USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > A history of the Catholic church in the dioceses of Pittsburg and Allegheny from its establishment to the present time > Part 41
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Digitized by Google
476
FATHERS OF THE HOLY GHOST.
Here it is that the priests of the diocese perform the exer- cises of the annual retreat. Previous to the year 1870 the retreats were held every second year, and continued for nine days, all the clergy being required to perform the exercises. But at that time a system in many respects preferable was adopted, and is still followed. It is that of two annual re- treats of five days each, one half the clergy attending the first and the other half the second. By this arrangement all the . clergy are enabled to reap the fruit of the exercises without depriving their congregations of Mass on a Sunday.
Additional lands were purchased at different times, until the Brothers now own about six hundred acres at Loretto. The Order has not flourished recently as it did in former years, although new members are being received from time to time. Nor has the college met with the full measure of patronage expected. With accommodations for perhaps one hundred Brothers and two hundred students, the latter have never exceeded one hundred, and have generally fallen far below that number. It has suffered doubtless from being situated at a distance from the railroad. But if an institution of learning is to flourish in the competition found at the pres- ent time, pains must be taken to maintain a competent staff of professors. While the members who founded the college were ripe scholars, their successors, it is to be feared, fall somewhat below them. The future prospects of the college, though fair perhaps, are not flattering.
In September, 1878, the Brothers established a house in Altoona, and have since taught the larger boys of St. John's congregation. The house at Pittsburg was discontinued in the summer of 1866. The Order numbers at present three houses, with about thirty-five professed Brothers and a few candidates.
THE CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY GHOST AND THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
This religious congregation was founded by the venerable Paul Marie Lieberman at Amiens, in France, in 1844, and although of but recent date is fast spreading throughout the
Digitized by Google
477
THE PITTSBURG CATHOLIC COLLEGE.
world, the members being engaged principally in teaching and in the work of foreign missions. When Alsace passed under the rule of the German Emperor, a number of the fathers of the congregation came to this country under the guidance of Very Rev. Joseph Strub, as we stated in the his- tory of St. Mary's Church, Sharpsburg, and after some time entered the Diocese of Pittsburg, and established the first house of the Order in the United States at Sharpsburg, April 23d, 1874. In October, 1876, St. Anne's Church, Millvale, was also confided to the pastoral care of one of the fathers. In the following year Father Strub secured a very large tract of land from one of the railroad companies in Franklin County, Arkansas, with a view of establishing a Catholic colony; and taking with him five priests and twenty Brothers, he founded a house of his congregation there. But the most important work of the Order for this diocese was the estab- lishment of the Pittsburg Catholic College.
THE PITTSBURG CATHOLIC COLLEGE.
In the organization of his diocese Bishop O'Connor was not satisfied with merely placing within the reach of the chil- dren of both sexes the means of acquiring an elementary training ; he would also afford them facilities for securing a higher education. For this purpose he established a high- school for boys in Pittsburg in 1844, and named Rev. T. Mul- len principal. The school continued under his administration until the arrival of the Brothers of the Presentation, when it passed into their hands. It was discontinued for want of patronage about the year 1849. No attempt appears to have been made to revive it until about 1864, when a similar school was opened. But neither was it destined to be permanent, and at the end of two or three years it was numbered with the things of the past.
But although there were other colleges in the diocese, it seemed to be, and it was, a reproach that Pittsburg and Alle- gheny, with a Catholic population at that time numbering sixty thousand, should not possess a Catholic school for the higher education of boys. In 1873 a third attempt was
Digitized by Google
478
OTHER RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
made to found one. It took the name of the Catholic Institute, and entered upon its career with fair promise of success. But the times were not favorable, and it was impossible for a priest to superintend the school and at the same time dis- charge the duties of pastor of a congregation. At the end of about three years it went the way of its predecessors. It had long been apparent to every one capable of forming an opinion in the matter that, while there was no lack of youth desiring an education, a college could only be successful in the hands of a religious community whose sole business it should be to promote the interests of the institution.
