USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 42
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The corner-stone of the new church was laid by Bishop Corri- gan on Sunday, November 25th, 1874, but the church was not completed until June, 1880. It is a brick structure with a seating capacity of 600. Sunday, July 4th, 1880, it was solemnly conse- crated by Bishop Corrigan, who also celebrated Pontifical Mass. The Rev. J. D. Hoban, O.P., of Newark, preached an eloquent sermon.
Father Miller also built the sexton's house in 1881. The par- ish school was opened in the basement of the church. On the departure of Father Miller the Rev. Francis Koch, O.F.M., was appointed his successor and the Rev. Father Vincent, O.F.M., his assistant.
Father Koch remained as pastor until July, 1884, when he took charge of the outside missions connected with St. Bonaven- ture-Singac, Butler, Macopin-where he built new churches and paid for them.
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The next pastor was the Rev. Pius Manz, O.F.M., who served until June, 1887, and was succeeded by the Rev. Albert Frobele, O.F.M. Father Frobele purchased additional property and in 1889 built the present St. Bonaventure's School at a cost of $14,000.
The Rev. Bernadin Bidinger, O.F.M., was the next pastor and remained until September, 1895. His successor is the present rector, the Rev. Anthony Berghoff, O.F.M.
Father Anthony has made new improvements-frescoing the church, replacing the old windows with stained glass, and install-
ST. JOSEPH'S (THIRD) CHURCH, MACOPIN, NOW ECHO LAKE. The cradle of Catholicity in Northern New Jersey, p. 108.
ing a heating apparatus at a cost of $10,000. The silver jubilee of the parish was observed with solemn ceremonies on November Ist, 1903, in the presence of His Excellency, the Most Rev Diomede Falconio, O.F.M., the Papal Delegate to the United States, who celebrated Pontifical Mass. The orator of the occa- sion was the Rev. Isaac P. Whelan, the former pastor of St.
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Mary's, Paterson. Bishop O'Connor, Monsignor Sheppard, and many priests were present on the occasion. A remarkable feature of the celebration was the reception accorded to the delegate of the Holy See on the Saturday preceding the event. The societies attached to the church proceeded in a body to the depot to meet His Excellency, who was received with great enthusiasm by the entire population of the city. The houses along the line were decorated with flags and bunting and illuminated. It was a stir- ring sight which deeply moved the representative of the Holy See.
The Catholic Church in Bloomfield.
THE Catholics of Bloomfield formed part of the Immaculate Conception Parish of Montclair for twenty-three years, under the pastorate of the Rev. Fathers Hogan, Joslin, and Steets. Many unsuccessful attempts were made by them, petitioning Bishop Corrigan, the late Archbishop of New York, for the establish- ment of the new parish in Bloomfield. At last their wishes were gratified by the appointment of the Rev. J. M. Nardiello, assist- ant pastor of St. James's Church, Newark. It was only a few days previous to his appointment that Bishop Corrigan had ordered Rev. Father Steets to have plans made for a small chapel to be erected in Bloomfield and to be attended by the fathers from Montclair. Father Nardiello was appointed to take charge of the formation of the new parish on the 21st of June, 1878.
The new parish of the Sacred Heart was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey on the Ist of July, 1878. The plans for a church accommodating about five hundred people were prepared. During this interval a hall was secured in the Bloomfield Hotel, where the sacrifice of the Mass was offered for the first time by the new pastor on July 6th at 1:30 and 10:30, the hall being well filled at both Masses. The great day for the Catholics was com- ing nearer and nearer; that is, the dedication of the new church. On the 17th of November of the same year Archbishop Corrigan, assisted by a number of priests, performed the solemn ceremony, and preached at the Solemn High Mass. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather a large congregation was present. Another great work undertaken was the establishment of the parochial school. So the rev. pastor put himself to the task, and in one month and a half the school was a reality. Two lay teachers from Newark were engaged and ninety-four scholars were enrolled.
In March, 1880, the house, garden, and grounds upon which
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the stone school building now stands, on the corner of Liberty and State streets, were purchased. The necessary repairs being made, the house was occupied by the rector, and thus it became for ten years the pastoral residence. The frame dwelling in the rear of the church, the former residence of the pastor, became the sisters' convent.
