USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > Loretto > Souvenir of Loretto centenary, October 10, 1899 : 1799-1899 ,Saint Michael's Catholic Church > Part 18
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1851, May 20th. Rev. H. P. Gallagher had Jerome Dawson to examine the brick and work. He proved all good, and said that he could break a wagon load of the Summit Church brick with one brick of the fourth course down from top of kiln.
1852, March 3rd. Haden Smith, Esq., examined brick and work of new Catholic Church, and pronounced brick 10 be good and well laid. To A. Little, D. Melhorn and M. Adelsberger he said the tower was put up too fast.
1852, July 3rd. Building Committee and Rev. H. P. Gallagher had the architect from Pittsburg, Mr. Barge- burger (Bartberger) who examined all the work and pro- nounced it good. Said the tower could be rebuilt withont, taking down any brick.
(During the progress of the work the Building Com- mittee changed some parts of the plans, in consequence of which Richard Scanlan makes out a bill for extras not set forth in the specifications, amounting to $1,250.92.)
THE LORETTO JAIL.
A
A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE CENTENARY.
DILAPIDATED FOR WANT OF USE. REMOVED FROM PUBLIC VIEW
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LORETTO, January, 1856.
The coldest weather on record. Thermometer 20 degrees: below zero frequently: from 10 to 12 commonly. About . eight feet of snow fell at different times: drifted so as to . close all the roads: no thawing from Christmas to April 1st. making some four months of continual freezing. April com- menced beautiful overhead, with about 16 inches of snow where it had not drifted. Drifts about 15 feet high. People crossed stake-and-rider fences (on the snow) on loth of April.
April 13th. The greatest storm on record, unroofing almost every other barn and tearing some down to the foun- dation. It tore part of the roof off both churches, and tore down the Missionary Cross planted 1>51, which was 15x12 inches at the ground.
May 30th. Snowed in the afternoon; wind, cold weather. Very hard frost on following morning.
CARROLLTOWN AND VICINITY.
CONTRIBUTED BY A BENEDICTINE FATHER. -
About one-half mile south of the present St. Benedict's. Church. Carrolltown, on the northern slope of the "old Loretto Road" were seen until recent years the ruins of buildings erected at the beginning of this century by a colony of Trappist monks. Towards the end of the last century they were driven from their home in Europe by the storms of the revolution then raging; and first fied to Switzerland, from which country, threatened by the French, they went to . Russia, thence to Prussia: and at last a small band of them under the guidance of Rev. Urban Guillet came to the place above described. It seems though that our severe winter climate did not agree with them: so in June, 1505, they aban- doned their settlement and went to Kentucky.
Under the direction of Father Gallitzin a church dedicat- ed to St. Joseph was erected about 1830, or somewhat earlier, at a spot three miles north of Carrolltown called Hart's Sleep-
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ing Place.' Father Gallitzin visited this church at stated times until the care of his own congregation at Loretto com- pelled him in 1834 to give it in charge to his now assistant, Rev. P. H. Lemke. It was the earnest wish of Father Gallit- zin to have in this place a second Loretto, an entirely Catho- lic settlement. Accordingly in 1836 Father Lemke bought a tract of 400 acres three miles south of St. Joseph's, and built thereon a small log house, -the lower story being cellar and spring-house, the upper a dwelling room and kitchen. About twenty paces to the east he erected a small chapel, where the inhabitants of the incipient Carrolltown heard mass on week days. On Sundays, however, mass was said in St. Joseph's until the summer of 1850.
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On September 30th, 1846, Father Boniface Winner on the invitation of Father Lemke, came to Carrolltown, which was originally intended as the site of the first monastery of the Benedictine Order in the United States. But Rt. Rov. M. O'Connor, Bishop of Pittsburg, persuaded Father Wim- mer to give up this plan, and to locate at "Sportman's Hall," the site of the present St. Vincent Abbey, forty miles east of Pittsburg.
In the summer of 1848 the Benedictines bought from Father Lemke his tract of land, the latter going to Reading, Pa., and the charge of the congregation at Carrolltown was transferred to them, and has been held by them over since. The corner-stone of the new church was lid on the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christe, 1819, by Bishop O'Con- ner. About the same time a little church was created in Glen Connell (St. Lawrence's). The church in Carrolltown was dedicated by Rev. Father Celestine, O. S. B., on Christ- mas Day, 1850, just fifty-one years after the dedication of the first church at Loretto, nine miles distant.
