USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 2
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burg, and Boston and Maine railroads, that the Master's flock, small and scattered, might not be neglected.
The early priests realized the necessity of Catholic education. They opened Sunday schools and catechism classes everywhere. Day schools taught by lay teachers were opened at Worcester and Chicopee and Pittsfield. These, however, did not last, though they did valuable work in the early days. The first permanent school in our diocesan system, if we except Holy Cross, which opened as an academy in 1840, thanks to the generosity of Father Fitton in making a free gift of the land, was established at Holy Name, in Chicopee, in 1867, by the Notre Dame Sisters of Namur. St. Jerome's, of Holyoke, followed with a school for girls in 1868, and four years later, with our first parish school for boys, taught by lay teachers for four years and taken over by the Sisters of Providence.
From these beginnings, homes of Catholic edu- cation multiplied apace. Their steady growth and the progressive increase of pupils have now at- tained the superb proportions of a school system which cares for the education of nearly fifty thousand pupils, of whom nearly ten thousand are in our twenty-four Catholic high schools.
The former vicar general of the diocese, Rev. John J. Power, D. D., when pastor of St. Ann's Church in Worcester, brought the Sisters of Mercy to begin our hospital work, and they estab- lished Worcester's first public hospital. Later, when they transferred to St. Paul's Church, they relinquished their hospital labors for the equally meritorious task of caring for the orphans. The hospital work was soon taken up by the Sisters of Providence who, from their humble inception
in South Hadley Falls, have covered our five counties with hospitals which occupy a foremost place in effi- ciency, equipment and per- sonnel.
Eighteen eighty-one saw the arrival of two more great teaching orders-the Sisters of St. Joseph for our English speaking schools, and the Sisters of St. Ann to instruct the pupils of our French speaking parishes. The former opened their first school in Chicopee Falls, the latter in Notre Dame parish, of Worcester. In 1886, the Presentation Nuns, foundation of Nano Nagle, opened schools in St. Bernard's, Fitchburg. The Sisters of the Presentation of Mary arrived at Holyoke in 1891, and the Sisters of the Assump- tion opened Notre Dame's schools in South- bridge the same year. The Felician Sisters be- came the pioneers among our Polish teachers in St. Joseph's Parish, Webster, in 1892. The Sis- ters of the Holy Cross, the Faithful Companions, Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry, France. the Xaverian Brothers, all were here before 1900, so rapidly did parish institutions of learning multi- ply, and so eager were our pastors and people for the blessings of a Catholic education.
O UR diocese has known the beneficent and inspiring leadership of three great bishops, since Springfield was raised to the dignity of a separate see, in 1870. Bishop O'Reilly was chief shepherd of our Springfield flock for twenty-two years, when he was succeeded by the late Bishop Beaven, who presided over Springfield's spiritual destinies until 1920-a progressive and resplend- ent reign of twenty-eight years. His successor is Bishop O'Leary, still at the helm of our spiritual bark, and building broad and deep the founda- tions of our increasing activity along spiritual, charitable, educational and religious lines. Spring- field has been blessed in her chief pastors, whose combined reigns cover a period of well over a half century, and Bishop O'Leary's reign is, we hope, still in its infancy.
Twice Bishop O'Leary has presented a report of his stewardship to the Holy Father at Rome. Each time he has been warmly praised for the splendid works of our diocese under his master- ful guidance. Each time an unusually large num- ber of honors have come to his priests on his recommendations. Twelve of our priests raised to the dignity of domestic prelates within a decade attest eloquently, in the eloquence of actions that speak louder than words, how highly Pope Pius XI, whose vision embraces all the dioceses of the world, appreciates the onward strides of Spring- field under the present energetic shepherd.
St. Benedict's Church, the first Catholic church in Spring- field. It stood in Union Street.
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Beyond the Tiber gleams a dome Across the hilltops seven;
It reaches o'er the world from Rome, And leads the world to heaven. FATHER ABRAM RYAN.
بيزك
Hours repulfully. + profily-
RIGHT REVEREND
Patrick Thomas O' Reilly First Bishop of Springfield
BORN, December 24, 1833 ORDAINED PRIEST, August 15, 1857 CONSECRATED BISHOP, September 25, 1870 DIED, May 28, 1892
HEN Springfield was cut off as a separate see from Boston, in 1870, Pope Pius IX designated the then pastor of St. John's, Worcester, Rev. Patrick T. O'Reilly, as its first bishop. Only a few years before, Spring- field Catholics had suspected that Father Gallagher, "the little man," as they affectionately called him. had taken leave of his senses when he built the present cathedral on State Street, far from the centre of the Catholic population on Water and Ferry Streets. Today he looms as a man of real vision. The beautiful cathedral grounds and the church which has seen service for over sixty years are a lasting monument to the foresight and energy of this watcher on Israel's towers. His parish church, the first parish church in New England to be consecrated, became Bishop O'Reilly's cathedral church and the centre of our new diocesan life. The great diocese of which Father Gallagher never saw the beginning, except in vision, has been the beneficiary of his courage, and his parish church has been our cathedral for threescore years.
