiate," erected upon the "Island " in 1844, and so long the center of the religious devotion of the poor little community. It was on the same day, December 8, 1844, that the Arch Confraternity was solemnly established in the same chapel, the most blessed society ever established at Notre Dame.
Slowly, from 1869 until Father Sorin's jubilee, in 1888, the church of the Sacred Heart went on to completion, year by year, until its solemn consecration, when it appeared to the world as perhaps the most beautiful church in America. That there should be sacred shrines at Notre Dame might be expected. No churches
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ST. MARY'S CHAPPEL, NOTRE DAME, IND.
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ST. MARY'S ACADEMY, NOTRE DAME, IND.
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nor chapels in America, and few in any part of the world, are more blessed with special blessings. All the indulgences of the portiumcula of St. Francis are attached to the church of the Sacred Heart; and there, on the 2d of Augu t, each year, pious people come in great numbers. To the same church, on the 15th of August, comes a yearly pilgrimage from St. Augustine's parish in Kalamazoo, and from other towns in Michigan. On rosary Sunday in October a pious throng come reverently from St. Joseph's parish in Mishawaka, and from the churches of South Bend and elsewhere. The blessings of Marquette, of Allouez, of Badin, of De Seille, of Petit, and, may we not now say, of Sorin, are upon the land. From a brief history of the university of Notre Dame du Lac, prepared for the golden jubilee, June, 1895, this closing paragraph is extracted:
While it would have seemed fitting that the golden jubilee of Notre Dame should have been celebrated in 1892, fifty years from the date of her founding, yet our readers will, perhaps, now see why this was not done. Sorrow was brooding over Alma Mater, and she could not then, nor even in the succeeding years, until now, lay aside the habiliments of mourning. But she has remembered that although Father Sorin, as well as Father Granger and Father Walsh, would have been delighted to be with us, yet that they would be grieved if we were to remain in sorrow. Their wish is that we should go forward and rejoice in the work which they and their co-laborers have accomplished, and which they charge us to main- tain and extend as they would have done if they had remained with us. We go forward in joy, then, and in thanksgiving to celebrate the golden jubilee of Notre Dame, trusting that those who come after us, in 1942, will find that we, too, have done our work well; that we have not buried the five talents given us, but have car- ried on with still increasing success the work of Christian education begun a hun- dred years before by Father Sorin and his brethren of the Holy Cross.
St. Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, St. Joseph county .- The development of material resources which meet the demands of the changing epochs is matter for wonder, as well as for gratitude, to the all-seeing, all-loving Providence which ordereth all things sweetly. But in no phase of the economy of the universe is the hand of God more clearly visible than in the rise and progress of religious communities.
Each period of the church's growth developed special needs, and those needs were met by the establishment of orders devoted to the particular line of work called for by the exigencies of the
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times. The mere suggestion of this thought brings before the mind examples in proof of it: Saint Benedict and his followers, Saint Dominick and his preachers, Saint Francis of Assisi and his brothers of poverty, Saint Ignatius and his soldier priests.
And as in the church every agency for good is accounted worthy, so the minor congregations and communities-lesser branches of the great tree of religious orders-are alloted a fixed place in the vineyard of the Lord, where they serve to further the cause of Christ.
Among the congregations founded in this century, we find some devoted to the work of education; others are dedicated to the service of the sick; others again care for the bereaved little ones of the fold-the orphans. These three noble works united form the objects of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, a congregation priviliged by God to become a strong factor in the work of the Catholic church in America.
This congregation, founded in Le Mans, France, in 1841, by the saintly Abbe Moreau, was established in this country at Ber- trand, Mich., in July, 1844, by Very Rev. E. Sorin, one of Father Moreau's earliest associates; and in September of the same year, the habit of the congregation was given for the first time in America.
That to the high vocation of the religious teacher was added the apostolic spirit, is evident from the early annals, wherein it is recorded that the Sisters-even though the number to be spared from the Bertrand school was small-were sent to Pokagon, Mich., where 300 Pottowatamie Indians were instructed in the saving truths of our holy religion.
The first decade of growth was attended with the vicissitudes wherewith God strengthens his elect, but by 1855 houses in New Orleans, New York, Mishawaka and Lowell, testified to the zeal and activity of the mother-house, which bravely surmounted diffi- culties which to less courageous souls would have seemed insur- mountable.
