USA > Michigan > Marquette County > Marquette > History Of The Diocese Of Sault Ste, Marie And Marquette; Containing A Full And Accurate Account Of The Development Of The Catholic Church In Upper Michigan, With Portraits Of Bishops, Priests And Illustrations Of Churches Old And New, Volume 1 > Part 2
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1 Verwyst, Life of B. Baraga, pg. 75.
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On the 29th of June 1797 Baraga was baptized in the parish church of Dober- nice by the assistant priest Anton Her- man and was named Irenaeus Frederic. His sponsors were Andreas Zurbi and Juliana Abulner.
Baraga himself never made use of his first name, Irenaeus, and is known only as Frederic Baraga.
In 1799 Baraga's parents sold the Ma- lavas possessions and bought the Castle at Treffen. From this time, changes around the native hearth were frequent. At the age of nine, young Frederic was sent to Laibach where, under a private tutor, he studied such branches as are common to elementary schools. Two years later, 1808, his pious mother died. and four years after, 1812. his father. Deprived of both parents, Frederic came into the house of Dr. George Dolinar. a layman, yet a professor in the Diocesan clerical Seminary. He was a man renowned for piety and learning. At the ripe age of ninety-five years he died. October 21. 1858. having lived long enough to see his protégé a Bishop.
Under Dolinar's wise guidance Fred- eric pursued his classical studies in the royal Gymnasium. French occupation of the country under Napoleon brought also the French language into the schools. It is in this school that Frederic acquired the fundamental knowledge of the French language, which was of so much service to him during all his missionary career. and which he so beautifully and perfectly spoke and wrote.
In 1816, at the age of nineteen, he en- tered the University of Vienna and ma- triculated in the law department. "Bara- ga's spiritual guide and confessor at Vi-
enna," writes Father Verwyst, "was Blessed Clement Maria Hofbauer, that illustrious member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, who died on the 15th of March 1820 and was beati- fied in 1888. It was most likely this holy man who awakened in the heart of Ba- raga the desire of devoting himself to the ecclesiastical state. Baraga visited him frequently at Vienna, and the sight and conversation of Blessed Clement Maria Hofbauer must have made a deep. last- ing and salutary impression on the pious and sensitive youth. Although Baraga never said anything about how or when. or by whom he was induced to study for the priesthood. we may safely conclude that. after God, it was due to the coun- sels and prayers of his holy confessor. The burning zeal of St. Alphonsus was infused into the heart of his worthy dis- ciple. Blessed Clement Maria Hofbauer. and he again communicated it to his spir- itual child Baraga." 2
After graduating, summer 1821, Bar- aga applied for admission into the Arch- diocese of Vienna. When he called on his own bishop the Rt. Rev. Augustine Gruber, for the papers necessary for a transfer into the Vienna diocese, he was prevailed upon. since he had decided to study for priesthood, to remain in his native diocese. Hence, the fall of the same year found him in the Seminary of Laibach. The fact that in two years he was admitted to Holy Orders, speaks loudly for his ability, as well as for his character. At the end of the second year. Sept. 21, A. D. 1823. he was ordained priest, and the following morning at five
: Op. cit. p. 85.
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strength and virtue which possessed St. Paul, the apostle."
Amalia, Baraga's oldest sister had rnarried a Gressel and was living on the - paternal estate at Treffen. On the 24th of May, 1824, his younger sister Antonia married Felix de Hoeffern, who, how- ever, died shortly afterwards. At this time Father Baraga renounced in favor of his two sisters the paternal estate, which was left to him by the will of his father.
With the autumn of 1824, commenced Baraga's pastoral activity. He was sent as assistant to St. Martin, near Krain- burg, where he remained until June, 1828, and, then was transferred, in the same capacity to Metlika, a difficult and somewhat neglected parish in Lower Car- niolia. In both these places Baraga's activity was not limited, however, to the duties of the priest in the school and church. Although extremely active in the pulpit, so much so, that the faithful flocked from near and far to hear his sermons, his zeal in the confessional can be measured only by the multitudes that continually surrounded his confessional, he also found time for literary pursuits. In St. Martin he began writing a Slov- enian prayer book, entitled "Dušna paša," -the pasture of the soul-concerning which Dr. Leon Voncina. Baraga's Slov- enian biographer says, "though many a prayer book has been published since then, none has been able to satisfy so well the spiritual wants of the Slovenian peo- ple and to retain popular appreciation, as Dušna paša: it is a cherished monument, by which Baraga lives and shall live in grateful remembrance of the faithful. pious Slovenians in and outside of the
borders of Krain." The universal Jubi- lee proclaimed by the then newly elected Pope Leo XII. caused him to write this book. It appeared first in the year 1830, together with "the Veneration and Imita- tion of the Blessed Mother of God" trans- lated from the German at the instigation of his life long friend, Augustin Sluga, Dean of Krainburg. Since then it has lived to see ten editions, the last one in 1905, in 84,000 copies.
