History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I, Part 127

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 840

USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 127
USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 127

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ITis temperance principles were not confined to his own people, but he fought the evil for the good of man- kind everywhere, and in the conscientious discharge of duty in his holy calling. An illustration of his strictly temperance principles was made by this worthy priest during a severe illness. His strength became exhausted, and his physician advised a stim- ulant. Upon inquiry if there was any brandy in the house, he pointed to a closet where a bottle was found, tightly sealed, which had been presented to him by a friend some fifteen years before, and had remained untouched.

PATRICK MORAN was born at Lough Rea, County Galway, Ireland, about the year 1798,-that year so pregnant with sad and bitter memories of Irish history. 1Er was intended for the priesthood, but before com- pleting his education resolved to cast his Jot in America, coming here in 1×27. It is stated that the ship in which he first embarked was driven back by adverse winds, and taking the fact as an ill omen, a

warning against the pursuing of his intentions, the friends of young Moran urged him to remain in Ire- land. Among those who so advised him was the Right Rev. Dr. Ryan, bishop of Limerick. But Mo- ran was not to be swerved from his purpose. Ile em- barked again and arrived safely, whereupon he pro- ceeded to Maryland, and entered St. Mary's College, at Emmittsburg, and completed his theological studies under the learned guidance of Rev. Professor (after- wards Bishop) Brute. In 1832 he was ordained to the priesthood, and the following year was appointed by Bishop Dubois pastor of St. John's Church, Newark. This position he held for thirty-three years, up to the time of his death, filling it "with singular dignity and efficiency." As already inti- mated, Rev. Father Moran is entitled to rank in local history as the father of Catholicism in Newark. Upon the erection of the Diocese of Newark, and the appointment of Dr. James Roosevelt Bailey (who was appointed archbishop of Baltimore and primate of America in 1873, and died in November, 1877) as bishop, he selected Father Moran as vicar-general of the new diocese. This was in 1853. Ile filled that office, along with his pastorate of St. John's, un- til the time of his death, which occurred on July 25, 1866. Father Moran was a very remarkable man in many respects. While he was a zealot in the cause of Catholicity, he was noted among people outside of his own household of religious faith as a man of the most generous and liberal impulses. He was ex- tremely abstemious in his habits, and was an ardent advocate of total abstinence in the matter of the use ot strong drink. But, while he practiced and preached this doctrine himself,-he was equally opposed to the use oftobacco, -- he never developed a spirit of fanati- cism. In 1842 there was a vigorous revival in St. John's under his sole direction, and the evils of intemperance were depicted by Father Moran in a style atonce simple, plain, forcible, and effective. Ilis whole congregation took the pledge, and it was a rare thing afterwards to find a member who had dishonored it. People of denominations other than Catholic were pleased lis- teners to Father Moran's practical temperance dis- courses, and many of them took what was familiarly known as " Father Moran's pledge."

St. John's Church, located at No. 26, Mulberry Street, built in 1838, and subsequently enlarged, is the oldest Catholic Church in Newark, and was de- signed by Father Moran, who possessed a refined artistic taste and much mechanical ingenuity. Hle drew the original plans, and also laid out the plaster mouldings and ornaments of the ceiling, and assisted in putting them on. The edifice is a beautiful brown stone, of Gothic style, adorned with buttresses and stone moulding, and is surmounted by a square tower adorned with a number of graceful pinnacles. The windows present figures of the Saints, and other em- blems. In the sanctuary, the central and high altar is surmounted by a large crucifix, at the foot of which

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are the statues of the Madonna and St. John. The arches upon the two side altars contain statues of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph.

There is a chime of bells in the tower, placed there through the efforts of Father Moran. The good father had no ear for music, but, partly as a matter of recreation, he placed three small bells in the tower, and, attaching wires to them, tried to play. A lady member of the congregation, an accomplished pianist, tried the notes, and found them perfect, and this led to the introduction of the chimes.

The priests serving this parish since Mr. Perdue have been Rev. Father Matthew Herold, three years; Father Patrick Moran, thirty-three years; Father Louis Schneider, six months; Father A. P. Leonard, two years; and Father Louis Gambossville, the present priest, since 1878.

The trustees for the church property in 1884 were Father Gambossville, D. J. Richmond and Charles Rielly. Communicants, sixteen hundred. Value of Church property, sixty thousand dollars.