In 1855 the community moved from Bertrand to St. Mary's, St. Joseph county, Ind., the present site of the mother-house of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. In 1857, the union of temporal (566)
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interests between Notre Dame and Saint Mary's was severed, and a separate administration has been maintained ever since, though by special privilege of His Holiness, Pius IX (a grant lately con- firmed by Leo XIII), Very Rev. E. Sorin was allowed to act as ecclesiastical superior over both congregations-that composed of the priests and brothers, and that of the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
About this time Mother M. Angela, a woman imbued with the highest religious aspirations, and endowed with rare mental gifts, was elected provincial, and until her death, in 1887, it was her lot never to be without the burden of office.
From 1855 to 1865 were years of trial and of growth. Found- ations were made in Chicago, Laporte, Michigan City, Philadel- phia, Washington, D. C., Morris, Baltimore, South Bend, Craw- fordsville, Joliet and other places. The four eventful years of this decade were, of course, the years of war, and Mother Angela, with a corps of devoted Sisters, some of whom are still living, spent their best energies in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers un- til peace was proclaimed. The services of the Sisters of the Holy Cross were given at Cairo, Mound City, Memphis, Louisville, Paducah, Jefferson and Washington; and everywhere was grateful recognition accorded their devoted efforts.
The three decades following developed the congregation along broad lines leading ever to nobler heights of achievement, and the epoch of greatest advancement dawned when Pope Pius sanctioned the separation of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross from France, thus changing St. Mary's from a provincial- house to the mother-house of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in America.
The death of Mother Angela, in 1887, the failing health of Father Sorin, and his death in 1893, were the dark shadows over the path of peace along which God was pleased to lead the congre- gation; and yet the shadows but made those who mourned their loss look at the light shining beyond-a light which whispers of hope to the spiritual children of a devoted father and founder and his zealous, self-sacrificing co-laborer.
St. Mary's Academy is situated about eighty miles east of
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Chicago, Ill., and two miles from South Bend, Ind., and can be easily reached by railroad from any part of the United States or Canada. The views herewith presented of the academy and its chapel (Our Lady of Loreto) will give the reader some idea of their rare architectural beauty. The academy buildings are healthfully located on an eminence overlooking the St. Joseph river, along whose picturesque banks magnificent forest trees still stand in their native grandeur.
The academy buildings, of cream-colored brick with stone trimmings, are spacious, comfortable and commodious-admirably adapted in every respect to the object in view at their erection. The institution is heated by steam, no fire being used in any part of the academy. Bath rooms, supplied with hot and cold water, communicate with the sleeping apartments. The study-halls, dor- mitories and class-rooms are well lighted and thoroughly ventilated. In addition to the system of water works in the interior-water from artesian wells being driven to all parts of the building through iron pipes, with hose attachment on each floor -iron balconies and outside fire escapes have been erected on all the academy buildings.
The chapel of Our Lady of Loreto, designed by the late Very Rev. Edward Sorin, C. S. C., is a matchless piece of architecture, Romanesque in style and unique in plan. The stained glass win- dows, which are marvels of artistic beauty, are from Le Mans, France. The dome of the chapel is fitly crowned with the sym- bol of our Redemption, the distinctive mark of the order of the Holy Cross.
Among the many attractions at St. Mary's, not the least, in point of usefulness and architectural beauty, is St. Angela's hall, which is designed especially for lectures, concerts and musicales throughout the year, and for commencement exercises. Its seat- ing capacity is 800.
In Science hall, the degree of excellence attained at St. Mary's in the musical and art departments has long been recognized by the friends of the institution, and many visitors to the music halls and studios have given expression to surprise at the pro- ficiency shown by the pupils. But while special attention is paid
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to the fine arts, they are not cultivated to the neglect of the prac- tical sciences, as a visit to the classes of natural philosophy and chemistry would fully demonstrate. No pains have been spared to secure a physical cabinet worthy the name, and, as a result, the academy has a collection of instruments, from the best known manufacturing establishments of Europe, for illustrating the laws of sound, light, electricity, heat and magnetism, as well as the principles of mechanics.
The course of studies is as extensive and thorough as long experience in teaching and a large and capable staff of teachers can make it. The best systems of instruction are adopted in the various departments, and the best authors selected for each branch. If the student begins in the junior class, four years will be required to complete a full academic course; if in the preparatory, seven years will be required for a full course.
