USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 56
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With hopefulness in your kindly generosity, I am, sincerely yours, JAMES H. CORRIGAN, President.
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The Alumni Hall did good service in this emergency; the spa- cious upper floor was converted into a study hall, while the lower floors were utilized for sleeping apartments. Students who could not be accommodated in this building were made comfortable in the seminary, where all took their meals.
At a meeting of the board of trustees it was decided to rebuild the college as soon as possible, and Rev. William F. Marshall, vice-president and treasurer, was appointed by Bishop Wigger to adjust the insurance and superintend the erection of the new structure. Phoenix-like, Seton Hall again arose from the ashes, and by January, 1887, the class-rooms were ready for occupancy, but the dormitories were not used until the following May.
On account of poor health, in 1888, Rev. James H. Corrigan resigned the presidency of Seton Hall and went abroad. He was but little improved when he returned, and Bishop Wigger'ap- pointed him rector of St. Mary's Church, Elizabeth, N. J., the congregation being one of the most important in the diocese. Father Corrigan had been rector of this church barely two years when, on November 27th, 1891, he died of heart disease.
The memory of "Father James " will long be cherished by the old alumni of the college and seminary. He was always the gentleman, courteous and condescending to the youngest as well as to the oldest scholar. Ever watchful of their intellectual advancement, he was equally vigilant with regard to their phys- ical well-being, and deeply and sincerely sympathetic with them in the many trials incidental to college training. It was always an effort for him to appear stern, and the suppressed merriment was easily transparent through the frown which clouded his brow. And after the glories of commencement or ordination day none was more sincere or more hearty in his congratulations than he. This same kind and solicitous spirit accompanied him when he exercised but too briefly the active ministry in St. Mary's, Eliza- beth.
William Francis Marshall was born at Millville, Cumberland County, N. J., January 29th, 1849, the son of John and Elizabeth Marshall.
The continued ill health of Father Marshall obliged him to ten- der his resignation to the board of trustees. He was succeeded in the presidency of Seton Hall by the Rev. Dr. Synnott. Joseph Joachim Synnott was born in the village of Great Neck, Long Island, N. Y., February 6th, 1863; and, while he was of a tender age, his parents moved to Montclair, N. J. He made his first
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studies in the local parish school, and afterward in the Montclair High School. He then entered St. Francis Xavier's College, and was graduated from that institution in June, 1882. He entered the University of Innspruck, Tyrol, where he was ordained July 26th, 1886. He remained in the university more than two years after his ordination, and was made a doctor of theology in the fall of 1888. He returned to America in December, 1888, and in the beginning of 1889 he was appointed assistant to St. John's Church, Paterson. In September of the same year he was transferred to the diocesan seminary, Seton Hall, as professor of Scripture and Hebrew, and subsequently of moral theology and canon law. October 31st, 1895, when Father O'Connor, the rec- tor of the seminary, was transferred to St. Joseph's Church, Newark, Dr. Synnott was named his successor by Bishop Wigger. He was elected president by the board of trustees of Seton Hall June 16th, 1897. To a rarely gifted mind were superadded extra- ordinary industry, a charming grace of manner, extreme modesty, and a character firm as it was gentle. He was eminently fitted for his position, and it is certain, if God had spared his life, that far higher honors and graver responsibilities awaited him. But his too brief career was cut short by his untimely death, March 16th, 1899. His loss to the college and to the diocese was irreparable. He had theories and aspirations with regard to the diocesan seminary which he had both the ability and courage to carry through to success and which would have redounded to the well-being of the diocese at large. But Providence ruled other- wise. The Rev. John A. Stafford, after the death of Dr. Synnott, was appointed president. Father Stafford was born in Pater- son, N. J., March 13th, 1857, and received his early training in St. John's parish school. His classical studies, commenced in St. Vincent's, Pennsylvania, were completed at Seton Hall. His theological studies were made in the American College, Rome, where he was ordained April 8th, 1888, by Cardinal Parocchi. On his return Father Stafford served as assistant in St. Mary's, Plain- field, and St. Mary's, Jersey City; and, for a short time, locum tenens at South Orange. In September, 1893, he was made vice- president of Seton Hall, a position he held until his appointment to the rectorship of St. Augustine's, Union Hill. May 10th, 1899, he was elected president of Seton Hall; and in March, 1903, he was named domestic prelate by our late Holy Father, Leo XIII., fel. mem.
