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 25
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most of your attention. All whose eyes are open, and whose experience in this country embraces the last thirty or forty years, clearly see, that unless children are trained, nurtured and schooled, under Catholic influences and teachings, they will be lost to God's church. The only ar- gument brought by half-Catholics against the establishment of Catholic schools for Catholic children, is that one of expense. It costs money to support schools; so it does to support churches. The school is as necessary for the child as the church is for the parents. Better than all other arguments with regard to this obligation of providing Catholic education for Cath- olic children, are the teachings of the Holy See, as made known in a letter addressed to the Bishops of the United States. No Catholic is in harmony with the Church who maintains opinions opposed to these teachings." 1 Another well measured step was taken by the Bishop, when, continu- ing in the same Pastoral, he said: "A great help in the Catholic education of children is to be found in providing them with good reading ; not alone for the chil- dren is this helpful, but for adults as well. The power of the press, for good or for evil, is felt in every house in the land. So many read the newspapers, that those few who do not, come under the influence of those who do. We warn the parents against the danger of permitting un- wholesome reading of any kind. They must, therefore, watch the newspaper, the novel, the magazine, and the books which find their way into the home. Sometimes the poison in the newspapers lingers in the unsuspected advertisement : then in stories of doubtful character ; then
1 Pastoral, January 25, 1885.
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others, already in use, for higher instruc- tion.
The Pastoral of 1887 the Bishop de- voted to the aims of the Propagation of Faith, and in connection with it orders 'the pastors of souls to read the Passion of our Lord, in the language spoken by the congregation, on Palm Sunday or during the Holy Week, at the evening services.'-"Finally we exhort the pas- tors to explain to their people the obliga- tions which the last Council of Baltimore imposes upon them; especially those which refer to the observances of the Sunday, to the religious education of their children, their duty of supporting the church and schools."
As subject for the Pastoral of 1888 the Bishop took up "Societies, in order that those conducive to good may be encour- aged, and those tending to evil discoun- tenanced as dangerous to Christian faith and morals, and that our people be dissuaded from joining them: while others still be condemned and henceforth shunned as nominally forbidden by the infallible teaching of our Holy Church."
The Bishop first encourages the es- tablishment of purely religious societies and sodalities in each parish under the im- mediate supervision of local pastors ; then he recommends the introduction of Con- fraternities and Associations, such as the Society for a Happy Death, the Apostle- ship of Prayer, but above all the Taber- nacle Society, "which effects great good in the poor missions of this new country where existing churches, and new ones to be erected, are and will be in need of ar- ticles for the altar, vestments and access- ories for the celebration of divine service and where the poor people, coming in al-
most destitute, have not the means where- with to supply these necessaries."
The good Bishop had reason to speak so well of this Society, for he received annually large shipments of every kind of linens, vestments and other useful fur- nishings from the Tabernacle Society in Philadelphia, and was in turn happy, deal- ing out to the visiting priests whatever they stood in need of. He saw the bene- ficial effects of the Society's labors and therefore anxious that the diocese should also contribute a quota of membership. "The conditions for admission into the Society and the spiritual benefits attached to membership will be announced to the congregation at the time of the Forty Hours' Adoration in each mission of the diocese." Here he directed each pastor to state the date of the Forty Hours, and then gave the following history of the Society :
"This association was founded at Brussels, Belgium, through the piety and zeal of Anna de Meeus, but feeling her- self and her few holy companions un- equal to the task of conducting so exten- sive a work. and in order that the asso- ciation might more surely attain its pro- posed end. she instituted a religious con- gregation as an aid to its work, and to be as it were, a centre to awaken and propa- gate a love and reverence for the most Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Heart. (At the invitation of the late venerable Pontiff Pius IX. we, in our diocese, years ago, in accord with the whole Christian world, consecrated ourselves to the work of promoting this devotion to the Sacred Heart ). Accordingly a house of religious Sisters of the Perpetual Adoration was founded at Brussels in the year 1857, and
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by a belief in the Real Presence we con- found all the false philosophy which would bring everything, even the Infinite God Himself, under the laws of matter, time and space. The members of the Tabernacle Society bind themselves es- pecially to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and to draw others through said Society to this devotion. They con- dole with our dear Savior on the coldness and indifference of some, even members of the true Church, and thus they seek to quench the thirst of the sacrificed Sav- ior, to be known and loved by his re- deemed people. The principal means they employ to glorify Jesus in the Blessed - Blessed Sacrament is exposed for public Sacrament are : to labor for the increase of the association; to exercise a salutary influence on souls; and to take a par- ticular interest in poor and destitute Churches, in which the sacrament of love is not properly accompanied and sur- rounded, by at least the external marks and evidence of living faith. .
