USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Catholicity in northern Ohio and in the diocese of Cleveland from 1749 to December 31, 1900, Volume I, pt1 > Part 19
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The special work of Bishop Gilmour was our parochial
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schools. Thanks to his zeal and earnest watchful care almost every child in the diocese can enjoy the priceless benefit of a truly Christian education. We have a devoted body of clergy, apostolic men and true missionaries. To God be the praise and thanks- giving as well for the labors of those who sleep in the Lord as for those who are now bearing the heat of the day in His vineyard.
Our fathers in the faith did their work well. They handed that faith down as our most glorious inheritance. We in turn must do the same for our children. On us lies that dread responsibility. May we all realize the grandeur of our vocation. * -x-
Toledo having been Bishop. Rappe's first field of missionary labor, and St. Francis de Sales' his first parish, the Golden Jubilee services, ordered by Bishop Horstmann, had special significance there. The occasion was one of grand and inspiring solemnity. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstmann was celebrant of the Pontificial Mass, and the Rev. Dr. Loughlin, Chancellor of the Philadelphia diocese, and in boyhood days a parishioner of St. Francis de Sales' church, was chosen to preach the sermon. It was a masterly effort, and deeply impressed the vast audience. The eloquent speaker paid the following beautiful tribute to the memory of Bishop Rappe :
"No genuine Catholic Toledoan, my brethren, can mention the name of Amadeus Rappe without the profoundest reverence and the most ardent filial affection. His position in this church and in your hearts must ever remain unique and unrivaled; for though a merciful Providence has singularly blessed you with a succession of able bishops and exemplary pastors, though the number of your instructors in Christ has steadily increased from year to year, yet the labors and merits of later benefactors can in nowise overshadow your indebtedness to him who was your first father in Christ, and who with plenary right could repeat the words of St. Paul: 'In Christ Jesus by the gospel I have begotten you.'
"The revered image of that humble and saintly prelate, from whose consecrated hands I had the happiness to receive the sacra- ment of confirmation, is indelibly imprinted upon my soul, dimmed or obscured by the memory of none of the statelier and more exalted personages whom I have since beheld. The light of those kindly eyes, now closed in death, still shines within my spirit, and often do I recall the burning words, made all the more charming and effective from the effort it cost him to utter his thoughts in our sturdy English tongue, in which he preached to us the glad tidings of divine love and incited us to the practice of the Christian virtues. Our hearts gladly re-echo the terms in which the Holy See pro-
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nounced its definitive and deliberate judgment upon his character ; he was, in very deed, sanctus et apostolicus senex, a saintly and apostolic old man. To those who were privileged to look upon his gentle, manly countenance, and to know somewhat of his life and labors, he must ever remain the embodied ideal of an apostle of Jesus Christ, consumed with zeal for the salvation of souls and the propagation of the gospel, knowing nothing, caring for nothing, preaching nothing, but Christ crucified, and striving with every energy of his soul to bring his fellow men to the loving feet of his divine Master.