Under Monsignor Stafford's administration Seton Hall is fol-
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lowing out its traditionary policy, and, despite the attractions of the larger colleges, it finds patrons who realize that numbers can- not count for everything in the training of youth, and that in a smaller college, where not only the intellect is trained, but, more than all, the soul is safeguarded by the upbuilding of an ethical standard grounded on religion, is found after all the ideal for Catholic parents.
In the forty-eight years of its existence Seton Hall has shel- tered almost four thousand pupils, and of these nearly four hun- dred were graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The alumni are found in every walk of life, filling honorable positions in the different professions, and many of them ranking high in civil and priestly life. Alma Mater has no reason to blush for her children, who, likewise, are not ashamed of their mother. Since its opening Seton Hall has conferred twenty-five honorary degrees. In the seminary there have been four hundred and ten semina- rists, and of this number two hundred and thirty were ordained to holy priesthood, in which most of them still labor with zeal and devotion to the cause of religion and education. Three of them have been honored with the episcopal dignity. These figures at once attest the wisdom and foresight of the founders of Seton Hall, and form the glorious aureola around their names and memory.
Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis.
MOTHER FRANCES SCHERVIER, born in the imperial city of Aix-la-Chapelle, January 3d, 1816, was the foundress of the con- gregation of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis. From her tenderest years her sympathies were with the poor, and nothing pleased her more than to serve and assist them. On the Feast of Pentecost, 1845, a little band of five devoted women consecrated themselves to the service of the sick, the incurables, and the poor, and inaugurated a work which has been fraught with blessings to thousands and thousands in every quarter of Christendom.
In 1858 Mrs. Sarah Peters, a resident of Cincinnati and a re- cent convert to the faith, visited Rome, where she submitted to Pius IX. a plan of introducing German sisters for the sick poor of German nationality, and Irish sisters for the Irish poor, into the United States. The Holy Father blessed and approved her pro- ject, and advised her to apply to some Austrian bishop for the German sisters. After failing in her endeavors in the Austrian capital, she was successful through the kind offices of Cardinal
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von Geissel, the Archbishop of Cologne. On the 10th of August, 1858, five sisters and a postulant, with Sister Augustine as their superioress, set out for their new home in distant America. They arrived in New York September 8th, and continued their journey without delay to Cincinnati.
In the following year they were joined by three other sisters from the mother house, and thus the beneficent work, which in its ministration was to recognize neither sex, color, nationality, nor condition, was launched on its mission of peace and charity. In 1864 hospitals were opened by them in Hoboken and Jersey City, St. Mary's and St. Francis's, and in 1867 St. Michael's Hospital in Newark opened wide its doors, which from that day to this have never been shut against misery and poverty, against the abandoned and the afflicted.
The good that has been accomplished for the souls and bodies of the thousands which have thronged the wards of these institu- tions, the poverty relieved at their doors, the words of cheer and comfort whispered into the ears of the disconsolate and the dis- heartened, will never be known in this world. They are registered in the Book of Life. From very humble beginnings the three in- stitutions in the diocese of Newark have grown to their present stately proportions.
Sisters of Mercy, Bordentown, N. J.
THE mother house of the Sisters of Mercy, in Bordentown, was founded in September, 1873. The new home, which was built in September, 1886, was solemnly blessed by the Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Farrell, assisted by the pastor, Rev. P. F. Connolly.
Connected with the mother house is St. Joseph's Academy, which holds conspicuous rank among the educational institutions in the State of New Jersey. It is under the direct supervision of the Rt. Rev. J. A. McFaul, Bishop of Trenton.
The sisters belonging to this community are engaged as teachers in eighteen parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton. They also conduct homes for working-girls in Plainfield and Phillipsburg.
Sisters of St. Dominic, Jersey City.
