USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Ephrata > St. Clement's Mission House, Ephrata, Penna., 1914-1964 : an outline history > Part 3
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In March 1919, the congregation moved to the opposite side of the street, where the Post Office now is located.
In 1919 St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church was offered for sale. It was purchased at public auction on November 8, 1919. The patron "St. James" was re- tained by the Catholic congregation. Father White said the first Mass, a High Mass, on August 1, 1920. The choir was furnished by St. Anthony's Church, Lancaster.
Lititz, therefore, was the first of the three places (Ephrata, Lititz and New Holland) serviced by the Redemptorists, to have a Church of its own.
At first, one Mass was offered each Sunday. Then it became necessary to have two Masses. At the present time Father Joseph Driscoll is in charge of the Lititz section of the parish. He came in 1959. Under his administration St. James Church now has three well attended Masses every Sunday - 8:00, 10:00 and 12:00. The parish is flour- ishing and constantly growing. Parish activities are in full swing.
Father Driscoll was preceded by Father Joseph Fien and he by Father Clement Pirnak. Preceding them was Father James Clancy, who had a longer tenure of office, from 1947 to 1956.
Father Charles Schruefer, who became Rector of St. Clement's Mission House in 1950, was in charge of the Lititz area from June, 1930 to May 1939. It was he who supervised the digging out of the basement under the church so that it could be used for various parish functions, both social and spiritual .
49
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OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH, NEW HOLLAND
The first Mass in New Holland was said by Father White on July 28, 1919, in the former Town Council Chamber in the Showalter Building on Main Street.
The first Mass in Our Lady of Lourdes Church was offered by Father Rector, the Very Rev. Edwin Shearer, on Christmas Day, December 25, 1940.
Father Paul Koch, who was stationed at St. Clement's from August, 1924 to January, 1928, and again from 1943 to 1945 is gratefully remembered by the "old timers" for his zealous work among the people in andaround Lititz. Amongst the others who did faithful pioneer work, the names of Fathers Ebner and Daul are written in letters of Gold. Father Ebner is the oldest living "alumnus" of St. Clement's Mission House. He often speaks of the ten happy and fruitful years he spent here. He is now stationed at St. Mary's Church in Buffalo, N. Y., and is celebrating the Golden Jub- ilee of his ordination as a Redemptorist while we are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the arrival of the Redemptorists in Lancaster County .
At various times different priests labored at St. James Church, e.g., Father Kappel, Father Lawrence Meighan, Father William McCarthy.
NEW HOLLAND
Father White, who founded the out-mission at Lititz in 1917, and would have been justified in limiting his apostolic labors to that section of the Lord's vineyard, worked for God and souls beyond the call of duty. It is difficult to imagine how he traveled to the other end of the parish, to New Holland, especially in those days of difficult travel. In New Holland he rented the former Town Council Chamber in the Showalter Building on Main Street, next to the Post Office, and made it over into a small chapel. He dedicated it to St. Rita. On July 28, 1919 he celebrated the first Mass there, a High Mass. About forty persons were packed into the small chapel, in- cluding visitors from Lancaster. Singers from St. Anthony's and St. Mary's Church in Lancaster formed the choir. Miss Caroline Seber played the organ. She was also the organist at Ephrata and Lititz. Mass was offered on the second and fourth Sundays of every month at 10:00 A.M.
It was not long until larger quarters were necessary. The congregation then moved one floor up to the larger Legion Hall. The new chapel was dedicated to St. Teresa, the Little Flower of Jesus. Mass was offered every Sunday and holy days. Sisters of the Holy Cross from Sacred Heart Academy in Lancaster came every Sunday to teach Christian Doctrine to the children in the weekly Sunday School. The Little
51
PERPETUAL HELP S
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THE FIRST FACULTY AT OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP SCHOOL Sister Michael, Sister Rosemarie, Sister Melita, Sister Viterbia (Prin- cipal) and Sister Judith * * *
The present faculty is as follows: -
1 Grade --- Sister Albertonia
2 Grade -· - Sister Mericia
3 Grade Mr. Richard Doremus
4 Grade Sister Amalia
5 Grade Sister Maristella (Principal)
6 Grade · Mr. Frank Riteau
7-8 Grade -· - Sister Joanelle
Flower Chapel was used for about twenty years; the last time was on Sunday, Decem- ber 22, 1940.