And to-day, after a life of fifty-four years in the new world, the congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, fully approved by the church, numbers over 800 members, having under their care schools, hospitals and orphans' asylums in twelve different states; over 6,000 day pupils are taught annually in their parochial schools, and more than 600 in the boarding schools, while over 2, 000 patients in the various hospitals are ministered to yearly by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
Those who have studied the congregation in its workings give zeal and devotedness as its characteristics. Added to this is a spirit of rational progress, which uses every means to make the congregation better fitted to meet its threefold end-the care of the orphan, the amelioration of the sufferings of the sick and the education of children, as well as that higher, fuller training of young women, which yields to college degrees and through all ave- nues of advancement to wide fields of usefulness.
Judging from its past and its present, the congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross has every reason to look to a future blessed by God with increased powers of furthering His interests, thereby drawing down new blessings and becoming, day by day, a stronger influence in Catholic educational and charitable work.
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RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY.
St. Joseph College, conducted by the Fathers of the Precious Blood, was opened in September, 1891, and is located one mile south of Rensselaer, on the site formerly occupied by the orphan asylum. The children cared for here were transferred to LaFay- ette and Fort Wayne institutions, the property was neglected, and the building destroyed by fire. Thus, in 1890, Rt. Rev. Bishop Dwenger transferred the land (300 acres) to the Fathers of the Precious Blood, who at once began the work for founding St. Joseph college. Father Anthony Dick had charge of the parish at Rensselaer, and superintended the construction of the college- building until January, 1891, when Rev. Augustine Seifert, C. PP. S., took charge and completed the structure. The school opened in September, with Rev. Augustine Seifert, C. PP. S., as rector. Only fifty-four students were enrolled during the first year, and the faculty consisted of five Fathers and one lay teacher. The institu- tion had a healthy growth, and during the year 1892-93, eighty- six students were enrolled and the faculty increased to nine. An addition was now built doubling the size of the college building making it 228 feet frontage and accommodation for 200 students, but the attendance in 1893-94 was 115 students.
In the basement of the building there is a large recreation hall, bath-rooms and dining room. On the first floor are the study- hall, library, parlor, private room, Collegeville post-office (estab- lished May 9, 1893) and class rooms. The second floor is occupied by the chapel and priests' rooms, and the third floor is devoted to the entertainment hall, one dormitory, etc. The building has steam heat, gas light and other modern improvements, which make it safe and convenient. The campus is well improved, has an arti- ficial lake and good facilities for athletic sports and exercise. In 1897 an additional building was erected as a minim and music department. The attendance is largely from Ohio, Indiana, Illi- nois, Missouri and Michigan, but some other states are also repre- sented. The classic course is six years; commercial course three years, and the normal course three years; the latter, however, is to be extended. The students are all cared for at the college and (570)
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are thus continually under the watchful care of the Fathers; the large farm is carried on by Brothers and lay members, and Catho- lic boys are only admitted. The institution is now practically self- sustaining, the attendance in 1897-98 being 140 students.
ST. MEINRAD'S, SPENCER COUNTY.
St. Meinrad College and Seminary. - The famous Benedictine order-an order that for fourteen centuries has labored most devotedly and successfully in christianizing, educating and ele- vating mankind-established as early as 1853 a branch house at a place they have named St. Meinrad, in Harrison township, Spen- cer county, Ind.
It was at the urgent request of the late Bishop de St. Palais, expressed through his vicar-general, the late Very Rev. Joseph Kundeck, pastor at Jasper, Ind., that this great boon was granted by the Benedictine authorities to the Catholic people of Indiana.
The pioneers of the Benedictine order in Indiana were Rev. P. Bede O'Connor and Rev. P. Ulrich Christen, who were sent from the celebrated abbey at Einsiedeln, Switzerland, by vote of the chapter, and who were blessed by the then reigning Pontiff, Pius IX. The names of these good priests will always be lovingly linked with St. Meinrad abbey and also with the old diocese of Vincennes, now the diocese of Indianapo is.
