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FEBRUARY 1, 1930
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
St. Augustine Parish Organized in 1565
Second Spring for
Church in 1768
Bishop of St. Augustine
a
Immigrants Gave Catholicity
New Impetus Shortly After
Spanish Withdrew
(From Father Clavreul's foreword
to liis “Notes on the Catholic Church
in Florida’ - )
The Catholic Church in Florida
dates from the day on which Menen-
dez landed on these shores.
Threatened in her existence two
hundred years later by the advent of
the English, when hardly a trace of
Catholicity was left; and later, at the
Change of Flag, the Church owed her
preservation after God to those Immi
grants who, during the English Oc
cupation, 1768 landed at New Smyrna.
This fact is the object of these lines.
The recital of events which occurred
during the two hundred years of un
interrupted Spanish Occupation is but
incidental, it being, besides, a mere
repetition of what has been so often
and better said by others. This nar
rative tells only of the events wliich
occurred within the limits of what
was originally known as Spanish
Florida Orientale, which includes the
Diocese of St. Augustine, that is, the
State of Florida less the territory west
of the Appalachicola River.
The writer has eschewed everything
he thought foreign to the subject or
not sufficiently authentic.
The only authentic documents in
the possession of the Cathedral of St.
Augustine which refer to the two
hundred years of uninterrupted
Spanish Occupation, 1565-1763, are
fourteen volumes of Baptisms.
These volumes are the oldest
Church Records of the northern con
tinent of America. They give a
minute account of the Baptisms of
adults and children performed in St.
Augustine, but make no mention of
the far-away Missions.
Not having been able to gather
from the original sources, such as the
archives of the Church, letters of the
Missionaries, information bearing on
the history of those early days, I give
what is found in the general history
of Florida, and especially in the
valueable book of the late George R.
Fairbanks’ History of the Spaniards
in Florida.
As the period beginning with the
Advent of the Colonists at Mosquito,
nowTiew Smyrna, 1768, I had, besides
what is learned from the history of
the time, numerous Church docu
ments, among them the Records of
Baptism, Marriages and Burials, left
by the venerable Priest. Dr. Petrus
Camps, who accompanied the Colo
nists. They bear the Priest's name,
written by himself, and the seal of the
Church of San Pedro at Mosquito.
Cradle of Catholicity in
LJ. S.” Has Stirring History
•Its Historic Story Told by Graphic Record Written by
Late Father Henry P. Clavreul. Spanish Brought Faith
to Florida Four Hundred Years Ago
Augustine August 28, 1565. He was
the first of those secular priests, who,
for two hundred years, exercised the
functions of Parochus and Judex
Ecclesiasticus of the Church at St.
Augustine.
Pope Pius V, at the request of
Phillip II, King of Spain, had asked
the general of the Jesuits, who then
was St. Francis Borgia, for two reli
gious of the order, to accompany
Menendez. They were Peter Marti-
CHAPTER ONE
From the Landing of Menedez, 1365,
to the Indian Revolt 1614
It was by appeal to religion and
patriotism that Spain threw off the
Moslem yoke. What saved her na
tional unity will insure to the land
of Ferdinand and Isabella for the
two hundred years that follow un
heard of prosperity. While religious
strife is convulsing the rest of j nez and John Rogel, a lay-brother.
Europe, Catholic Spain, at peace j They sail in 1566, followed two years
within her borders, extends her do- j later by four other religious of the
main through the hitherto unknown ] same society. It is to recall this that
regions of the New World, opened ; both St. Pius V. and St. Francis
by the genius of Christopher Colum- j Borgia are represented today in the
bus. v i Cathedral by the two statues of
To tiie desire of conquest was al- i heroic size that we see on the right
lied the love of the Church. The I and on the left of the main altar,
missionary and the man-at-arms i In 1577 the Franciscans, whran we
stand together, the royal exchequer i e mentioned for the first time in
supplies both. Material progress i the . history of the Florida missions,
should not shut our eyes to those j arriv0L a t St. Augustine. The ear-
ideals that go to make man truly ! AU 1 missions date from the time,
happy. “Thou hast made us for I The Indians who had hitherto been
Rt. Rev. Patrick Barry, D.D.
Efforts to Colonize
Htilf Century Before
Bishop of Santiago Visited
Diocese, Including Geor
gia, in 1606 to Confirm
Catholicity in St. Augustine dates
back to 1565; for a half-century pre
vious efforts were made to plant the
cross on the soil of Florida, but
without success until the settlement
of the Ancient City by Menendez,
St. Augustine was a regularly con
stituted parish of the Diocese of
Santiago de Cuba in 1565; the
Bishop of Santiago, Bishop Cabeza
de Altamirano. visited the Southeast
in 1606 on a Confirmation tour. In
1674 Bishop Gabriel Diaz Vara Cal
deron visited the Southeast and con
firmed 13,152 in eight months.