"The Associates of the society select for expiation certain sins that directly touch the honor of the most Blessed Sac- rament. In our country there is consid- erable infidelity, not perhaps of the vic- ious and blasphemous type so familiar to Europe, but closely approaching it by sure and steady degrees. The intense devo- tions to wealth, and to the mere pleasure of worldly life, destroy in man even the the natural aspirations towards the Di- vinity, as our last end. For this total for- getfulness of God, the associates will strive to make reparation to Him who is ignored or even denied in the midst of his own creation.
"Heresy also calls for special acts of faith in the Church, and in the dogma of
the Eucharist, which is denied or per- verted by all the sects, even those which retain certain ritualistic forms. The true faith is unerringly professed in but one church-our own. It is, alas! a frightful possibility that Jesus may be received into an unworthy and sacrilegious breast. The name of God, and the sweet name of Jesus, are recklessly blasphemed. Here is another matter for reparation. The neglect of hearing Mass on Sunday; the indifference of many towards the after- noon Sunday Service, and to the grace of Benediction; the carelessness in at- tendance on other occasions when the adoration; are all subjects of reparation for the devout associate. The mind be- ing directed to the Blessed Sacrament, to this memorial of the wondrous works of God, soon becomes absorbed in contem- plation, love and desire for the Divine Glory. This august Sacrament becomes a mirror in which we behold the Omnip- otence, the Love, and the Infinite Wis- dom of God. We begin to form some idea of the extent of the Incarnation of which the Eucharist is the complement, for Jesus Christ is seen communicating himself to every soul which he came to redeem. He is not merely a historical personage who lived, spoke and died nineteen centuries ago in one part of the world, and amidst a small tribe of the human family. By the Eucharist He is placed in direct communication with all men, in all ages, thus carrying to its high- est point the ineffable and infinite sweet- ness and power of His Incarnation." 3
Concerning the secular Catholic So-
3 Pastoral, dated January 20, 1888.
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of Baltimore, we do not intend nominally to condemn any society, which is not condemned in any, or in all the dioceses of the United States, still, as the Ordi- nary of our diocese, we declare that any organization imposing an act of secrecy on its members, not to be revealed to Church authority, i.e. the Bishop or a Priest deputed by the Bishop, and having at the same time a Ritual or a Chaplain attached to it, is dangerous for Catholics, and in each individual case, members who will not withdraw from such, shall be denied the Sacramental absolution when living, and deprived of Christian burial when they die.
"We again exhort you to unity of spirit as members of the same household, to practice the virtues of sobriety, humil- ity, obedience, generosity, and to charity in word and deed, for the propagation of the Kingdom of God on earth and our own sanctification and final salvation. 'But increase in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity.'-(II St. Peter, ch. 3, V. 18.)"4
This circular practically exhausted the most important subject on which the di- rection of the Ordinary was necessary for the safe guidance of the priests and their people. It seems to us that for these reasons the Lenten Pastoral for 1889 was of a more general character pertaining to the spiritual life. The Bishop writes:
"Beloved brethren: Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came upon earth to redeem us, to atone for our sins and to wash them away with his precious blood. Christ was offered once to exhaust the
sins of many. (St. Paul Heb. IX. 28.) That one expiatory act of Our Redeemer, so far as its efficacy is concerned, blotted our every sin committed from the begin- ning of the world to the end of time. But, with regard to the positive effect of the redemption there is a contingency ever to be borne in mind by the sinner of which St. Augustine reminds us when he says: 'He who created you without your concurrence, will not save you without your co-operation.' It stands to reason, dear children in Christ, that no ruler can forgive a rebellious subject, if that sub- ject persevere in his rebellion or con- tinue to foster a seditious spirit. Hence, it follows: that although Christ died for all, not all shall be saved; for it is a fact of daily, nay, hourly experience that men in a state of open revolt against God, in a state of willful mortal sin, not only manifest no desire to repent, but even glory in their guilt. and determinedly die in their iniquity. We continually witness examples of this fact even where the means of salvation have been thrust and obtruded on men, with a lavish prodi- gality by the divine mercy. This is the first reason why the merits of Jesus Christ, of themselves all sufficient, are often inefficacious in their result. There is another cause, however, why they re- main without effect. It is because the declared will of God has conditioned the application of those merits on the perfor- mance of certain actions, the use of cer- tains means, without which no one, ordi- narily speaking, can profit by the infinite graces obtained for mankind by His Di- vine Son. I say ordinarily, because the hand of Almighty God is not shortened, and, in His inscrutable mercy, He may
