Newspaper Page Text
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men’s Association
of Georgia.
'"To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed”
VOL. XVIII, No. 4 * AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, APRIL 30, 1937 issued monthly—?2.oo a year
Charlotte PaHsh History Exceeds Century
O’Donoghne School, Charlotte
O’Douoghue School of St. Peter’s parish, Charlotte, is considered one of the most beautiful school buildings
in North Carolina. The Sisters of Mercy are its teachers, with Sister M. Stanislaus as principal.
Mercy Hospital, Charlotte
Mercy Hospital. Charlotte, conducted by the Sisters ot Mercy, occupies a place of distinction among the hos
pitals of the South. A great majority of those who are patients at Mercy Hospital are not Catholics, and the self-
sacrificing and capable ministrations of the Sisters make deep impressions on them': thousands of Carolinians have
been given a new and accurate concept of the Church by their contact with Mercy Hospital. The School of Nurs
ing connected with the hospital has an enviable reputatlo n. and the record of its graduates is a notable one.
Pastor of Charlotte
The Rev. Maurice McDonnell, O.S.
B.. one of the most widely known
and beloved of the Benedictine Fa
thers in the South, for a number
of years pastor and prior at Sacred
Heart Church in Savannah, succeeded
Father Ambrose Gallagher, O. S. B.,
now of Richmond as pastor of St Pe
ter’s Church, Charlotte, in recent
months.
CHARLOTTE SOCIETIES
REFLECT FLOURISHING
LIFE OF THE PARISH
Vigorous Organizations Pro
mote Various Phases of
Catholic Activity in St.
Peter’s Congregation
St. Peter's Parish in Charlotte is dis
tinguished among other things by the
number, size and zeal of its organi
zations, which include the Catholic
Men’s Club, whose monthly dinners
are well known to readers' of The
Bulletin, the Catholic Daughters o,
America, the Knights of Columbus,
the O’Donoghue School Parent-
Teachers Association, the Marian
Club, the Children of Mary and the
newly organized Catholic Boy Scout
Troop No. Nine. The officers of these
organizations follow:
CATHOLIC DAUGHTERS
Mrs. W. D. O’Donoghue, grand re
gent; Miss Mary Williams, vice-grand
regent: Miss Nellie Williams, financial
secretary: Miss Regina Rea, treasurer;
Mrs. Warren Hall, historian; Mrs.
George Carey, prophetess: Miss Eliza
beth Panella, monitor; Miss Teresa
Scullion, lecturer: Mrs. Crawford,
sentinel; trustees, Mrs- T. C. Toomey,
Mrs. C. A. Williams, Mrs. Wm. Cow-
hig, Mrs. Frank Stewart. Mrs. Annie
Panella and Mrs. J. P. White.
THE P.-T. A.
Mrs. W. A. Jarrell is the retiring
president ;Mrs. W. D. O’Donoghue
vice-president; Mrs. Furman Smith,
retiring secretary and Mrs. Kennetth
Moore, retiring treasurer. The Parent-
Teachers Association will install its
newly elected officers at the May
meeting. The O’Donogue School
Parent-Teachers Associated is affili
ated with the local City, County,
State and National Council of Parents
and Teachers.
THE CHILDREN OF MARY
Miss Jean Fisher, president; Miss
Mary Ellen Pennell, secretary; Miss
Blanche Lampke, treasurer.
THE MARIAN CLUB
Miss Catherine Diggle, president;
Miss Catherine Walsh, vice-president;
Miss Anne Dulong, treasurer; Miss
Margaret Rea, secretary.
CATHOLIC MEN’S CLUB
William M. Cowhig, president; John
E. Crowley, vice-president; Louis
Chesson, secretary; trustees, Carl Sor-
rensen, Charles Norris, Maurice
Lamb.
THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Dennis Dunn, grand knight: Leo
Phelan, deputy grand knight; E. L.
