gave up to our use a portion of his house as a little temporary
convent, where we remained some weeks, saying Mass in his
beautiful private chapel, which was completely furnished with
every thing necessary for that purpose. The Bishop of Newark had
made an arrangement to receive us under his jurisdiction, as soon
as our relation to our congregation was terminated, and faculties
from the diocese of New York were obtained from the archbishop.
We continued to follow our accustomed mode of life, and obey our
former Superior of the Missions. After a short time we gave a
mission at Watertown, in the diocese of Albany, and were not a
little encouraged by receiving, late on the Saturday evening
before the mission was opened, the special faculties which had
been obtained for each one of us at Rome, for giving the Papal
Benediction.
{173}
The grand and spacious church of this beautiful town, which is
worthy to be a cathedral from its size and architecture, was
crowded by the largest number of Protestants we had ever seen on
similar occasion, and a number of converts were received into the
Church. From Watertown we came to St. Bridget's Church in New
York, where we had one of our largest, most laborious, and most
fruitful missions. This was the first one of those heavy city
missions so frequent during our early career, at which F. Baker
had assisted, where the crowds of people were so overwhelming,
and the labor so excessive and exhausting. He went into his work
with a brave spirit and an untiring zeal, and scarcely allowed
himself even a breathing-spell. The love and admiration which the
warm-hearted people of this congregation acquired for him was
never diminished, and there was no one whom they ever after loved
so much to see revisiting their church. Before the close, F.
Hecker arrived from Rome, after a year's absence, bringing a
special benediction from the Holy Father upon our future labors,
and a warm commendatory letter from the Cardinal Prefect of the
Propaganda. At the end of the mission we found ourselves without
a home, and we remained so until the spring of the following
year, dependent for the most part on the hospitality of
individual friends among the clergy and laity for a temporary
shelter. For a short time we were obliged to take lodgings in an
ordinary respectable boarding-house in Thirteenth street, near
several churches and chapels, where we could say Mass every day,
without incommoding anyone. Our kind friend and generous patron,
Mr. Hecker, afterward gave up to us his whole house, while his
family were in the country; leaving his servants, and making
ample provision for furnishing us with every comfort in the most
hospitable style. During the summer, the "Congregation of
Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle" was organized, under
the approbation and authority of the archbishop; and arrangements
were commenced for the foundation of a religious house and
church, with a parochial charge annexed.
{174}
While we were occupying Mr. Hecker's house, two burglars entered
the building one night, through a window incautiously left open,
came into the room occupied by F. Baker and one of his
companions, and robbed them of their watches, which were
fortunately of small value, some articles of clothing, likewise
not very costly, and a trifling amount of loose change; but,
seeing two other men of no small stature in the adjoining room,
prudently decamped, without finding a number of costly articles
belonging to the chapel, although they had examined the drawer
where the albs and amices were kept. None of us were awakened,
and the first news we had of the midnight raid upon our territory
was given by F. Baker exclaiming that his coat had been stolen.
We laughed at him at first, but it was soon discovered that his
intelligence was correct, and that the next house had been
visited also by the robbers. This adventure gave occasion for a
great deal of mirth among ourselves, and many speculations as to
the probable results of an encounter with the robbers, in case we
had awakened, in which fatal consequences to the latter were
freely predicted. As usual in such cases, the police examined the
matter, gave very sagacious information as to the mode of
entrance and exit, and discovered no trace of the burglars
themselves. We were only too happy that the chalice and vestments
had not been carried off.
The burden which was assumed by our small community was a very
heavy one. It was necessary for us to continue the missions
without interruption, and at the same time to provide the means
of making a permanent foundation, which could not be done without
securing property, and erecting a church and religious house at a
cost of about $65,000. During this time of struggle for life, F.
Baker was one of the main stays of the missions, and one of the
most arduous and efficient of our number in working at the
collection of funds and the organization of the parish.
{175}
After a summer spent in this latter work, a course of missions
was commenced in September, the first of which was a heavy one,
in a congregation numbering 5,000 souls, at the cathedral of
Providence, in which we were all engaged. The next was a retreat
given to men alone, and specifically to the members of the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, in the cathedral of New York. F.
