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 II, pt1 > Part 3
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To assist him in instructing the children at Toledo he secured several Sisters of Notre Dame from Cincinnati. They were of the band of Religeuses that had come with him from Namur, Belgium, in 1840, and established a branch of their community in Cincinnati. Hle secured a house, near the present site of St. Francis de Sales' Church, Toledo, which was fitted up as a convent and select school
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for the little band of sisters that shared with him the trials and hardships of missionary life. They remained at Toledo from 1846 to 1848, when, owing to lack of support, they were recalled to Cincinnati.
Bishop Purcell finding the labor of properly attending to his vast diocese, comprising the State of Ohio, too much for him, he petitioned the Holy See for a division of his jurisdiction, and suggested Cleveland as the most fit city in Northern Ohio for the Episcopal See. Consequently, the new Diocese of Cleveland was established, and Father Rappe chosen as its first bishop. Although his appointment was confirmed on April 23, 1847. the Papal Brief. issued to that effect on the same day, did not reach Cincinnati until the following September. He was consecrated in St. Peter's Cathedral, Cincinnati, on October 10, 1847, by Bishop Purcell, who was assisted by Bishop Whelan, of Richmond. Va. On October 12, just before setting out for Cleveland. Bishop Rappe published his first Pastoral letter. Its full text will be found on pages 76 to 78, in the first volume of this work. In plain but unctuous language the Bishop outlines in his letter the work before him. He addresses his brethren of the clergy and his children of the laity in most kindly words, that make the Pastoral letter mirror him as a man full of apostolic zeal and love for souls.
Within a very short time after Bishop Rappe came to Cleve- land and to his diocese he impressed all, the non-Catholics, as well as Catholics, that his sole aim was the betterment of his flock. to work indefatigably for God's glory and the spread of religion. As an evidence of the Bishop's wonderful endurance in his most arduous labors, which were of well-nigh daily occurrence, the following account is taken from the "Reminiscences," written by the Rev. E. W. J. Lindesmith, at the request of the writer :
"When I came to the Seminary, in the fall of 1849, Bishop Rappe lived on Bond street. The Seminary was then located in the rear of the Bishop's house. The students would all rise at 5 a. m. After morning prayers at 5:30, the Bishop would walk down to St. Mary's on the "Flats," hear confessions, and then say Mass. On Sundays, when the Bishop was at home, he would hear confessions from 6 to 10:30 o'clock, and then sing High Mass and preach. He had already said Mass at 8 o'clock and preached, and
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commonly the confessions were not all heard. He would then go to the confessional again after last Mass and hear all that were there. On several occasions I saw him hear confessions on Sunday evening after the sermon and Benediction, at 8:30 p. m., and give communion to people who had fasted over twenty-four hours, and could not get a chance to go to confession. One Sunday I served the Bishop's 8 o'clock Mass at the Cathedral where he preached. Then I drove him in a buggy to St. Patrick's, where he dedicated the church. He said a second Mass and preached. Then I drove him to St. Mary's on the Flats, which at this time was the German church, with Father Luhr as pastor. There we had dinner. After dinner we went to the church, where the Bishop confirmed the German children and preached. After that I drove him in the buggy to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, where he gave the veil to several Sisters, and then gave Benediction and preached. After that I brought him to the Ursuline Convent. where he gave Bene- diction and preached. Then I drove him in the buggy to his house, where we got supper. After supper he walked to the Cathedral, where he preached and gave Benediction. Then I went to the Seminary, and how many sick calls the Bishop attended to that night I don't know."
In order not to repeat here the record of Bishop Rappe's long and laborious work, of his many difficulties, sore and severe trials, the reader is referred, for a full account of these, to pages 78-92, in the first volume of this work. The summary of that account is, that in every good work Bishop Rappe was in the front rank, never shirking his part, never refusing his aid or countenance. Though often meeting with disappointment, or receiving insult for his pains, he never halted, but courageously went on in his work. He knew no such word as fail. But time, incessant labor, and great mental strain caused by opposition, began to tell on him. He had also lost the use of his right eye, and was in danger of losing his sight entirely. In 1869, whilst he was at Rome, in attendance at the Vatican Council, accusations against his char- acter had been sent to the Apostolic See. This was too much for him to bear. A just God. he felt, would vindicate his innocence. He was tired of opposition, strife and calumny, and so concluded that it would be for the best interests of religion if he retired from the diocese he had served so long. He therefore resigned as
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Bishop of Cleveland on August 22, 1870. After a short stay in Cleveland, on his return from Rome, he went to the Diocese of Burlington, whose bishop, his old-time friend and co-laborer, the Rt. Rev. Dr. De Goesbriand, gladly welcomed him. Not wishing to eat the bread of idleness, and feeling that he had still strength to work for the salvation of souls, he again entered the missionary field, as he had thirty years before, preaching and catechising in the villages and settlements of Vermont now, as he had done in the then uninviting parts of Northwestern Ohio.