"His elevation to the episcopate had made no change in his personal habits ; he simply continued, on a wider scale, as bishop, the humble routine of his missionary work; and I well remember what a source of edification it was to see him, upon frequent occasions of his episcopal visitations, enter the confessional and sit in that irksome tribunal hour after hour, accessible to the lowliest sinner who thirsted for reconciliation. *
"And surely if ever there existed a man whose self-sacrificing labors entitled him to the everlasting gratitude of a community, that man was Amadeus Rappe, whose name is indissolubly asso- ciated with the story of the early peopling of northern Ohio. It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that every nook and corner of the northern portion of this State has been the scene of his indefatigable labors. He was ever on the alert, seeking out the poor, scattered, often fever-stricken workmen whose hard toil opened the way for your present marvellous development. He spoke to them words of cheer and consolation ; kept them faithful to God and conscience; warned them against the perils that threatened them, especially against the grim demon of intemper- ance; and gathered their children around him to impart to them the rudiments of Christian doctrine. Only God's recording angel could worthily recount the details and the blessed fruits of a life so replete with arduous, unremittent, unassuming toil. O, let it not be said that the people of northern Ohio are so engrossed by material concerns as to take no account of the heroic men who labored to keep their spiritual interests at equal pace with their worldly advancement. Of what avail is material progress if humanity itself deteriorates? And to whom do you owe it that the descendants of those sturdy pioneers who felled your forests. drained your marshes, and ploughed the virgin soil, have retained the priceless heritage of Christian civilization, if not to men like your first pastor and bishop, and to that noble little band of co- laborers, men and women, whom he summoned to his aid from every distant land and animated with the zeal which consumed his own great soul? Thanks to the zealous efforts of Bishop Rappe
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and of his fellow-workers, Catholicity has been co-eval with colonization in the territory covered by this diocese; nor has it happened here, as it has unfortunately happened in too many sections of our country, that large bodies have been lost to the faith through the lack of facilities for practicing their holy religion. In those primitive times we did not, it is true, possess the grand churches and magnificent institutions of learning and charity of which you are so justly proud ; but we did possess all the essentials of religion ; a zealous and edifying priesthood; consecrated virgins with stout and manly hearts; an honest, industrious, and God fearing population, trained and disciplined in the stern school of privation and toil ; and, over all, a spiritual commander of untiring energy and keenly alive to all necessities of the hour. For it is worthy of remark, my brethren, that the foundations of the Catholic religion were laid so wisely and so broadly by the first bishop of this diocese that they have been able, without change or modification, to bear the weight of the mighty superstructure of later days. Bishop Rappe, though born in a foreign land, and never able thoroughly to master the English language, was never- theless a genuine American at heart, a warm admirer of our democratic institutions, and a firm believer in the principle that a nation of self-governing voters must be a nation of intelligent and educated Christians. In the very beginning of his career, notwith- standing the prevailing distress and the utter hopelessness of the outlook, he inaugurated that system of Catholic parish schools which has expanded and flourished so vigorously throughout the diocese and has given you so enviable a reputation far and near. To his zealous and far-seeing efforts and persistent exhortations you are also indebted for the happy progress amongst you of the total abstinence movement, which has proved so powerful a lever in elevating the moral and social condition of our people. It was certainly a blessed and auspicious day when the good Bishop, beholding the ravages wrought in his flock by the demon of intem- perance, boldly turned his back upon the traditions of vine-covered France, and proclaimed himself from henceforth forever a total abstainer.
"How can we account for it, my brethren, that a man who was not credited with extraordinary brilliancy of natural gifts, and whose laborious career gave him scant leisure for exhaustive studies, to say nothing of elegant accomplishments, should have builded and ruled the house of God with such unerring instinct and such transcendant skill that all his hopes have become realities, all his prophecies accomplished facts, and that for half a century this diocese has gone on developing and progressing along the lines traced out by the mind of its founder?"
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ST. JOSEPH'S SCHOOL, YOUNGSTOWN.