At length, in the summer of 1878, the fathers of the Congre- gation of the Holy Ghost determined to open a day-college. It was an undertaking that would doubtless be attended with difficulties, not the least of which would come from a want of confidence in its ultimate success on the part of the public, owing to previous failures. Still the announcement was hailed with pleasure. Five fathers, three natives of Ireland and two of Germany-but all experienced professors-opened the Catholic College, as it was named, in rooms near the Cathedral, on the Ist of October, Rev. W. Powers being presi- dent. Two more fathers have since been added to the staff of professors. The system of training was soon found to be such as far to surpass expectation, and the number of students increased until it exceeded a hundred before the end of the first year. The course embraces all the departments that a young man could wish either to fit him for business, for the learned professions, or for the study of theology; while the many advantages arising from the lessening of expense to parents, the good effect of having the children always at home, and others, are such as to commend the college still more to public favor. It is probable that ere long permanent college buildings will be erected, as the success of the college is now placed beyond question.
OTHER RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
The Congregation of Our Most Holy Redeemer has al- ready been spoken of in the history of St. Philomena's Church,
Digitized by Google
479
THE PASSIONIST FATHERS.
Pittsburg ; and the Capuchin and Carmelite orders have been noticed in the sketches respectively of St. Augustine's and Most Holy Trinity, Pittsburg ; while the Brothers of Mary Immaculate were referred to in the history of St. Mary's Church, Allegheny. It remains to speak of the Passionists and the Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo.
THE PASSIONIST FATHERS.
The Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Jesus Christ, or Passionists as they are more commonly called, were founded by Paul Danei, now St. Paul of the Cross, at Mount Argentaro, not far from Rome, in 1737. His object was to unite in one the spirit of the ascetic and the missionary orders, the contemplative and the active life, and form a con- gregation of missionary priests somewhat differing from any then existing in the Church.
The first colony of the Passionist fathers to enter the New World came at the request of Bishop O'Connor, sailing No- vember 14th, 1852, and landing at Philadelphia on the 6th of December. There were three priests-Fathers Anthony, Stanislavs, and Domenec-and two lay brothers. They cele- brated the feast of the Immaculate Conception at the Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia, and immediately after set out for Pittsburg, the term of their journey. They stopped for some time at the episcopal residence, where they devoted their leisure hours to the study of English. The Bishop donated certain lots, upon which the monastery now stands, and to which the fathers have since added by purchase ; and they commenced the erection of the first monastery, or retreat as their houses are usually called, in the New World. The monastery stands on the brow of Mount Oliver, south of the Monongahela River, and is of brick. The main building extends east and west, and is 120 feet long and three stories high. A wing 100 feet long and two stories high runs south from the western end of the main building. From the south- ern extremity of this wing runs the church or public chapel still farther to the west. But all were not built at the same
Digitized by Google
!
480
THE PASSIONIST FATHERS.
time. The first section was undertaken in the summer of 1853, and the corner-stone was laid by Father M.Mahon, V.G., on the 7th of August. It was dedicated by Bishop O'Connor on the 4th of June in the following year. The building in- cluded a public chapel, but not the present one.
Although the rule is one of the most austere in the Church, the good work the fathers were accomplishing soon made a favorable impression, and they began to receive applications for admission. Sunday, June 25th, 1854, witnessed the first accession to their number, and to Mr. Theodore Lobomiller -in religion Brother Bernard-belongs the honor and privi- lege of being the first to be invested with the habit of the Passionists in the New World. Members of the congregation also arrived at different times from Europe. So large had the community become that as early as 1855 the buildings were enlarged to their present proportions.
Soon the present large public chapel was undertaken, the corner-stone of which was laid by Father M'Mahon July 25th, 1858. It was dedicated by Bishop Young, of Erie, November 13th in the following year. But it did not at that time pre- sent the appearance it does to-day. Many of its most attrac- tive features remained to be added before it should become one of the most beautiful chapels in the country. It is 75 feet in length by 45 in width, and is a fine specimen of Corinthian architecture, the only one in the diocese. The ceiling is supported by elegant fluted pillars. The building is lighted by small windows placed high in the walls, leaving space below for altars and confessionals. Of the former there are five-a high and two side altars, besides two others in chapels in the side-walls some distance back. All are finished in a high style of art and are in harmony with the rest of the interior, and all have been planned and built by the skill and labor of the industrious members of the community. The high altar particularly is one of the most splendid pieces of workmanship to be found anywhere in the country. A few years ago a beautiful altar-piece, representing St. Paul of the Cross ascending to heaven borne by angels, was executed in Rome at a cost of $400 in gold.
