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. XXVI. No. 7
FORTY-EIGHT PAGES
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, JULY 28, 1945
ISSUED MONTHLY—$2.00 A YEAR
President of St. Mary’s Home
MOST REVEREND GERALD P. O’HARA, D. I)„ J. U. D.
. Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta
His Excellency the Most Reverend Gerald P. O'Hara, D. D„ J. U. I).,
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, who is observing this year the twenty*
iifth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, is also President
ol the Female Orphan Benevolent Society, under the auspices of which
St. Mary’s Home in Savannah is conducted by the Sisters of Mercy.
One of Bishop O’Hara’s first acts on coming to Georgia, nine years
ago, was to plan tlie erection,.in an appropriate location, of a mod
ern, fire-proof building, spacious enough to meet the ever increasing
demand upon St. Mary’s Home, and the present imposing structure,
situated on Victory Drive in Savannah, was the fulfillment of his
desire.
Bishop O'Hara’s celebration of the Silver Jubilee of his ordina
tion was made memorable in the highest degree, for on that occasion
he was presented with a scroll which witnessed that all of the in
debtedness on St. Mary's Home had been cleared, by his friends and
Hie friends of St. Mary's Home, as a Jubilee gift which would be a
most substantial testimonial to the high esteem in which His Ex
cellency is held by the Catholic and non-Calholic people of Savannah.
Bishop O’Hara Submits Report on
St. Mary’s Home, as President of
Female Orphan Benevolent Society
(Special to The Bulletin)
SAVANNAH, Ga.—In his ca
pacity as president of the Fe
male Orphan Benevolent So
ciety. which operates St. Mary’s
Home, conducted by the Sisters
of Mercy here, the Most ltev.
Gerald P. O'Hara, I). D„ J. U. I).,
Bishop of Savannah - Atlanta,
submitted the following report
at the annual meeting held re
cently:
When the new St. Mary’s Home
was completed and the members
of this Board faced the task of
liquidating the indebtedness that
had to be incurred, little did I
dream that so early as the spring
of 1945 the entire debt would have
been paid This is the outstand
ing event lhat I wish to record at
this Annual Meeting. In record
ing it, I acknowledge.-a sense of
defeat as 1 strive to find the words
that would adequately convey the
full measure of my gratitude for
what has been .accomplished in so
short a time.
My happiness over the liquida
tion of St. Mary’s debt- was in
tensified because it -came at the
time of the Silver Jubilee of my
ordination as a priest and because
it coincided with a far more im
portant anniversary—the Centen
nial of the Sisters of Mercy. To
our Vice-President, Mr. Gleason,
and to Colonel George Butler, and
their associates, go the largest
measure of credit for the can
cellation of the debt on this insti
tution. It was a source of great
encouragement -to all the members
of this Board that apparently all
the people of this city, Catholic
and non-Catholic alike, vied with
one another in making it possible
lor St. Mary’s to be free of debt.
To the Sisters of Mercy, who
for so many long years have guid
ed the destinies of St. Mary’s
Home and taken such excellent
care of the children here, go our
heartfelt congratulations on the
occasion of their Centennial. It
made us particularly glad that the
Centennial observance was con
cluded here at St. Mary's Home. It
was at this institution that the
Sisters of Mercy began their sec
ond hundred years.
The occasion of this Annual
Meeting of the Board affords me
an opportunity, to express publicly
the gratitude that is constantly in
my heart towards our Vice-Presi
dent, Mr. John W. Gleason, K. S.
G., for his unfailing devotion to
the Home. Not a day of the year
goes by that he does not devote a
large portion of (hat day to the
welfare of the Sisters and Orphans
of this institution. His paternal
interest is shared by his good wife,
Scroll Presented to Bishop O’
on His Silver Jubilee as Evidence
Debt-Free Title to St. Mary’s Home
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In compliment to the Most Reverend Gerald P. O'Hara, D. D„ J. U. D„ and honoring him on'the
occasion of the celebration of the twenty-tiftli anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, the orna-
ni'ne qMA h H C f l i s . cro i 1, pic,LI I' cd abov .e- was presented to Ilis Excellency at a reception tendered him at
the De Soto Hotel in Savannah. Inscribed on the parchment is an extract from the legal document
Hnml! save*evidence of the payment in full of an indebtedness of $40,000 which had existed on SI. Mary’s
Home, which had been erected in Savannah in 1938 as a home for orphan girls of the Diocese of Savan-
d?ed years' ago. ° f MerCy arC c ° ntinuing « \ Vj *' k <>£ charity which they^egan in Savannah a S
° f the le § al document and the pirchment was made to'Bishop O’Hara by John W.
Gleason, K. S. G., vice-president of the Female Orphan Benevolent Society under whose auspices St
Mary’s Home has been conducted since 1870. The ommittee which raised lie funds necessary to pS’
the debt on the Home was headed by E. George Butler. necessary io pay
(Continued on page 36)
od hv h tL P Mn!?B«v r a „!' y ’i!i P° n'; r attl ' a n n ly /‘u®A d on Victory Dlive Savannah. Georgia, was dedicat-
P ‘ D ” J ’ D ’’ Bishop of Savannah. The dedication program in
cluded an addiess by Governor E. D. Rivers, and was presented before a gathering of several thousand
feet °wide a a^dUftel W fe C i'd° St ab ?“ l $450 ' 000 ’ 1S ®f brick construction, with an entrance portico forty
statelv nnZnmi Th 0 £ eep .’ Wlth lour gl ' eal s0 }* d stone Doric columns which give the structure a
1L P1 „l. • The . lcft wing, as one approaches the building, is the Sfiacious and devotional chapel
and the light wing contains the auditonum. It serves as a home for orphan girls of the Diocese of Sa-
Benevoient°Society! “ c0nduclcd by ,he Sis,eis of under the patronage of the Female Orphan