Mr. Lewis M. Storb donated ground for the Church on the northeast corner of Conestoga Street and Chester Avenue. On July 16, 1940 ground was broken for the new building. On Sunday afternoon, October 20, 1940, Monsignor Peter Huegel, Vicar General of the Diocese of Harrisburg, officiated at the ceremonies of the cornerstone laying. Monsignor George Brown, Pastor of St. Mary's Church, Lancaster, preached the sermon. The men's choir of St. Anthony's Church, Lancaster sang at the impressive ceremonies and at the Solemn Benediction. The Redemptorist Pro- vincial, the Very Reverend William T. McCarty, (now Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota) and a large number of Redemptorist priests, together with priests of the dio- cese, attended. The Church was ready for services on Christmas, 1940. The solemn dedication took place on Sunday, April 20, 1941. On the same day the new Church at Ephrata was dedicated. The Church was dedicated under the patronage of Our Lady of Lourdes.
At the present time, the Reverend Paul Callahan is in charge of the New Hol- land section of the parish. His predecessor was the well-beloved Reverend John Wise. And before him was the Reverend Michael Bergman.
Again Father White, who started the New Holland out-mission in 1919, must be happy in Heaven today as he sees how the tiny mustard seed he planted is now grow- ing. Recently it was necessary to introduce three Masses on Sunday, namely at 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00. There are prospects of enlarging the church to accommodate the grow- ing congregation.
EPHRATA
In the Ephrata area, as has been noted, the private domestic chapel of the Redemptorists was used as the "parish church" by the people of Ephrata and the sur- rounding territory. The missionaries who were not absent on missionary assignments offered Sunday Mass for the small congregation and administer the sacraments. As is evident from the statistics, the pastoral ministry was very limited during the first twenty-
53
THE SISTERS' CONVENT
five or thirty years. Father Charles Schruefer, who was stationed at St. Clement's from 1930 to 1939, relates how he drove Father Philip Holtman through the Ephrata territory in his "jalopy" in search of scattered and silent Catholics. It was due to Father Holt- man's zeal that many careless sheep were lured back to the fold and that the way was prepared for the building of a church.
Father Michael Kleeman was stationed at St. Clement's from 1923 to 1927 and again from 1941 to 1954. In spite of the fact that he was not well, he did a great deal of parish work during the seventeen years he was here. He often "helped out" in the three sections of the one parish: in the Ephrata, the Lititz and the New Holland areas. On August 24, 1954, he was transferred to the infirmary at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. He died there on December 1, 1954.
Father Francis X. Dotzler also worked enthusiastically for the new church and offered the first Mass on Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church on Christmas, 1940.
The Conestoga Wagon
was made in Lancaster
According to the federal census of 1960, the total population of the twelve townships that make up our parish and of the five boroughs included in that area (Akron, Denver, Ephrata, Lititz and New Holland) was 59,922.
According to the annual parish report for 1960 compiled by Father John Wise, the total number of Catholics in the same area was 1,559 --- or about 1 in 37.
The total land area of the parish is 273 square miles.
55
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church
6. OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP CHURCH
The year 1939 was a banner year in our history. A quarter of a century elapsed since the Redemptorists came to Ephrata. To commemorate the event, a Pontifical Mass was celebrated by the Most Reverend George L. Leech, D. D., Bishop of Harrisburg, on Tuesday morning, December 12, 1939.
God alone knows all the spiritual good that was done through the tireless labors of the missionaries who went forth into every part of the diocese during those twenty- five years, conducting missions, renewals, retreats, giving various other missionary exercises and assisting pastors in almost every parish of the diocese. Countless souls were brought back to God and drawn closer to Him through the zealous efforts of the Redemptorists. That is why they had come to Ephrata.
Thirty priests from the diocese and forty visiting Redemptorists from Washing- ton, New York, Brooklyn, Annapolis, Baltimore, Ilchester and Philadelphia assembled in the monastery chapel to assist at the Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Bishop. Their voices rang out in singing a glorious Te Deum of thanksgiving for all the good that had been accomplished. After the Mass, a dinner was served at Ye Village Inn to some sixty-five guests.
On the previous Sunday, December 10, the parishioners marked the occasion by attending a Solemn High Mass in the monastery chapel.