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Splendid as was Toledo's tribute to Bishop Rappe, and its observance of the Golden Jubilee of the diocese, they were eclipsed by Cleveland, for twenty-two years the official home of the sainted prelate. Wednesday, October 13, 1897, will ever be a red-letter day in the Catholic annals of Cleveland, for on that day merited honor and due praise were given him, whose unselfish labors and apostolic zeal had made it possible for the diocese of Cleveland to take front rank with the dioceses of the country in point of Catholic life and vigor, in matters spiritual as well as temporal. The religious celebration of the Golden Jubilee took place in St. John's Cathedral, which was packed to overflowing. Besides the laity, there were present over one hundred and fifty priests, seated outside the sanctuary. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstmann pontificated, and the Rt. Rev. Mgr. T. P. Thorpe preached the sermon, which was eloquent and impressive. He paid due tribute to the founder of the diocese, and to his successor, the lamented Bishop Gilmour, and to the present Bishop, in the following beautiful language :
"Just fifty years last Sunday since the miter of the newly created diocese of Cleveland was placed upon the brow of an humble Frenchman. His remarkable zeal as a missionary along the canals and through the malarial marshes for many miles around Toledo had brought him into weekly contact with the people he was called to rule as a bishop, and won for him the apostolic staff he ever wielded as an apostle. He found the new-made diocese as we had found the field it covers before the beginning of our golden years. He had a brave heart and bravely did he enter on his work. In the pulpit, in the confessional, on the mission, wherever he went his rugged, burning eloquence touched the souls of men. There was an earnestness in his manner which filled our conception of Ezechiel who bore the message of God to the Israelites assembled on the banks of the Chobar. Temperance was his theme from morning till night, and temperance in eating and drinking was his daily practice. He hewed down the obstacles that stood in the way of church organization and, under his apostolic hand. priests were ordained, schools were established, hospitals were founded, churches were built and orphan asylums were organized. To him be the glory, our first missionary Bishop-to him the praise and honor as the example of a zealous priesthood; through him the Church of Cleveland began to put forth her branches of good works according to the measure of the cross of Christ. Advanced in years, and with the burden of a fast-growing diocese upon him,
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he lay down his crozier at the feet of Pius IX in 1870, and while ministering to the poor on the banks of Lake Champlain, he yielded up his soul to God in the autumn of 1877. He laid the foundation deep and strong and on it now rests the glory of the Church of Cleveland. Peace to the ashes of Bishop Rappe; may his soul in heaven rejoice with us today. His mantle fell on the shoulders of Richard Gilmour who was consecrated at Cincinnati on Sunday, the 14th of April, 1872. Under the powerful hand of this truly great and fearless man, the spiritual and temporal growth of the diocese was without a parallel. He may be called the apostle of the parochial schools, and, in a broad sense, the patron of education. His well ordered mind left its impress on the diocese and won for it the proud distinction of being the freest from debt and among the best regulated dioceses in America. Schools arose everywhere, magnificent churches were begun and completed, hospitals and orphan asylums were increased in number, a weekly newspaper was established and a college for higher studies called into existence. With a fearless pen he defended the honor of the Church, and with the tongue of a patriot he defended the honor of the country. First shunned or received coldly by our non-Catholic brethren, he became before death the first citizen of Cleveland. His massive eloquence was always winged with burning thoughts, but tinged with an alloy of severity, yet no woman ever bore a heart more tender than his. He sunk to rest, the victim of insidious disease, among the orange groves of Florida, on the 13th of April, 1891, and over his honored grave the benediction of his people rests. The future will recognize his sterling worth and enshrine his name among the greatest prelates of the American Church. The work of Bishop Rappe received a new impulse at his hand. He was a man of action and a holy Bishop; may his glorified soul rejoice with us today.
"The third Bishop of Cleveland sits on his throne before us, clothed in his robes of office, and although it is not meet to praise a man while he liveth, nor yet before a presence so august as this : yet I am constrained to say 'behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.' He received episcopal consecration at the hands of our venerable metropolitan in the Cathedral of Phila- delphia on the 24th of February, 1892. It was a happy day for us of the widowed see. A man of deep learning, and long experience in the priesthood, was invested with the crozier of our beloved diocese. We heard his character from the inspired lips of the Bossuet of the American Church and rejoiced that God had so blessed us. A residence of nearly six years amongst us has verified all that was said of him on that memorable day. Under his gentle rule, our faith has become more practical, works of piety have
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increased and grown stronger, churches have been erected and charitable institutions enlarged. The grand works of Rappe and Gilmour have been greatly supplemented and everywhere we find the influence of his kind and manly heart. It is certain that under his episcopate the Church of Cleveland will put forth new vigor. and pushed on by this new impulse, will see in the field of her present jurisdiction at least two more episcopal cities before she celebrates the centenary of her existence. Being still among men, he cannot, like his predecessors, give thanks with glorified lips, but I am sure that down deep in the chambers of a devotional heart, he renders thanksgiving to God, hardly equalled by any, for the blessings we commemorate.
"From the diocese he so worthily rules I bear a message-an ad multos annos. Blessed be the three who have ruled over us, their names shall ever live in benediction."
