This pamphlet was conceived in enthusiasm by men and women who are bristling with PEP to build a Beautiful Church in St. James Parish. They are impatiently waiting: they are clamoring for action. They want YOU to know what they propose doing. They hope you will be with them. Don't look for a seat in the Grand Stand-People who do things move-the disinterested sit and watch -- Our Parish Big Drum is beating a marching tune – “LET'S GO."
[NOTE FROM BOB CORBETT -- July 2009] Cover photo is of the architect's re-drawing of the church after they had made the decision to not reproduce the original tower, but relace the tower with a steeple. This is not a photo of the church itself which was not yet built, but a drawing of the proposed church
My dear Parishioner;
The celebrations of the next two weeks in St. James Parish are the high points in the vista of the time that has passed since the first corner stone of the first St. James Church was laid in January, 1861, and shall focus the dreams, the ambitions and efforts of all preceding pastors and parishioners.
The entire efforts of twenty-five years have been directed to the parochial school. The parish debt during these years was a school debt; the parish revenue was swallowed up in meeting it and in defraying the incidental expense of continuing the school. In this building was centered Father Casey’s life work and at the time of his death not more than half the debt was paid. The best years of Sisters Catherine and Louis were devoted to the education of the children of the parish. The success or failure of these years can be measured only by the morals and the achievements of the children who have been pupils in this edifice. They are the direct products of all the sacrifices and labors, and in their lives and conduct must we seek for a justification of the existence of the parochial school.
What has it accomplished? It has scattered the seed of religious thought and developed Christian Ideals in the homes of the parishioners and in the minds and hearts of the little ones. It has taught them to praise God in the sweet innocence of childhood and dream of angels at their bedsides when they went to sleep at night. It gave them high concepts of life and showed them its purpose. It admonished them of the dangers that arise from the infirmities of their nature and trained them in discipline. It endeavored to make them obedient to their parents, to be helpful to their fellowman and revere him as a brother, and fostered in them the spirit of patriotism and gave to them the fundamental principles of good citizenship. How far it has succeeded is a matter of conjecture and each one of the graduates will have to answer for himself before the judgment of man and his Creator for the use he has made of the talents that have been given to him through the parochial school,
The graduates of St. James Parochial School have been handicapped in so far as their parents in the majority of cases were unable to defray the expense of giving them a high school education. People who have large families and small Incomes cannot be expected to indulge the ambition to have their child trained for a profession or even for a trade. A decade ago higher education was not so general; it was the privilege of the wealthy, but, thank God, conditions have changed and in the more recent prosperity every child who is willing to get down to hard work and study has the opportunity of promoting his own welfare.
So far no boy who graduated from the school has studied for the priesthood with one or two exceptions. It is desirable that mothers would develop this ambition in the minds of their boys; children are conceived in the womb, but priests and nuns in the brains and hearts of good religious mothers. We are about to build a preparatory seminary and we hope that the preparatory training of boys for the priesthood will at once begin in the home, so that we can truthfully say in this parish that a seminary is being erected for OUR boys.
The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts, and memory will go back to the impressions of childhood. A rare inheritance is good blood, God-fearing parents; a good home and proper early training. The morals of our boys and girls, considering the infirmities of human nature and the temptations of the time, are as a whole, very admirable. As far as we know there is not a single instance of one of the children who spent a considerable time in St. James School who has been an inmate of a penitentiary or whose finger prints have been taken or photograph made for the rogues’ gallery, and this is indeed an exceptional condition. We might justly claim some of this merit as a benefit arising from Catholic education, and lay it as a tribute to the honesty and character of the people of this community. Sound principles and good environment do more for a nation than innumerable laws, high salaried judges and a chain of police barracks. The parochial school is not the poison in the melting pot, but the salt that gives it flavor. If the parochial school were properly understood by our fellow citizens, statesmen of the character of the late Hon. Champ Clark would be glad to honor by their presence an occasion such as occurred when the corner stone of St. James School was laid 25 years ago. And in another two weeks the beginning of another quarter century, we will be laying the corner stone of another edifice that shall mark a grander period In the life of the parish. St. James new church is gradually rising from the ground and in less than a year the cross on the spire will be seen from almost any point in the city. Judging from the portion of the work that has been completed we are going to have a magnificent church, elegant in detail as well as construction. A neat laid Bedford rock in the walls, the cut stones in the window frames and window sills are already making their impression on the passersby and as the walls go up and the building nears completion the graceful lines and the elegant details of the architecture will be more evident. It does not seem to be an idle dream to hope that the new church will be one of the most imposing buildings west of Kingshighway.