Bishop Resino (1709-10), Bishop
Tejado (1735-45), Auxiliary Bish
ops of Santiago, spent the years in
dicated in residence in St. Augus
tine.
In 1787, Florida became subject to
the new See of St. Christopher of
Havana; in 1793, the See of Louisi
ana and the Floridas placed the state
under the jurisdiction of the Bishop
of New Orleans, where it remained
until 1803 when the annexation of
Louisiana placed it and its ecclesias
tical territory under the jurisdiction
of Baltimore. In 1806 the Bishop
of Havana reasserted authority over
Florida, exercising it until 1825, when
it became part of the Vicariate o’
Alabama and Florida.
Twenty-five years later, when tire
See of Savannah was created, it in
cluded that part of Florida east of
the Apalachicola River. In 1857, this
territory became a separate vicariate
under Bishop Verot, who was Bishop
of Savannah from 1861 to 1870, when
he became Bishop of the newly-
erected Diocese of St. Augustine; ire
died June 10, 1876. Bishop John
Moore headed the Diocese from May
13, 1877 to his death July 30, 1901;
Bishop William John Kenny from
May 18, 1902, to his death on Octo
ber 13, 1913; and Bishop Michael J.
Curley from June 30. 1914, until he
became Archbishop of Baltimore in
1921; he was succeeded by Bishop
Barry, who was consecrated May 3,
1922.
Rt. Rev. Patrick Barry, D. D„
Bishop of St. Augustine, the fifth oc
cupant of the See and the succcessor
in it of Most Rev. Michael J. Curley,
D. D., Archbishop of Baltimore,
whose vicar-general he was, is a na
tive of Ireland, where he was born
in West Clare. He was educated at
the famous Mungret Apostolic Col
lege. which he entered in 1887, com
pleting his collegiate work in the
Royal University of Ireland. In 1890
he entered St. Patrick’s College at
Carlow, where he studied philosophy
and theology, he was ordained June 9,
1895.
Immediately after his ordination,
the then Father Barry sailed for his
chosen field of labor, the Diocese of
St. Augustine, and was assigned to
Jacksonville. At the outbreak of the
war with Spain, he volunteered as a
chaplain, and served through the war
with General Fitzhugh Lee’s army
corps, ministering wtih great devo
tion and self-sacrifice not onlv to the
spiritual wants of the men' but to
their physical needs when typhoid
and other prevalent diseases attack
ed them.
of Baltimore, now the Rt. Rev. Bishop
of Raleigh, and Rev. James H. Ryan,
D. D., of the Catholic University of
America, now the imivA-sitv’* Tit
Rev. Rector.
Returning to his duties in Jackson
ville after the war, the future Bishop
went through the terrible days of the
Jacksonville fire, meeting the situa
tion with his customary spirit of sac
rifice for the welfare of others. In
1903 he was appointed pastor at Pal-
atka, a mission which included De-*
land, Enterprise Junction. Seville,
Crescent City and other stations in
five counties. During his pastorate
there he erected a splendid rectory at
Palatka, a fine church at Crescent
City, and did remarkable work in or
ganizing and extending the influ
ence of the missions in his care.
In 1913 the late Bishop Kenny es
tablished the new parish of the As
sumption in South Jacksonville, and
appointed Father Barry its first pas
tor. In eight months he had erected a
fine church, rectory and parish hall;
in four years he had them paid for,
and in 1917, Bishop Curley called him
to St. Augustine as rector of the
Cathedral and Vicar-General. When
Bishop Curley left St. Augustine to
assume his duties as Archbishop of
Baltimore, Father Barry was named
administrator; he was named Bishop
by Pope Pius XI on February 22. 1922,
and was the first American Bishop
appointed by the new Pope.
Bishop Barry observed the silver
jubilee of his ordination in June,
1920, and is now completing his thir
ty-fourth year in the priesthood and
his seventh as bishop. He was con
secrated bishop in the Cathedral of
St. Augustine May 3, 1922, Archbishop
Curley officiating, assisted by Rt.
Rev. John J. Monaghan, D. D„ Bishop
of Wilmington, and Rt. Rev. William
Turner, D. D., Bishop of Buffalo. The
sermon was delivered by Rt. Rev.
Msgr. Edward A. Pace, Ph. D., of the
Catholic University of America. Like
Bishop Barry, Archbishop Curley,
Bishop Turner and Monsignor Pace
were ordained for the Diocese of St.
Augustine. Other prelates at the con
secration included Bishop Russell
of Charleston, Bishop Allen of Mo
bile, Bishop Prud-Home of Prince
Albert, Canada, Abbot Charles of St.