Baker closed it with a magnificent sermon in his happiest vein,
on "The Standard of Christian Character for men in the world."
The following notice of the retreat, taken from the _Freeman's
Journal_, is more graphic than any that I can give, and I
therefore quote it entire, in place of describing it in my own
language:--
"The retreat given by the band of Missionaries of St. Paul the
Apostle to members of St. Vincent de Paul's Society, and other
men of this city, closed on Sunday evening, the Rev. Father
Baker preaching an admirable sermon on the characteristics of
Christian perfection for men in the world. During the week that
this retreat has continued, the number of men approaching the
sacraments was about two thousand. The religious effects of the
occasion will be great and permanent. But besides results that
the Catholic faith leads to expect, St. Patrick's Cathedral
has, the past week, presented a subject for thought and
astonishment to the observing and reflecting man, though not a
Catholic. What has gathered these crowds of busy, practical
men? What keeps them kneeling, or standing quietly in solid
masses, for an hour before the exercises commence? Most of
these men rose from their beds at four o'clock, some as early
as half-past three, and made long walks through the darkness to
secure their standing-place in the church during the early
instructions. They hear from the pulpit solid, distinct,
earnest instructions in regard to what a man must believe, and
in regard to what he must do to attain eternal life when this
world is past. But whence comes this lively appreciation of
truths beyond the reach of the senses, in the minds of men
plunged all day long, and every day, in material occupations?
{176}
Here are men of the class that, in communities not Catholic, do
not suffer religion to interfere with their comfort--who like
best to discuss the points of their religious profession after
dinner, and to listen to sermons while seated in cushioned
pews. What causes them thus to stand in the packed throng of
the faithful, listening to the homely details of daily duties
required of them, or kneeling on the hard floor, repeating with
the multitude, in a loud voice, the prayers they learned in
childhood? Then, these sons of humblest toil that kneel beside
them. All the heat and excitement of the "revival" failed to
bring any considerable number of the corresponding class of
non-Catholics to the "prayer-meetings." The latter mentioned
would say that they had to look out for their daily bread, and
that the rich men at the prayer-meetings did not want them any
way. Here they are at St. Patrick's, by five o'clock in the
morning, and either they do without their breakfast, or it was
dispatched an hour or more before. These various classes of
men, having attended the exercises given by the Missionaries of
St. Paul, during the week, stood crowded within St. Patrick's
on Sunday evening. The parting instruction of the missionaries
was to stir them, by all the courage and fervor and endurance
that they had manifested during the retreat, to fix higher
principles and firmer purposes for the guidance of their future
life--to be faithful to every duty, to their families, to
society, and to themselves--to be manly in their religious
observances, and generous in sacrificing for their faith and
for God every attachment that brings scandal on their religion
or danger to their own virtue. At the close of the exercises by
the missionaries, the Most Rev. Archbishop Hughes made some
remarks to the vast congregation. He said he found no necessity
of adding any thing to what the missionaries, according to the
special objects of their calling, had done, to cause the truths
most appropriate and necessary to sink into hearts so well
prepared to receive and retain them.
{177}
But the spectacle before him was one he could not let pass
without some words expressive of his gratification. When a few
Catholic young men first met in the archbishops's house to form
the first Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, he had formed high
anticipations of the good their association would do each other
and the Catholic community at large. Here, to-night, he saw the
realization of his hopes. When he reflected on the influence
that must be exerted on the Catholic body, and on this great
city--where, alas, there was no other religion capable of
influencing and restraining men except the Catholic--by so
great a company of men instructed in their religion, and
fervent in its practice--he had the wish that such meetings for
these exercises, might, at intervals, be repeated in all the
Catholic churches in the city. He then thanked the missionaries
for their labors--he knew they asked not thanks from men--but
still it was due that he, in the name of those who had been
benefited by their exercises, should thank them.
"This retreat for men has been, in some respects, of especial
interest, and has been highly successful; and, for the complete
satisfaction that it has afforded, it must be said that nothing
which discreet forethought and arrangement, or affectionate
zeal and assiduity could effect, was left undone by the Very
Rev. Mr. Starrs, V. G. and Rector of the Cathedral."