The decoration of the interior shall be in keeping and in all probability shall surpass the exterior ornamentation. Windows of antique glass, artistic tapestries, mural tracings, woodwork in ceilings, confessionals, organ screens and gallery front shall reflect the beauty and the mystery of our faith and hope, and the expensiveness of all these things shall symbolize our love for God. Every foot of wall, every pew and every note of the organ shall, as the years go on, proclaim to coming generations the sacrifices made by the peopl0e of this parish. When they shall learn that only three hundred families of very moderate means defrayed the expense of this church they will say, “Our forefathers were people whose faith was practical their devotion is made permanent in stone and their zeal for the Glory of God is manifested in this Tabernacle. Within this Sanctuary we may hope boys from this parish will yet stand at the altar and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the priests and people who participated in this accomplishment, as we ourselves hope to live to see that day when we shall assemble in the New Church to offer a Requiem for those who worked and yearned and prayed that some day there would be erected In this community a Catholic Church that would be the reward for a zealous ambition of those who labored and made sacrifices for this parish since the first corner stone is laid In the year 1861.”
Yours in Christ,
PATRICK J. O’CONNOR, Adm.
There is a forty-two-family apartment just completed at Oakland and Graham Avenues, which ought to attract a few more families to the Parish.
Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Murphy returned recently from a visit to the Old Kentucky home. Mr. Murphy reports crops are poor except in Illinois.
The Virgin Mother’s Sodality went on a picnic on Sunday, August 21st, to Castlewood, where they were entertained at the Bob-nobs Club House by Misses Alvina Barr and Florence Clegg.
The sodality, after attending 6 o’clock mass, took the 8:20 train at Tower Grove and were at the picnic grounds an hour later.
On the train they were complimented by Mrs. McHenry, a chaperon for the Y.W.C.A. She remarked that in the fifteen years’ experience that she has had she was never more highly impressed by young ladies on an outing than she was by those girls from St. James, whose conduct on that occasion aroused her attention.
The picnickers, after a dip in the Meramec. went for a long hike and returned to dinner half starved, but this made the viands all the more enjoyable.
A Mexican girl, Miss Aurora Rincon, who is a pupil at Font Bonne, accompanied Miss Gladys Leahy, and proved to be a most interesting entertainer to all who were present.
Mrs. Blanche Thompson Lewis, 5716 West Park Avenue, is improving after several weeks of illness, during which she was confined to her room.
The cornerstone of St. James Church will be laid on Sunday, September 18th at 4 p. m. by His Grace Archbishop John J. Glennon assisted by Rev. John Lyons, Pastor of St. Pius, and Rev. Timothy O’Sullivan, Pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, St. Louis, Rev. John Spencer, S. T. L., Pastor of St. Roch’s Church, and Rev. John Nugent of St. Catherine’s will act as first and second master of ceremonies.
The cornerstone laying will be preceded by a procession in which the school children, the Ladies of St. James Parish and the men of the parish will participate, followed by the Knights of Columbus Zouaves in a group formed from members of various councils and the various branches of the Holy Name Society of the archdiocesan union. The march will be enlivened by St. Edward’s drum corps and Knights of Columbus band.
The procession will form at the southwest entrance to Forest Park on Oakland avenue, St. James parishioners occupying the space on the alley that is a continuation of Central avenue. His Grace the Archbishop, is expected to come through the park and lead the procession which will start promptly at 3:45 p.m. and proceed along Clayton road and Tamm avenue to the church site.
A large gathering of former parishioners is expected to attend and the old time parishioners are requested to act as a reception committee and extend to them a cordial welcome. It is essential to the success of the event that there be extensive advertising, hence we would ask the parishioners to mail cards of invitation to all those who might be expected to be interested, and to facilitate their doing so the advertising committee will distribute such cards in the vestibule of the church next Sunday.
The young ladies of the parish will he given charge of the sale of buttons bearing the impress of the church and St. Ann’s Sodality will provide such refreshments as they deem necessary.
Mr. Ollie Dolan and Officer Maurice Cooper are on the committee to provide a permit and an escort for the parade, and Mr. Frank Walsh is to be grand marshal. Officer Eugene Martineau may he entrusted to provide a traffic squad and direct the parking of automobiles. The pastors will take the collection. Rev. John Kane, Sacred Heart, and Rev. Mark Carroll will be chanters during the cornerstone laying.
Mary Augusta Devanney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Devanney, Buck avenue, and Charles E. Kaiser were married at nuptial mass in St. James Church Wednesday, August 24th. Mrs. Helen Dolan Walsh, accompanied by Miss Minnie Carreras, sang appropriate hymns and James Devanney was bridesgroom and Miss Veronica Kelly was bridesmaid. Mrs. Kaiser is a graduate of St. James School and has been interested in parish activities since she was big enough to sell a chance. She was a quarter-a-week collector and assistant organist and an ex-officer of the Virgin Mothers Sodality.
Their marriage was in keeping with her character. It was an ideal Catholic affair, the banns were announced, the baptismal certificates procured, her well wishers invited to the church, nuptial blessing received, and a great many of her neighbors and acquaintances present in the church during the celebration.
August 31, 1927.