Leo, and others. Among the clergy
present were Rev. William J. Hufev
During his eight years as ordinary
of the Diocese, Bishop Barry has been
faced with many problems. The
boom was followed by the ruinous
slump. Then came the hurricane,
and as the priests and people were
struggling to re-establish their
parishes and their other affairs on
something like a solid basis, another
devastating hurricane swooped down
upon them. Yet despite the handi
caps, trials and discouragements of
these years, it is probable that rto
other American Diocese has made
more progress, due allowance being
made for difference in numbers, than
the Diocese of St. Augustine under
Bishop Barry’s leadership. His kind
ly character, deep devotion to religion
and to his people, rije judgment and
unshaken confidence have been a
source of inspiration to the Diocese,
and now that the clouds are lifting
there is every indication that under
his guidance the next few years will
see even greater achievemnts than
even the splendid progress of (he past,
with its record of new schools,
churches and other Catholic inslitu^,
tions, the story of which The Bulletin
hoDes to present in installments in
future issues.
Bishop Barry is a member of a re
markable family. There were thir
teen children. Three became priests,
Bishop Barry, Rev. William Barry,
pastor at Miami Beach, and Rev.
Joseph Barry, of Bally william, Tip
perary, Ireland: and a sister became
a nun Sister Mary Gerald Barry of
the Dominican Sisters at Adrian,
Mich. Tire family had its first re
union in twenty-five years at ihe Eu
charistic Congress in Chicago, com
ing there from Florida, Miohigan,
Illinois, Arizona, California as veil as
from Ireland for the occasion.
WAR LORD’S HOME NQWj
RESIDENCE OF BISHOP
Berlin Prelate Occupies Es
tablishment Where Molke
Planned 1870 Battles
Thee, O God, and our heart finds
no rest- but in Thee,” is the cry of
the soul today’as it was when the
great St. Augustine uttered the
words, because man loathes what
perishes, his eyes being forever set
upon that Sun which knows no set
ting, that Country where peace
reigns supreme. Spain’s' lasting
honor was that she adapted her pol
icy towards the realization of those
ideals. Whatever may be said of
measures often censured, because ill-
understood, no one can question the
daring, indomitable energy of the
sons of Catholic Spain. *
The discoverer of Florida, Juan
Ponce de Leon. • 1460-1521, was born
in Spain. After gallant service in
his country during the wars against
the Moors, he joined the navy; and,
shortly after, accompanied Columbus
on his second voyage to America,
1493. Twenty years later, 1513, he
sailed from Porto Rico to our shores,
where he landed n Eastertide, a cir-
«* of^n among Bioseydio'asked for
owes its name. Incidents attending
the landing of the bold navigator,
his finding of the fountain of youth,
belong to legend rather than history.
The first attempt at evangelizing
Florida was made by Father Luis
! Cancer, a priest of the Order of St.
! Dominic. He with two companions
j sailed, in T1549 from Central America
j to Florida, landing, on Ascension
! Day, at a point on the Gulf coast,
where Tampa stands today. He had
scarcely, left the vessel when he was
attacked and murdered by the In
dians. In honor of this first martyr,
who bedewed with his blood Florida
soil, the Catholic Church built in
Tampa, in 1S60, was named Saint
Louis.
Pedro Menedez de Aviles, the
hostile became more tractable, some
of them settling near the fortifica
tions newly erected, whilst others
moved farther north, on the Cano de
la Leche, a mile from town.
In 1586 Francis Drake, an English
adventurer, made an attack on St.
Augustine. Among the buildings de
stroyed were the Parish Church and
the Franciscan Convent.
Among the Franciscans who arriv
ed at St. Augustine in 1592, we see
the name of Father Pareja, the author
of a dictionary and a catechism in the
YameSe dialect.
The Mission at Tolemato, today the
site of the cemetery of that name,
southwest of the present city gate,
was under the charge of Father
Corpa, whilst the Mission of Our
Lady of the Milk, Nuestra Serora de
la Leche, with its chapel built on a
small eminence overlooking the
marshes of North River, was attend
ed by Father Rodriguez.
The number of Catholic Indians
went on increasing—Indian chiefs be-
baptism—when in 1597 a rebellion
broke out which threatened with ut
ter ruin what good had been done.
The instigator of the revolt was the
son of a Cacique, who, chafing under
the restraints religion imposed,
wished to vent his hatred on the mis
sionaries whom he held responsible.
With a band of discontented Indians
he fell suddenly by night on the
mission house of Tolemato, and, after
slaying Father Corpa, pushed on to
the chapel of Our Lady of the Milk.