When Bishop Rappe came to Cleveland, in 1847, he found a sparsely settled diocese awaiting organization at his hands. He left it flourishing, well provided with priests, churches, schools and religious institutions. The episcopal city in 1847 had but one small church; in 1870 there were eleven, with as many congrega- tions, most of them of considerable size. His work as a missionary priest and as a missionary bishop, his burning zeal and noble self- sacrifice enshrine him in the history of the Church in the United States as an apostle of Catholicity in Ohio.
When the Rt. Rev. Dr. Rappe was informed that Bishop Gilmour had been appointed his successor he sent him a letter in which, among other things, he expressed his great satisfaction at the appointment. Following is a copy of his letter, now on file in the diocesan archives :
"Rutland, Vt., May 6, 1872.
"Rt. Rev. Bishop :
"It is just now I have the pleasure of receiving your kind letter of the 27th of April. For twelve days I had been engaged in the North of this State, and my correspondence had been detained at St. Albans. I state this to justify my silence, which may have appeared strange to you. On hearing of your appoint- ment to Cleveland I thanked God from the bottom of my heart. It is a consolation for me that the diocese of my affection has been entrusted to your care.
"I shall be engaged here for one month more, but will remain at St. Albans, or in the vicinity, from the 20th of this month till the 7th of June. My home is with Very Rev. Father Druon, at St. Albans, * where I will be most happy to see you. I am not forbidden to visit Cleveland, but for the present. the interests of religion demand I should remain at a distance.
"I will not cease to pray for peace and harmony among my ever beloved children. I have not neglected to advise them to avoid everything scandalous. I have already exhorted some of my
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friends to receive you with respect and confidence, and to assist you to overcome the many difficulties you have to encounter.
"Please let me know when I may expect you, and pray for Your devoted friend in Xt.,
A. RAPPE."
In this connection, and in justice to the memory of Bishop Rappe, the following account is put on record :
Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect of the Propaganda, in a letter sent to the Rt. Rev. Bishop Gilmour, May 8, 1885, referring to Bishop Rappe, says :
* in illa miserrima conspiratione contra episcopum Cleveland- ensem, predecessorem Amplitudinis Tua, in qua ille sanctus et apostolicus senex falso * accusabatur." (*)
Five years after Bishop Rappe resigned, the Holy See offered him another diocese, as appears from the subjoined letter addressed to Bishop Gilmour by the Rt. Rev. Bishop De Goesbriand :
"Burlington, Vt., 21st December, 1884.
Rt. Rev. R. Gilmour, Bishop of Cleveland :
Rt. Rev., Dear Sir :
"After consulting my records I find that Mgr. Roncetti, Able- gate of the Holy Father, arrived at Burlington, from Portland, in company of Father Ubaldo Ubaldi, Very Rev. Father Quinn and Rev. Father O'Farrell, of New York, on Saturday evening, July 24th, 1875. The object of his visit was to see Rt. Rev. A. Rappe, whom he thought to be living in Burlington, but who was living at St. Albans with Father Druon.
"The Ablegate expressed himself disappointed in not meeting him. I remember distinctly that after inquiring concerning Bishop Rappe, he opened in my presence, and read with much attention. a letter of Cardinal Franchi to himself, and said to me that he had been commanded to see Rt. Rev. A. Rappe, and authorized to offer him another diocese. The Ablegate left Burlington the next day and did not see Bishop Rappe. Whether or not he wrote to him I cannot tell, but it was certainly intended to speak to him of another See, for I remarked to Mgr. Roncetti, that the charge of a diocese would be too much for Bishop Rappe, who at that date must have been seventy-four years of age.
"What I have here written I am ready to swear to. ¡LOUIS,
Bishop of Burlington, Vt."