Rev. P. J. O’Connor,
Dear Father:
Enclosed you will find two dollars for your New Church and I wish you good luck and success. I hope and pray that your foot will be well soon.
I remain,
Yours,
Mary Elizabeth Donlin
5344 Vernon Ave.
The donor is a lady about eight years old who is on a visit to Mrs. P. H. Murphy. Though her home is in St. Rose’s Parish, she has transferred her affection and good-will to St. James. Her gift represents weeks of economy.
Edward Raymond Krasnesky, 2147 Clifton Avenue.
Julian Edward Pauk, 2427 Ecoff Avenue.
Michael John Mayor, 6434 Nashville Avenue.
Mary Elizabeth O’Gorman, 6464 Lloyd Avenue.
There is ample room in the school for all the children who belong to the parish. There are about fifty children enrolled whose parents claim they do not belong to the parish. There is no reason why we would incommode ourselves and give them a free school to the exclusion of children whose parents are generous contributors. Parents of these children are requested to confer with the pastors before school opens.
There will be a meeting of the Boosters Club Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock in the school hall. Ladies are requested to impress this event upon their husbands’ memories.
Sister Parthenia Pate has been transferred from New York to St. Mark’s Parochial School in this city,
Donations to the Sisters are already coming in. Michael Newport sent them a porch swing.
All the Alumni members of St. James Parochial School are requested to be present at the Solemn High Mass at 10 o’clock September 11th in St. James Church when the Silver Jubilee 0f the opening of St. James School and the coming of the Dominican Sisters to St. Louis will be celebrated.
At a meeting of the Alumni members which was held Monday evening, August 29th, it was decided to tender the Sisters and the Priests a banquet in the school hall immediately after Mass, and to have a reception exclusively for the Alumni members and Sisters in the afternoon from 4 to 8 o’clock.
It has been arranged by the officers of the association to serve refreshments and to have a dance after the reception. It is understood that Alumni will be permitted to invite their close friends to the dance though not to the reception.
A member of the respective classes was appointed to call on his class and take a collection sufficient to defray the necessary expense. Sisters who taught formerly at St. James School are to be invited and should they come the expense of their trip will be defrayed from Alumni funds. The officers will appreciate the generous co-operation of every member of the association.
A parish orchestra has been organized at the suggestion of Joseph A. Pieschel, 2032 Schaeffer place and under the direction of W. H. Hillenbrand, 6422 Oakland Avenue. The first rehearsal was held August 26th in the school hall. Twelve members who have already had some experience were present and an excellent impression was made on the members and all who listened to their performance.
The orchestra intends playing at the Virgin Mothers Sodality play, and hope to be sufficiently efficient to perform at all the parish social affairs during the early fall and winter.
It Is fortunate for the parish that there is so much talent in the community, In a single round up there were found three violinists, one banjo player, a drummer, two who play the saxophone, a cornet player, a clarinet player, several pianists, and Mr. Hillenbrand, it was learned, had previous experience as a director. Undoubtedly there are many other talented musicians or would-be musicians in the parish. They are requested to make early application and avail themselves of the opportunity of getting Instruction. The following are the charter members: James Pierce, banjo; Carlo Cenatiempo, violin; H. J. Bayers, violin; 0. L. Bayers, saxophone; H. W. Barr, violin; Geo. Lederle, drums; Joe Cenatiempo, piano: Bennie Osterholt, Saxophone; Roland Schlereth, piano; Robert Riley, cornet; Robert Buchite, clarinet; W. H. Hillenbrand, director. Father Pohl, also a musician of no small merit, is an active enthusiast.
Father O’Connor’s foot has not improved very much, even a short walk causes it to get swollen and painful.
Catechetical instruction will be given to public school children on Sundays at 1:30 and Fridays at 4 p.m. during the coming academic year beginning on Friday, the 23rd of September. Only children will be prepared for First Communion and Confirmation who register at once and attend regularly. Those who wait until the last hour will learn later that they waited too long.
A program for Winter performance is being arranged by Joseph Wiss, president of the Alumni Dramatic Club, and understudies, to supplement the members who have already distinguished themselves, are invited to the meetings, which are held regularly in the hall the Thursday following the publication of Let’s Go.
Other officers elected for the year are Stanley Cunningham, assistant president; Camille Jones, secretary; Clarence Adler, assistant secretary; Genevieve Martineau, assistant secretary; Mary Devaney, treasurer; John O’Shaughnessey, assistant treasurer.
Jack Pahl Roles was stricken during the week with what is feared to be infantile paralysis and is in the City Quarantine where he is attended by a day and night nurse and a child specialist.
All the family attended a mass for his recovery Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m., and now rest the case in the hands of God.
He died since we went to press and will be burled at St. Peters, Mo., on Sunday.