On the 29th day of May, 1829, the "Leopoldinen Stiftung," a society for the supporting of Missions in North Amer- ica, was established in Vienna under the protectorate of his Imperial Highness, the Archduke Rudolph, Cardinal Prince Archbishop of Olmuetz. This news was heralded by the press throughout the em- pire. Baraga received it on the Feast of St. Aloysius and considered it very sig- nificant. The long pent up ambitions broke forth from the heart. where they lay so long enclosed, with unchecked en- thusiasm. A consultation with his sister was held. The Bishop favored the idea. the Prince Archbishop of Vienna acting as Protector of the organization, prom- ised the necessary pecuniary means. There only remained to find a Bishop in America who would receive him into his Diocese.
Bishop Fenwick's name, of Cincinnati, suggested itself for the reason that he was. through his Vicar-General Rese, the main instigator for the establishment of the Leopoldine Society. To him there- fore Baraga addressed, November 13, 1829, the following letter :
"To the Most Reverend Lord, Lord Ed- ward Fenwick, most worthy bishop of Cincinnati.
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ship . would receive me among the mis- sionaries of your Diocese.
Testimonials and other documents con- · cerning my age, studies, etc., I shall not now send to your Lordship, because they cannot be sent without great expense into so distant a country. When, however, the good God, who has given me this desire, also gives the chance to fulfill it, I shall show your Lordship all the docu- ments and testimonials at my own hands. For the present I note only these neces- saries : I was born on the 29th of June, 1797 in Illyria, diocese of Laibach, in the kingdom of Austria. My studies I pur- sued partly in Laibach, Illyria, and Vienna, Austria. I was ordained Sep- tember 21, 1823. I speak German, Il- lyrian, Latin, French, Italian and Eng- lish.
Commending myself to your Lordship for a pious memento, as I never cease to pray for my most reverend future bishop.
FREDERIC BARRAGA,
Assistant priest in the parish of Moett- ling, Lower Illyria.3
MOETTLING, November 13. 1829.
On the seventh anniversary of his first Mass, September 22, 1830, he received the joyful tidings from the Vicar General of Cincinnati that he would be accepted and that he might come as soon as pos- sible. Baraga burst forth like into a sec- ond Magnificat: "Now at length I hear from afar a voice, which invites me to come to the holy mission !"
He lost no time communicating his good success to the Ordinary of Laibach and received in reply the following letter
which betrays the esteem in which Baraga was held by the Clergy and the Bishop :
"Greeting to our, in Christ beloved, Rev. Frederic Baraga, secular priest of our Diocese, and assistant in the parish of Moettling.
"Whereas, you have duly advised Us. that the Very Rev. Frederick Rese, Vicar General of the Diocese of Cincin- nati in North America, by letters writ- ten to you on the 13th of July this year has invited and received you into the mis- sions of said Diocese, We greatly praise your zeal which has so long imbued you with the desire of being sent as a mis- sionary to those regions, and wishing to encourage priests, as much as it is in Our power, whose desire it may be to be sent out for the sake of the Gospel, We there- fore release you, the aforesaid Rev. Fred- eric Baraga, secular priest, with an ach- ing yet a benevolent heart, from every tie which has heretofore held you to our Diocese and by these presents We for- ever dismiss you into the Diocese of Cin- cinnati, and consider you dismissed for- ever out of our Diocese of Laibach, and We transfer all Our right and authority which We had in you, to the Most Illus- trious and Most Rev. Bishop of Cincin- nati, and- at the same time attest that, ever since the year 1823, when you have received in Our Cathedral at Laibach the sacred order of the Presbyterate, you have, as assistant pastor, given yourself uninterruptedly to the care of souls, the preaching of the divine word and the ad- ministration of the Sacrament of Pen- ance, in the different parishes of this Dio- cese, and in the fulfilling of this holy of- fice you have so much excelled by your sound judgment, good morals, piety in
3 Original in the archives of the Notre Dame University, Ind.
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religious exercises, generosity towards the poor, and blamelessness of life, that you have fully merited the esteem and love of the clergy and Our good will. Therefore, parting from Us under no ec- clesiastical censures or canonical strict- ures, but with good and laudable habits, We commend you, in the Lord, to the favor of the Most Illustrious and Most Rev. Bishop who has received you, and to all to whom you may come.
