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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 „ Ega Hi & £ pfv'Qtvt, 0 vve^t vtil oWti • riferacvlo 0 v h. <x u, J) v cleu if O*octstv .”!< d, vet*, zb, I94jr , Hu. sum of fp.irhj rilioxxnxvx<i, <• Yu fuU.of its ut4thl’(iaue»» f on y..5> met mmt fiy* t -A lilll C'l - f !)■; It t i\ i V « f a n cl V o (■ r -1 to tv rYTU&V C'VvV.j fund cYOvUtop * VUa MCiiton Hu c:.*V4 *' - - 1 Ives' :P?vt fei'tt .j isp’ : S.|| : ;H.. ’cW ftat < ummt t’tcv c Mtnerf.i, Ck 7, tV<V . oYu W.’ie,..... f i ■ '' I v > v - w ii <\ i <• n ( • \ ; ill 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