The third mission was given at the cathedral of Covington, when
the following circumstance occurred. A Protestant gentleman, who
was present one evening, had a phial of poison in his pocket,
with which he was fully determined to destroy his own life; but
the sermon of F. Baker on the Particular Judgment made such a
powerful impression on his mind that he threw away the poison and
disclosed to his friends what his desperate purpose had been.
From Covington, F. Hecker returned to New York, to attend to our
affairs there, and F. Baker with two companions went on a tour of
missions, which continued from November until Christmas, in the
State of Michigan.
{178}
The flourishing parishes located in the pretty villages of
Kalamazoo, Marshall, Jackson, and Ann Arbor, were the ones
visited. The last of these missions deserves a special notice,
which I extract from the "Records":--
"The pastor of the church in Ann Arbor has two congregations
under his charge, one at Ann Arbor, and the other at
Northfield. The latter is the larger of the two, and it was
earnestly desired that we should give them a separate mission.
We were told that it was vain to expect them to come to the
service at Ann Arbor, and, as they were already jealous of the
Ann Arbor people, if we did not give them a mission of their
own, their dissatisfaction would be increased, and we should do
more harm than good by our visit. We on our part would have
been willing to give them a double mission; but as there was no
house near the Northfield church where the missionaries could
lodge, it was decided to be impossible, and we concluded that
one of the fathers should go out on Sunday and announce the
mission to the Northfield people, and invite them to attend at
Ann Arbor. The result proved the wisdom of the decision, for
the people came in from the country in crowds, thus increasing
the life and animation of the mission. The weather was mild and
pleasant, the nights were bright and moonlit, and every morning
and evening crowds of wagons were drawn up around the church,
some from ten, some from fifteen, and some even from twenty
miles off. The church was crowded by five o'clock in the
morning, and the congregation, not content with assisting at
one Mass and the Instruction, remained until late in the
morning, when the Masses were all over. In the evening, the
crowd was rendered still denser by the large representation of
Protestants who attended. On the last night, the crowd was so
great, that not only was the church packed in every part to its
utmost capacity, but even the windows were filled with young
men who had climbed up from without, and the trees around the
church offered a perch for those who had to content themselves
with a bird's-eye view of the scene."
{179}
I have noticed this mission more particularly, because this
Northfield congregation was a specimen of several Catholic
farming communities with which we came in contact on our
missions. The prosperity, happiness, and virtue which I have
found existing among this class of our people, induce me to
recommend most earnestly to all those who have at heart the
welfare of our Catholic Irish population, to promote in every way
their devoting themselves to agricultural pursuits in the
country. It would be a great blessing if the large towns could be
depleted of the surplus population with which they are
overcrowded, and the tide of immigration diverted from them, to
be distributed over our vast territory. This agricultural life is
incomparably more wholesome, more happy, and more favorable to
virtue and piety than the feverish, comfortless, and unnatural
existence to which the mass of the laboring class are condemned
in large cities. It is free from a thousand influences vitiating
both to the soul and the body, and, above all things, better for
the proper training of children. Our young men and women of
American origin are deserting this agricultural life, and leaving
vacant the fields of their fathers, to plunge into a more
exciting and adventurous life, which promises to satisfy more
speedily their desire for wealth. Let our young Irishmen, who
come here to find a better field for their strength and vigor
than they have at home, and those who have grown up here, but
find themselves unable to get a proper field for their industry
in the old and crowded settlements, come in and take their
places, leave the cities, shun the factory towns, and strike into
the open country. Sobriety, industry, and prudence, will secure
to every young man of this sort, in due time, the position of an
independent land-holder. There is a hidden treasure of wealth,
health, virtue, and happiness in the soil, which will richly
reward those who dig for it, and will also enrich both the
country and the Church.
{180}
I may also mention with pleasure, in connection with the Ann
Arbor Mission, my agreeable recollections of the polite
attentions we received from the president and gentlemen of the
University of Michigan. This is by no means a solitary instance
of courtesy extended to us in the Protestant community. In many
parts of the United States, we have received the most polite and
friendly attentions, and occasionally hospitable entertainment,
both from clergymen and laymen of different religious
denominations, as well as a general manifestation of respect and
good-will on the part of the community. Sometimes the mission has
excited ill-will, and obstacles have been thrown in the way of
domestics and other dependent persons attending it. But in many
other cases, not only has there been no interference, but every
facility has been given, by owners of factories, who have
shortened the time of work and given leave of absence, and by
masters and mistresses of families, who have excused their
servants from their ordinary work, and even furnished them with
conveyances, when they lived at a distance.