The first native of Newark ordained to the Catholic ministry was Daniel G. Durning, son of Charles Durning. After Father Durning there were ordained to the priesthood the following natives of Newark : John Connolly ; Edward C. Hickey, formerly pastor of St. John's, in Orange: James Leddy, now of Western New York; Michael Augustus Corrigan. now bishop of the diocese of Newark; Father Kane and James H. Corrigau, the bishop's brother, now president of Seton Hall College, at South Orange.

St. Patrick's Cathedral was founded in 1850. Here, too, Father Moran's active spirit was at work. Ilis practical knowledge of the art aided much in planning the symmetrical design upon which that beautiful edifice is built. Some of the plaster orna- ments are the work of his hands. The Cathedral, located on the corner of Washington Street and C'en- tral Avenue, is of Gothic style, built of brick, and painted on the outside. The interior of the church is purely Gothic, the nave arches groined, and having fine plaster decorations ; they rest upon beautifully- carved capitals of light gray, which are supported by heavy cluster columns of solid brown stone. The side arches are also groined and decorated. There are several mullioned clear-story windows on each side. Around the rear of the sanctuary are five large oil-paintings, representing the Nativity, the Agony in the Garden, the Figure of St. Patrick, the Burial of Christ and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. To the right of the sanctuary is the bishop's throne, a fine work of art, constructeil entirely of black walnut, and rich with elaborate carving. The right arch from the sanctuary contains the baptismal font, of Cayenne stone, covered with a beautiful piece of carving. The left arch is called the Chapel of the Immaculate C'on- ception, and contains appropriate figures. The win- dows in the rear of the sanctuary are also decorated with emblematic figures.

Attached to the cathedral & the Chapel st. Vincent de Paul and the parish school, where over one thou- sand children are being educated. The Rev. George HI. Doane was in charge of the parish in 1570, and distinguished himself by his energetic work in all movements connected with the welfare of his parish, anul still (1884) at the head of of this flourishing institution. He is assisted by Rev. M. J. White, Rev. J. HI. Brady and Rev. William II. Wahl. The trustees in last were Right Rev. MI A. Corrigan, Right Rev. G. W. J. O'Rourke and Michael Walsh. Com- municants, fifteen hundred.

St. Mary's (German) Roman Catholic Church .- This church is located on the corner of High and William Streets. The pioneer meetings of this con- gregation were held in a frame building, and con- tinued to be held there until it was destroyed by fire. In 1854 the present edifice, of the Grecian order, was built ; is of brick, and is highly decorated in the interior. Over the altar are the figures of the Virgin Mary, St. Boniface and St. Benedict ; below appear those of the four Evangelists. The top of the nave is supported by a row of arches resting ou large pillars. Above these arches, on both sides of the building, are fine oil-paintings of scenes in the his- tory of our Saviour. On the arch over the sanctuary is a representation of the Coronation of the Virgin. On each side of the sanctuary is a chapel containing figures of saints. The Very Rev. Gerard Pitz was the priest in charge of the parish in 1884.

St. Peter's (German) Roman Catholic Church .- This church is located at 42 Belmont Avenue, the parish having been organized in 1855. The building now occupied as a school-house was the former place of worship. The present church edifice was built in 1861, and its proportions are very symmetrical, and give it a fine exterior, which might have been in- proved by making the front of stone instead of brick. The style is Gothic ; the tower square, with pinnacles. The same symmetry is displayed in the interior as upon the outside; elnstered columns with carved capi- tals support the roof of the nave, while the decora- tions and figures of the sanctuary and chapels are gotten up with that artistic taste for which the Ger- mans are celebrated. The altar is forty-six feet high, and above the tablet are figures representing the Law and the Gospel, Moses and Elias, and the four Evangelists. Above these is a large crucifix, with St. Mary and St. John at the foot of the Cross. In arches ou each side of this are figures of saints, while above is a figure of the Godhead, and in the fixed arch a representation of the Resurrection. The priest in charge of this parish in 1854 was Rev. God- fried Prieth.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church .- This church is located on the corner of Warren and Hud- son Streets, and in its earlier years was a parish school, and subsequently a church organization was etlected. The church edifice is cruciform, built of

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

brick, with stone buttresses. The first floor is occu- pied for school purposes, and the second floor as a place of worship. Rev. Father Dalton, who had charge of the parish in 1870, was an earnest temper- ance man and a thorough Scriptural preacher. In 1%^4 the parish was in charge of Rev. T. J. Toomey and Rev. P. J. Connolly.