Among the distinguished prelates present in the sanctuary were the Metropolitan of the Cincinnati Province, the Most Rev. Archbishop Elder, Archbishop Ryan, of Philadelphia, Bishop Foley, of Detroit, and Bishop Rademacher, of Fort Wayne; each with attendant chaplains. After Mass the prelates and priests were invited to a banquet in Cathedral Hall, at which were seated over two hundred guests. At the conclusion of the banquet a number of toasts was offered. After the Rt. Rev. Bishop Horst- mann spoke eloquently to the toast assigned to him : "The Day We Celebrate," he read a letter which was sent him by Bishop De Goesbriand, of Burlington, who, as a priest, had labored in the diocese of Cleveland for nearly ten years-until 1853, when he was elevated to the Episcopacy ; and who had also been Bishop Rappe's Vicar General for the first six years of his episcopate. Following is a full text of his interesting and reminiscent letter :
"Burlington, Vt., Sept. 28th, 1897. "Rt. Rev. Bishop of Cleveland.
"My Dear Lord :- I am glad indeed that you are about to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the diocese of Cleveland. 1 remember quite well the day on which the Rt. Rev. A. Rappe received episcopal consecration at Cincinnati. When a few years before I met him in Ohio he enjoyed the reputation of a most zealous missionary: and this he well deserved. When Bishop Rappe in those days administered the Sacraments, he would begint by an explanation of the rites he was about to perform, and after performing them he would offer prayer, and resolutions for the future. This he did with much devotion, on his knees.
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"When he was consecrated Bishop he started immediately for Cleveland and there he acted more like a missionary than a bishop. The principal difficulty in the way of success was the very small number of his clergy, the great difficulty in recruiting priests, acquainted with the English and German, together with his own imperfect knowledge of the language of the country; but the Catholics of Cleveland soon found out what kind of a pastor Providence had sent them. He was a father, and they understood it.
"As soon as he was able to leave the city, having secured a sufficient number of priests to attend the Cathedral, he went on a visit to the whole diocese, and in most every mission or settlement he would give, alone, a two or three days' retreat ; hear confessions late in the night, after traveling a whole day previously. In this visitation he never forgot to teach the children and to give special attention to the direction of the operatives of the railroads and canals, and also to many others, who had no chance to practice their religion. He was, however, comforted by the affection and generosity of the Catholics of his diocese.
"It would be difficult to describe all his efforts to bring about the conversion of sinners. The priests who knew him were well aware of the zeal of their. Bishop, and have, I think, followed his example. As I write these few lines, I fancy I see the venerable Bishop stepping out of his way to visit neglectful Catholics, or stopping them on the streets and after some severe remonstrances begging them to return to God. He was generally obeyed; they would make him a promise, and then he would address them as a kind father would his children. One was reminded of the language of St. Paul to the Galatians: 'My little children of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you;' or of the language of the Savior : 'How often would I have gathered you together.'
"Bishop Rappe would complete in the confessional the work that he had begun by his private or public instructions. For the space of six years he was my confessor, and I never knew a more practical adviser. I think that he was especially happy in selecting ground for the institutions of his diocese; and especially in the purchase he made of some of the ground on which stands the Cathedral. Providence also guided him in the religious com- munities which he established in Cleveland, whose labors have since continued amongst you.
"When Bishop Rappe removed from Cleveland to Vermont, after resigning his see, which was after an episcopate of twenty- three years, he might apply to himself the words of Archbishop Kenrick: 'Another might have done better than I did, and another might have done worse.'
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"When he left Cleveland and came to Vermont, he was evidently guided by Providence. He was seventy years of age, and I thought that old age had slightly affected his mind. When Mgr. Roncetti came to bring the Cardinal's beretta to Archbishop McCloskey, of New York, he came to Burlington by order of the Secretary of State, and offered him another episcopal see, but Bishop Rappe refused and preferred to remain a missionary among the poor Canadians of Northern Vermont. Since 1853, when I was consecrated Bishop of Burlington, I saw very little of Bishop Rappe; but when I happened to meet him at home or in Baltimore, I could not but feel sentiments of the deepest venera- tion and affection towards a prelate of the Church of God, who had labored so long and so faithfully for his people. Divine Providence had made Bishop Rappe to be the friend and father of the poor. Such he was in Toledo, among the forsaken people engaged on the public works of the State, and to my own poor people in Northern Vermont.