4 Pastoral, dated January 20, 1888.
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vouchsafe to have recourse to extraordi- nary ways, but we have nothing to do with these. It is supreme folly to look for extraordinary aids, to the exclusion of the ordinary ones instituted by God. When these latter are not properly em- ployed by man, it is an expressed declara- tion of the infallible teaching of the Church of God that the merits of Jesus Christ shall be of no avail in man's re- gard.
"The means, dear brethren, whereby the merits of the passion and death of our Lord may be applied to us are the holy sacraments of the Catholic Church, with- out the worthy reception of which, if we be in the state of sin, all other good or penitential works will not avail towards obtaining eternal life; whereas, by the worthy use of these means of salvation, all our personal endeavors become accept- able and meritorious in the sight of God, and purify us still more and more from our past iniquity. Let us, therefore, dur- ing this season of Lent, frequently go to the throne of the mercy of God in the tribunal of penance and be united to our Savior in the Holy Eucharist, not only to comply with the letter of the com- mandment of the Church, but in order to enter into the spirit of the same, of which the spirit of God reminds us, saying 'This is the will of God your sanctifica- cation.' In order, therefore, that you may all have the opportunity to blot out the least vestige of sin during the holy Easter time, we ordain that in each mis- sion in the diocese, where there is a church, a triduum-forty hours' devotion -will be held in the Easter time whenever convenient to the respective pastors, dur- ing which time the faithful shall be in-
structed on the special graces of a plen- ary indulgence and God's mercy in grant- ing it on the condition of a worthy re- ception of the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist, praying devoutly at least five Paters and Aves for the conversion of sinners and the exaltation of the Holy Catholic Church, and contributing, ac- cording to their charity, an alms which shall be applied for the benefit of the In- dians and Negroes; said alms to be de- posited in a box placed in the church for that purpose. This plenary indulgence may be applied to the souls in purgatory, per modum suffragii, as a supplication for the remission of the punishment due to souls after death, and which God may or may not accept. Thus fulfilling the spirit of the Church by praying, fasting, alms giving, and receiving the sacra- ments, we are doing the penance without which, as the Lord himself assures, we shall not enter into the kingdom of God. This spirit of penance was always neces- sary for the forgiveness of sin from the fall of Adam, during all the succeeding ages of the old law which foreshadowed the more explicit means instituted by the Author of our Redemption in the dis- pensation of Grace.
"Such, dear brethren, are the wonder- ful means the patient love of God has in- vented and inculcated to rescue us from sin and from its direful effects. To us, who have been from childhood accus- tomed to the reception of these graces, they seem an ordinary gift; but,-if we understood the merciful means of the re- mission of sins in its full value and real- ity, we would call on the universe to : thank God for this inestimable gift, as manifested in its institution. We should
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vogue in European countries, would act as counsellors to the Bishop in the ad- ministration of temporal affairs. In 1887 Bishop Vertin had appointed Rev. Edward Jacker his first Vicar General and at the same time Revs. Gerhard Ter- horst and Eugene Buttermann, O. S. F., his first consultors. At the close of the first decade of his episcopate he wished to carry out more fully the provisions of the Council. To do so with more defer- ence to the wishes of his clergy he called a Prosynodal Conference on the 23d of October 1889.