Father Rodriguez had already put cn
his sacerdotal vestments and was
preparing to begin Mass. All he could
obtain from his assailants was leave
to proceed with the celebration of
Ihe Divine Mysteries. Scarcely were
they ended when he was felled to
founder of St. Augustine, was bom ’ the ground—his blood bespattering
at Aviles in Spain. 1519. He had just | the steps of the altar at which he
been appointed by Philip II, captain j ministered. The author of the his-
. general of the king’s Indian fleet, tory, “The Spaniards * in Florida,”
! when he received orders to sail to j who gives at length the account of
Florida. He left Cadiz June 23, 1565, j the fearful drama, feelinglv adds
with thirty-four vessels. Entering j “Three hundred years have passed
the harbor of St Augustine, on the ! since the-blood of those marytrs was
28th day of August, the feast day i shed, yet we canont repress a tqar
of the illustrious Doctor of the j of sympathy and a feeling of admira-
Church, St. Augustine, and on this tion for those heroes of the Cross.”
account called the place where he | Another victim of the rebellion
hod landed Saint Augustine. ! was Father Michael Anon, in the
Soon after Menendez had landed i province of Guale, Amelia Island. He,
his force, a north-easter began to with a companion, Brother Anthonv.
blow, increasing every moment in ; fell under the axe of Indians on the
violence, and forcing ihe French | very spot where he had just said
fleet, which had just made its ap- j Mass. It is to honor the memory of
pearance, out to the open sea. This j the. holy martyr that the Church in
was the opportunity for the ex- | Fernandina was named St. Michael’s,
perienced and bold mariner. Taking ; In addition to those calamities the
with him five hundred picked men, I Convent of St. Augustine was, two
he marched them, in spite of the ; years later. 1599. destroyed by fire,
storm and continuous rains that These calamities seemed but to in-
flooded the whole country, through i crease the zeal of the missionaries,
the marshes along the coast ta Fort 1 As early as 1606 they entered a sec-
Carolina, forty miles north of St. j ond time the province of Guale.
Augustine, and. early in the morning ; when it is said more than a thousand
By Rev. Dr. Wilhelm Baron von
Capitainc
COLOGNE — The house where
Moltke planned the wars of 186«
1866 and 1870—the oldest military es
tablishment of Greater Berlin—now
has a more peaceful role. It will
be the episcopal residence of the Rt.
Rev. Christian Schreiber, Bishop of
Berlin.
The Catholics of Beilin were fac
ing a serious problem in finding
a residence for the head of the new
ly established See that would be
large enough and at the snif time
close to St. Hedwig’s Cathedral
Tlirough the benevolence of the
Prussian Government, the difficulty
has been eliminated.
This building in the Behrenstrasse
is at present occupied by the Reich-
swehr Gruppenhommando I but will
be vacated by January 1, and made
ready for the Bishop of Berlin and
his household.
of the fourth day, fell unexpectedly
upon the French. An indiscriminate
massacre followed. Those who did
not escape by flight were put to the
sword—an act of barbarism which
leaves an indelible stain on the name
of the soldier whose daring we other
wise admire.
I would fain pass over the deed of
cruelty, by which two hundred ship
wrecked Frenchmen were put to
death, after a promise, it is said,
was made that their lives should be
spared, and can but regret that St.
Augustine witnessed this scene of
blood—a sad prelude to a work osten
sibly undertaken for God and the
Church.
St. Augustine, depending entirely
for subsistence on the mother coun
try, was more than once brought to
the verge of starvation; sickness, on
the other hand, carried off the few
priests laboring in Florida. In the
meanwhile Menendez sailed back to
Spain. Whilst there he received a
rescript from the Sovereign Pontiff,
signed by Pius V, and dated Rome,
August 18, 1569. in which His Holi
ness lauds Menendez for his zeal
in the interest of religion, but re
minds him at the same time of his
duty to prevent scandal being given
to the Indians, and that, by good ex
ample, they may be brought to the
knowledge of truth.
Father Mendoza is mentioned
among the priests who landed at St.
Indians received baptism.
In 1616 Father de Ore, deputed by
the Bishop of Santiago de Cuba,
visited St. Augustine. In his report
of the condition of the missions he
stated that the Church of St. Augus
tine was provided with everything
pertaining to the Divine worship;
and, referring, as it was the cus
tom at every official visit, to the
Church Records, stated that they
were carefully kept.
Tire hundred years that followed
marked an era of peace. The Fran
ciscan Convent of St. Augustine was '
the center of the missions. There
the missionaries who were sick or
disabled found a refuge. Besides the
missions near St. Augustine, we find,
forty miles north, at the mouth of
the St. Johns River, San Juan del
Puerte; farther north, San Catalina
de Guale, San Pedro on Cumberland
Island, San Felipe, and Santa Helena.
Missions were also established to the
south among the Carlo Indians. In
1646 we hear of fifty Franciscans
laboring through the missions; all full
of zeal and held in veneration by the
Spaniards and Indians alike. Around
St. Augustine the piety of the Indian -
converts was being stimualted by
the ceremonies of the Church, con-
fratc: .fities and processions. Tire In
dians, more and more peaceful had
learned habits of industry, relied less
(Continued on Page Nine)