Subsequently, other churches were erected in the vicin- ity, viz. : St. Boniface's at St. Boniface, St. Nicholas'at Nick- town, St. Bernard's at Hastings, Holy Cross at Spangler and St. Mary's at Patton; all of which are in charge of Benedic- tine pastors.
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ST. FRANCIS COLLEGE. LORETTO, PA
SAINT FRANCIS' COLLEGE, LORETTO, PA.
- CONTRIBUTED BY A FRANCISCAN BROTHER.
This institution, situated on an elevation some distance west of Loretto, and almost hidden by a stately growth of pines, was founded by the first Bishop of the diocese, Rt. Rov. Michael O'Connor, of holy memory, in the year of onr Lord, 1847. It has been conducted by the Brothers of the Regular Third Order of Saint Francis since its very humble foundation.
The first little band, six in muuber, who responded to the carnost solicitation of the illustrions Bishop, came from the country whose children are scattered all over the world -- poor, perseented Ireland- in order to carry on the pious works they were engaged in. especially that of imparting a Christian education to vonth.
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By a Rescript dated November 12, 1848, Our Holy Father, Pius IX, granted to Bishop O'Connor all the faculties neces- sary to establish a community of the Regular Third Order at Loretto, and to ensure its religions and canonical character, ordaining that it should be subject to the ordinary of the dio- cesc, pro tempore.
The Brothers had much to contend with from the begin- ning. The means at their disposal were very limited; they were practically 'unacquainted with the nature of the soil, mode of tillage, and customs of their adopted country; and they had no inducements to offer any one who wished to join the Order but hard labor, scanty fare, and a promise of some- thing better in the distant future.
Having before them the example of humble fishermen, who formed the first religious community, the Brothers never dreamed of failure in what they had undertaken for the glory of God; and, no matter what trials might be in store for them, they were determined to how their way through ebon darkness to light. They had been taught that God often makes use of the most lowly to accomplish great things, despite the wagging of wise heads and the suggestions of worldly prudence.
The tract of land assigned the Brothers had been farmed ont for years, so that whatever fertility might have been in it had long since been taken out of it: and not a little labor would be required to make it even moderately prodnetive. Nothing in the shape of buildings fit for man or beast had ever been erected, and the Brothers were obliged to take up their abode in a log house kindly offered them in the village. The oldest brother was chosen Superior, and regular oh- servance, as far as practicable, was at once established.
A piece of ground joining the land already given on which a frame building had been erected, was purchased by the Brothers soon after they came to the settlement; the house was deemed suitable for a temporary habitation, though it' had done service as a brewery, and six months after their arrival they were able to date their letters from Saint Francis' Monastery, at Loretto. The old brewery was infested with
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rats; indeed, these rodents, considering the place their own private property, resented the intrusion of the monks and conld not be induced by any manner of flattery or coercion to leave.
I may write of the little community the exact words Archbishop Spalding used in speaking of the Trappists who were beginning their now famons Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky the same year under more favorable auspices, and having fewer difficulties to contend with.
"Their penitential austerities seem almost incredible to this age of hoasted progress and enlightenment, as well as of bonndless self-indulgence .. Their vigorous lives astonish the worldling, who can appreciate nothing which does not contribute to material progress and enjoyment; they are a matter of admiration for all true Christians, who, enlightened by Christian faith, are able to estimate the awful malice of sin and the absolute necessity of penance. He who himself led a poor and hard life, and who said to his disciples, 'If any one will come after me, let him deny himself, take np his cross, and follow me,' must look down with a smile of com -. placency on those pions recluses, who, to expiate their own and others' sins, devote themselves for love of Him to a life of such severe privations.
"Yet in the midst of their hard labor and penitential ans- terities these good monks are remarkably cheerful and happy. The peace of God, surpassing all understanding. beams constantly from their countenances and they enjoy more peace of mind and more heartfelt happiness than many who, reposing in the midst of luxury, deride their lives as mere folly and fanaticism."