Pennell, financial secretary; George
Gettier, treasurer; Jack Spencer, re
cording secretary.
BOY SCOUT TROOP
Th recently organized Boy Scout
Troop Number Nine is under the able
guidance of Joseph W. Cowhig, as
Scout Master, and George Gettier,
Assistant Scout Master. The Patrol
Leaders are as follows: Ralph Kidd,
Jr., George Karl, Curtis White and
Nunnally Snellings.
ALTAR BOYS
St. Peter’s has a corps of well train
ed Altar Boys A notable fact in re
gard to this is that Nunnally Snell
ings. a boy of 14. and a pupil of the
ninth grade of O’Doc.oghue School,
(St. Peter's Parochial School), is able
to act as Master of Ceremonies at
Solemn High Mass.
SAFETY PATROL
A well recognized organization of
the O’Donoghue School is the Safety
Patrol, headed by Joe Redding, as
Captain, and Kenneth Williams and
Ralph Kidd. Jr., as Lieutenants. The
flag ceremony is used daily in raising
and lowering the flag.
SPECIAL DEVOTIONS
Every effort is made to encourage
piety among the children. During the
months of October and November,
during Lent and the month of May,
Mass is said daily in the assembly
room of the school. In addition to
the children, many mothers whose
duties would prevent their going up
to the Church, are enabled to hear
Mass. All unite with the priest in
reciting the liturgical prayers of the
Mass.
The music and singing in the school,
which is directed by the Sisters of
Mercy in the school, is of an unusual
ly high order; even the little tots love
to sing.
ENTERTAINMENT
On Saint Patrick’s Day the school
presented a review in which every
pupil took part. Songs, dances and
recitations filled the evening, the
Catholic Men*s Club
Sponsors Communion
Communion Breakfast Fol
lows Mass in Charlotte
Parish
An interesting event in connection
with the Men’s Club of St. Peter’s
Catholic Church in Charlotte, was the
annual Communion Breakfast Palm
Sunday at the eight o’clock Mass.
Nearly every man in the congregation
received Holy Communion.
A delicious breakfast was served by
tiie ladies o fthe O’Donoghue Parent-
room of the school, immediately fol
lowing the Mass.
The guest speaker of the occasion
was Michael Kelly, manager of the
Syracuse International Baseball Club,
who gave an interesting address.
crowning feature, however, was the
closing number, “Rosary Time in Ire
land’’. Mary Anne Edmiston, a girl
of the sixth grade, represented in a
most beautiful manner, a statue of
our Blessed Mother. It was a matter
of much comment that this little girl
did net move a muscle, and many in
the audience thought they were view
ing a real statue.
DR. GUILDAY SPEAKS
AT ABBEY COLLEGE
Noted Historian of Catholic
U. on Belmont Program
(Special to The Bulletin)
BELMONT, N. C. — The Rt. Rev.
Msgr. Peter Guilday, Ph.D., J.U.D.,
professor of philosophy of the Catho
lic University of America, delivered a
scholarly and entertaining lecture on
the Catholic historian at Belmont Ab-
by College March 22. The Rev. Cuth-
bert Allen, O.S.B., rector of the col
lege, presided, and Monsignor Guild
ay was presented by the Rt. Rev. Vin
cent Taylor, O. S. B., D. D., Abbot-
Ordinary of Belmont, and a member
of the executive committee of the
American Catholic Historical Society,
of which Dr. Guilday is the founder
and executive secretary, presented
him.
B E L M O N TS annual basketball
tournament for the high schools of
Gaston County was held in March in
the splendid gymnasium of the college,
and Crammerton High School won
first honors. Eight county high school’s
participated, Crammerton. Tryon. last
PRIEST REGULARLY
VISITED CATHOLICS
OVER 113 YEARS AGO
Father Maurice, McDonnell,
0. S. B., Formerly of Sa
vannah, Now Pastor of
Queen City Church
The history of St. Peter’s Parish in
Charlotte dates back to 1824 and the
days of Father John Stokes, and
comes down to the regime of the Rev.