St. James' Roman Catholic Church .- This is one of the largest, most costly and beautiful of the ('atholie Churches in the City of Newark. It is located on the corner of Lafayette and Jefferson Streets, and erected and dedicated in 1869. In its erection the then priest, Rev. Father Garvais, worked with enthusiastic energy. He wheeled stone to the highest scaffolding, carried the bod, and often ap- peared with bruised hands and tattered garments bespattered with mortar. Besides the manual labor performed, he attended to his pastoral work, and often depriving himself of the necessaries of life that money might be saved to pay for the building.

The building is of dressed stone, Gothic style, with buttresses. The nave roof, supported by eight groined arches on each side rests upon clustered columns. Above the first row of arches are twenty-seven smaller ones, and above these is the clear-story ; on each side are nine double windows, with mullions. From these windows is thrown a beautiful light into the church, while the main side windows are beautifully decorated with emblems. Each of these main windows is a gift, with the name of the donor inscribed thereon. In the rear of the sanctuary are five large and elegant Scriptural paintings, beautifully gilded, and giving an elegant finish to that part of the sanctuary. Below these is a row of fifteen arches containing pictures of saints. The organ is mounted with artistic carvings, where colors and gilding are harmoniously blended. In 1884 the parish was in charge of Rev. Fathers P. Cody, J. F. Dowd and James I. MeKeever.

There is also in Newark St. Augustine's Roman Catholic ('hureh, corner of Sussex Avenue and Jay Street, with Rev. Charles A. Vogl in charge; also St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, located on Belle- ville Avenue, with Rev. Patrick Leonard and Rev. Thomas J. Kearnan in charge of the parish.

St. Benedict's Roman Catholic Church .- This parish was organized in 1864 by Jacob Erhard, Joseph Bernauer, Casper Huebner (died June 22, 1844), Joseph Theu and Lorenz Ziegler. The first church officers were Joseph Bernauer, Casper Hueb- ner and Henry Huber.

The original church edifice was a frame structure, built in 1857, and dedicated by Bishop Bailey; subse- quently destroyed by a hurricane, and rebuilt in 1×59.

The present church is of briek, located in Barbara Street. The corner-stone was laid by the Right Rev. Mon. G. H. Doane, of Newark, and the church con- seerated July 11, 1882, by the Right Rev. Bishop MI. W. Wigger, of Newark.

The attendant priests have been Rev. Priest, Benno Hegele, O.S.B .; Rev. Priest, Bernadine Dal- week, O.S.B., and the present priest Rev. Lam- bert Kettner. Membership in July, 1884, four hun- dred and twenty-five. Value of church property thirty-six thousand dollars.

The church officers for 1884, were, Rev. Priest, Lambert Kettner, pastor ; Joseph Bernauer, president of St. Joseph's Beneficial Society ; Lucas Peter, president of St. Benedict's Beneficial Society.

St. Columbus Roman Catholic Church .- This parish was the outgrowth of the Cathedral parish, and was erected Sept. 8, 1871. The first church editiee (present one) was built the same year, of wood, and consecrated in the spring of 1872 by the Right Rev. Bishop Bailey. The school buildings in connection with this parish were built a year or two subsequent to that of the church, and are also frame buildings. The church property is located on the corner of Thomas Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, and valued at twenty-five thousand dollars. The membership in 1884 twelve hundred. The first attendant priests were Fathers Reiley, Kammer, Aloysius and Frederic, of St. Benedict's College. The priests in 1884 Fathers M. J. Holland and Smith.

St. Antonius' Roman Catholic Church .- The first meetings held from which grew St. Antonius' parish, were held May 16, 1875, on Bank Street, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, when the parish was organized. The first church edifice was a frame build- ing. The corner-stone of the present church, located on the corner of South Orange Avenue and Ninth Street, was laid Oct. 23, 1881, and the building conse- crated May 14, 1882. The property is valued at fifty thousand dollars. The membership of the parish in 1884 was eight hundred.

The first priests of this parish were Fathers Barrow, Collins, Hoban, Quinn, and ()'Malony. The attend- ant priests in 1884 were Fathers Jeremiah P. Turner, O'Rourke, Quinn, O'Maloney, and Devereux.