The Brothers immediately began preparations for the erection of the College. All set to work with alacrity; the Superior encouraging the others by his own example not to lose one precions moment, but to fabor whilst it was vet day. for the night cometh when no man can work. Young and old, noble and plebeian, learned and unlearned. took pleasure in giving a helping hand to roar a structure wherein the yonth of the future might obtain a Christian education.
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In a short time space was cleared, the dimensions staked off, and the earth excavated for the foundation. Stones fit, for the basement wall were proenred without much trouble, and clay suitable for making bricks was to be found quite convenient. The corner-stone was laid by Bishop O'Connor. the firm, life-long friend of the Brothers, on August 23, 1849, in the presence of an immense throng of people, who had come from the village in solemn procession headed by the rover- end clergy.
Very few men understood the fundamental principles and purposes of education better than our first illustrions Bishop; hence the discourse he delivered on that memorable day was a masterpiece of its kind, and it made a lasting im- pression on the minds of those who had the good fortune to be present. He showed the good results which might be ex- pected from the efforts of men who had severed all earthly ties to devote themselves to the special service of the young. The value of education is incalculable, but it must be under- stood in its completest sense as the full and harmonious do- velopment of all those faculties that are distinctive to man. It is not, therefore, mere instruction or the communication of knowledge. In fact, the acquisition of knowledge, though it necessarily accompanies any right system of education, is a secondary result of education. Learning is an instrument of education, not its end. The end is culture and mental and moral development.
The good, simple Superior did not give much attention to plans and specifications. He had a model made of the kind of building he would like to have erected, and when the arti- sans came to work on the superstructure he pointed to the model and told them to follow that. Not very definite in- structions, surely. The Brothers performed much of the work which did not require skilled labor. They quarried the stone, collected the sand along the public roads, and hauled all the material, sometimes from a distance of fourteen miles. 'The employment of many hired hands was out of the ques- tion; hence the Brothers wereobliged to put all the joists and heavy timbers in place, and in some instances to relieve a
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hod-carrier who might become exhausted from the excessive heat. Their assiduity and constant cheerfuless was a reve lation to those who had heard so many stories about the idle, selfish monks.
The work was pushed on with such vigor that a good. substantial brick building was ready for the community city in the summer of the following year: and the 2d of August. a day which is always remembered by overy true Franciscan. was appointed for the celebration of the first holy mass in the modest little chapel. Bishop O'Connor preached on the oc. casion, and expressed the satisfaction he felt at seeing the Brothers prepared to carry on the object he had most at heart -- the education of Catholic boys.
The good Pastor of St. Michael's Church in Loretto, Rev. Ungh P. Gallagher, had announced the coming ovent from the altar on the previous Sunday, inviting all to go over to St. Francis', where they might gain the indulgence of Portin- cula, provided all the conditions prescribed were fulfilled. As this indulgence can be gained more than once on the same day, the small chapel was not often without devout wor- shipers during the whole day.
The part of the house set apart for school purposes was fitted up for the reception of students, and the classes were started in September. It was an casy matter to accommo- dato the few who applied for admission at first: but in a short time, owing to the increase of students and the number of candidates for the order, a new building, forty by seventy, two stories high, had to be erected. Addition followed addi- tion, and improvements were made year after year, even to the present time, when the College with the outbuildings covers more than an acre of ground.
In the process of time the waste spot on which the Brothers had settled underwent a complete transformation: a little world populous with busy life sprang up in its midst, and far and near in its vicinity the briars and bushes were grubbed np, and the barren soil coaxed back to its original fertility. Arbor Day had not yet been inaugurated and the monks did not wait for the Governor's proclamation to begin
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planting trees; for one would think they bound themselves by rule to plant two trees every time they cut one down; and to this cheap and charming act of benevolence we are indebted for the cluster of pines which rear their heads higher than the cross on the main building, and shut out noise and bustle from the monastery.