Father Nardiello had too much at heart the welfare of the children of the school to allow them to remain too long in the basement of the church. He therefore began to agitate the sub- ject of building the parochial school. The project was carried into execution in the spring of the year 1882. On the 17th of September of the same year the school was blessed by Bishop Wigger. The following day it was occupied by the scholars. The building consisted of six class-rooms and a large hall with a seating capacity of 500. The people of Bloomfield were pro- foundly impressed when they beheld a handsome and substantial building of stone, erected by a rising congregation comparatively poor.
In April, 1885, a lot was purchased from Arthur O'Hare on the north side of the school-house on State Street for a play- ground. In May, 1886, another lot, situated on the north side of the frame church on Bloomfield Avenue, was bought from Mr. Thomas Taylor for a future church.
THE CEMETERY AND ITS BEAUTIFUL CHAPEL.
A resting-place was provided for those who died in the Lord, by the purchase of a tract of land of about eleven acres, formerly owned by Mr. Baldwin.
THE NEW CHURCH.
In July, 1889, Father Nardiello secured the magnificent site located on the corner of Broad and Liberty streets, facing the beautiful park of Bloomfield. The site was for the future church of the Catholics of Bloomfield. The church with all its various branches of work is now as fully equipped and stands on as solid a foundation as any other institution of its kind in this country, and the congregation owe their splendid success largely to their present pastor. He has proved himself the right man in the right place, and the town as well as the church has benefited by his presence among us. A well-known architect was secured to make plans for the new church to the satisfaction of Father Nardiello
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and the people of the parish. The dimensions of the building are as follows : sixty-six feet front on Broad Street, and one hundred and twenty-nine feet on Liberty Street, and seventy-four feet across the transept. The ceremony of the laying of the corner- stone took place on Sunday, October 19th.
The corner-stone is a handsome brown stone from the Glen Ridge Quarry. It has inserted in it a white stone about six inches square, engraved with the cross of the Holy Land. The stone was brought from the Holy Land by the Rev. Father Nardiello on the occasion of his visit there. He picked it up at Capharnaum, a place closely connected with im- portant events in the life of the Saviour.
The dedication of the new church took place on Sun- day, October 16th, 1892. The ceremony was a solemn and impressive one and was wit- nessed by a large audience, in which every church de- nomination in the town was represented.
The church was dedicat- ed by the Rev. Bishop Mc- Donnell, of Brooklyn, and Cardinal Satolli sang the Mass At the synod held in CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART, BLOOMFIELD. Seton Hall, at the end of June, 1902, Father Nardiello was made an irremovable rector.
The need of more school accommodations for children of the primary department was felt for some time. Finally Father Nardiello decided to erect the present building on Liberty Street. The work was completed in September, 1902, and in the follow- ing month the new school was blessed. The structure is of red brick, with white brick trimmings, and in erecting it Father Nardiello considered the future growth of the community. The grounds are enclosed by an iron railing and beautified by a numer- ous variety of plants and trees, adding more charm to the en- chanted spot.
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The Young Men's Catholic Lyceum, composed of the young men of the parish, has existed under various names, as Young Men's Literary Union, Young Men's Catholic Union, and Cath- olic Club, since 1879. Father Nardiello, seeking to provide a building for his young men, purchased in 1887 from Mrs. Baldwin a lot on Bloomfield Avenue, north of the Ward property. In the same year a commodious club-house was erected on this lot. It consisted of a gymnasium, billiard-room, parlor, library, cloak- room, and two meeting-rooms.
St. Michael's Church, Newark, N. J.
IN 1878 the Rev. Patrick Leonard was missioned by the Rt. Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, to organize a parish in the former Eighth Ward of this city. The corner-stone was laid on the 16th of June, 1878. It was occupied for divine service in December of the same year, the first Mass in the sacred edifice being cele- brated on Christmas Day by the Rev. Father Leonard. In Janu- ary, 1879, the formal dedicatory services were celebrated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Corrigan, and the church was placed under the patronage of St. Michael the Archangel. In the same year the rectory was built. In 1881 a school and convent were erected. In 1886 a chime of bells was placed in the tower, and on October 7th, 1887, the church, being free from debt, was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Wigger.