A call for funds for the Preparatory Seminary does not appeal to us at this time but we cannot ignore the request of His Grace. The Universal Church is more important than the Church in Missouri and the Church in Missouri more important than the Church in St. James. The big interests of Catholicity require that there be a commodious preparatory seminary in the archdiocese where boys from the country will find proper accommodations. Our city parishes are drawing population from the country. If our State is anti-Catholic it will only be a matter of time until our cities will be anti-Catholic. We owe it to ourselves and to our Faith to develop hatcheries that will supply the country with priests that are taken from the country and who are in sympathy with the customs and traditions of the farm, and whose presence and ignorance of local conditions will not create prejudice; and as to the increased burden the appeal is made to all the archdiocese, both the city and country and will fall heavily on none, even though there is an effort made to raise two million dollars. We think little of dropping ten or twenty dollars at the horse or dog races and if we make an effort to properly dispose ourselves we will find something, too, for the seminary, and for the associated charities that are combined in this drive, including a home for the brothers who teach in McBride High School and schools for the negro population.
Pictures of all the graduates of St. James School during the past twenty-five years have been gathered and are on display in the hall Leading into the church. There is also a list of charter members. Four hundred and fourteen have graduated from St. James School, and there have been as many others who partially completed their course.
The parish burse which makes it possible for a boy from the parish to get a free education in the preparatory seminary day school, has not been availed of since Antony Palumbo advanced to the senior seminary. We wish some boy from the parish would get interested.
A priest from St. Louis U, who devotes his time to geology, was traveling in a train from Chicago about the time of R. Valentino’s demise and was accosted by a fellow passenger who, to create a topic of conversation, said, “Father, what do you think of Valentino?” To whom Father replied, “Tut, tut. There is no use asking me any questions. I don’t know a thing about baseball.”
St. James Parochial School will reopen on Tuesday, September 6.
The children are requested to assist at the 8:30 Mass, which shall be followed by Benediction,
Parents should accompany new pupils, especially little tots, and register them with the Sister Superior.
Bud Kelly, 6803 Mitchell Ave., when driving through Forest Park Tuesday, had his automobile demolished in an automobile collision. He was thrown through the windshield and was later taken to Barnes Hospital, where an X-Ray examination showed his injuries were superficial.
Mrs. Nixon has been elected president of the League of the Sacred Heart to succeed Mrs. Combrevis, who moved from the locality.
The Silver Jubilee of St. James Parochial School is also the Silver Jubilee of the Dominican Sisters’ first mission in St. Louis, and these events will be celebrated by the Dominican Sisters, the people and priests of St. James’ Parish on Sunday, September 11th.
The celebration will begin with a Solemn Mass in the parish church at 10 o’clock, at which Rev. P. J. O’Rourke will be celebrant, assisted by Rev. Thomas Mullin and Rev. P. J. O’Connor, Immaculate Conception, as deacon and sub deacon, respectively. Rev. P. J. Dooley will be Master of Ceremonies and Rev. P. J. O’Connor will preach the jubilee sermon.
A banquet will be given in the hall after Mass by the Alumni Association, to which all the Dominican Sisters in St. Louis and the pastors in the parishes in which they teach shall be invited. Toasts will be responded to by Rev. P. J. O’Rourke, Rev. Peter J. Dooley and Rev. Joseph Tammany.
The St. James Parochial School Building was not erected when the school was organized, the ground floor of the convent was used for school rooms from September, 1902, till January 1903, and classes were conducted in the basement of the school until September, 1906 when the superstructure was completed and ready for occupation. When the cornerstone of the school was laid In September, 1902, Father Casey was pastor and his intimate friend, the late Hon. Champ Clark, made the chief address.
The Dominican Sisters’ first mission in St. Louis was St. James. It was to them an event of the greatest significance. They had set out from their Mother House in Sparkhill, New York, in 1902, to establish a mission in the “West,” and opened a school in Jonesburg, Mo. Sisters Catherine, Louis and Loyola were In charge. The school opened with an enrollment of thirty-five pupils. These came from the scattered Catholic families in the district, and when the roads were bad in winter very few children attended. It was hopeless effort for the Sisters. The parish was poor and not self- supporting. The school project was abandoned in 1902 and Father Casey invited the Sisters to come to St. Louis.
When they arrived in the parish the prospects of greater success were not stimulated by what they encountered. Through some unexplainable bungling the convent was not ready. There were neither beds nor furnishings, and the Sisters sat on their trunks whilst Father Case and thy neighbors gathered enough blankets and mattresses to make beds on the floor. The dining room was in the cellar and the floor was so uneven one of the Sisters, it is said, had In hold the table whilst the others did the carving. In winter, conditions were more irritating. Seventy-five children, twenty-five of them in the kitchen, were housed in the Convent all day. The congestion and dust were suffocating, and at night the air was foul and unhealthful.