Earlier in the year of Jubilee, announcement was made that a church would be built in the near future. On August 3, 1939, the Ephrata Review carried the fol- lowing announcement: twenty-five years after the purchase of Clare Point Stock Farm the Redemptorist Fathers plan to build a new church. Fifteen years ago only one child received Sunday School instruction. At the present time about forty are enrolled in the Sunday School and about one hundred members regularly attend Sunday Mass. The small chapel in the Mission House has therefore become inadequate; hence, the decision to erect a separate church edifice."
The first "parish church" was the original dining room in the Willson Mansion from 1914 to 1925, a period of eleven years.
The second "parish church" was the domestic chapel in the Mission House from 1926 to December 25, 1940, a period of fifteen years.
57
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ST. CLEMENT'S SUNDAY SCHOOL, EPHRATA, 1938-39
Reading from top row, left to right.
Top Row: Josephine Mondo, Anita Gunselman, Elizabeth Cox, Ruth Kern Sixth Row: Samuel Keiser, Harry Wike, Margaret Moore, Betty Pierce Fifth Row: Edward Cox, John Gunselman, Leon Mondo, Betty Freeman, Elizabeth Vollenweider
Fourth Row: Robert Cox, Robert Kern, Carl Keiser, Bernard Vollenweider, John Vollenweider
Third Row: Dorothy Gunselman, Ruth Cox, Jeanie Pierce, Donald Gunselman, Jane Freeman
Second Row: Dorothy Kern, Patricia Freeman, Marie Mondo, Margaret Freeman First Row: Margaret Gunselman, Willie Freeman, Mary Gunselman, Pauline Vollenweider, Joanna Albright, Paul Cox
At long last, after twenty-five years, the people of the Ephrata area were to have their own parish church.
* * *
Ground for the new church was broken on May 2, 1940. On Sunday, August 11, 1940 His Excellency, the Most Reverend Bishop Leech D. D., Bishop of Harrisburg, laid the cornerstone. The sermon was preached by Very Reverend Michael J. Gearin, Rector of St. Clement's from 1925 to 1930. The Rector at the time of the cornerstone laying was Father Edwin Shearer, World War | Chaplain and former National Chaplain of the Catholic Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The following editorial appeared in the Ephrata Review for August 15, 1940:
EPHRATA REVIEW, AUGUST 15, 1940
Ephrata welcomes into its religious life the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
That welcome was demonstrated on Sunday af- ternoon when under the rays of a boiling sun, 500 and more residents of Ephrata and vicinity attended the beau- tiful ceremony connected with the laying of the cor- nerstone of the edifice now under construction at Church Avenue and Pine Street.
Persons of all denominations were there. It was an inspiring sight to see the Methodists, the Lutherans, Brethren, Catholics and members of the various denom- inations rub shoulder and pray that their common faith in Christianity may not be wiped from the face of the earth.
Many of those in attendance, exclusive of the Catholic brethren, had never attended a service pre- scribed by the Church of Rome. Not one knew the sig- nificance of the ritual nor could they understand the Latin as it fell from the lips of Bishop George L. Leech of the Harrisburg Diocese.
But by means of an amplification system, one and all enjoyed the explanation of the ceremony as pre- sented in English by Father Edwin Shearer the genial rector of St. Clement's Mission House. This feature was
61
Laying of Cornerstone of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church, Sunday, August 11, 1940. Bishop George Leech, assisted by the Very Rev. William McCarty, Redemptorist Provincial, now Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota.
something new, at least in this vicinity, in Catholic services. It not only aided the Protestants in following the service but it gave equal interest to the members of the Catholic faith.
Down through the ages have come the pomp and elegance of an historic church that has but one common language and prescribed masses and ceremonies that are alike inall lands. Thus has this mighty church grown un- til edifices are available in the populated sections throughout the globe where Catholics may worship in unison and the traveler may feel at home no matter where he roams.
The Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help will fill a long-felt want in this community and under Father Shearer, rector, and his assistant, Father Frank Dotzler will find its place among the other churches of Ephrata .
When the Redemptorists came to Ephrata in 1914, there were many who were only too ready to accuse them of coming to proselytize. If they did proselytize they certainly were not successful! Otherwise, it would not have taken twenty-five years to build a church and thirty-seven years to build a school. Proselytizing does not win friends and the Redemptorists won many friends among their non-Catholic neighbors, as the above editorial proves.