The meeting was held in the Cathedral in prescribed form. Present were : Revs. G. Terhorst, H. Bourion, A. Vermare, C. Langner, F. Eis, P. C. Menard, R. Char- tier, S. J., E. Buttermann, O. S. F., E. P. Bordas, J. E. Martel, J. Haas, J. M. G. Manning, J. Keul, I. Otis, T. J. At- field, M. Faust, F. X. Becker, A. Krogul- ski, F. Marceau, J. M. Langan, J. Kunes, T. V. Dassylva, J. R. Boissonnault, M. Kehoe, A. Vitali, F. Sutter, M. Weiss, J. H. Reynaert.
The subject brought before the Con- ference was the simple question, whether anything should be added, taken off or changed in the existing laws of the dio- cese. After due deliberation the assem- bled priests agreed to ask the Rt. Rev. Ordinary to consider the following ob- servations :
BAPTISM .- (A) The Right Rever- end Ordinary is petitioned to do away with a censure of suspension (mention of which is to be found in the old Statutes of the Diocese) incurred in the case of a priest baptizing in a private house with- out necessity. The motive for request- ing said privilege is the uncertainty
which not infrequently exists in the priest's mind as to whether there are sufficient reasons or not for baptizing as above stated.
(B) Resolved that people living with- in three miles must bring their children to the church for baptism.
(C) Resolved that when one pastor baptizes for another, the former is en- titled to keep whatever offering is made.
HOLY EUCHARIST .- (D) Re- solved that children under twelve years of age shall as a rule not be admitted to First Holy Communion.
MATRIMONY .- (E) Resolved that when the contracting parties belong to different missions, the publication of Banns be made in both missions.
(F) Decided by the Rt. Rev. Bishop and approved by the clergy that the fee for a marriage be at least $5.00, with Nuptial High Mass an additional $5.00.
FUNERALS .- (G) Resolved that three classes of funerals be established and that the Rt. Rev. Bishop decide the tax to be collected for each.
( H) Resolved that the hour for funer- al services in the morning be fixed at 9 o'clock.
SCHOOLS .- (I) Resolved that Fath- er Weninger's Larger Catechism at pres- ent obligatory for the first year after First Communion be abandoned and some other substituted, E. G. Deharbe's or the Abbe Colon's.
(J) Resolved that the Bishop state more explicitly, when absolution shall be refused for refusal to comply with the rule of the church, obliging parents to provide for the religious education of their children.
The Right Reverend Bishop explained
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Public Schools, unless they have a written permission from the Bishop to the con- trary. It is not intended however to visit with this penalty the innocent child, mother or father as the case may be, only the guilty parties. As to those who are really too poor to pay the tuition of their children at the Parochial School, the pastor and his congregation must devise some means, whereby the children of the aforesaid poor parents may enjoy the same privilege as others.
THE INFIRM PRIEST'S FUND .- Every priest on the mission will send in his name and the name of his mission, with $10.00 for himself and $10.00 more from his mission to the president of this association, who will send the amount collected to the Treasurer, and the names of priests and missions with account given to the Secretary, both of whom will have account books for that purpose. The Board of Directors are the Bishop and his Councilors who will direct where and how the money may be utilized. If any clergyman shall leave the diocese or be dismissed from actual duty therein, the money he paid in for himself will be returned to him, and he will have no further claim on said association. The Missions attended to by Regulars must contribute also from their revenues $10 a year towards this fund. The amount should be sent in before the Ist of March.
The yearly amount to be paid to infirm or superannuated priests will be $400, to be paid quarterly.
At the close of the conference the Bishop announced as Consultors Rev. G. Terhorst, F. Eis, H. Bourion, R. Char- tier, S. J., and the following officers of all sections of the diocese. the diocesan curia :
Secretary, Rev. J. M. Langan.
In judicial matters : Procurator fis- calis, Rev. H. Bourion; defensor, Rev. J. Čebul; secretary, Rev. P. C. Menard; Notarius, Rev. A. Vitali, U. J. D.
For matrimonial cases : Moderator, Rev. C. Langner; Defensor, P. C. Me- hard; secretary, Rev. M. Kehoe; notary, Rev. A. Krogulski; Examiners of junior clergy, Rev. J. Čebul, Rev. C. Langner, Rev. M. Kehoe.