(*) "In that most wretched conspiracy against the Bishop of Cleveland, Your Lord - ship's predecessor, in which that holy and apostolic old man was falsely accused .*. " -Trans.
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Dr. John Gilmary Shea in his history of The Catholic Hierarchy in the United States, (page 206), referring to the resig- nation of Bishop Rappe, says :
"Bishop Rappe had built up the diocese and might have been expected in his declining years to enjoy a happy old age amid the clergy and people whom he had guided as a faithful pastor for twenty [twenty-three] years, but this was not to be. An ungrate- ful opposition sprung up, calumny assailed even the venerable bishop, who with a broken heart resigned his See on the 22nd of August, 1870, and retired to the diocese of his good friend Bishop De Goesbriand, of Burlington."
In his Lives of Deceased Bishops, Dr. Richard H. Clarke says of Bishop Rappe: "While attending the [Vatican] council his reputation was assailed unjustly at Rome, by calumnies forwarded from the very diocese he had served so well. This movement was limited to a few. Rome, misled by calumnies, which it afterwards discovered and pronounced to be the fruits of a con- spiracy, counseled his retirement. But he was never removed from his office as Bishop of Cleveland. On his return to Cleveland from Rome, he resigned his bishopric August 22, 1870. He had been Bishop of Cleveland not only in name but in deed, and left that title unsullied before God."1 *
* "Since his death I have seen the original letter, one from the Holy See, in which the means resorted to, to compel his retirement from his See, are spoken of as a 'miserable conspiracy,' the accusations against him are charac- terized as 'false' (falso accusabatur), and in which Bishop Rappe is himself spoken of as 'that holy and apostolic old man,' (ille sanctus et apostolicus senex.")2
""At the Pontifical Requiem High Mass for the deceased prelates of the Cincinnati province, celebrated at St. Peter's Cathe- dral, Cincinnati, March 7, 1882, at the time the Fourth Provincial Council of Cincinnati was in session, Bishop Dwenger, of Fort Wayne, preached the sermon on the occasion. Referring to Bishop Rappe, he spoke as follows : * We remember today the first Bishop of Cleveland, Amadeus Rappe. 'Having known him from the days of my child- hood, it is today a pleasant duty to do justice to his memory. He was elevated to the episcopal dignity, not so much on account of brilliant talent, as on account of piety and apostolic zeal. It was an edifying sight to see the hard working apostolic bishop visit every church of his wonderfully growing diocese every year,
(1) Vol. 3, pp. 244, 245.
(*) Vol. 3, pp. 243, 210.
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preaching, giving confirmation, hearing confessions; nothing was too hard for him; nothing could tire him. When I conducted missions and forty hours' devotions, I sometimes would feel a delicacy to urge the priests to go in the confessionals; but if the good bishop was present I never hesitated to ask him to hear confessions, if I knew there was a crowd. Witness the wonderful growth of the Diocese of Cleveland from the year 1847 to the time of his resignation. I do not deny that the saintly apostolic bishop, relying upon the advice and judgment of men whom he considered more learned than himself, did commit some error in the adminis- tration ; but the austere, hard-working, apostolic man was innocent of the cruel accusations that were concocted against him, and saddened the last days of his life. I know how these accusations were concocted. I have spoken with the principal witness. I know he [the Bishop] was innocent. Beautiful were the words the good bishop used, when in 1870 he tendered his resignation to the Holy Sce: That for the good of his diocese he not only resigned his dignity, but also his good name; that for the sake of peace and harmony he desired no vindication."*
For obvious reasons all the details of this sad chapter in Bishop Rappe's saintly and self-sacrificing life are not yet for publication. Those that can now be given will be found on pages 89-92, in the first volume of this work.
Immediately after his resignation Bishop Rappe retired to St. Albans, Vermont, making his home with the Very Rev. Z. Druon, V. G., until his saintly death, at St. Albans, September 8, 1877. He was incessantly engaged in his former and favorite work of giving missions and catechising the young throughout the Diocese of Burlington. He·conducted a very successful mission in the great parish church of Notre Dame, Montreal, preaching the entire course of sermons himself. Immense audiences heard his eloquent and impressive sermons, and thousands took from him on that occasion the pledge of total abstinence. He was the Father Mathew of Montreal. The last mission he gave was at Grand Isle, near St. Albans. Although seriously ailing of what proved to be his last illness, he closed the mission exercises, after one week of intense pain and suffering. September 7, 1877, the day before he died. On the same day he left for Milton, twelve miles from St. Albans.