Conditions did not greatly improve when classes were transferred to the basement of the school. The lighting was poor, the walls were leaking and the coal stoves that heated the building were no better than coal stoves usually are; one child would open a damper or a draft and almost set the place on fire; another time an awkward coal heaver would project fuel with such vehemency as to cause a cloud of smoke and dust to rise to the ceiling. Teaching under these difficulties was a strain on mind and body and had not these pioneer Sisters courage and the spirit of self-sacrifice they undoubtedly would have abandoned this project as they were compelled to do In Jonesburg and return to their Mother House with a confession of failure.
The parish assumed an excessive debt to erect the basement. It was probably not more than five thousand dollars, but in those days that was an intolerable burden on St. James. Interest dates came quickly, Father Casey was good natured and easy going, and the congregation was small. The Sisters’ insignificant salary could not be met regularly, though they were economic and self-denying. The late Brother Justin of the Christian Brothers College would pay them a visit and bring them a basket of goodies, as did many of the parishioners.
This method of sustenance has its defects and the Sisters often suffered from hunger as well as from the other inconveniences.
These untoward circumstances produced happy effects in a community not accustomed to religious. The white habit of the Dominican nuns was sufficiently startling to excite curiosity and the opening of a parochial school was a dramatic episode in the lives of the children which was, in its nature, highly sensational. Everything the Sisters said or did was observed and a hundred little reporters recorded each day’s happenings with the accuracy of detail that new and impressive occurrences naturally suggest to the heated imaginations of children. The Sisters were more than ordinary human beings. They were evolutionary products of the faith, more perfect than women in general and only a little lower than Angels.
Their difficulties and hardships brought out their superior qualities and Illustrated their virtues; patience, gentleness, culture and kindness were lessons taught without text book. The children’s admiration knew no bounds and their sympathetic interest in the Sisters made them take a delight in co-operating with them in the work of the school and in a manner that was a recompense for their labors.
Nor were these encouraging manifestations lost on the nuns. Sister Loyola, writing twenty-four years later in a book titled “Fifty Years of Retrospect,” has this to say of St. James”
“Memory cherishes the rugged virtues that were the result of the first ten years at St. James School and rejoices in a success upon an almost heroic endurance of physical and mental strain, although during that trying time there was a spirit of unity that rendered every Iabor and every hardship sweet.
"The pupils of those years had favorable opportunities to observe the spirit of sacrifice that animated the Sisters; hence the bond between them and their former teachers is of a deep and tender nature that has been to both during all these years a joy and benediction.
"Their children are now sitting at the feet of the successors of the pioneers. The school has prospered. The staff of teachers has been increased and the Convent is modernized and enlarged."
As it was the privilege of the chronicler to offer “Ave” to St. James at its inception, so today, through a retrospect of four and twenty years, she reverently pens to it a tender “Vale.”
Sister Catherine, the first superioress, and Sister Louis, her lifelong friend and companion, are less fortunate in the retrospect. An opportunity was not given to them to express their thoughts and recollections in the annals. They have long since gone to their reward. A beautiful tribute is paid to them in the record written by Sister Loyola, and their memories are green and their lives are impressed on the grateful hearts of the people of St. James. Where one of them went, the other followed. Sister Catherine was transferred to St. Marks and very soon Sister Louis found her way to follow, and so it was in death. Sister Catherine went first and a few months later Sister Louis follower her through the gate of mystery.
Sister Catherine was a magnificent representative of the best there is among the beautiful characters that are to be found in our Convents. She was molded so near to the ideal it would be difficult to point to a characteristic that was out of proportion with the conceptions most people have of what a nun might be. Her countenance was beautiful and expressive, her large eyes glowed with a fine intelligence that was softened by a spiritual earnestness that made one believe she was the very soul of sincerity and truth. Tenderness, gentleness, modesty and goodwill were carved into the lines on her face and every change of countenance was a reflection of one or other of those qualities of mind and heart. She attracted without effort. She was bashful, unobtrusive and usually silent – a stream of deep charity running its course and refreshing every soul it touched, a nun who had developed the heart of a mother, a woman to whom all the world were children, a nurse in Christ’s kindergarten, but best remembered as a silent figure in religious garb bowed in reverence before the Blessed Sacrament.
Sister Louis, a constant and completion to her companion, animated, vivacious and witty, and the spokesman for the thoughts and wishes of the two. Whilst Sister Catherine made people wonder, Sister Louis made them laugh, and Sister Louis would have scrubbed a child’s dirty hands and face before Sister Catherine would have untangled herself from the emotions of pity which the inference of poverty provoked.
Sister Loyola says of their work: “Four large class rooms were finished in time for the opening in September, 1906, with two grades in each room. The four Sisters conducted an eight-grade school with the happiest results. The children responded to their teaching in the secular branches of learning as well as to their spiritual instructions. Sister Catherine gave to the Sisters the example of bringing always a joyous atmosphere into the class room, knowing well that a cold, unsympathetic Sister would be a sorry messenger to carry the story of God’s infinite mercy to little children.”