The first Mass celebrated in the new church was the midnight Mass on Christmas 1940. The celebrant was the Reverend Francis X. Dotzler. The church was filled to capacity. It has a seating capacity of about 250 persons.
The formal dedication took place on Sunday, April 20, 1941. Bishop Leech officiated. He was assisted by the Most Reverend Hugh Boyle D. D., Bishop of Pitts- burgh, and the Most Reverend William O'Brien D. D., Auxiliary, Bishop of Chicago and President of the Catholic Church Extension Society. On the same day, the newly erected church in New Holland, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, was dedicated.
The new church in Ephrata was placed under the patronage of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
It was the dawn of a new era for the people of the parish!
63
In May 1942 Father Edwin Shearer was transferred to Orangeburg, South Caro- lina and Father Joseph Daley was transferred from Orangeburg to Ephrata as the new Rector and Pastor. The previous Rectors were mission-minded as they were supposed to be. They did their work well as missionaries and as organizers of missions. Father Daley, while true to his vocation as a missionary, was also a zealous and genial parish priest. He knew everyone in town and everyone knew him. He chatted with every- one he met; asked about the family and children and showed his interest in their affairs. He was approachable andalways available. During the four and one-half years (1942- 1947) he was here, he did a tremendous amount of good and created an atmosphere of harmony and cooperation that was praised by all. A proof of the high esteem in which he was held is the fact that when a local council of the Knights of Columbus was formed, it was called the Father Joseph Daley Council.
It was during Father Daley's term of office that the Second World War broke out. Five of the priests from St. Clement's entered the armed forces as chaplains. They were: Fathers John Connell, Edward Molloy, Gerard O'Keefe, Edward Murphy and Lawrence Lynch.
A Certificate of Honor was awarded to five Redemptorist Chaplains at a Solemn Military Mass celebrated by Father Daley on Sunday, May 28, 1944. The Rev. Joseph McQuade, a veteran chaplain of World War I preached the sermon.
The individual certificates were accepted by five boys of the parish. They were dressed in military uniforms and were: Gerald Radzay, Thomas Harter, Lee Spangler, James Cox and William Vollenweider. In the procession the parishioners serving in the armed forces were represented by Francis Pierce and Robert Vollenweider. Lorraine Walters and Theresa Pierce were flower girls. Members and auxiliaries of Cocalico Valley Post No. 3376, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Cloister Post No. 4292, American Legion, borough officials and members of Boy and Girl Scout Troops also attended. The choir was under the direction of Vincent Harter with Mrs. S. E. Keiser at the organ. Trumpeters from the Ephrata High School Band blew taps in memory of John Moore, a parishioner missing in action.
Father Lawrence Lynch was killed on the Island of Okinawa on April 24, 1945. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was offered for him on Sunday, May 6, 1946
64
by Father Daley. The services were attended by representatives of the various military organizations in Ephrata. Father Lynch was universally esteemed for his outstanding qualities as a priest and as an officer. He was killed while coming to the aid of two wounded comrades.
Funeral services were conducted for him in the American Cemetery at Okinawa. Catholic chaplains came from all over the Island to attend. They said Mass simulta- neously on the hoods of their jeeps while a Solemn High Mass was being offered on an improvised altar.
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Our Mother of Perpetual Help School opened in September, 1957, with an enrollment of 126 pupils.
In September, 1964, that number was more than doubled: 283 chil- dren were enrolled.
7. OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP SCHOOL
The mother parish at Ephrata and the two daughter parishes or out-missions at Lititz and New Holland now each had an imposing church edifice - a House of God and a Gate of Heaven - where the people could properly worship God. Soon there arose a desire to have a parochial school, where the children could be taught both what was necessary as useful citizens and as children of God - to receive the twofold education, intellectual and religious. Everyone realized that it was impossible to support three parochial schools, one for each part of the parish. Maybe it would be possible to have one combined parochial school .
Father Thomas Tobin was made Rector and Pastor in August, 1953. The people approached him with their idea. He soon translated the desire into a determined will . "Where there's a will, there's a way" the old adage informs us, and so it was in this case. It seemed an impossibility, but with determination and cooperation it soon be- came a reality.