Maurice McDonnell, O. S. B., now
pastor, in which capacity he succeed
ed the Rev. Ambrose Gallagher, O.
S. B., now prior at Richmond, Va.
In the intervening years Charlotte
has had as pastors priests whose
names loom large in the Catholic His
tory of North Carolina and the South,
including Father John Maginnis, or
dained by Bishop England, about 1824,
who succeeded Father Stokes, the
noted Father Birmingham, in charge
from 1832, followed by Father
T. J. Cronin, and then Father Guif-
ford, pastor for six years, and Father
John Barry, who later became Bishop
erf Savannah; he was appointed to
Charlotte in 1848.
Father J. J. O’Connell laid the cor
nerstone of the first Catholic Church
in Charlotte in 1851; subsequent pas
tors serving Charlotte included Fath
er McNeil, Father Lawrence Patrick
O’Connell, V.G., brother of Father J.
J. O’Connell and uncle of the late
Archbishop Dennis O’Connell. Bishop
of Richmond, Father William J.
Wright, Father E. J. McGinty. and
Father Mark Gross, brother of Bishop
Gross cf Savannah, later Archbishop
of Oregon City.
Ii, 1892, January 13, the Benedic
tine Fathers from Belmont Abbey
was given charge of the parish, with
Father Francis Meyer. O.S.B.. a pio
neer at Belmont with Bishop Haid as
pastor; he started the new church, the
present edifice, the cornerstone of
which Bishop Haid laid September 3.
1893. Father Francis was pastor until
his death in 1905, when Father Joseph
Mueller, O.S.B.. succeeded him. Fa
ther Joseph labored valiantly and was
in turn succeeded by Father Jerome
Finn, O.S.B., later of Savannah, and
then pastor of St. Leo’s Church. Win
ston-Salem, where he erected the
beautiful church. Father Anthony
Meyer, O.S.B., a brother of the be
loved Father Francis, succeeded Fa
ther Jerome, remaining until his la
mented death in 1923.
Father Ambrose Gallagher, O.S.B.,
previously rector of Benedictine
School in Savannah, was then named
pastor; a native of Charlotte, he soon
became one of the city's most widely
known, highly respected and beloved
citizens. Intensely interested in educa
tion. he erected the beautiful O’Don
oghue School, considered one of the
finest in the state. Father Ambrose
remained as pastor until ill health
compelled his retirement last year,
but after a rest he again resumed du
ties, this time as prior of the Benedic
tine Community at Richmond.
Father Maurice McDonnell, O.S.B,
has since his installation as pastor
endeared himself to his parishioners
by his kindly interest in all that con
cerns them, and his deep appreciation
of the response they have given him
in everything. He is a native of New
Hampshire, was educated at St. An
selm’s College there and Belmont Ab
bey College and Seminary .and be
came widely known in Georgia and
the Southeast as pastor of Sacred
Heart Church, Savannah, and prior
of the Benedictine Community there.
One of the most beloved of priests in
the Southeast, his retirement as pas
tor at Savannah because of ill health
was an occasion of general regret and
sorrow. He recovered sufficiently to
serve as chaplain at Mercy Hospital,
Charlotte, and his. health improving
further, he was named administrator
of St. Peter's parish during the illness
of Father Ambrose, and then, on Fa
ther Ambrose’s transfer to Richmond,
pastor.
Father Philip Tierney, O.S.B.. is as
sistant pastor of St. Peter’s Church,
a post he has held for several years.
Father Philip is a native of Boston,
was educated at Belmont Abbey and
Seminary, and his devotion to the
people of St. Peter’s parish has won
him a warm place in their hearts.
year’s champs and runner-up this
year, Dallas, Lowell, Belmont, Mt.
Holly. Stanley and Bessemer City. Ab
bot Vincent presented the trophies,
and felicitated all the teams on their
sportsmanship.