From Michigan, the missionaries returned to New York, and after
New Year's, being rejoined by Father Hecker, gave a mission in
St. Mary's Church, New Haven, a large and very flourishing
parish, which is, however, only one of three in the classic "City
of Elms;" where, thirty-five years ago, there was not a Catholic
to be found, except, perhaps, one or two serving-men in wealthy
families.
After this mission, I revisited several of the places where we
had given missions in South Carolina and Georgia, to solicit aid
for our infant community, which was given in a liberal and
generous manner, worthy of those warm-hearted Catholics, who, I
trust, will receive a similar return from their Northern
brethren, whenever they ask for it, to enable them to repair the
ruin which has been made among them by civil war.
{181}
During my absence, two missions were given by the other three
fathers--one at Princeton, where the church was broken down by
the throng, and whose young pastor has since joined our
community: another at Belleville, which has been so beautifully
described by the amiable pastor of that place, that I cannot
refrain from copying his sketch:--
"At the above-mentioned place, the Rev. Fathers Hecker, Deshon,
and Baker opened a mission, Sunday, February 13, which
continued during a week, and closed on the evening of the
Sunday following. To say that it was most successful, is too
cold an expression; and to call it most impressive, beautiful,
and triumphant, can give no adequate idea of its enchanting
power. During the week of its continuance, the hill that is
crowned by the graceful Church of St. Peter, with its tall
steeple and gilded cross, marking the first of a series of
eminences that rise higher and higher westward from the River
Passaic, has almost realized Mount Thabor. The eager people of
the country round had been beforehand preparing for the arrival
of the missionaries, and no sooner did the good fathers come
than the faithful people rose up in haste to meet them. Down
they came, the children of old Roscommon and Mayo, from the
romantic hills of Caldwell on the west, along the glades and
woody slopes of Bloomfield, saluting, as they passed, their
newly-built Church of 'Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.'
Onward and upward, too, were hastening from the north and east,
through Acquackanouck and Belleville, those who long ago left
the Boyne and the Luir, the Liffey and Shannon, to cultivate
the valley of the scarcely less beautiful Passaic. A thin,
sparkling frost still lay upon the roads; and the crisping
sounds of their hurrying feet, 'beautiful with glad tidings,'
and their cheerfully ringing voices, far and near, were heard
along the banks and over the drawbridge of that beautiful
river--beautiful at half-past four in the balmy morning
air--quivering under the hovering, waning moon, the deep-blue
sky, and the twinkling stars.
{182}
But the people of the valley have ascended the hill from whence
the loud bell of St. Peter's steeple has been awakening the
country for miles around with its clear and booming sounds.
They meet their brethren from Bloomfield and Caldwell, and
pause for a moment before the double flight of steps leading up
to the portico of the church. Every window gleams with light.
The organ and choir are intoning and singing the Litany of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, 'Sancta Virgo Virginum,' Holy Virgin of
Virgins, pray for us.' 'I thought I was before the bell,'
exclaims a young woman, just come from several miles off, as
she flits hastily through the doorway to be in time for Mass.
But the priest, in his shining vestments, with his little
surpliced attendants, is already at the altar; and, it being
five o'clock, the first Mass of the morning has punctually
begun. The weather, however, at two or three other intervals of
the mission, was not quite so propitious, nor the roads so
pleasant; for thaws and occasional rain had softened the latter
to a disagreeable extent. But this mattered nothing to the
seamless robe of the Faith, which is proof against all
weathers; for St. Peter's was thronged morning and evening
alike while the mission lasted. Many were the expedients
resorted to by poor mothers, for trusty guardians to mind the
little ones during their absence at church. In several
instances, a mother would charge herself with the children of
two or three others; or some kind-hearted Protestant would take
this care upon her. But not unfrequently the little ones were
deposited in the basement of the church; and it was interesting
to see the German mother place her infant in the Irish-woman's
arms, while she herself hastened up with the crowd to receive
communion at the altar-rail--a crowd of old and young, dotted
here and there with the Hollander, the German, the French, and
the English or American Catholic.