In witness whereof we have signed these letters of dismissal and commenda- tion as well, and have ordered Our great seal affixed to them. Given from Our Episcopal residence at Laibach, the 28th of September, 1830.
(Signed) ANTONIUS ALOYSIUS, Bishop.
JAMES PRAPROTNIK,
Notary of the Episcopal Office.+
Having completed preparations for the long journey, Baraga bade farewell to home and relations on October 29th, and took passage in a stage-coach for Vienna,
where he arrived early in the morning of November Ist-the feast of All Saints, 1830. His reception was a cordial one. Be- sides many gifts, useful for missions, from - the Viennese, he received four hundred florins (about one hundred and sixty-five American dollars) from the Leopoldine Society. Departing from Vienna on the twelfth, he arrived, by the way of Mu- nich, Strassburg and Paris, at Havre, on the 27th of November ( 1830).
His voyage across the Atlantic, on a sail boat, occupied exactly thirty days. With the exception of one and a half days the weather was favorable enough. None the worse for the experience as a deck passenger and from sea-sickness, he re- gained his natural humor and good feel- ing as soon as he stepped on the soil of the New World in New York, December 3Ist. 1830, at ten o'clock in the forenoon. His first thoughts, after rehabilitating himself for a few days of rest, was his anxious sisters, and January 2nd he ad-
' Dilecto Nobis in Christo Rdo Dno Friderico Baraga Dioceseos Nostrae Presbytero Saeculari et Cooperatori Parochiae Moettlicensis Salutem! Cum Nos legitime docueris, Te a Reverendis- simo Domino Friderico Rese Vicario Generali Diocesis Cincinnatensis in America Septentrionali per litteras die 13. Julii hujus anni ad Te datas, fuisse invitatum et receptum pro Missionibus is- tius Dioecesis, Nos zelum Tuum, quo in Mission- arium ditionum illarum deligi et mitti jam diu constanter desideras summopere laudantes, et Pesbyteris Evangelii causa mittendis pro viribus consulere cupientes, Te antefatum R. D. Frider- icum Baraga Sacerdotem Saecularem a vinculo, quo huic Nostrae Diocesi Labacensi hucusque adstrictus fuisti, dolenti puidem sed benevolo an- imo hisce absolvimus, Teque ad Dioecesim Cin- cinnatensem tenore praesentium in perpetuum dimittimus, et e Diocesi Nostra Labacensi per- petuo dimissum declaramus, omne jus et auctor- itatem, quam hactenus in Te habuimus, in Illus- trissimum et Reverendissimum Dominum Epis- copum Cincinnatensem transferentes simulque at- testantes, Te ab anno 1823, quo in cathedrali Nos- tra Labacensi Sacrum Presbyteratus ordinem sus-
ceperas, incessanter curae animarum, praedica- tioni verbi divini et administrationi sacri poen- itentiae Tribunalis in diversis hujus Diocesis par- ochiis qua Sacerdotem Subsidiarium insudasse, et in obeundo hoc munere sancto, maturitate spiritus. compositione morum, pietate in religionis exer- citiis, beneficentia erga egenos, vitaeque inno- centia ita excelluisse, ut Cleri aestimationem et amorem, Nostramque Tibi concilliaveris benevol- entiam, quare Te a Nobis discedentem nulla cen- sura ecclesiastica aut impedimento canonico irre- titum in bonis laudabilisque moribus instructum Illustrissimi et Reverendissimi Domini receptoris Tui, omniumque ad quos perveneris, favoribus perimpense in Domino commendamus.
In quorum fidem praesentes propriae manus subscriptione firmatas et majoris sigilli adposi- tione roboratas extradari jussimus litteras dimis- soriales simulque commendatitias.
Ex Residentia Nostra episcopali Labaci die 28. Septembris 1830.
(Sigillum)
Antonius Aloysius Episcopus.
Jac. Praprotnik. Officii Episcopalis Notarius.
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ing Baltimore on the 12th he reached, by way of Columbus, on the 18th of Jan- uary, the end of his journey-Cincinnati. A total of sixty-seven days from Vienna to Cincinnati.