Sodalities were formed, the liturgy of the Church was taught and childish voices soon were heard sending their acts of petition and love heavenward.” Sister Catherine in particular was made the depository of confidences concerning personal or domestic difficulties to which the natural uprightness of her judgment and the inspirations of faith enabled her to offer the happiest solution.
The importance attached to the mission at St. James may be properly estimated in the character of the teachers who were among the pioneers. As has already been remarked, the school was small, the parish was poor, but the efficiency of all the teachers may best be judged from the fact that Sister Loyola, an author and a woman of rare accomplishments, spent eight years teaching in St. James School, and was transferred from there to open the most important mission now in St. Louis, St. Mark’s Elementary and Parochial High School. This school had last year an attendance of 800 pupils.
The Dominican Sisters have extended their field and have taken an important place among the teaching orders of St. Louis. Apart from the schools already referred to, they have also charge of the Epiphany School, Holy Redeemer School, Webster, St. Mary Magdalene, Brentwood, and the School of the Little Flower, Richmond Heights. About thirty girls from St. Louis have joined the order and the teaching staff of all the schools is estimated to be about 42. These the Alumni Association will entertain at the banquet at St. James, which will be followed in the evening by a reception.
It would be in accordance with the best tradition of St. James Parish to have the parishioners express on this occasion their deep appreciation of the services rendered to them by this admirable order and both the Alumni Association and the parishioners in general are hereby exhorted to be present at the Solemn High Mass.
The easiest way to educate your child and probably the most luxurious is to have him attend the nearest public school, but that is following the line of least resistance. Though It is the most inexpensive it is not always the best. There have been sad instances of loss of faith in after years where parents have neglected to discharge the duty of giving a Christian education to their children. Your child may be at present very ideal, but there is in that no security for the future. A ship in port may have nice trappings, but it is only a ship in a storm that proves its ability to ride the waves. There are storms ahead of your child, bad ones, perhaps. He cannot be expected to ride through them unless he is prepared to resist and maintain his course with stability and strength. The man or woman that hasn’t principle based on knowledge is tossed by every wind of doubt and unbelief and passions rule when religion is in abeyance.
The Church is firm in its belief that Catholic education is essential. It has wide experience and many years of keen observation. No parent should be so conceited a to think they can give a better solution than that which has been rendered by the Catholic Church through the Bishops assembled at the Plenary Council of Baltimore, where it was decided that absolution should be refused to parents who without a reasonable cause failed to comply with the duty of giving their child a Christian education.
The Church and the world are antagonistic. The world has its ways and the ways of the world are not the ways of the Church. Christ said “you are not of the world, if you were of the world, the world would love Its own, but because you are not of the world, the world hates you.”
The parochial school endeavors to create an atmosphere of pure religious thought in which the spiritual aim and end of man Is emphasized. Secular education is not neglected. Our teachers are efficient and self sacrificing. Their every thought is centered in their work and development of the child’s character is attended to every day it is in school. Habits are formed, lifelong impressions made, sound principles engendered, discipline maintained, conscience formed and a good example given. There is no period in a child’s education when this can be neglected. Home training is essential as school training and when the child leaves the home, even in its earliest years, it ought to be accompanied by a good spiritual influence. A child that is old enough to go to any school is not too young to go to a parochial school, because a child that is capable of learning anything, should be given the opportunity of imbibing the idea that he was made for God and not for the world.
Bachelor Hall, a play rippling with humor. will be presented by the Virgin Mothers Sodality In the Airdome on Wednesday evening, September 7th. The cast includes Virginia Jones, Nora O’Shaughnessy, Margaret Harris, Margaret and Helen Oates, Viola and Alvina Barr, Gladys Leahy, Margaret Irvin and Genevieve Mahon,
The opera chairs from the parish hail will be used at the Airdome, and the old tattered benches will be discarded.
Members of the cast have charge of the sale of tickets; general admission, 35c. The parish orchestra organized recently, will make its debut on that occasion, and Mr. Hense may be expected to provide music and give a free dance in the school hall after the play.
The funds coming from this and other plays given by the Sodality will go towards the purchase of an altar for the Virgin Mothers Chapel in the new church.
Negotiations were opened a few weeks ago with the Mercantile Trust by whom all former loans were made to the parish, and in this instance as a slight compliment to Mr. Sam Gittens, who has rendered us valuable advice in our investments. A proposition was submitted to his company to make a loan from them of $75,000, extending over a period of fifteen years, payments to he made in installments or $5,000 a year with the condition that the money not advanced until it was needed, about November 1st, and that interest be paid only on the money advanced.
Another condition included in our requirements was that the commission should defray all the expense of investigating the title, printing the bonds, retaining and recording the insurance, paying the interest and principal and keeping an account of the same until the final maturity of the last of the bonds.
They were willing to make the loan on the basis of 5 per cent and 2 per cent commission, but only for a period of ten years and excluding all the items of expense.
