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NINE
JULY 27, 1946 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LA YMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
Holy Family Church, Columbus,
Enhanced in Stately Beauty by
Remodeling and Redecorating
(Special to The Bulletin)
COLUMBUS, Ga.~-The task of
remodeling and re-decorating the
Church of the Holy Family is now
nearing completion and it is
anticipated that the work which
began two years ago will be
finished within „lie next few
months.
Wher. the work of re-decoration
has been completed on the interior
and exterior of the church, the
stately Gothic structure which was
erected about sixty years ago will
be one of the most impressively
beautilul religious edifices in
Georgia.
The interior walls have been
refinished in a deep cream and
the high vaulted ceiling is a
bluish green, most pleasing to the
eye. Gleaming Georgia marble
will be used to veneer the interior
columns and flourescent lighting
is being installed. The Stations
of the Cross have been remodeled,
the frames removed and 'he
plaques embedded in the wall with
a cross high above each station,
he coloring of the background and
the robes of the figures is artis
tically beautiful.
Two new entrances have been
built into the nave of the church,
a the one on the right side entering
from the convent, • yard and the
other is approached from the
rectory grounds. The new en
trances utilized the old stone from
the front steps and their construc
tion follows the pure Gothic style
"of architecture.
On the left side, the entrance
.overlooks a Grotto of Lourdes,
with a statue of the Immaculate
'jConccption in a niche and a statue
;of St. Bernadette in the fore
ground. The grotto stands in an
angle between the rectory and the
.east wall of the church and is
illuminated at night by flood
lights.
Plans call for the installation of
a massive main altar and a sanc
tuary rail of marble to replace
the present wooden altar railing.
The side altars will be replaced
with table-type altars, and the
statues of the Blessed Virgin and
■St. Joseph have been placed in
niches in the walls above where
the altars will stand.
The Church of the Holy Family
now has a separate sacristy for
altar boys and a priests’ sacristy
with appropriate cabinets and
racks for vestments and linens.
The two sacristies are connected
by a passage way beyond the
sanctuary wall.
The exterior of the handsome/
Gothic structure has been paint
ed a gleaming white, with doors
and windows of contrasting brown.
The old stone steps at the front
entrance have been replaced with
a gently sloping ramp.
Church and 1 rectory grounds
have been landscaped with green
shrubbery and the large side lawn
has been re-sodded. The majestic
cross-mounted steeple is brown
and copper and a set of chimes
has been installed in the belfry.
At the front of the church,
framing the entrance are the two
exquisite stained-glass, windows
which formerly were back of the
high altar. The old openings in
the sanctuary were Closed when
the sanctuary was re-designed.
The old vestibule has been com
pletely remodeled. To the left
of the entrance are stairs to the
choir loft, and to the right is a
rest room. The entrance corridor
opens into a small inner vestibule
on the wall of which is a plaque
on which are inscribed the names
of the men and women of the
parish who served in the Armed
Forces.
The baptistry has been inclosed
with an antique wrought-iron rail
ing, and the same type of railing
has been placed across the choir
loft. Thg old pipes of the. organ
have been removed and a clear
view will thus be obtained of the
large rose-window of stained-glass
which will be installed later over
the entrance.
Safes for the storage of sacred
vessels and church records have
been built in the passageway be
hind the altar, and a small furnace
for the disopsal of discarded
articels that have been blessed is
now in use.
St. Joseph’s Academy, the par
ish school, and th<4 convent of
ihe Sisters of Mercy of the Union,
have been repainted to conform
with the color scheme of the
church to which they are adjacent.
The work of remodeling and re
decorating vis, being done under
the direction of Joseph Dio-
guardia, superintendent of build
ing for the Diocese of Savanah-
Atlanta.
Victims of Incurable Cancer,
Formerly Doomed to Neglect,
Now Cared for By Devoted Nuns
NKW YORK—f NO—Fifty years
ago. patients suffering from in
curable cancer were being turned
out of hospitals to make room for
curable ones. Neither the com
munity nor private charity was
equiped to look alter them. Their
families, fearing the disease was
communicable, refused to live
with them and the victims fre
quently died in squalor and neg
lect.
Today a band of eighty-four
nuns and postulants are putting
up a heroic fight to keep the
weight of worry and despair from
the last hours of penniless cancer
victims. The Dominican Sisters,
Servants of Relief lor Incurable
Cancer among the Poor, have
established two centers in this
city and four in four other U. S.
cities to care for destitute cancer
patients without distinction of
race, belief or color, Last year
the Sisters took care of 1,602
patients, 939 of whom were Catho
lics, 636 Protestants, 14 Greek
Orthodox and 13 Jews. There were
170 Negroes. -
The religious community was
founded 48 years ago by Mrs.
Rose Hawthorne Lathorp, a con
vert and daughter of Nalhanial
Hawthorne, the author. She
founded'the community as Mother
Alphonsa at the age of 47, after
several years experience as a lay-
woman in the treatment of in
digent sufferers from incurable
cancer. She was aiued in her
work and in establishing the new
community by Alice Huber, an
art student from Kentucky, who
later became Mother Rose. His
Eminence Francis Cardinal Spell
man, Archbishop of New York, is
chairman of the board of trustees
for the society’s homes. Besides
the two homes conducted in New
York there are others in Phila
delphia, Fall River, St. Paul and
Allarfla.
CANCER HOME OPENED
IN ATLANTA IN 1939
ATLANTA. Ga.—Seven years
ago, Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Free Cancer Home was opened in
Atlanta by the Dominican Sisters,
Servants of Relief for Incurable
Cancer, of the Congregation of
St. Rosq of Lima.