At Cincinnati a new life began for Bar- aga. Besides the Rt. Rev. Bishop, five priests and four theologians lived in the same house. The daily life was similar to that of a regular community, with the Bishop as Superior. Meals were in com- mon and so were the prayers; and in the work they all shared, each according to his fitness. Father Baraga was suffi- ciently conversant with the English lan- guage to perform ordinary duties, al- though, he could not as yet preach in it. There was a German portion of the con- gregation in the city, and they employed him in the ministry there, to the fullest extent of his ambitions. Nothing, how- ever, could dampen his ardor. Among the theological students there was a full- blooded Ottawa Indian, William Maka- tebinessi, who became Baraga's instructor in the Indian language, because soon after his arrival he disclosed to his Bishop, the desire to consecrate himself to the Indian missions. Besides the or- dinary priestly functions, therefore, Bar- aga studied English and Indian. Who was more delighted than the good Bishop Fenwick! He promised Fr. Baraga that with the first of spring he would take him along, north, to the Indian mission, his future field of labor. The three months, which Baraga spent at Cincinnati, were well spent in acquiring as much as pos- sible of that terrible yard-long Indian vo- cabulary. The day for departure was set. We let Father Baraga tell, in his own words, of this most interesting trip from
Cincinnati, Ohio, to Arbre Croche, Mich- igan.
This letter he wrote from his new mis- sion to the Leopoldine Society on the 22nd of August, 1831.
"On the 21st of April, this year, I set out from Cincinnati for the mission as- signed to me. For the sake of a more complete narrative, I must mention here a few things regarding the indefatigable zeal for the cause of God of my Vener- able Bishop, which in his humility, he passed over in silence in his former com- munication to the Leopoldine Society. For the welfare of the missions among the savages, the Bishop decided to make with me the whole trip from Cincinnati to Arbre Croche. The Indians of his region know him, because he had been here once before, and they call him the Great Black-robe, or the High Priest, and have great respect for as well as un- bounded confidence in him. It was, there- fore, very advantageous that he came with me and installed me in their midsts. "The distance from Cincinnati to this mission station is at least as great as that from Vienna to Naples.
"Bishop Fenwick desired me to leave Cincinnati a couple of weeks before him in order to look up, on the way, where there are no priests, Catholic families and give them an opportunity to perform their Easter duty. In a small town, called Mi- amisburg, thirty-five miles from Cincin- nati, I found the first Catholics, and they were Germans. I staid there a few days, said Mass, preached three times, and heard confessions. I learned there that there was another Catholic family twelve miles from Miamisburg, whither I be- took myself and found an honorable man
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with his worthy wife and six children. The good people were delighted at my coming, and prepared for their Easter confessions, receiving, together with their two older children, Holy Communion next morning. I held services in a large room of the house.
"In the neighborhood live many Ger- mans who are Protestants but who, nev- ertheless, gladly hear the word of God, even though preached by a Catholic priest. This man had informed his neighbors that a Catholic priest had ar- rived-I was, as they told me, the first Catholic priest who ever came to that region-and thus many assembled to hear the sermon. They were satisfied with the doctrine announced, but no tree falls with the first stroke.
"Next day, this man conducted me three miles farther into the woods to a venerable old Irishman. I was informed that this poor old man, of eighty-one years, had been living a long time in that wilderness, and that he was now almost blind and deaf, and likely had no chance for many years to receive the sacraments. The evening before my in- tended visit I sent a boy to tell him that a priest would come next morning to hear his confession and give him Holy Com- munion, at which news, the good old man rejoiced greatly. In the morning I went there and found him in a miserable hut. In this shanty resides with him his wife, three other women, and five children. The poor old man who had not seen a priest for more than fifty years, received the holy sacraments of which he had stood in need for so long a time. The other inhabitants of this hut, were not
Catholics. I was heartily glad to have been able to give spiritual help to this poor old man who stands at the door of eternity.
"God gave me in addition another in- effable consolation. As above remarked, there were five small children of different mothers in this hut, and I learned that none of them had as yet been baptized. Their mothers, unfortunate creatures, profess no religion, and consequently did not trouble themselves about having their offspring baptized, as there are many such individuals in this wild and all-too- free country. Besides, no priest had ever before penetrated this wilderness. When I proposed to them to baptize their chil- dren, two of the mothers immediately consented, but the third one acquiesced only after a while, and then I proceeded with the baptismal function. I thanked God most heartily and begged him, if it were His will, to take to Himself all or some of these poor innocent creatures, who have now become his children, or to let them become more happily situated than they are at present.
"I then returned to Miamisburg and journeyed further to another, quite a large city named Dayton. Here I awaited the Rt. Rev. Bishop Fenwick, and in the meantime performed mission- ary duties in the city. There are but few Catholics there, and with the exception of a few, all are lukewarm.