In 1856 the Brothers felt themselves strong enough to petition the Legislature for a charter. They were prepared for a severe test of their literary abilities or a scorching exam, as the boys would express it; but they never dreamed that their religious belief would be used as a pretext for withholding the privilege of conferring degrees, especially since the petitioners asked for no exclusive favors, for no patronage, for no unusual power, for nothing incompatible with the policy of our legislation, but simply for what the Legislature was in the habit of granting every day. When the bill came up in the House it met with much opposition; but the friends of the College, particularly Mr. Foster who had reported it, by generous and staunch support gained the day by a majority of one. The commotion that was raised :about entrapping the blue-eyed youth of Cambria and the neighboring counties under pretense of giving a classical and scientific education. caused the Brothers to have the petition withdrawn; but the charter was obtained two years later without any trouble at all.
It would be truly a labor of love, as suggested by the present Rector of . Saint Michael's Church, Reverend Ferdi- nand Kittell, to give biographical sketches of the first Brothers who labored so long and faithfully at Saint Francis: but these good simple-minded men have taken care to do away with anything which might be used for that purpose. They had indeed renounced kith and kin when joining the Order, which was to be for them henceforth all the world most prizes, wealth, name and fame,
The College has been blessed with excellent resident priests from its foundation. They have always shown them- solves the true guides, philosophers and friends of the re- ligious and students; and though they had to endure many in-
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conveniences at times, they never failed in the faithful dis. charge of their duties.
The alumni of Saint Francis' College are to be found in every State of the Union, and many of them have attained eminence in Church and State, The College, like a fond mother, watches with jealous eye the career of all her chil- dren, and she is amply rewarded for all her care when it can : be said of each cherished sou:
"He moved, a man among his fellow-men. And they beheld a man whose eyes and brow Looked up and onward, as tho' there and then FIo made his faith, and to his faith did vow ' Full concord and submission, modest worth And noble aspiration, gentle heart. Where Charity seemed constant in its birth And blessed all near."
Dear old St. Francis' has passed the half century mark of its existence but it shows no decrease of youth or vigor: doomed to death it has been, time and again, though fated not to die. At times the raging tempest threatened to engulf the frail bark, and a few faint-hearted ones, unmind- fnl of the Master's "Why are you fearful. O yo of little faith, " having grown weary of battling with the waves, gave up the fight; but, He arising, rebuked the wind and the rag- ing of the water, and it ceased, and there came a great calin.
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THE CHILDREN'S HOME, FORMERLY ST. ALOYSIUS' ACADEMY. LORETTO, PA CONDUCTED BY SISTERS OF MERCY.
A SKETCH OF THE ORDER OF MERCY IN LORETTO.
CONTRIBUTED BY A SISTER OF MERCY.
More than a golden cycle of years has woven its myriad changes into the world's history since first the black-robed figure of the Sister of Mercy appeared in "Our Lady's Vil- lage" on the mountain-top. When the sainted prince-priest saw the result of his heroic self-sacrifice .-- thousands of sturdy, upright Christians living brave and earnest lives of faith and industry,-transforming the well-nigh inaccessible mountain wilderness into a dwelling-place of peace and pleas- ure,-then it was his zealous heart longed for religious to instruct the little ones of his flock: and so perpetuate his work. But the iron horse and the more potent electric power had not as yet almost annihilated space. Methods of travel and communication with friends at a distance were matters of primitivo simplicity and slowness. This and'
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other reasons delayed the advent of the Sisters: and so it happened that, when, on that cool May ovoning in 1840, the noble soul of Gallitzin quitted the scene of his earthly labors. his earnest desire was yet unfulfilled. -- there were no rolig ions among the devoted flock who mourned the loss of Father and friend. Yet the time of their coming was not far dis tant. Three years later, Bishop Michael O'Conner, when conducting the pioneer Sisters of Mercy from Philadelphia to Pittsburg promised a branch at Loretto. And in foltill ment of this promise he sent ont from Pittsburg a devoted little band of four Sisters in May, 1848.
Sister M .. Catherine Wynne was named first local superior. This estimable lady was of Irish parentage. She entered St. Mary's Convent, Pittsburg, ou February 4th, 1845, and was professed March 22nd, 1847. She remained at Loretto for more than a year. The last six years of her life were spent in Baltimore, where she died Septem ber 28th, 1861.
Her first companions in Loretto were Sisters M. Angusta Goold, M. Rose Hosteller and M. Lucy MeGivern.