Their offer was rejected and our terms were fully conceded by the American Trust Co. The offer was made by this Company in the heat and under the impulse of a strenuous effort to come to an agreement. We felt that we were getting the best of the bargain hence did not solicit any other bank for an offer. It was a case of take it now or we may change our’ mind tomorrow, and we took it.
It was estimated that the expense involved in issuing the bonds and accepting all responsibility for them over 15 years would amount to $783.66, thus reducing the commission to 1 ½ per cent.
The first mortgage does not extend beyond the new church and site -- the rest of the parish property is unencumbered.
Hope you had a good time, but don’t forget those 4 per cent envelopes which are probably still in the dresser drawer. The church needs your back dues. The congregations on Sundays at the various Masses are becoming notably small, and as a consequence the Sunday collections are decreasing.
The work on the church is going on and the expense is increasing. Your best efforts are needed to cope with the situation.
Please examine your conscience and if you are delinquent begin next Sunday to make up your deficit.
A Catholic School Health Bureau has been established in St. Louts under the patronage of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women that will provide doctors and nurses to carry out at once a health program in our schools.
FOR RENT -- A five-room cottage, 1325 Ripple avenue, at $25 per month. Also a three- room cottage with garage, 1320 Ripple avenue.
Miss Edna Manchester, 1000 block on Tamm avenue, was operated upon at the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium recently and is recovering rapidly. She expects to be home in a few days.
Though we have invited the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Name Societies of St. Louis and our neighboring parishes to participate in the parade, we are uncertain as to Its extent and are depending a great deal on the parish showing. We would like to see everyone who is able to walk participating.
The school boys will lead, followed by the girls, the young ladies, the women and the men. No special dress has been decided upon but everyone is expected to look as neat as possible.
The Daughters of Isabella Drum Corps, many of whom belong to the parish, have volunteered their services and will march with parishioners.
Invite old parishioners and relatives to accompany you in the parade and be one with the parish unit. This is a big event in the history of the parish and will be keenly watched by all of the community. The absence of one who is supposed to be a Catholic will undoubtedly be noted and cannot be excused unless it is a case of physical or moral impossibility. If you aren’t with St. James on this occasion your Catholicity may well be under suspicion.
The parade will form at 3:30 sharp on Oakland avenue and Central avenue and will proceed to the church the moment the Archbishop arrives.
Miss Anna Merriman and her niece, Miss Crotty, spent the past month of their vacation at Burlington, Vermont. They are both public school teachers. unit.
St. Anne’s Sodality will cook the Dominican Sisters’ Jubilee dinner and they promise also to attend to the refreshment stands at the cornerstone laying.
The Parish has a special claim on the Knights of Columbus -- Father E. A. Casey, the late pastor, was the charter Chaplain of he first council in St. Louis -- and its claim to the Holy Name Societies is still greater, as the first branch of this society was organized in St. James Parish.
Miss Mary Wilson has just returned from Mt. Vernon Sanatorium, where she was a patient for six months.
Mr. Martin Fahey, whose son was buried last Tuesday, died suddenly Friday morning without receiving the last Sacraments.
Mrs. John O’Hare, Mrs. Peter Manion, Mrs. William Jones, Mrs. John Doran, Mrs. Gibbons spent a few days in the early part of the week at the river, where they were entertained by Mrs. Le Garce. Mrs. O’Hare had a euchre class for post graduates and she made her pupils pay for their education. The ladies also ran a trot line and Mrs. Gibbons brought home to her invalid husband a five-pound fish.
Benny Sugden was rushed to St. John’s Hospital in the past few days and had his appendix removed by Dr. Robert Brent Murphy. Benny continued in his genial good humor, and all the patients in his ward say he is an admirable little fellow.
Mr. Stephen Boyer was operated upon again during the past week at the Deaconess Hospital. His courage and hopefulness notwithstanding, his long continued illness and tedious returns to the operating table, are admirable. His condition is better than might be expected, though the doctors give no assurance that he will not have to be operated upon again in a few months. He has an infection of the lungs and an abscess on the plura which necessitated the removal of part of his ribs.
Mrs. J. J. Steffan, 1014 Tamm avenue, returned from St. Mary’s Hospital on Tuesday, where she had been a patient. Her condition has not improved and she is in a critical condition.
Mr. Godfrey, Sr., 1100 Louisville avenue, had a bad heart attack on Sunday morning and Father Pohl was called to administer the Last Sacraments. He is still very ill. He has reached a good old age.
Mrs. Pearl Meyer Walter, who, it will be remembered, lost her third and the last of her babies recently, is confined to her bed with a nervous breakdown. She is, however, very cheerful and is co-operating splendidly with her doctor and nurse.
Adeline O’Gorman, also a teacher, drove with her sisters, Mrs. Bessie Gallaher and Josephine O’Gorman, to Detroit, Michigan, and are expected home before the reopening of school.