"On the first of May I said Mass in the Catholic house where I was staying, and in the afternoon I preached in a Pro- testant church. There are many Ger- mans here of all sects. It appeared to me very singular to preach in a Protestant church, before a Protestant congregation,
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AUGUSTINUS DEI ET APOSTOLICA SEDIS GRATIA EPISCOPUS LABACENSIS, S. THEOLOGIA DOCTOR, S. C. R. APOST: MAJESTATIS CONSILIARIUS AULICUS ET STATUS INTIMUS ACTUALIS.
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F idem facimus, nos anno salutis millesimo octingentesimo vigesimo Teatro die vigesima prima mensis Septembris, que dies fuit Dom. 18 " Dent et A .. Matth. to ettosservato ritu sancte romane ecclesia dilecto nobis Geriderico Barraga Dio e c'e se os hujus Labacensis Dia co no previe examinato, et approbato in Cathédrale Labai. S. Nicolau En. C. assistente nobis spiritu sancto s.a cru sby teratus ordinem contulisse. um Cresby zero
Quam in rem has literas officii sigillo, manuque nostra munitas dedimus. Ex palatio nostro episcopali
Labaci anno Domini MDCCCXXIII die 23. mensis Septembris
Augustinus E C ChachSfeifer Notario.,
+
Jana 30 0
FACSIMILE OF BISHOP BARAGA'S ORDINATION CERTIFICATE.
:
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and without surplice or stole. Alas! it is really a misery the way religion fares in this country. In addition to the many sects, one finds everywhere a great num- ber of real atheists, who are neither bap- tized nor profess any kind of faith or re- ligion. Among them, many good natured people are to be found, who have grown up in this sad state, only through the neg- lect of their parents, and for want of priests, and they remain so, because they know no better. Many of these unhappy individuals could be easily gained for God and the Church, if there was but a priest to instruct them. I was tempted to ask my Bishop to let me always travel around in the country and seek such lost souls with whom I could remain until they were thoroughly instructed, baptized and strengthened in the practice of their faith. How many souls might I not gain for God! I deliberated earnestly upon this matter, when yet in Cincinnati, with the Very Rev. Vicar General Rese, but he told me that it would be better and still more beneficial to go to the savages, for the prospects there were brighter still. Hence, all I can do in this regard is to pray to the Lord that he may soon send more laborers into this abandoned part of the vineyard, that after all, so many souls, redeemed with his precious blood, may not perish.
"From Dayton, I accompanied the Bishop to Detroit where we arrived on the 15th of May, and staid there five days. In this city there are many French and German Catholics, and I spent my time in preaching and hearing confessions. From Detroit we journeyed by water to Michillimackinac, from where, after a short stay, I departed for my mission,
and arrived on the 28th of May at Arbre Croche, and shortly thereafter my Bishop came. Happy day which led me among these savages with whom I shall spend all my life, if such be the most holy will of God.5
I will send a Prophet to you
A Deliverer of the nations
Who shall guide you and shall teach you Who shall toil and suffer with you. "
Arbre Croche, or Crooked Tree, was called Waganakisi in the Ottawa dialect and is at the present day Harbour Spring, of Emmet county, Lower Michigan. In 1829, Bishop Fenwick revived the old Jesuit-mission and sent Rev. Peter John Dejean, a French secular priest, as the first stationary missionary. This priest had done excellent work in his new com- mission; not only had he revived the faith among those who had some limited knowledge of Christianity, but had also instructed many in the faith and baptized them. Several buildings were put up dur- ing his pastorate, a church fifty four feet in length and fifty feet wide, a parsonage with three rooms and a large room used for school accommodations, boys and girls separately receiving instructions from two lady teachers. All these build- ings were of logs, poorly enough con- structed, so that Baraga had to spread his cloak over his books and the umbrella over his bed, to keep his friends and himself from getting wet in rainy weath- er. But they were buildings, a great step toward civilization! Father Dejean had returned to his native France on account of personal affairs. Baraga, upon his succession to the mission, makes the fol-
" Berichte der Loepoldinen Stiftung, IV., pp. 5-9.
® Hiawatha.
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lowing entry in Latin in the baptismal record :
"On the 28th day of May, in the year 1831, the Most Illustrious and Reverend Edward Dominic Fenwick, Bishop of Cincinnati, brought me, the undersigned, a secular priest born in Illyria, a province of the Austrian Empire, here, to per- form the office of a missionary among the Indians of the region. He, himself, the Most Illustrious and Rev. Bishop, re- mained here from the above-named day until the 3d of June, in which time he baptized two adults and twenty-six chil- dren.
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