The Sisters of St. Dominic came to Jersey City at the request of the Rev. D. Kraus in 1872; at this time five sisters came from
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the mother house in New York and took charge of the parochial school, which was then in the lower church. The work of the sisters in this humble capacity prospered so well that the small frame building which had hitherto served them became too small, and it was found necessary to erect a larger house. The present site of property was purchased, and in the month of May, 1878, the corner-stone was laid, and on the 17th of November the same year the new convent was dedicated. The sisters then opened an academy, in which a number of pupils have received an advanced education and have been prepared to face the battle of life.
In the year 1881, through the influence of the Rev. D. Kraus, the Rt. Rev. W. M. Wigger, D.D., then bishop of the diocese, severed connection between the convent here and the mother house in New York, making this convent a separate mother house. The title "The Community of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Jer- sey City " was then adopted as the legal title, and Mother Mary Catherine became prioress of the little community. In May, 1884, the sisters opened a house at Caldwell, N. J., for the recuperation of the sisters, whose health had been impaired by the strenuous labors of the school-room. This house has since developed into a very flourishing academy and boarding-school.
Various other missions were opened, and the sisters have charge of a number of schools.
In the year 1894, on account of the ill health of Mother Mary Catherine, Mother Mary Mechtilde was appointed prioress of the community, and has had a successful régime, having opened a number of new houses, so that at the present time the sisters teach in the dioceses of Newark, Cleveland, and Boston.
Connected with the academy is a fine commercial class, and the fame of the musical ability of the sisters is well known throughout the city.
The Institute of Holy Angels.
School Sisters of Notre Dame, Fort Lee, N. J.
THE dedication of the new chapel of Holy Angels, erected for the use of the Convent of School Sisters of Notre Dame and their institute at Fort Lee, N. J., on the Palisades of the Hudson, over- looking the great city of New York, was celebrated with great pomp and splendor on the 25th of March, 1895, the Feast of the Annunciation, under the direction of the acting chaplain, the Rev. Patrick Byrne.
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The late Rt. Rev. W. M. Wigger performed the service of dedication, beginning at 9 o'clock A.M., and afterward sang a Sol- emn Pontifical Mass. The Very Rev. J. J. O'Connor, V.G., now the present bishop of the diocese, laid the corner-stone in the absence of the late right rev. bishop, and preached at the Mass. The little chapel, so dear to the sisters and full of the sweetest reminiscences, had been to visitors an eyesore on account of its cramped and overcrowded condition, and they wished to see it re- placed by some structure worthier of the majesty of God and the requirements of the community. Their wish is satisfied in the beautiful and spacious chapel devoted to-day to the worship of God under the patronage of His Holy Angels.
The chapel, a very pretty Gothic structure, is of brick trimmed with North River stone and terra-cotta. It is about 100 feet long and 45 feet wide, and has an elegant and commodious hall beneath it. This hall is for a recreation-room for the young ladies, where commencements will be held and entertainments given. It is chastely yet superbly finished, and supplied with every requisite necessary for its purpose. The chapel, however, is the gem. It consists of a nave and two aisles. The handsome cluster columns which support the roof mark this division. Then come the sanctuary and its adjoining sacristies, all richly and tastefully furnished. The sanctuary contains three very handsome altars, adorned with a wealth of beautiful statues.
The Institute of Holy Angels is located in Fort Lee, on the Palisades of the Hudson, the most desirable part of Bergen County. It possesses all the advantages that a healthy and de- lightful climate can afford; it commands a view of the city of New York, and can happily boast of beautiful and romantic scenery. This property was purchased on October 2d, 1879, by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, one of the important teaching communities in the United States, under the direction of the late Rev. Mother Mary Caroline, superior-general of the community.
The convent was once the residence of the late Dr. Anderson, a well-known scientist and philanthropist. Being a private resi- dence, it afforded the sisters and pupils but few of the comforts requisite in a school, and the want of an additional building was long felt. Finally, in 1890, a new school building was erected on the north side of the old residence, facing Linwood Avenue.
The system of government combines strict discipline with kind and gentle treatment. The pupils are taught to practise self-con- trol, punctuality, and obedience from a sense of duty rather than
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from fear of reproof. The aim of the institute is to impart edu- cation in the highest sense of the word-to train the moral, intel- lectual, and physical being. Every effort is made to develop in the youthful mind the principles of virtue and religion, which alone can render education profitable.