School-examiners: Rev. H. Rousseau, Rev. C. Langner and T. J. Atfield.
A new tariff of charges for stipends was framed and approved of by the Congre- gation of Propaganda Fide. Sending it out, under date of March 19, 1895, the Bishop orders it "framed and hung up beside the other rules and regulations of the diocese." They are still in force and may be seen in the vestibules of our churches.
Thus Bishop Vertin bent his energies on improving his diocese, and at the same time quietly pushed the work on his Ca- thedral. The spring of 1890 found the great church frescoed and furnished. Without delay the Bishop committed it to its purpose. On March 25th Mass was read upstairs, but the solemn consecration was deferred to the summer season.
For this solemnity extensive prepara- tions were made. The Bishop desired that it should be a memorable day for the whole diocese. Invitations were accord- ingly sent through the pastors to the faithful of every mission. On the morn- ing of Sunday, July 27th ( 1890) special trains brought the visitors to the city from
On account of the lengthy ritual
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All trains on Monday brought in friend to his fellowmen. This is my ver- guests so that in the evening several dict. This, Bishop, is the verdict of all who knew you, whether clergy or layman. bishops and almost very diocesan priest was present. About eight o'clock in the "When later, through God's holy ordi- nance, you assumed the burden of the episcopacy, the man and the priest changed not, save that the added charge but awoke new energy in the cause of God and humanity. Before you lay a large parcel of God's chosen domain-at your disposal were at first but few labor- ers. Certainly the task was neither an envious nor an envied one. With God as your guide, with right and justice as your standard, you undertook the task and to- day it bears rich and honored fruit. This is evident when we look at the condition of the diocese today and compare its present showing with that when you as- sumed control. evening citizens of Marquette and others, without distinction of creed, quietly filled the spacious basement of the Cathedral as it had never been filled before. The clergy ranged themselves about the sanctuary and upon request the Bishop, accompanied by the visiting bishops, entered without suspicion of what was in store for him. The Marquette City Band, which turned out in honor of the occasion, played one of its finest selections. Then Father At- field, the first-ordained of Bishop Vertin, presented him with the purse on behalf of the laity and with the pontifical vest- ments on the part of his clergy. Present- ing these tokens of esteem. Father Atfield said: "Rt. Rev. and dear Bishop; it is with pride that I offer you the acknowl- edgments of the clergy of the diocese on this eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of your ordination.
"Our first duty is one of thanks, for having spared you, to the God of all good- ness. The more so as you have trained every gift to His profit and to a reckon- ing that you yourself can well be proud of. As a priest you necessarily had to contend with troubles and inconveniences incidental to all pioneer missionary life, but in spite of these, a man never said, you swerved to any but the side of the right. Your labors as a missionary, which were confined principally to the parishes of St. Ignatius, Houghton, and that of St. Paul, Negaunee, bore three marks, i.e., that of the untiring, unselfish servant of God, that of the true priest of God's Church, that of the whole hearted
"When you entered your episcopal seat you found your cathedral in ashes. Time and your energy have raised above the ashes this edifice at which the eyes of more populous and wealthy communities can gaze with envy and wonder.
"Then your clergy were numbered in the lower twenties, now their numbers are up in the fifties. Then the churches of the diocese were, for the most part. modest unassuming structures, with rear additions as residences for their pastors. Now in the same place we find two, three and even four parishes, and each outdoes in cost, size and magnificence of structure its good old primitive parent.
"And our schools, what a small part these handmaids of church and religion played then! Now they are found wher- ever their existence is at all a possibility. You have insisted on their establishment. You have worked in season and out of
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chair, his blessing in exchange for their well-wishes and then rose to greet the Archbishop and the Bishops, and to re- ceive their congratulations also.
Then for hours the people passed in and out of the cathedral basement in an almost endless procession viewing the magnificent jubilee gifts. The vestments heavily brocaded with gold, were all won- derfully beautiful, but they were not the only gifts to attract, for the Altar Society was represented by a Silver Tea Set, and the Sisters of St. Joseph and Sisters of St. Francis, and all the church societies brought gifts of one nature or another, while many private gifts were there with only a modest card to tell the donor.
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