Digitized by Google
481
THE OBLATES OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO.
The community, as has been remarked, has purchased ad- ditional lots occupying the front of the hill below the monas- tery. The industry of the Brothers has converted this into a garden and vineyard, which add to the attractions of. the place and make it more agreeable for the community and for those who, touched by divine grace, retire to this sacred retreat to devote a few days to the important affairs of salvation.
But though the congregation laid its first foundation at Pittsburg, and though this monastery is still the mother- house and novitiate in the United States, it was not to be cir- cumscribed within the limits of a single diocese. At the urgent request of Bishop Timon, of Buffalo, the Monastery of the Seven Dolors of Mary was established at Dunkirk, N. Y., May 26th, 1861. Two years later, August 9th, 1863, that of St. Michael the Archangel was founded at West Hoboken, N. J. The provincial usually resides there. On the 28th of April, 1867, St. Joseph's Monastery was established at Loudon Park, near Baltimore. The Monastery of Holy Cross, Mount Adams, Cincinnati, dates from May 28th, 1871, and that at Louisville, Ky., from November 14th, 1878. Thus we perceive that the mustard seed has become a great tree, and in every place to which its branches have extended it has borne most abundant fruit.
·
THE OBLATES OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO.
Early in the year 1870 Rev. H. Denny and Rev. P. M.C. Morgan, with one or more lay brothers from England, sought to found a house of the Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo, which they had both recently joined in London. They selected East Liberty as the site of the foundation, and named the house Our Lady of Victories. But after it had been opened for about a year circumstances were found to be so unfavorable that it was reluctantly discontinued. The lay brothers returned to England; Father Denny entered the Society of Jesus, of which he is now a distinguished member ; and Father Morgan, whose health was seriously impaired by the ravages of consumption, soon after retired to the home of his parents in Pittsburg, where he terminated his life by an
Digitized by Google
482
DEATH OF REV. P. M'C. MORGAN.
edifying death on the morning of April 14th, 1872, in the 38th year of his age.
REV. POLLARD M'CORMICK MORGAN was a native of Pittsburg, and the son of a prominent Presbyterian gentleman who is yet living. At a proper age he entered the Western Theological Seminary (Presbyterian), in Allegheny City, where he completed the course of studies that was to fit him for entering the ranks of the ministers of that sect. But Providence had different designs upon him. He crossed over to England, where he joined his friend Mr. Harmer Denny, like himself a student and member of the same sect. Both were converted. Returning to America, he determined to consecrate himself to the preaching of the true gospel, to the knowledge of which he had been brought by the mercy of God. He entered the diocesan seminary at Pittsburg, and having finished his course of theology, was ordained on the 7th of February, 1863. He was now appointed pastor of Brownsville, and at the end of about a year was transferred to Loretto, to assist at the church founded by Dr. Gallitzin. We next find him at the seminary filling a professor's chair. At length he crossed over to England and entered the Congre- gation of the Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo. Returning to Pittsburg in the early part of 1868, he was appointed pastor of St. Andrew's Church, Allegheny, on the Ist of April, to re- main until such time as circumstances should favor the open- ing of a house of the congregation of which he was a member. It was at length opened, as we have seen, but discontinued.
His funeral took place from the Cathedral; his parents and relations, still attached to the errors of their sect, occupied the front pews, and his devoted friend Father Denny pronounced the funeral discourse. These circumstances, in connection with the solemn chants of the Office and Mass, made the cere- mony extremely touching and impressive.
Father Morgan was considerably below the medium size, and of slender form. In manner he possessed the candor and simplicity so strongly enjoined upon His followers by our Di- vine Redeemer. But his zeal in the cause of religion was far beyond his strength, and in death he could truly say, "The zeal of thy house hath consumed me."