With the elevation of Springfield to an episco- pal see, and the immediate supervision and
encouragement of a zealous shepherd, the priests of the diocese, whom Bishop O'Reilly loved to call "the best in the world," redoubled their efforts. His reign, like the early history of any great undertaking, had the tinge of romance about it. As though by magic, new church steeples appeared amid the hills of Berkshire, along the shores of the Connecticut and from beyond Wachusett's towering peak to the Rhode Island state line, in Worcester. He dedicated forty-one churches, laid the cornerstones of our first asylums of charity for the sick and invalid, con- firmed the striking total of 77,000, and withal captured the lasting af- fection of priests and people. The old folks, who remember him, speak of his quiet but convincing eloquence, his constant affability and kindness, his abiding trust in God that. to every cloud, gave a silver lining.
Official Seal of Springfield Diocese
COLLYER
+ Thas . A . Beaver
RIGHT REVEREND Thomas Daniel Beaven
Second Bishop of Springfield
BORN, March 1, 1851 ORDAINED PRIEST, December 18, 1875 CONSECRATED BISHOP, October 18, 1892 DIED, October 5, 1920
N THE death of Bishop O'Reilly, in 1892, filled with good works and regretted by all, Rev. Thomas D. Beaven, pastor of the Holy Rosary Church, in Holyoke, was designated by the late Pope Leo XIII as his successor. The con- secration took place on October 18 of 1892. and began an episcopal reign which outlasted even the generous years of its predecessor. Bishop Beaven was chief shepherd of our diocese for almost twenty-eight years, being called to his last account in the very month of his consecration, October 5, twenty-eight years after his selection. He died, as he would have wished, "in the har- ness." He was actually about to step into his waiting car to be carried to St. Francis', North Adams, where a large confirmation class awaited him, when a premonition of his approaching end caused him to cancel the trip. The following day he met the last call as he met every call of duty- quietly, piously, bravely, and the diocese which had known his able leadership for twenty-eight years was stunned at the suddenness of the end.
Under Bishop Beaven the works begun by our pioneer bishop were carried on zealously and per- sistently. Missions became parishes, our diocese was blessed with so many priestly vocations that he was able to assist less fortunate neighbors by allowing many of our priests to serve elsewhere for a time; schools and school populations
increased apace, and Springfield's fame as a model diocese was well established.
As a reminder of Bishop Beaven's generosity, we have the Beaven-Kelly home for the aged, erected in memory of his father and mother, whose names it bears. Every institution in the diocese was the recipient of his personal bounties. During his time as bishop, he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his elevation to the priest- hood, and on that occasion accepted no personal gifts. He asked, however, for the Holy Commu- nions of his people, who responded in hundreds of thousands at the altar rail. He asked help for our diocesan institutions, which carried the heavy burden of relieving the needy and the suffering. and they felt the power of his appeal as well as the sincerity of words which he followed by his own generous ex- ample. Our hos- pitals and asylums, as their financial burdens were lifted or lightened, re- ceived a new lease of hope and courage to carry on their God-like works.
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Official Seal of Rt. Rev. Thomas Daniel Beaven
+ Shiny In OLEary Gary, Bis Spafed.
RIGHT REVEREND
Thomas Mary O'Leary
Present Bishop of Springfield
BORN, August 16, 1875 ORDAINED PRIEST, December 18, 1897 CONSECRATED BISHOP, September 8, 1921
HE fall of 1921, on the feast of Our Lady's Nativity, Rt. Rev. Thomas M. O'Leary, D.D., was consecrated to succeed Bishop Beaven, and consequently the centenary of Catholicity in west- ern Massachusetts all but coin- cides with a completion of his first decade as head of our diocese. A graduate of the Jesuit College of Mungret, in Ireland, and the Grand Seminary, conducted by the Sulpician Fathers at Montreal, theological Alma Mater of half the priests in our diocese, Bishop O'Leary had served as chancel- lor, rector of a cathedral and parish priest before Benedict XV designated him as admirably fitted by natural gifts and rich experience to guide the spiritual destinies of this great and growing corner of the Master's vineyard.