*Catholic Telegraph, March 9, 1882.
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The following particulars of Bishop Rappe's fatal illness and death were given to the writer by the Very Rev. Father Druon, in a letter dated September 20, 1888: "He arrived at Milton in the morning (Friday, Sept. 7th), when Father Cardinal tele- graphed to me. I reached Milton at 12.30 P. M. and found Bishop Rappe a little delirious, though he had taken a good fish dinner. I brought him to St. Albans without any trouble, in the afternoon, when I telegraphed to Bishop De Goesbriand, who arrived in the evening. He heard his confession, for at that time he had entirely recovered his consciousness. Dr. Fasset, who came to see him in the afternoon, found him fairly well, so that he then had hope of his recovery. After the Bishop's arrival at St. Albans, when he was still a little delirious, he wished to start for his missions, and it was then that he said: 'I have a grand mission to perform; I want to go to Cleveland by the way of Buffalo.' On the following day he fell into a comatose state from which he never recovered ; he died peacefully that night at 11:30 o'clock. The last words he breathed were: 'I have prayed for my friends; I have prayed for my enemies; nowe may God bless them all!" Words of apostolic benediction, of forgiving and loving charity; an echo of the Last Words on Calvary !
His remains were brought to Cleveland -- to the city he loved so well. On arrival Thursday evening, September 13th, they were met by an immense concourse of people, Catholic and Protestant, all vieing to do honor to the dead Bishop whom in life they loved and venerated. By torchlight the immense funeral cortege passed from the Union Depot to the cathedral, where, on a magnificent catafalque, Bishop Rappe's mortal remains were placed in state for the night. Next day a Pontifical Requiem Mass was celebrated by Bishop Dwenger, of Ft. Wayne. Bishop Ryan, of Buffalo, preached the panegyric, pronouncing a beautiful tribute to the memory of the sainted dead. The remains of Bishop Rappe were then enclosed in a vault beneath the cathedral he had built, and beneath the altar at which for eighteen years he had offered up the divine sacrifice.
Tuesday, October 16, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Gilmour preached in the cathedral at the Month's Mind of Bishop Rappe. The fol- lowing passage is taken from his sermon on that occasion : "Bishop Rappe came as a missionary, he abided as a missionary, he perse-
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vered as a missionary. The same brave old missionary bishop! Seeking his people far and wide; preaching incessantly to them from the pulpit, day after day and year after year; patiently await- ing them in the confessional; by the bed of the dying, consoling and exhorting, or by the side of youth, guiding and protecting, encouraging or chiding, he was ever the same-the indefatigable bishop, who knew no self, only God and the things of God. Preaching retreats, erecting temples, founding convents, giving instruction in his universal character of missionary, he died as he had lived-a true soldier of Christ, a man of God. It is the most beautiful episode, perhaps, in the Catholic annals of the United States. His last public act was to celebrate Mass and ask the prayers of the people for the grace of a happy death; his last words were an invocation of charity. It was meet that he should have been brought here to repose under the altar that he built ; it was right that he should have come among his own for their prayers- those to whom he had given a life's earnest labors. It was fitting that his virtues and his memory should be placed before the people whom he so loved, for whom he had so labored."
The following communication to the Cleveland Leader, September 10, 1877, was written by one of the ablest lawyers of the Cleveland bar, and by one who had no "church affiliations." It voiced the kindly feeling universally entertained toward Bishop Rappe on the part of non-Catholics :
"THE DEAR BISHOP."