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER XXVIII.
RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF WOMEN-ACADEMIES.
The nuns of St. Clare-St. Clare's Academy-The Sisters of Charity-The Sisters of Mercy-St. Xavier's Academy-St. Aloysius' Academy-The Sisters of St. Francis-The Sisters of St. Joseph-Mount Gallitzin Seminary-The Bene- dictine nuns-The Ursuline nuns-Other religious communities.
THE NUNS OF ST. CLARE-ST. CLARE'S YOUNG LADIES' ACADEMY, ALLEGHENY CITY.
IN the year 1828 Sister Frances Van de Vogel, a nun of the Order of St. Clare, belonging to a wealthy Flemish family, arrived from Belgium accompanied by another nun of the same Order, and established a convent in Pittsburg. For a short time they occupied a house on the cliff overlooking the Allegheny River, but at length purchased sixty acres of land on the hill west of Allegheny Town, where they erected a large frame convent and academy. Rev. Charles B. M'Guire, pastor of St. Patrick's Church and their ecclesiastical superior, took a lively interest in the foundation and encouraged it by his influence and counsel. The spot where the convent, which is yet standing, was built was named Mount Alvernio, but has since been known as "Nunnery Hill." Rev. Vincent Raymacher, O.S.D., was the first chaplain, but he was soon succeeded by Rev. A. F. Van de Wejer, O.S.D., a Belgian, who remained until the convent was abandoned. When Bishop Kenrick visited it in company with Bishop Conwell, June 27th, 1830, the community had increased to fourteen members, and the academy, although not enjoying the degree of patronage expected, was still in a flourishing condition.
This was the only house of the order in the United States at that time; for although a foundation was made many years before at Georgetown, D. C., it had long since been aban-
Digitized by Google
484
THE NUNS OF ST. CLARE.
doned. Another house was established at Green Bay, Wis- consin, in 1830. The nuns continued in their quiet and un- obtrusive way to work out the ends of their institute, and lit- tle further is known of their history until the storm arose which resulted in their expulsion and the sale of their prop- erty. This untoward event, which was painted at the time in the darkest colors by sectarian bigotry, is simple in itself and easily explained, although even yet it is looked upon by some as a dark spot in our history. And since I am of necessity constrained to give a sketch of the community, I deem it best to enter into a circumstantial account of the whole affair and thereby set the matter at rest. I have been at great pains to collect and sift the accounts of the very few who remember it, and the statement will be found to coincide with the card which Bishop Kenrick found it necessary to publish. The circumstances are briefly these : A young lady, remarkable for the eccentricities of her piety, lived in Allegheny and by visiting the convent became known to the nuns. It is also probable that she asked to be admitted into the community, and was not accepted. She went at length to Wisconsin and taught school for some time near the convent of the Order in that State, and was finally admitted into the community. In time she was sent to the convent at Allegheny, but not having the requisite letters was not admitted. She stopped with a friend until she could write for letters and receive them. But these did not secure her reception, for Madam Van de Vogel was not aware that she had an ecclesiastical superior in this country after the death of Father M'Guire. The consequence was that Bishop Rése, of Detroit, who held that office, inter- posed, and, after inflicting certain censures on two members of the community, ejected all the nuns from the convent, May 17th, 1835, and sold the property. Madam Van de Vogel went to Rome, and the other members of the community, after remaining in a house in Allegheny for about two years, supporting themselves by needlework or living on the charity of their friends, either returned to Europe or attached them- selves to other religious communities.
All manner of slanderous stories were circulated by the sectarian press and certain ministers of the sects, and so dam-
Digitized by Google
485
THE SISTERS OF CHARITY.
aging were some of these to the character of Rev. J. O'Reilly, pastor of St. Paul's Church, that his friends had recourse to the civil courts for redress. They forced a certain minister to publish a card retracting his statements; but this not prov- ing satisfactory, he was obliged to publish another more ex- plicit. Bishop Kenrick also published a card dated August Ist, 1835, in which he states the cause of the closing of the convent substantially as given above, and vindicates the char- acter of Father O'Reilly from the aspersions thrown upon it .*
Father O'Reilly himself published a denial of ten false statements contained in an article that appeared in The Con- ference Journal, a sectarian publication of August 27th, dated the following day.t To these the physician of the institution, H. D. Sellers, M.D., a Protestant gentleman, added his state- ment in a card of August Ist, in which he vindicates the charac- ters of all persons concerned, and denies the calumnies circu- lated against them.t
Thus ended the only attempt ever made to establish the Nuns of St. Clare in Western Pennsylvania.