Bishop O'Leary's ten years in command of Springfield's spiritual forces have already left the deep and lasting stamp of his fine abilities and tireless energies on our diocesan institutions. An eloquent and earnest speaker, he has been indefatigable in advocating in his public utter- ances civic righteousness as well as moral pro- bity. His fearless utterances in behalf of Catho- lic education, the Catholic press and Catholic moral principles have found an approving echo far beyond the confines of his diocese. Kindly, affable, approachable, he has won the hearts and confidence of his priests, whose best efforts are being given to one quick to praise, generous to approve, and wise and willing to advise.
Alert to see the needs of the diocese and fear- less in meeting an emergency, Bishop O'Leary has already carried more than one forbidding financial undertaking to a successful issue. He has the absolute trust in God which characterizes the great churchman, and acts on the sound prin- ciple of faith that, where the need is obvious, God will not fail those who have the courage of His convictions. Our two largest hospitals, St. Vincent's in Worcester and the Mercy in Spring- field, would today be turning away hundreds of patients were it not for the provident foresight of Bishop O'Leary, who built, not merely for the present, but for the future. The additions to St. Luke's in Pittsfield and the Farren, at Montague. and the new Mother House at Brightside, pre- sent a hospital development undreamed of ten years ago. Such an expansion, as a work of half a century, would have appeared utopian. Yet it is an accomplished program, and the great Mother House at Bright- side is now raising its sturdy walls.
Our schools, too, have felt the thrill of a new life in the last decade. While fully cognizant of the absolute necessity of our public school sys- tem, and giving its full meed of praise for the good work it has accom- plished, Bishop O'Leary
Official Seal of Rt. Rev. Thomas Mary O'Leary
viam · Deritatis . Elegi
A CENTURY OF CATHOLICISM
IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
THE Catholic Mirror
has been emphatic in vindicating the right of the parent to choose the educational system of his children, and entrust their training, if his con- science so dictates, to a religious classroom. He has repeatedly presented the rights of his religi- ous schools, as recognized by the Supreme Court, in its Oregon decision, and he has done so in no apologetic .vein. The religious school, he has repeatedly pointed out, is the traditional school of America, not an interloper, and has no apolo- gies to offer for the superb work it has done in all the Christian ages, work which it did alone down to and including our Colonial era, and for fifty years after. The religious school was the pioneer educator in all Christian ages, the only school of colonial America.
If the observance of the tercentenary in 1930 had an educational feature (and it certainly had, for the educational tradition has flourished in New Eng- land as nowhere else in the United States), the school to be glorified in the observance is the religious school, which alone goes back to Plym- outh Rock and Massachusetts Bay. Bishop O'Leary has, times without number, given un- stinting praise to the Catholic parents whose generosity has made our splendid schools pos- sible, and to our Catholic teachers, whose life-sac- rifice and devotion to God's little ones have per- petuated Catholic education. At times, our schools deplore their lack of endowment. They enjoy the greatest of all endowments : the unfailing support of Catholic people and the offering of the teach- ers' lives upon the altar of education.
Naturally, under such a champion of the Catholic school, the last ten years have inaugu- rated a new golden era of Catholic education. Buildings that have exhausted their usefulness have been replaced by model modern structures, new schools have sprung up from Greylock to Blackstone, and, no matter how the buildings increase in number, they are filled as soon as opened. The public utterances of the Bishop and the spread of the message from Catholic pulpits everywhere have carried the need of religious and moral training to every parent in our far- flung lines. The need of Catholic education was never more deeply appreciated; its value and importance are universally admitted; the Catho- lic parent who receives the claims of the Catho- lic school with a dubious shake of the head has all but disappeared from our midst. Experience
is daily confirming the teaching of the Churchi that the hope of the future is the religious train- ing of the children. Tomorrow is in the hands of the Catholic school. For ten years Bishop O'Leary has preached that gospel, in season and out of season, at the cornerstone laying of a new school, at the commencement exercises of our high schools, which he loves to attend, whenever the increasing demands of' an expanding diocese allow him to follow his dearest inclinations, and be with the youth of his flock on their graduation day. They do not love to receive their graduation honors from his consecrated hands any more than he loves to confer them.
One serious defect marked our educational system, ten years ago. Our girls had to go else- where to receive their college degrees. That was quickly removed. The splendid liberal arts build- ing now nearing completion on the campus at Chicopee, and O'Leary Hall, the finely appointed students' dormitory, have opened the portals of Catholic education to our young ladies seeking baccalaureate honors. All that Holy Cross, for nearly a century, has done for our boys, Our Lady of the Elms is now preparing to do for our girls. Already, freshman and sophomore classes have completed their courses. In September the sophomores advanced to the studies of the junior year, and, in 1932, Our Lady of the Elms will present baccalaureate honors to its first graduates.