St. Meinrad began as a simple convent in 1853, but Pius IX, in 1869, conferred upon it the rank and distinction of an independ- ent abbey. Right Rev. Martin Marty, in 1871, was consecrated the first abbot, but later on he became bishop of St. Cloud, Minn. The second was Right Rev. Fintan Mundwiler, who was consecrated in 1880. The third and present abbot is Right Rev. Athanasius Schmitt, a sketch and excellent portrait of whom will be found on pages 906 and 907, Vol. II.
From a small beginning in 1853-a log cabin situated on a tract of land of 160 acres that cost just $2,650 -St. Meinrad abbey grew in dimensions and in favor among the people until, in 1857, it was sufficiently prepared to throw open its doors for the recep- tion of students. Its lands have increased from 160 acres to more than ten times that number, and its splendid buildings, although
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almost completely destroyed by the disasterous fire of 1887, have been renewed in their imposing and majestic proportions. Excel- lent views of both St. Meinrad abbey and Jasper college are given in this work. These structures need no further description here other than to say that they are modern in their appointments and aptly designed for the purposes to which they are devoted.
As institutions of learning, both sacred and secular, they com- prise three departments: Theological, classical, commercial and scientific. The first two are for ecclesiastical students only, and are maintained at St. Meinrad; the last-named department receives special attention at Jasper college. These departments are ably and successfully conducted, and the proofs citable are the great number of learned and exemplary priests in this and other dioceses and the numerous company of lay scholars who point with pride to these institutions as their alma mater.
The site of St. Meinrad college and seminary is the delightful rolling-in fact, hilly-country of southern Indiana. It is fifteen miles north of the Ohio river and is thirteen miles from the rail- road station at Ferdinand, on the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis railroad. A beautiful eminence is the chosen nestling-spot for the abbey buildings, and from this high perch can be viewed the broad stretches of valley, the sweep of the neighboring hills, and the picturesqueness of wood and dell and stream. The health- fulness of the climate, coupled with the substantial fare provided and the regularity of habits there inculcated, has the effect of benefiting not only the physical but also the mental and the moral health of the students.
A consideration of great consequence might be mentioned in this connection-the fact that the charge each session for students, including tuition, board, bedding, mending of linens, etc., is but the small sum of $75. This alone ought to induce students to patronize St. Meinrad's.
Rt. Rev. Athanasius Schmitt, O. S. B., abbot, is president of the board of trustees and also of the officers' board of the abbey. He is rector of the seminary and professor of moral theology and liturgy. Rev. Gregory Bechtold, O. S. B., is assistant rector of the seminary, and professor of dogmatic theology, philology and (572)
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canon law. Rev. Bede Maler, O. S. B., is professor of exegesis and church history. Rev. Dominick Barthel, O. S. B., is rector of the college and professor of English literature, oratory, elocu- tion and homiletics. Rev. Laurence Faller, O. S. B., is professor of philosophy. Rev. Andrew Bauer, O. S. B., is professor of . Latin, Greek, German, literature, Christian doctrine and liturgy. Very Rev. Alphonse Leute, O. S. B., is professor of Hebrew, homiletics and pastoral and moral theology. Rev. Kaspar Seiler is professor of moral theology and philology.
Among the professors who are members of the faculty and hold chairs in the classical department might be mentioned Rev. Othmar Schneeberger, O. S. B .; Rev. Odildo Witt, O. S. B .; Rev. Marcus Meyer, O. S. B .; Rev. Vincent Wagner, O. S. B .; Rev. Eugene Spiess, O. S. B .; Rev. Francis Schoeppner, O. S. B .; Rev. Mauer Helfrich, O. S. B .; Ven. J. Chrysostom Coons, O. S. B .; and Ven. Philip Bauer, O. S. B.
While a large share of material prosperity would appear to attend upon every effort of the monks of St. Meinrad-so much so as to enable them to acquire additional lands, to push toward completion their abbey buildings according to the original plans, and to even undertake the erection of a grand new church, which is to be 200x 75 feet, ground plan, and for which excavations are now being made -- it is yet evident, from the above passing glance at facts, that the intellectual and the moral are not only not neg- lected but are made the special study and aim of the entire com- munity. If, in a tangible way, prosperity's sun shines on the Sons of St. Benedict at St. Meinrad's abbey, its rays are dimmed by the bright light of that spiritual sun whose effulgence and warmth con- tinually energize these good men in the fulfillment of their mis- sion in the spread of education, religion and truth, ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus -- " that in all things God may be glorified."
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