The journey from Pittsburg, then of necessity by stage. occupied a day and a night. Reaching Ebensburg the party of four was hospitably received at the home of Mrs. Shoe maker. After a short rost they proceeded down the old road to Loretto. It was Father Hugh Gallagher who received them in their bleak mountain home. The first mpretentions abode of the Sisters (as tradition has painted it) was, in its humble appointments, not nulike that other Loreto of sacred memory in the far sunny cast. For two or three years a small frame dwelling in the village sufficed to shelter them. Tradition is rich in anecdotes of the hardships of the first winter on the mountain-top, when food and fuel were not always at hand, and the sturdy mountaineers, while ever grateful for the tender, self-sacrificing ministrations of the Sisters, often forgot that their qniet, unobtrusive lives needed other support than prayer and teaching. But they wore unflagging in their zeal and earnestness; and all the while the tiny "mustard-seed " was taking root .-- deep and
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firm enough to resist all mountain tempests, -- and to send forth noble branches, -- high and wide enough to shelter not the "birds of the air" but the precious human flowers that were to blossom 'neath its protecting shadow.
Mother M. Gertrude Blake was the second superior; Mother M. Stanislaus the third; Mother M. Regis the fourth, and Sister M. Christina Newman the fifth. It was during her administration that the Sisters moved from their frame dwelling into the present convent, and called it St. Aloysius'.
Towards the close of the last century Captain McGuire, "the first white man that settled in what is now Cambria County," gave to Bishop Carroll, for church purposes a tract of land of four hundred acres. On part of this the present Con- vont is built. It is a substantial brick structure, surrounded by a spacious and well-kept grounds. On all sides the noble pines keep sentinel-like guard, and whisper secrets with the softest summer zephyr, and moan in sympathy with winter blasts. Out beyond the pine-trees there are on both sides mementos of Loretto's noble founder; to the north the brick church and his monument: to the south the cemetery and the old stone chapel.
The convent attained its present proportions not all at once: but additions were made from time to time, as the needs of the boarding school increased. In 1875, on account of its distance from Pittsburg, the Bishop of the diocese erected the Loretto community into an independent Mother- house. The Academy had now grown to important propor- tions; the Sisters had charge also of the village public schools. At the present time they have in various parts of the diocese seven branch houses engaged in active work.
Meantime the requirements of the boarding school at Loretto were constantly increasing. Most gratifying was the educational success which attended the institution. In order to give the students every advantage and convenience afforded by modern architectural improvements, a piece of land of thirty-five acres, on an eminence opposite the Moun- tain House at Cresson Springs, was purchased in 1891. Later, plans were devised for a building which would in
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overy feature suit the requirements of an Academy. The result is most satisfactory. The attention of the visitor to Crosson is at once attracted by the picturesqne symmetrical building, simple in ontline, massive and graceful in form, and refined in detail. The entire length of the front is two hun- dred and twenty foot, with a wing of one hundred and eighty feet. Entering the building through the main center entrance, a spacious vestibule, with an Italian mosaic floor opens on both sides to the arched cloister or loggia, and gives admittance to the main hall. This is panelled in oak, and the coiling is heavily beamed in the same wood. The spacious corridor crossing the entrance hall intersects with corridors extending down the center of the wings. The building throughont is finished in natural woods and hard wood floors. It is warmed by steam, and at night made brilliant by electricity.
THE CHILDREN'S HOME, FORMERLY ST. ALOYSIUS' ACADEMY. LORETTO
On the fifteenth of June, 1897, the Sisters took posses. sion of this most complete of modern schools, the new Mount Aloysius. The success and blessing which have ever rested on the efforts of the Loretto Sisters, seem to be with them
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here: and each year finds numbers of young women, happy inmates of the Academy, enjoying its many advantages, and under the wise, firm training of the Sisters, forming mind and heart and character to fill their respective places in the world as noble Christian women.
Since the boarding school has been transferred to Cres- son, the spacious Loretto Convent grounds serve the double purpose of a Novitiate and a home for children. There are at present about thirty little ones who are here being taught and cared for.
The number of Sisters now in the community including novices, is eighty-five.
In taking this rapid glance over the history of the Order
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