Now that our diocese has triumphantly passed the "brick and mortar" stage, Bishop O'Leary quickly sensed the fact that we should help trans- mit to others the Faith that God-fearing ances- tors handed down to us. Hence he established the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and gave its organizers a clear field for three years, that Springfield might contribute its full quota to the field afar, and Springfield, in three short years, has made a name for itself by its generous support of the mission cause.
That no aspect of spiritual life might be omitted or neglected, Bishop O'Leary invited the Passionist Fathers to specialize in laymen's retreats and brought the Dominican Sisters to establish perpetual adoration of Christ, the King. Thus the "sixty golden hours" of the week end for laymen, and twenty-four golden hours of Eucharistic vigils, every day of the revolving year, have become realities, and are bringing new blessings to our Catholic flock.
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Ordination of Class of 1930 by Rt. Rev. Thomas M. O'Leary, D.D., on Trinity Saturday, in St. Michael's Cathedral. This class of twenty-four candidates was the largest in the history of our diocese. In all, Bishop O'Leary has ordained 141 to the priesthood. This wealth of vocations to the priesthood is paralleled by religious vocations, for, in the same time, Bishop O'Leary has conferred the habit on 462 new members of our diocesan orders of Sisters.
SECTION II
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1. The Holy Father, seated on his throne in the Sistine Chapel.
2. Office of the Holy Father in Vatican City.
3. The Holy Father at his desk.
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4. The Holy Father walking in the Vatican gardens.
5. The Holy Father carried in state through St. Peter's in the sedia gestatoria.
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1. Glimpse of sanctuary in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, during pontifical high Mass.
2. The majestic main altar of St. Peter's Basilica. It stands over the crypt in which rests St. Peter, the first Pope.
C Photo by Felici
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Our Vicars General
HE vicar general is a priest desig- nated by the Right Reverend Bishop to assist him in ordinary jurisdiction of his diocese. He is ordinarily a high ecclesiastic, deeply versed in theology and canon law, and a man of sound judgment and prudent action.
The first vicar general of our diocese was Rev. Patrick Healy, of Chicopee, one of the stalwarts of our early days. After founding the parish of St. William (now All Saints), in Ware, he was promoted to the Holy Name pastorate, in Chico- pee, where he remained for twenty-five years, and in his early days extended his parochial jurisdiction as far as Indian Orchard on the one side and South Hadley on the other. He was the pioneer of religious education in our diocese, bringing teaching sisters and brothers to care for the children of Holy Name. He left the entire parish group cleared of all debt, a fact which he announced in a pathetic farewell to his people.
Our second vicar general was Rev. John J. Power, founder of the Worcester parishes-St. Ann's and St. Paul's. He brought the first sisters to our diocese, the Sisters of Mercy. A man of vision, he erected the lovely granite edifice of St. Paul's-still queen of Worcester's churches after a lapse of sixty years. Public spirited citi- zen, he served for years on Worcester's Library Commission and School Board, and his influence was always a power for good. After nearly thirty years in St. Paul's, he left the property free of debt, and a parish spirit which loves the beauties alike of Catholic truth and Catholic art.
Both the above were appointees of Bishop O'Reilly. Our third vicar general, Rt. Rev. Msgr. John T. Madden, appointed by the late Bishop Beaven, was pastor of Stockbridge, Warren and old St. Louis' parish, in Webster, rector of the Cathedral, and finally pastor of St. Jerome's, in Holyoke. A scholarly man, with a passion for method and exactness, he organized his parochial charges thoroughly and well, and left the impress of an orderly mind and rational regulations wherever he labored. He was the administrator of our diocese after Bishop Beaven's death, and was
honored by Bishop O'Leary with a reappointment as vicar general.