St. Aloysius' Roman Catholic Church .- This parish was organized at a meeting held in St. Thomas Chapel, on Chapel Street, June 29, 1879, and was at first in charge of Rev. Father W. MI. A. Fleming. The church edifice, located on the corner of Bowery and Freeman Streets, is a stone structure, built in 1880, and consecrated in May, 1881. The rectory is also built of stone, and the whole property valued at seventy-one thousand dollars. The membership of the parish in 1884 was one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven. The first trustees of the property were Father Fleming, Thomas O'Rourke and Patrick Reilley.

The priests in July, 1884, were Fathers Walter, MI. A. Fleming and (. J. Kelley ; Trustees, the priests and Matthew ('Brien and Thomas O'Rourke.

St. Paul's Reformed Catholic Mission .- This mission was organized Dee. 3, 1880, at No. 204 Mar- ket Street, through the efforts of Abraham Flavel and

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Rev. Stephen Taylor Dekins. Regular Sabbath ser- vices are held in Library Hall, on Market Street, by Rev. Mr. Dekins, who is still in charge of the mission. The mission is sustained by the voluntary contribu- tions of the Protestant people of Newark. The mem- bership in July, 1884, numbered one hundred and ten.

The Monastery of St. Dominic.1-On the south- cast corner of Thirteenth Avenue and Ninth Street is a massive, heavy-looking, three-story building, built of Newark brownstone, rough-dressed and covered with a slate roof. This is the new cloistered monas- tery of the Nuns of the Order of St. Dominic, intro- duced into the United States, in 1880, by Archbishop Corrigan. The building is the first of the kind erected in the United States, and was planned by Jeremiah O'Rourke, architect, after the old convents of Europe. Its style of architecture is tiothic, and it is con- structed in a most substantial manner. The exterior covers a quadrangle of one hundred and fifty feet, in- closing a court sixty-six feet square, which is sur- rounded by an open cloister nine feet wide, sup- ported by stone arches and iron columns. In the centre of the court is a well, surmounted by a Gothic well-house, on the top of which is a Latin cross. This well is sixty feet deep, and is a feature of all the ancient Dominican monasteries of the told World. The front of the building is of rock-faced ashler. The doors of the main entrance, situated about the centre of the south side of the building, on Thirteenth Avenue, are of ash, and open into a vesti- bule, at the end of which is a massive wall of brick sixteen inches thick, which separates the cloistered portion of the building from that into which people of the world are allowed to enter.

On one side of the altar is the confessional, which is like n little closet. The priest, when he hears a con- fession, goes into this closet, shuts the door and takes his seat close by a double iron grating, on the other side of which kneels the sister penitent. The open spaces in the gratings are not more than an inch square, but the sister before she begins her confession puts over the grating on her side a sheet iron screen perforated with holes, none of them as large as a lead pencil, and the same rule is observed in all the con- fessionals in the building. On the other side of the altar is a little closet with a turn box, communicat- ing with the sisters' sacristy, in which the priests' vestments are placed and sent to hint.

The eastern portion of the building is devoted to the chapel. This chapel is known as a "conventual " chapel, and differs from the ordinary chapels in that the sanctuary is in the centre. On one side of the sanctuary and without the inclosure is the space de- voted to those outside of the order. The floor is of the best " Nola " Spanish tiles of the style which at- tained perfection at the time of the ascendancy of the Moors in Spain. Black and white, the Dominican colors, are the prevailing hues of the tiles. There are 10 seats here. The sanctuary is raised one step above the floor of the chapel, and in the tiling in front of the altar is a Latin cross and the letter D.