On November 26, 1892, Father Leonard died. He was born in Ireland, educated for the priesthood in St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md., had been successively pastor of St. Ann's Church, at Hampton Junction, N. J .; St. Mary's Church, Bordentown, N. J., and St. John's Church, Newark, and was appointed irre- movable rector of St. Michael's Church three years previous to his death. He was succeeded by the Rev. Denis J. McCartie who was also born in Ireland; received his ecclesiastical education in Maynooth Seminary, Ireland, and Louvain University, Belgium ; and was, previous to his appointment, for ten years Chancellor of Newark diocese and professor for eight years of Sacred Scripture, Canon Law, and Ecclesiastical History, for six years of Moral Theology, and for two years of Philosophy and English Literature in Seton Hall Seminary, South Orange, N. J.
In 1893 a new school and convent were erected, the existing buildings being found inadequate to the increasing requirements of the parish. The new school is a three-story brick building to
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the rear of the church, 109 feet long by 65 feet wide. The first floor is occupied by the club-rooms and bowling alleys of St. Michael's Young Men's Catholic Association. The former school and convent have been converted into the Columbian flats and adjoining residence.
In 1902 the interior of the church was completely renovated. The sanctuary was enlarged and extended to the entire width of the nave so as to include the space previously occupied by sacristies. The former low ceiling was removed and a metal structure of handsome Gothic design, seven and one-half feet higher, was sub- stituted. The walls were replastered and the entire in- terior was painted and artis- tically decorated. New Sta- tions of the Cross of stone composition in ornamental relief were erected, and four- teen new statues, nearly all of life size, were placed in the chancel. All the stations and statues were generously donated by members of the 1€ congregation. The stained- glass windows had been al- ready donated by liberal ben- efactors when the church was first erected.
St. Michael's Parish, when first established, extended to ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, NEWARK. the lines separating the city from Belleville and Bloomfield town- ships. In 1890 a section, which is now the parish of the new Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, was separated from its territory. In 1901 another section was detached to constitute the parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel. The present boundaries of the par- ish are: On the south, the southern side of Seventh Avenue and Clay Street to the river; on the north, the northern side of Chester Avenue; on the west, the city line to a line in continuation of Fourth Avenue, and thence the western side of Mount Prospect
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Avenue; on the east, the river Passaic. The Catholic population, as shown by an accurate census of 1902-1903, numbers 3,600 persons.
The present pastor is the Rev. Denis J. McCartie, M.R .; the assistant, the Rev. Thomas A. Walsh.
St. Michael's Parish celebrated its silver jubilee concurrently with the golden jubilee of the diocese, 1903.
Church of the Holy Spirit, Asbury Park.
THIS, the well-known seaside resort, Asbury Park, has grown from a wilderness by the sea to its present proportions of a well- laid-out and well-governed city in a generation. The founder, Mr. Bradley, yielding to the request of several Protestants, offered the Catholics a lot on which to erect a church on the corner of Sec- ond Avenue and Bond Street, a most desirable location, which was accepted. Meanwhile, for the accommodation of the servants em- ployed in the homes of Asbury Park, he provided stages which transferred them to Long Branch on Sunday to enable them to hear Mass. Bishop Corrigan requested the pastor of Long Branch to raise the funds and to erect the church. His efforts met with exceptional success and the corner-stone was laid in 1879, when the church was dedicated by Bishop Corrigan in 1 880.
On February 6th, 1880, the Rev. Michael L. Glennon was appointed the first rector of Asbury Park.
The following charming sketch of Father Glennon is from the pen of one no stranger in our literature:
It was in the townland of Crohan, one of the loveliest parts of lovely Cavan, that on September 2, 1852, the home of James and Rose Glennon was brightened by the arrival of their sixth and last child, a son whom they called Michael in memory of the great archangel of his birth month.
In company with his elder brothers and sisters, little Michael was sent to a neighboring school at the early age of six. Fonder of play than of books, the child was, nevertheless, so naturally gifted with quick intelligence and the power instantly to assimilate every idea even passingly presented to his mind, that he soon out- stripped many pupils of older years and at the age of thirteen was transferred to a classical school in Castle Rahan under the direc- tion of Mr. Travis.
The hour had struck in the life of the young Michael Glennon. Sensitive and emotional to a degree, as is every nature rich in
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character and possibilities, he found it wellnigh impossible to quaff that bitterest of all cups which can be held to the lips of youth, the cup containing the marah of disenchantment and dis- illusion.
He arrived in New York on May 20th, 1870. An elder brother had already preceded him to the strange new land, so that he did not find himself utterly alone when he first set foot upon these shores.