On the death of Monsignor Madden, Bishop O'Leary, amid general approval, designated as his new vicar general Rt. Rev. Msgr. Bernard S. Conaty, pastor of St. Joseph's Parish, in Pitts- field. Monsignor Conaty had previously served as rector of St. Michael's Cathedral and pastor of Sacred Heart, in Worcester, where he succeeded his nationally famous brother, the late Bishop of Los Angeles. A man of deep, unaffected piety, tireless in the service of souls, glorying alike in the multiplication of frequent Communions, to bring the people to their Eucharistic God and in the multiplication of parishes to bring the Church to the people, Monsignor Conaty has won the affection and confidence of priests and people alike, and all hope that the inspiration of his kindly presence and gentle guidance will long bless our diocese. Throughout his life he has been trusted adviser of his religious superiors, and the trusted holder of many a civic position. At Wor- cester, he rendered valuable service to the cause of truth by his long membership on the Library Commission. Enthusiastic in teaching his people to appreciate the better things of life, he was a valued guide along practical lines, and many a professional man or woman thanks him for the encouragement which was the initial impulse to a successful career. A lifelong and consistent advo- cate of total abstinence, Monsignor Conaty has just reminded us that this holy cause is not dead by sponsoring the national convention at Pitts- field. A firm, conscientious defender of Catholic education and its imperative necessity, Mon- signor Conaty spares no effort or expense to maintain in his central Catholic high school a scholarship standard to which all may look up. Plans for a new Catholic central high school in Pittsfield have already been adopted. Under his enthusiastic leadership, St. Luke's great hospital has brought the blessings of its trained services to the Berkshires, and our western county has ex- perienced a veritable revival of Catholic life in all its varied activities. On the warm recommendation of his Bishop, Father Conaty was raised to mem- bership in the papal household.
Right Reberend Monsignor Bernard S. Conaty, P. A., KL. A.
VICAR GENERAL DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD PERMANENT RECTOR OF ST. JOSEPH'S PARISH, PITTSFIELD
Our Monsignori
RT. REV. MSGR. JOHN P PHELAN WORCESTER Pastor Sacred Heart Parish
RT. REV. MSGR. JOHN T. SHEEHAN WARE
Pastor Our Lady of Mt Carmel Parish
RT. REV. MSGR. M. A. DESROCHERS WEBSTER Pastor Sacred Heart Church
VERY. REV. MSGR. JOACHIM MAFFEI WORCESTER Pastor Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish
RT. REV. MSGR. JOHN F FAGAN. P.R. HOLYOKE Pastor St. Jerome's Church
RT. REV. MSGR. JOHN F. CONLIN, P.R. CHICOPEE Pastor Holy Name Parish
GROUP OF SPRINGFIELD PRIESTS Raised to Honors of the Purple on the occasion of Bishop O'Leary's First Visit to Rome in Nineteen Twenty-Five
Our Monsignori
RT. REV. MSGR. L. O TRIGANNE SOUTHBRIDGE Pastor Notre Dame Parish
RT REV. MSGR. C. N. SULLIVAN SPRINGFIELD Pastor Holy Family Parish
RT. REV. MSGR. J. J. DONNELLY. P.R. FITCHBURG Pastor St. Bernard's Parish
RT. REV. MSGR. A. A. CYRAN WEBSTER Pastor St. Joseph's Parish
RT. REV. MSCR. W. E. FOLEY. P.R. HOLYOKE Pastor Sacred Heart Parish
GROUP OF SPRINGFIELD PRIESTS
Raised to Honors of the Purple on the occasion of Bishop O'Leary's Second Visit to Rome in Nineteen Twenty-Nine
Our Chancellors
HE Right Reverend Bishop's right hand in his communication with his diocese, and especially with the priests of his diocese, is the chancellor, keeper of dioce- san records, custodian of its archives, and as a rule, secretary to the bishop. All official correspondence is trans- mitted through him, all permanent entries in diocesan records are made by him, all diocesan documents are entrusted to him.
In its sixty years of existence, our diocese has had but four chancellors. The first was Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas Griffin, pastor of St. John's Church, in Worcester, in which position he suc- ceeded Bishop O'Reilly on the latter's elevation to the purple. For nearly thirty years thereafter the tireless Worcester pastor added the duties of chancellor to those of a parochial charge which at times included most of the city of Worcester and several missions beyond the city confines. Of course, the duties of chancellor were not as oner- ous then as they later became, but it speaks vol- umes for the energy of one of our busiest pastors that he performed the duties of chancellor for over a quarter of a century, in addition to the insistent demands of a growing city flock.
When Bishop Beaven decided that the duties of chancellor would demand most of the atten- tion of one priest, he selected Rev. Edward S. Fitzgerald, who combined the rectorship of the Cathedral with his duties as chancellor. He remained in office during the early years of the present century, and, in appreciation of a difficult task well performed, was elevated to the purple on the recommendation of his bishop, after he became pastor of Holy Rosary in Holyoke. He did not live long to enjoy his new honor. Scarcely a month after his investiture this soul of kindli- ness, courtesy and efficiency had been called to his reward.
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