The altar is one of the most artistic and beautiful in any religious house in this country. It is con- structed of the finest Italian statuary marble, the pillars supporting the "mensa," or table portion, being of highly polished Mexican onyx of a wavy cream color. The front of the altar is divided into three panels. In the centre is carved the monogram 1. 1I. S. In the panel on the Epistle side is carved the monogram S. D., emblematic of St. Dominic. In the panel on the Gospel side is the monogram A. 3., "Ave Maria." The "tabernacle" of the altar is of statuary marble richly carved, and the door is of brass, with the figure of a dove descending, emblem- atic of the descent of the Holy Ghost at the time of consecration in the blessed sacrament. Behind the altar is a walled partition separating the part of the chapel devoted to the sisters' use. In this wall is a double iron grating, allowing the sisters a full view of the altar and the chapel. In the centre of this grating is a little door through which the priest passes the blessed sacrament to the sisters. In this To the west side of the vestibule are the "tourier " rooms, which the two "outer " sisters ocenpy. In this room is a "turn " box,-a cylinder-shaped recep- tacle turning on a pivot, and so arranged as to cut off all communication between those on the opposite partition, even with the second story of the rest of the building, is the "exposition niche," where the blessed sacrament is continually exposed for the adoration of the nuns. This is reached by a staircase of black walnut, rising on either side of the rear of sides. One side of the box is open, and a cloistered | the altar. The niche is of Italian marble. Over the sister wishing to send anything to a priest or another sister places it in the turn box, and turns the box around until the open side reaches the recipient.

centre is carved a descending dove, and on either side are adoring angels. In the centre is the canopy in which the "pix" containing the enshrined "host " is kept. At the time of the "benediction of the blessed sacrament," the officiating priest, instead of giving the benediction from the altar as is usually done, ascends to the niche of the exposition, and gives it there. On the nuns' side of the niche is a plate- glass panel, giving a full view of the blessed saera- ment and of the ceremony of benediction. There are no pews in the chapel allotted to the public, and in the nuns' chapel, which is known as the choir, there are stalls for the sisters, arranged in two rows ou each side of the room, facing each other, each nun having her own stall. The prioress and sub-prioress occupy seats at the end of the choir-stalls. In the second story, at the rear of the nuns' chapel is a "loggia," in which is a broad window looking into the chapel. Here the sick nuns who are able to leave the infirmary,

I By Henry Farnwer.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

but not well enough to be with the others, sit and hear

On the first floor inside the cloistered walls, are the community rooms, chapter hall, prioress', and sub- prioress' rooms, laundry, kitchen and refectories. There is one refectory for sick nuns, who are allowed delicacies and privileges not allowed to the others. In the refectory proper the tables are ranged along the sides of the room on a platform raised about six inches above the floor, and about midway on one side ! is the desk of the reader. The nuns always eat in silence, listening to one of their number, who reads aloud from a devotional book. At the head of the room are the tables of the prioress and sub-prioress. On this same floor is a room for the lay-sisters, the community room and the prioress' room.

In the second story three broad corridors run through the building, and on either side are the nuns' eells. These cells are nothing more than little bed- rooms (eight by thirteen feet), and lighted by a little window. Each is furnished with a bunk, straw tick, two blankets, crucifix, table and chair, all of the most primitive style. On this floor are the novices' room and infirmary rooms. The third story contains a clothes-room, and the balance is used for storage. A peculiarity about the building is that, with the exception of the chapel and kitchen, there will be no tires, the rules of the order absolutely forbidding fires in any rooms except in the infirmary in case of sickness. The only room in the house in which there is provision for a fire is a large room in the infirmary, where there is an open fire-place, and also stoves in two of the halls in case extreme cold weather renders it abso- lutely necessary,

The Order of Dominican Sisters, to which these nuns belong, is the strictest order of the kind in the Roman C'atholic Church. Their whole life is passed within the eloister, no one ever leaving it except by permission of the bishop in cases of absolute neces- sity. The lives of these sisters are passed in adora- tion of our Lord present in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and in prayer for the conversion of the world, for those who do not pray for themselves, and for other objects for which their prayers are asked.

On Thursday, April 3. 1884, the nuns, to the num- ber of seventeen, took possession of their new home, and on the morning of the 19th, Right Rev. Bishop Wigger, assisted by several of the clergy of the dio- vese, performed the ceremony of blessing the edifice. The bishop passed through every room in the mon- astery and blessed the walls, after which he delivered a sermon explanatory of the objects of the contem- plative nuns of the Order of St. Dominick, and the services were finished when he celebrated a Pontifical Low Mass.

On Tuesday, the 224, Most Rev. Archbishop Cor- rigan concluded the consecration of the convent, and the doors were shot forever upon its holy women, never to open save to admit other recluses, or the phy-

sician, or the priest who shall administer to the dying. No footsteps, save those of the sisters, will ever echo through those corridors, except those of the bishop, who will make an annual visitation.

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I, Part 127

Author: Shaw, William H Publication date: 1884 Publisher: [United States :] Number of Pages: 840

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 840