"And so the good Bishop has gone. Permit one who is neither Catholic nor Protestant, but who knew him well during all the long period of his ministry in Cleveland, to pay a tribute to his memory. Whatever were his personal accomplishments they were far surpassed by the qualities of his heart. All who knew him will concur in praise of his candor, his inviolable fidelity, his courtesy, his frankness, his freedom from the least tincture of unkindness or uncharitableness, his attachment to his friends, his gratitude, his deeds of charity, his patience amid the trials and perplexities of his charge, his mildness, his purity of life and manners, his fervent and unfeigned piety. Born a gentleman, he possessed in an eminent degree all the personal graces and suavity of manner which such birth implies. He was modest and unobtrusive. He preferred retirement and peace to the tumult and strife of the
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world. In the performance of every duty he was energetic, faithful and cheerful. In a word, he was a great and good man; but because he was great and good, envy and jealousy conspired to drag him down. Relentless opponents, while they attempted to despoil him of his exalted office and good name, were totally unable to charge him justly with a single moral stain : and though he suffered much, he was certainly exempted from that most merciless of all sorrows, the anguish of remorse. His name will be enrolled with the names of other good and worthy men who by their lives and example have contributed to the culture, prosperity and happiness of the human race. I think I see the good Bishop at the approach of the last mortal pang, closely embracing the crucifix, his gaze steadfastly fixed upon the world beyond the stars, with the words upon his lips, 'Into Thy hands, O Lord, I resign my spirit.' And though he died in a distant State, who can doubt that in the moment of dissolution he breathed forth a sweet and holy benediction for the diocese for which he had done so much !
"Faithful and loving hands have borne back to our beautiful city the remains of the beloved Bishop, and they shall repose in a crypt beneath the dome of the Cathedral which he erected for a people he loved so well. S. E. ADAMS."
The Cleveland Leader said of Bishop Rappe in its issue of September 10, 1877: "A dispatch from St. Albans, Vermont, announces the death of Right Rev. Amadeus Rappe. Bishop. Rappe was of French birth and education. * His fine qualities as a courteous, cultivated man made him many friends among people of all classes and religions, and many well remember the indignation of his American friends when he was elbowed out of the diocese which he had so laboriously created. Few Catholic prelates have shown such a broad, intelli- gent liberality and so many winning qualities as a public-spirited citizen. Though always a zealous and aggressive Catholic, he had a manly respect for the rights and opinions of others."
In 1887, Bishop Gilmour authorized his vicar-general, Mgr. Boff, to raise a fund by collections in the churches of the diocese for a monument, to be erected to the memory of Bishop Rappe. The response of the diocese was most generous. Since then a fine marble bust of the deceased prelate has been executed and placed in the Bishop's residence, and in October. 1888, a life size statue in bronze of Bishop Rappe, in full pontifical robes, was cast in Rome. It is now temporarily placed in the vestibule of the Cathedral.
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Few men on the missions of America ever excelled Bishop Rappe in the line of his work. Untiring in zeal, patient in hard- ships, generous, unselfish, no labor seemed to weary or exhaust him. Good his aim, suffering and sorrow the objects of his charity. he lived for religion and his kind. Ill-versed in English, because learned late in life, defective in early education, yet by nature's gifts and his own energy of character, he ranked as an orator of more than ordinary powers. The Bishop was not a polished orator, but he was singularly expressive in his language, in which there was a vein of sympathetic poetry. This, coupled with his peculiar pronunciation and emphasis, made him a most interesting speaker. Though his diction was far from pure English, it wasplain, his delivery animated, and his appearance in the pulpit full of deep earnestness. While preaching he had a habit of brushing his brow and gesticulating freely, without much regard for the rules of gestures. He never preached for effect; his aim at all times was "to preach Christ," not himself. He was also a ready speaker and on short notice would preach a sermon full of emotion and spiritual food, evincing the fact that he was a man given to reflection and mental prayer. He was perfectly at home in the pulpit. His sermons had these very desirable qualities-they were understood and remembered; they never failed to win the attention of his hearers. One of his favorite themes was Total Abstinence, of which he was a consistent and practical advocate for many years and up to the time of his death. He had a horror of saloons, or "grog-shop's," as he called them, and in sermon or lecture would attack them in scathing language.
His wont was to preach thrice every Sunday-frequently four or five times-always to a different audience, and often in churches miles distant from each other.
Bishop Rappe was most courteous in manners ; every act and motion indicated grace itself. Tall in stature, erect and rapid in his gait, he walked, cane in hand, with the agility of a young man of twenty, and with the air of a soldier. Approachable to all without distinction as to age, creed or social condition, he was universally respected by those who had the good fortune of his acquaintance. The prominent Protestant gentlemen of Cleveland, Toledo and elsewhere in the diocese, with whom he had business
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or social intercourse, had the highest esteem for him, based, as it was, on his integrity, affability and tolerance. In a word, he was acknowledged to be "every inch a gentleman."
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