{183}
The morning instruction was usually given by Father Hecker,
whose appearance and manner' were well calculated to cheer up
the people, even to alacrity, under their daily difficulties of
faithful attendance, late and early, on the mission-whether he
related the anecdote of the old man, who, early in the morning,
after most determined efforts to be faithful to the mission,
vanquished the temptation of his warm bed, and finally
succeeded in reaching the church in the teeth of a snow-storm,
with inverted umbrella; or, when urging the duty of virtuous
perseverance, he gave his celebrated allegory of the pike of
the Mississippi, who, terrified one night by an unusual display
of fireworks on its banks, vowed he would swallow no more
little fishes, but afterward relapsed into his intemperate
proclivities, and became worse than ever. In the evening,
Father Deshon ended his most interesting instruction with the
recitation of the Rosary, responded to aloud by the whole
congregation. This was followed by Father Baker's sermon and
the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Besides the
overflowing attendance of the faithful, the knowledge of the
missionaries themselves being Americans and converts from
Protestantism, brought hundreds of Protestants of all classes
nightly, many of whom were present at every sermon; and they
were as sensibly moved even to tears and audible grief, by the
power and holiness of the preacher's eloquence, as the
Catholics themselves. But the last night's scene will long be
remembered--the renewal of baptismal vows, with uplifted hands,
by the entire assemblage, which the strongly-built church
somehow or other contrived to accommodate, sitting and standing
in the pews, passages, gallery, and sacristy, and close around
the sanctuary, to the number of some thirteen or fourteen
hundred. The interior of the church was but lately remodelled
and decorated, and its pale rose-colored walls and ceiling were
charmingly varied by their white ornamental centers and
panelled mouldings.
{184}
The statues of the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter at either side
of the sanctuary rested on tasteful pedestals, which supported
four lofty Corinthian columns and their pilasters. These pure
white, fluted, and tapering columns, with their rich capitals
and entablature, the altar, tabernacle, and almost life-size
crucifix, the high-raised marble font and its pendent baptismal
robe of snowy lace--all these, contrasted with the dark and
lofty missionary cross, and the crucifixion winding scarf hung
athwart it, became of an almost white and dazzling beauty, amid
the innumerable lights, silver and gilded candelabra, and vases
of a countless variety of natural flowers. It is a pleasing
thought, that much of the plate alluded to was lent for the
occasion by kind-hearted Protestants of the neighborhood, in
whose estimation this mission has exalted the Catholic Church
to a surprising degree. At the same time it may be said, that
few or no places in the country are more remarkable than
Belleville, N. J., for kind cordiality on the part of the
Protestant community toward the Catholic. But the last scene,
like a beautiful vision, is now over. The missionaries have
given their blessing to the crowd, among whom is a Protestant
young lady, who comes also to seek it before the carriage shall
have borne them away. One convert was baptized on the morning
of their departure. Another will be in a day or two hence. More
are in reserve for this sacred rite. Upward of eleven hundred
and thirty Catholics have received the Holy Eucharist; many of
them old men, and many youths, who, but for the influence of
the mission, would not have approached the sacraments for
years--perhaps never. Young, wavering Catholics, already more
than half lost to the faith, have been reclaimed and fortified.
A. rich legacy of Catholic truth has been left to vanquish
falsehood and error, which, in Belleville and its neighborhood,
must cower for many a day before the memory of the Missionaries
of St. Paul the Apostle." [Footnote 7]
[Footnote 7: New York _Tablet_.]
{185}
On the 20th of March, 1859, a mission was opened in St. Patrick's
Church, Quebec, by the special invitation of the Administrator of
the diocese. It would be easy to fill pages with reminiscences of
this mission, given in a city so replete with interest of every
kind, and full of pleasant recollections. The mission was a very
large one; as we had seven thousand two hundred and fifty
communions, and fifty converts received into the Church. It was
peculiarly satisfactory, also, from the circumstance that the
church was large enough to contain all the people who desired to
get in, though it was densely crowded, and that the most abundant
facilities were furnished to all who wished to come to
confession--there being nineteen confessors, of whom fifteen were
clergymen of the diocese.