The total Catholic population of the three parts of the parish - Ephrata, Lititz, and New Holland - together with the surrounding towns was 1, 177 in 1957, the year the school opened. In large metropolitan areas where there are gigantic Catholic parishes and schools, such a number would not be an imposing figure. But numbers are relative to time and place. When the Redemptorists came in 1914 to establish a Mission House, not one of them could have imagined that there would ever be over a thousand Catholics in the district confided to their pastoral care.
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Monsignor Charles T. Tighe, Pastor of St. Mary's Church, Lancaster who officiated at the Ground Breaking Ceremonies, addresses the people on this historic occasion.
Ground Breaking Ceremony, May 2, 1940, Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church. From left to right, Father John Keegan, C.SS.R., Mon- signor Charles Tighe, Father Clement Pirnak, Father Harold Wilson.
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In the annual report for 1957, Father John Wise gave the following statistics.
CENSUS FOR 1957
Ephrata
Lititz
New Holland
Total
1. Number of souls
456
408
313
1177
2. Number of families
130
124
90
344
3. Number of men
142
96
69
307
4. Number of women
154
109
73
336
5. Number of children
160
83
171
414
6. Number of boys in parochial school
35
10
21
66
7. Number of girls in parochial school
39
5
24
68
8. Number of boys in public school
17
18
23
58
9. Number of girls in public school
12
26
21
59
10. Number of boys in high school
6
7
4
17
11. Number of girls in high school
4
15
5
24
12. Number of communions in parish (about) 4500
3050
3580
11130
13. Number of 1st communicants: boys
9
1
5
15
girls
8
1
4
13
14. Number of converts
5
1
0
6
15. Number of infant baptisms adult baptisms
23
9
14
46
5
1
0
01 6
16. Number of sick calls (communions of devotion included)
52
60
15
127
17. Number of deaths of adults - Of these how many died without the Sacraments
2
1
0
3
0
0
0
0
18. Number of funerals from the Church
0
1
1
2
19. Number of deaths of infants
0
0
2
2
20. Number of those confirmed: children adults
27
17
18
62
3
2
0
5
21. Number of marriages
7
3
0
10
Of these how many were mixed
4
2
0
6
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School Dedication, Sunday, October 13, 1957 Shown from left to right, Father Tobin, Father Schruefer, Bishop Leech
This is part of the crowd at the dedication ceremony. You also have a good view of the Sisters' Convent and of the parish church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Father Tobin consulted Bishop Leech. Together they made a thorough study of the need and the possibility of a parochial school. To conduct a parochial school, religious sisters are needed. Father Tobin went in search of sisters. Among those he visited were the Bernardine Sisters who are now the efficient teachers in the school. Here is the way Father John McGuire, the editor of the Perpetual Help magazine de- scribed the incident:
"Father Tobin of Our Mother of Perpetual Help parish in Ephrata , Pa., sat a bit glumly in the Motherhouse of the Bernardine Sisters in Philadelphia. The Mother Superior had just told him that there was no hope of Sisters for his school before 1960. He had heard the same dis- appointing words elsewhere, Notre Dame, Mercy, Holy Cross, Immac- ulate Heart, all were willing, but there just were no Sisters to spare. It was August, 1955. The pastor turned to Msgr. Maher, Harrisburg School Superintendent who had come with him and said, "It looks as though Our Mother of Perpetual Help doesn't want us to have a school." Then the miracle happened. At the magic title of Our Lady, Sister Superior interrupted and said, "No, wait Father. We can't let Our Lady down. Our Sisters owe too much to Our Mother of Perpetual Help."
Father Tobin blinked in surprise. In December he received definite word that the Sisters would be in Ephrata in September, 1957. The next step was to have the school ready for them."
It was on Christmas Day, 1955 that the announcement was made simultaneously in the three churches that Bishop Leech had gladly given permission to proceed with the proposal to erect a combined parish school.
Before the building of the school could begin, Father Tobin was forced to re- linquish his post on account of ill health. He had made the preparations and had in- spired the people. On May 3, 1956 Father Francis Newell was appointed to take his place. Father Tobin was transferred to St. Alphonsus Church, New York.
On Sunday, July 8, 1956, Monsignor Charles J. Tighe, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Lancaster, represented Bishop Leech in conducting the ground-breaking cere- monies.
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