THE SISTERS OF CHARITY.
We have seen that the Nuns of St. Clare closed their academy and retired from their convent in the middle of May, 1835. In the summer of the same year Father O'Reilly, then pastor of St. Paul's Church, applied to the Sisters of Charity at Emmittsburg, Md., for a colony of their institute to take charge of the day-schools attached to the church. Such was his success that a small number of Sisters were immedi- ately sent. He procured a house for them on Second Street (now Second Avenue), near Wood Street, where they re- mained for several years. They took charge of the schools, and also opened an academy for the more advanced pupils. When the orphan asylum was opened, in 1838, the care of the children was also confided to them. At the end of a few years-the date has not been ascertained-they procured a
* Catholic Telegraph, August 28th, 1835.
t Ibid., October 2d.
# Ibid., September 18th.
Digitized by Google
486
THE SISTERS OF CHARITY.
house on Webster Street, said by some to have been donated to them, where they took up their residence during the re- mainder of their sojourn in the city.
At length Pittsburg was raised to the dignity of an epis- copal see, and Bishop O'Connor, on his return from Europe after his consecration in December, 1843, brought with him a foundation of the Sisters of Mercy, as we shall have occa- sion to remark hereafter, who immediately gained the as- cendency. About the close of the year 1845 their superiors recalled the Sisters of Charity, and they withdrew from the diocese. During the ten years of their sojourn they had effected great good, and had lived in the greatest poverty and privations. Such was the first appearance of these devoted ladies among us; their second was destined to be under more favorable circumstances.
Seeing the present growth and the future prospects of his congregation, and wishing to place within the reach of all the many blessings afforded by our holy religion, but espe- cially that of a thoroughly Catholic education, Very Rev. J. Tuigg, of Altoona, erected a large and elegant brick convent and school building, as we have elsewhere stated more fully, into which it was his intention to introduce a religious com- munity to take charge of the schools. After mature delibera- tion he applied to the superioress of the convent of the Sisters of Charity at Cedar Grove, near Cincinnati, for a foundation. His petition was favorably received, and on the IIth of August, 1870, six Sisters left to found a house at Altoona. It may be remarked, in passing, that these Sisters belong to that branch of the community established by Mother Seton that did not affiliate with the Sisters of Charity in France, but preferred to retain the rule and habit in- herited from their illustrious foundress. They immediately took charge of the girls and the smaller boys of the parish, and also opened an academy for the more advanced girls.
From the date of their arrival the Sisters, both as a com- munity and as teachers, have met with complete success. Many have sought and obtained admittance into their ranks, and their numbers have increased from six to sixty. Nor has the sphere of their usefulness been confined to one
Digitized by Google
487
THE SISTERS OF MERCY.
parish only. In January, 1873, they founded a house at Blairsville, and took charge of the school. Two years later another band of seven opened a convent at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Pittsburg, and took charge of the school. For the same purpose a colony of nine came to St. John's Church, Pittsburg, South Side, and added a fourth convent to those already established. Another house was opened at Johns- town in September, 1878, by ten Sisters, who teach the schools attached to St. John Gualbert's English and St. Joseph's German church. Still another was opened at St. Joseph's Church, Sharpsburg, in September, 1879. In addi- tion to these a number of Sisters go daily by cars from the convent at the Sacred Heart Church to teach the schools attached to St. John the Baptist's Church, of which they took charge in the fall of 1879. The extent of its ramifications and the entire satisfaction it has everywhere given show the wis- dom and foresight of Father Tuigg in introducing the Order, no less than the zeal and efficiency of the Sisters themselves. There is no other community in the diocese that has so flat- tering a prospect as the Sisters of Charity.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.