In lieu of the "grade certificate " which is issued to schools in New York State, the University of the State of New York as- sured the Collegiate Institute of Holy Angels, Fort Lee, N. J., that its English and Latin scientific courses were registered in full by the university, and that it enjoys all the privileges extended to the schools recognized by such registrations. There are three regular departments of instruction, viz., preparatory, commercial, and academic. The preparatory classes are open to students not sufficiently advanced to enter academic schools. A diploma is conferred for the satisfactory completion of a four-year course in the academic department.
The Aquinas Literary Club founded an academic scholarship open to all the female pupils of the parochial school under the direction of the School Sisters of Notre Dame of New York and New Jersey. The scholarship entitled the recipient to free tuition, board, and residence for one year. The school has an excellent reference library, containing encylopædia, gazetteers, dictionaries, standard works on history, science, fiction, etc., selected with re- gard to the needs of the pupils in the various classes. Additions of useful literature are needed and will be most acceptable.
Mount St. Dominic's Academy, Caldwell, N. J.
THE Sisters of St. Dominic, who founded Mount St. Dominic's Academy, Caldwell, N. J., came to Roseland, and rented a house there temporarily on the 26th of May, 1884; on November Ist, the same year, the Harrison House, Caldwell. Rev. Father Bona- venture, O.S.B., celebrated the first Mass for the sisters in Rose- land. From 1884 to October, 1885, they were attended by the Rev. W. A. Purcell, from Seton Hall College, who said Mass on Sundays for them and in the Newark City Home in Verona; afterward the same service was performed by Rev. Father Duffy till January, 1887. The first resident chaplain was Father Shaugh- nessy, who left in 1888. On January 10th, 1888, by the advice of the bishop, the sisters purchased the Beach House, on Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, and about thirty acres belonging to the prop- erty. Father McGuire, the next chaplain, remained three years,
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and was succeeded by Father Henry Kruse, who stayed but a few months. He was succeeded by Father Nolan, who founded the parish of St. Aloysius, Caldwell, the ground for the church having been donated by the sisters. On the Feast of St. Joseph, 1892, the ground for the new convent and academy was broken, and on the 24th of May, the following year, the corner-stone was laid. On the 3d of September, 1895, the building was blessed by the Rt. Rev. W. M. Wigger, D.D., Rev. H. Kruse celebrating Sol-
MOUNT ST. DOMINIC'S ACADEMY, CALDWELL, N. J.
emn High Mass, Rev. B. Bogan deacon, Rev. P Smith sub- deacon. The sermon was preached by Rev. J. Tighe. From Father Nolan's time till 1903 the sisters were attended by the successive pastors of St. Aloysius's parish, Rev. J. F. Boylan, Rev. H. Kruse, Rev. P. Byrne. In May, 1903, the Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Connor appointed as resident chaplain Rev. J. H. A. Hagan, who in December of the same year was succeeded by the Rev. T. J. McEnery, the present chaplain. Mother Mary Cathe- rine, O.S.D., the first superioress, was succeeded in 1894 by Mother Mary Avelline, the present superioress. Rev. Mother M. Mech- tilde, prioress of Jersey City, exercises a general supervision over the institution, which at present has about 40 sisters and 100 pupils.
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The House of the Good Shepherd, Newark, N. J.