Entering the Seminary of the Holy Angels, Suspension Bridge, Niagara Falls, he made his philosophical studies in two years, and was admitted to the seminary at Seton Hall, South Orange, N. J., in the autumn of 1873. After a brilliant course he was ordained. priest by the late Most Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, of New York, then Bishop of Newark, on May 27th, 1877. He celebrated his first Mass in Newark, at St. Joseph's Church. The pastor at that time was the Rev. Father Toomey.
Among those ordained on the same day were the present Bishop of Trenton, Rt. Rev. James A. McFaul, and the Rev. Maurice O'Connor, perhaps the only members of the class now living.
A distinguished friend of the young priest in those days and later was the recently deceased Archbishop of New York, Dr. Corrigan, then Bishop of Newark, and in residence at Seton Hall. Mgr. Corrigan from the first took a great interest in young Mr. Glennon, whose intellectual gifts were so exceptional, and whose appearance and manners were captivating enough to disarm the most adverse critic. That this regard and affection were maintained by that saintly prelate to his dying day was evinced by the manner of "God speed " with which the Arch- bishop sent an exceptionally gifted young nephew of Father Glen- non on his way to the American College in Rome.
It was Bishop Corrigan who assigned Father Glennon to his first appointment, namely, that of curate to the Rev. P. E. Smythe, of St. Bridget's Church, Jersey City, now dean of the counties of Bergen and Hudson, and pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Jersey City.
Here the newly ordained priest, in the fresh vigor of early man- hood, in the May-morn of his youth, with a heart full of love for " the things of God," began those arduous and uplifting labors in behalf of his fellow-men which were to end only with his death.
Pitying the mites who, with the best will in the world, hope- lessly failed to digest the truths of religion, as ambiguously pre-
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sented to them in the catechetical books of the day, he quietly yet enthusiastically undertook the preparation of a catechism suited to their needs.
The plan was submitted to his friend and bishop, Dr. Corrigan, who gave it his hearty sanction and approval, and early in the year 1878 the little book was issued by the American News Company under the appropriate title, A Simple, Orderly, and Comprehensive Catechism of the Christian Religion.
Father Glennon remained as curate at St. Bridget's for about a year and a half, and was then entrusted by his bishop with the responsible work (doubly responsible for one so young) of estab- lishing a mission and building a church at Morrisville. Whilst engaged in this work his temporary home was to be with Father Kane, pastor at Red Bank.
Struck with the phenomenal success which he had made of the Morrisville Mission, the bishop next appointed him to the pastorate of the Church of the Holy Spirit, at Asbury Park, de- siring him, however, at the same time to retain charge of his Mor- risville church. The church edifice in Asbury which had already been begun by the former pastor (Father Walsh) was completed, almost entirely built, indeed, by Father Glennon, and the parish started anew.
Asbury Park in those days was far from being that immense "city by the sea " which it is to-day. As a summer resort it was but just beginning to be known, while its winter population was of the evanescent kind, here now, gone to-morrow.
In addition, Asbury Park was a place of beauty even more then, in its comparatively wild picturesqueness, than it is to-day. With the sea dashing upon a stretch of sandy beach unsurpassed along the Jersey coast, with its several charming little lakes, inlets of the mighty ocean, with the thick wooded hills at its back, woods whose bosky depths are redolent of the balmy odor of the pines, hill summits from which may be caught glorious views of the surrounding country, and a prospect seaward of mile beyond mile, it is one of the loveliest spots along the Atlantic seaboard.
Together with the pastorate of the Asbury Park church, Father Glennon, as we have said, still retained in his charge the mission at Morrisville. Morrisville lies twenty miles across coun- try from Asbury Park. And thither every Sunday, rain or shine, winter as well as summer, after saying an early Mass at Asbury, he drove fasting to say a second Mass at St. Catherine's. Later, when relieved of this charge, the care of the Manchester mission,
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thirty miles distant, fell to him. This he in turn likewise faith- fully attended.
For some years now his health had been failing steadily; in the winter of 1896 he broke down for a while completely. He suffered a severe attack of pneumonia, from which he recovered but slowly. A sojourn in one of the Southern States which fol- lowed his convalescence unfortunately developed the germs of the malarial fever taken into the system so long ago in the Jersey City rectory.