Misses Jean and Mary Blythe, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Blythe, 6135 Victoria avenue, are spending their vacation with Mrs. Stewart in Chicago. Their parents have been spending their summer at their villa on the Bluffs of the Mississippi River near Alton.
Miss Louise Robinson, before going on her vacation, forwarded a check to cover her contributions to the 4 per cent for the three Sundays she will be absent. We recommend this method of taking care of one’s church obligations.
Joseph Capelli, 6456 Lloyd avenue, in response to our request for funds last month, sent in a donation of $25 and this is all the more appreciated because he has a large family and his wife is a patient in the Koch Sanitarium.
Many contributions have been received during the past month on the Barbecue Subscriptions, among them $100 from Frank Walsh. It is expected that there will be very few who will not discharge their obligation and fulfill their promises before the end of the year when the time for doing so expires.
A Months Mind High Mass was offered on Tuesday, August 30th, for the repose of the soul of Miss Dahlia Dowling, sister of Mrs. P.H. Murphy, 6219 Victoria avenue, and the same morning there was a funeral Mass for William Fahey, son of Martin Fahey, 6312 West Park, who died after a long illness at a military hospital in Denver, Colorado. He is the sixth child of Mr. Fahey’s who has passed away. He received the last Sacraments and was reconciled.
UNCLE HENRY'S LETTER
July 3, 1927.
dear Charlie:
wel Charlie, their is goin to be sum big duins in the parish durin the nex cupple of weaks, on acount of the 25th jubile of the foundin of St. James school taks place nex sunday an the corner-stone layin of the nue church wil be the followin sunday an it would be nice if you coud run down for the selibrashin.
jus think, 25 yrs. an it is hard to relize it is so long becus i can remember the openin of the school like it wus yesterdey, an you dont need to smile becuse you can remember it to, you old fogy. Do you remember father Casey, how he ust to stand out in front an refree all of the fights and check all of the kids in an then ack as truant officer an go out after the 1’s that wus absent? An wot a hard time Sister Catherin an Sister Louis an sister Layola had the first yr. wen they had to cook and eat there meals in the basement becaus they wus usin the first flor of the convent for school rums.
i wus talkin to the mrs. this evenin and she confess that she wus their at the time and so she aint no chicken niether, an sum more old timers like joe Brady and joe Gibbons wot had there class rume in the kitchen of the convent, but i dont no as eny of them lerned enythin about cookin.
wen you luk at the school now, it is hard to believe it wus develop frum such a humble beginin, an the work they hav done an the hardship they hav endure has certainly earn them patient nuns a great reward, an wen the nue church is finish an the school remodel it wil be better than ever, the way the alumni hold the youngsters together an the work they are doin proves wot a grate influence the school is for holdin them to there faith, father o’connor and father Pohl relize this, an so they are preparin a sutibile selibrashun to fit the ockasion, beginin with solumn high mass.
the Pastor is arangin a big program for the corner-stone layin to, startin with a big parade an frank Walsh will be gran Marshel but i dont think he wil ride a horse lik they uset to in the old days, caus Frank is probly like a lot more of us, an does his bes ridin percht up behin a stearin wheel, if you would get down for the doins mabie the Pastor wud give you a seat on the gran stand, caus i no he is anxious to get all of the old timers he can and i gess. he wants to show em wot they is missin by not stayin in St. James.
an at that, i especkt to sea a few of the old familys represent, for instants Ben Gratiot wil probly be their to represent the family wot giv the site for the 1st church an mr Macken wot donate the site for nue church, an their will also be sum more old stanbys lik joe Robinson and Dr. Murphy and jim O’Gorman an johnnie Brady and john Houlihan. an so if you wus hear charlie, the settin woud be cumplete. the pastor is makin elabert plans for the parade and especkts to hav the K of C’s band and zouaves an the holy name drum core an it wil start at skinker road an be headed by the Archbishop, so if you dont get hear you wil be missin the bigges time this naborhood ever had.
i tell you charlie the nue church is goin to be butiful an we are goin to be hard to get along with for peeple wot has been pullin off wise cracks like “oh you live in St. James parish. hav you fokes got a church yet?” no sir, it is goin to be “heads-up St. James.” an sum of them wise-crackers wil be comm out an askin us to “show em through.”
the pastor is stil laid up with his sprane ankel altho it is improving slowly, but if he dont impruve faster he wont be in shape to rome the fields wen the quail seeson opens an the birds wil think they is anuther closed season or maby the league of nation is takin ackshun in there behaf. he has had a long seege of it but sum of the boys Iik oGorman and cody and dolan and pahl and mart Coad and Hy Mccauley and the Cunningham boys has been actin as a sick an entertainment commite, an they have donate a good many evenins an sum cash to help the unforshunate feller to enjoy his misery. the sprane aint efeckt his luck in holden cards or his ability to play them.
Your particlar friend and uncle,
HENRY
BACK TO LET'S GO, 1927
BACK TO LET'S GO, 1925-1932
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