THE House of the Good Shepherd was founded by the late Archbishop Corrigan on May 24th, 1875, on High Street, Newark, the site of the Woman's Hospital, now attached to St. Michael's. In 1880 the present property on Thirteenth Avenue was purchased, and the sisters and children were transferred to it. The scope of the work of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd is the reformation of fallen women. In every house there is a Magdalen class, in which those among the penitents who wish to consecrate themselves to a life of penance enter, and after two years' probation, if judged worthy, are permitted to take vows, which they renew annually, on the feast of their patroness, St. Mary Magdalen, July 22d. The house for Magdalens was opened April 21st, 1881, and since that date eighty-five have been received, of whom eleven died and thirty persevered and are still in the house. They are self-sup- porting, employing their time in plain and fancy sewing. They wear a religious habit and follow the rule of the Carmelites. Their superior is always a religious of the Good Shepherd. Their chapel, dormitory, class-room, refectory, and garden are entirely separate from the convent. These holy souls are the greatest consolation of the religious women who watch over them, and are looked upon by them as their greatest trophies. Since the opening of this in- stitution fifteen hundred and seventy-five penitents have been received, provided for, and given a trade, either sewing, machine, or laundry work, thereby enabling them to earn an honest living on their return to the world. A history might be written of the life of each of the inmates. Some are young in years, but old in every kind of crime; and some wasted by sickness and disease, the result of the pace that kills. As soon as a penitent enters she receives a new name, by which she is known and called while in the house, so that nobody is acquainted with her history or her family except the superior and the religious in charge of the peni- tent. Ninety-seven have died since the institution was opened, eighty entered the Magdalen class, and twelve hundred and forty- five were returned to their parents or guardians or provided with situations. At present there are one hundred and fifty-three in- mates. While we must admit that all who return to the world do not walk in the narrow path that leads to the green pastures of the Good Shepherd, we are greatly consoled by the good con- duct of the majority, who after leaving us persevere in virtue,
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despite all the temptations and allurements of a wicked world. We have at present some who have been here twenty years, and who will probably end their days with their good mothers, as they affectionately call the religious. Others there are who count the days from their entrance, only too anxious to return to the world and in some instances to the scenes of vice and degradation from which they have been snatched, but which, alas! they love too well. There is also a third class, separate and distinct from the Magdalens and penitents, called the preservation class. This con- sists of orphans or the children of careless, negligent, or some- times destitute parents. As they are all innocent, they never hold any communication with the penitents. One hundred and fifty have been received, from the age of three to eighteen years. At the present time there are sixty-three in this class. This institu- tion is self-supporting, and receives no appropriation or remunera- tion from the city or the State.
In the little God's Acre of the convent chapel repose three superiors, and eight sisters of the House of the Good Shepherd, calmly awaiting the dawn of the resurrection.
Home for the Aged. The Little Sisters of the Poor, Newark, N. J.
HAD Jeanne Jugan lived in mediaval days, instead of in the nineteenth century, she would certainly have taken high rank as a worker of miracles, always providing she had not been burned as a witch. For she spent many long years of her life doing just what all common-sense folk declare cannot be done-making bricks without straw, feeding multitudes without even a loaf or a fish. At an age when most women feel that their work in this world is done, she took on herself a burden so overwhelmingly heavy that the strongest man's courage might well have quailed before it. She was a tall woman, taller by far than a good half of the men; and she was thin, nay, gaunt as the veriest scarecrow. Once black, her garments now had that grayish shade that tells of hard wear, of exposure to dust and sun, or struggles against wind and rain. She'had an old face, a face of the kind that makes one think instinctively of some weatherbeaten rock. It was ugly; that is a point on which there could be no doubt; not only was it rugged, but ill-shapen, as if it had been cut out with blunt scissors. Her voice was low, sweet, and persuasive. "It is terrible to hear old men and women crying for bread, you know," she would whis-
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per confidentially. "It just breaks one's heart to see them suffer. You must give me something for my poor old folk, you must, in- deed, good sirs. And you will, I know you will. Why, you could not find it in your hearts to let me go home to them empty-handed. Now could you, so good and so kind are you?"
This was the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and this was the foundation of the noble work begun in 1842. These were the sisters who founded a house on the corner of Broad and Murray streets in the city of Newark in 1878, under the patronage of St. Rose of Lima.
Bishop Bayley had been most desirous to have these sisters installed in his episcopal city, so that provision might be made for the aged poor of both sexes without regard to their religious be- lief or color. There were accommodations in the first house for about forty inmates. The present site on Warren Street was bought in 1880 and the first Mass was celebrated on the Feast of the Purification, 1883.
The building was completed in 1888 and the chapel built in 1896. The house accommodates about two hundred and twenty. The Rev. Augustine Brady is the resident chaplain.
The Alexian Brothers' Hospital, Elizabeth, N. J.
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