"I ever knew him to be a warm-hearted friend," writes the present Bishop of Newark, Rt. Rev. John J. O'Connor, D.D., "staunch, loyal, ready to do any service for those for whose friendship he cared. His acquaintances knew him as an intellect- ual man, with a mind at once quick, brilliant, and profound."
The last two years of Father Glennon's life were a veritable martyrdom of physical pain and complete exhaustion. Relieved by the bishop of his missions at Spring Lake and Belmar, he yet remained true to his post at Asbury to the very last.
Suddenly in the latter part of September, 1900, in the hope of bettering his health, and unknown except to a very few friends, he started on a trip abroad accompanied by a relative.
A brief letter from on board ship, another from Paris, and then silence till the sad telegram, dated Killarney, October 15th, told of his death. Further details gave the comforting assurance that death, though sudden, had not come quite unheralded, and that the rites and consolations of Holy Church had sustained him in those hours.
The solemn " Month's Mind " for the repose of his soul took place in the Church of the Holy Spirit, Asbury Park, on Novem- ber 15th. The church upon this sad and solemn occasion was crowded to the doors and beyond, many being unable to gain admission. In the words of a daily journal of that date: "The esteem in which Father Glennon was held was testified to by the fact that in the congregation were many members of other local churches." (A Memoir.)
October 18th, 1900, Bishop McFaul appointed Rev. Thomas A. Roche to succeed Father Glennon. The number of Catholics congregating to the seaside at Asbury Park has wonderfully in- creased. The present church is entirely inadequate to accommo- date the pleasure seekers during the months of July and August. Mr. Bradley gives the free use of his spacious auditorium for a nine o'clock Mass. For three or four Sundays at the height of
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the season this immense building is filled with worshippers. At no distant time the Catholics of Asbury Park hope to build a large church.
St. Aloysius's Church, Newark, N. J.
FATHER WALTER FLEMING has written the introduction to this story of St. Aloysius's Parish :
"July 26th, 1879, the Rt. Rev. M. A. Corrigan, D.D., then Bishop of Newark, later Archbishop of New York, appointed the Rev. Walter M. A. Fleming rector of St. Aloysius's Parish, which had been the extreme northeast portion of St. James's vineyard.
"The area of the new parish was very large, but unfortunately nineteen-twentieths of it was marshy meadow land, irreclaimably irredeemable. To this boundless, barren, wild waste Father Flem- ing came an entire stranger. The outlook the first Sunday was very, very blue.
"No land, no church, no house save the old, piebald frame building called St. Thomas's school-house, which had for anchor- age a three thousand five hundred dollar mortgage.
" In cordial compliance with a previous announcement a special collection was taken up that day for the Archdiocese of Cincin- nati, though there was not one cent in the coffers of the new parish.
" Bed and board was for a time kindly given the rev. Father by St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, South Orange Avenue; and at once, for fear of rust, a house-to-house visit was begun, and thus unexpectedly was found a great treasure-1,487 persons.
"Good heads, large hearts, and kind purses abounded even in cellar and garret.
"Mount Hope, Orange Valley, Irvington were generous al- most to a fault, but the barren waste turned out to be the richest soil the rev. rector ever had committed to his care. Not a street was paved with stone; but the palm of every outstretched hand was, so to say, paved with green paper, silver, or gold.
"The continuously given mites of men of sweaty brow and horny hand form nearly one hundred thousand dollars, and there is not to-day a dyspeptic growler nor chronic grumbler in the parish.
"The financial statement shows how this generously given money was expended, and the census indicates that to-day [in 1889] the parish numbers nigh twenty-two hundred souls, with a mortgage of $25,000, and a floating debt of $1,600 odd.
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"January and May, 1880, contracts amounting to $38, 186.29 were awarded for the beginning and completing of the new church, which is of the Gothic style of architecture, 60 feet wide by 137 feet in length, and built of Newark and Belleville stone.
"On June 20th, 1880, the corner-stone was laid by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Corrigan, the Rev. Joseph M Flynn delivering an elo- quent discourse. On May 8th, 1881, the new church was dedicated and Pontifical Mass was celebrated by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Cor-
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ST. ALOYSIUS'S CHURCH, NEWARK.
rigan, the eloquent and erudite lecturer on that occasion being the Rt. Rev. Bishop Gross, then of Savannah, now Archbishop of Oregon."
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