"At this time I was much in need of priests speaking the French tongue; these people were very poor, unable to build churches or support priests in their settlements. A large book might be written about his works and labors among the Canadians whom he secretly loved, and who loved and venerated him in return. He helped them to build private chapels and in order to enable him to be with them, he constructed behind the chancel, a vestry with a school-room ; and on the second story, he had a room for himself, where he slept and could pray, without being dis- turbed. This he did in six or seven settlements. His meals were brought to him; and in this way he laid the foundations of some small parishes.
"He would never disappoint, when his visit was announced. As soon as he arrived at some mission, the Catholics all came to the church, and he would have instructions, prayers and confes- sions. This practice continues since the day that death removed him from amongst us. Besides these visits in Vermont, he was frequently called to other states and to Canada.
"The Rt. Rev. Bishop was naturally quite eloquent. When in his Cathedral at Cleveland, crowds of non-Catholics were always present to hear him. His eloquence was that of the heart, and he would undoubtedly have been considered one of the best preachers if he had had an opportunity to practice his native tongue. His zeal and eloquence were known about and outside of Ohio and Vermont. The aministrator of Detroit would often invite him to preach in French in his city; and so did the clergy of Montreal, who invited him to speak in the great basilica of Notre Dame, one of the largest churches on this continent.
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"Although he was not a great controversialist, he had had great success in bringing non-Catholics into the Church. I could quote many names in Cleveland, in Toledo and in Vermont. Bishop Rappe always forgot himself, never looked for the esteem of the world. He had chosen the better part, to devote himself for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. And indeed, what is all that the world esteems, in the presence of eternity? Eternity came for Bishop Rappe. I had the consolation to assist him and give him the last sacraments of religion. He died as he did all else : bravely, full of faith and hope. Had it been in my power to be present at the forthcoming jubilee of the Cleveland diocese, and address some of your people, I think I might have called upon them without presumption, to ask their first Bishop to pray for them and to bless them from heaven. As it is, my Lord, let them pray for him also, and may the goodness of God continue to pro- vide you with zealous religious and priests; and a people worthy of the first Catholics of Cleveland, who so nobly helped in the building up of the Cleveland diocese.
¡LOUIS DE GOESBRIAND, Bishop of Burlington."
After the reading of Bishop De Goesbriand's letter Arch- bishop Ryan, of Philadelphia, followed in response to the toast : "The Hierarchy," with a magnificent outpouring of that eloquence which has won for him among other titles "the modern Chrysos- tom." His Grace paid the following tribute to the memory of Bishop Rappe: "Even the saints have been misunderstood by good, honest men ; but when their characters have been vindicated, as in the case of the first Bishop of Cleveland, it becomes the duty of such men to make reparation by defending what before they assailed. To continue the attack would be but to act as a grave rat gnawing at the coffin of the dead."
All the toasts were gems and elicited the most cordial applause from the enraptured audience. In the evening Bishop Horstmann and his guests reviewed from the front entrance of his residence the great and splendid parade of the Catholic societies, which brought to a glorious close the joyful festivities of the Golden Jubilee of the diocese of Cleveland. It was the unanimous verdict of all who participated in the celebration that it was perfect in every detail and reflected great credit on those who had it in charge.
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ST. JOSEPH'S ACADEMY GROUNDS, WEST PARK, CUYAHOGA CO.
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For many years an abuse had existed in the diocese, with regard to Sunday funerals, although Bishops Rappe and Gilmour and their clergy had frequently protested against it. As the abuse continued unabated, Bishop Horstmann gave the subject con- siderable thought, and finally determined to use radical measures for its suppression, by publishing the following order, on Decem- ber 23, 1897:
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