Located in spacious grounds on
Washington Street, the Cancer
Home occupies the building which
was formerly the Hebrew Orphan
age. The structure was com
pletely remodeled and renovated,
and every facility for the treat
ment of cancer and the accom
modation of patients w r as installed.
Since its establishment the Can
cer Home lias been regarded as
an outstanding institution of
charity and service in Atlanta. Its
doors have been opened to all vic
tims of the dreaded disease, with
out regard to race or creed, and
few of the hundreds who have
found refuge within its wall have
been Catholics.
Atlantans of all religious be
liefs have been interested in the
work of the Cancer Home and
have generously contributed to
ward its operation.
In a letter, published recently
in The Atlanta Journal, J. I,.
Campbell, M. D., chairman of the
Cancer Commission of the Med
ical Association of Georgia, made
this reference to the labor of
li ve in .which the Sisters of the
Order founded by Mother
Alphonsa are engaged in Atlanta:
“Those who have worked with
cancer have seen some of the most
forlorn, dejected individuals that
can possibly be imagined brought
into the clinics, so emaciated and
racked with pain and devoid of
means to sustain life or relieve
their physical wants that ’Tobacco
Road' would look like paradise
to them. It is only necessary to
visit the hospital of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help to get a first hand
view of the distress endured be
fore death relieves them of their
earthly suffering. There is no
more noble charity in the South
than this hospital, for there the
patient has all Ihe comforts, care
and kindness of a refined and cul
tured home."
<IMll.ll.iH.HIWm
HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, COLUMBUS — Dedicated in 1881. the Church of the Holy Family, in
Columbus, Georgia, is a stately Gothic structure, the beauty of which has been greatly enhanced by ex
tensive improvements and renovations which are now being completed. The exterior of the edifice has
been painted in gleaming white, with a trim of brown which is in keeping with its spire ol bronze. The
installation ol new altafs and the redecoration of the interior is now in tile course of completion. Father
Herman Deimel is the present pastor, with Father de Paul Landrigan, M S. SS. T, a Trinitarian priest
from the Holy Ghost Mission Cenacle, Trinity, Alabama
as assistant pastor
Bishop England, of Charleston,
Dedicated First Columbus Church
(Special to The Bulletin
COLUMBUS, Ga.—That pre
eminent figure in the history of
the Catholic Church in the South,
Bishop John England, of Charles
ton, dedicated the first Catholic
Church erected in this city—the
Church of St. Philip and St.
James—in 1837.
It served a parish which was
founded by Father James Gra
ham. who devoted a life of priestly
service to the scattered Catholics
who lived in Georgia more than a
century ago.
At that lime the Diocese of
Charleston embraced a vast area,
including both of the Garolinas
and Georgia, and Columbus stood
on its southwest frontier. The
original church was a plain brick
building, with a cottage which
served as a rectory nearby.
The old church was built on a
tract of land which was conveyed
to the Catholic citizens of Colum
bus by the Governor of Georgia,
and the Act conveying title read
as follows:
“By 4Iis Excellency Wilson
Lumpkin, Governor and Com
mander in Chief of the Army and
Navy of this State and of the
Militia thereof.
'To all to whom these presents
shall come. Greeting—Knowledge
that in pursuance of an Act of
the General Assembly of this
State passed the 26th day of De
cember, 1831, ‘To authorize the
Governor to issue a grant to the
Roman Catholic Church of St.
Philip and St. James, for a lot in
the Town of Columbus for reli
gious purposes,' i have given and
granted and by these present do
give and grant unto Dennis E.
Hayden, Roger McGrath, James A.
Barthelot. Thomas McCarthy and
Patrick - McCarthy, trsutecs or
commissioners of the Roman Cath
olic Church of St. Philip and
St. James in the Town of Colum
bus and their successors in office
for the use of said church all that
lot of land contained in one
saventy-eight hundredths acres
situated, lying and being in the
Town of Columbus, in the said
State, which said lot of land is
known and distinguished in the
plan ol said town as Lot D having
such shape, form and marks, as
appear by plan of the same here
unto annexed: to have and to hold
the said lot of land together with
all and singular the rights and
appurtenances thereof, whatever,
unto the said trustees or commis
sioners and their successors in of
fice to them and their proper use,
benefit and behalf forever in fee
simple.
“Given under my hand.* and the
great seal of the State, this second
day of May in the year of Our
Lord, eighteen hundred and
thirty-two and of the fifty-six year
of American Independence.”
The document bore the signa
ture of the Governor of Georg'a,
and the plot of land which it con
veyed was bounded by Johnson,
Chapel. Few and Jessup streets.
As the city developed through
the years, this location lost its con
venience, and a site more cen
trally located was sought for the
new church which was erected in
1880. and which now stands on
Twelfth Street, between Third and
Fourth Avenues.
This church, which still serves
the Catholics of Columbus, was
dedicated on May 2. 1881. by the
Right Reverend William H. Gross,
C. SS. R„ D. D . then Bi-hop of
Savannah.
A long line of pious and de
voted priests have served tin
parish in Columbus in the more
than a hundred years which have
passed since its foundation.
Father Graham was succeeded
as pastor in 1841 by Father
Thomas Maloney, who died after
not quite three years service, in
1944. Father Thomas Murphy
was the next pastor; then Father
Timothy Birmingham, who came
to Columbus early in 1845. When
Father Birmingham was moved
to Charleston, in 1850, the year
that the Diocese of Savannah was
created, Father John Coffey was
appointed pastor, serving until
July, 1852.
The Right Rev. Edward Barron,
Bishop of Eucarpia, and Father
John Gillespie were in charge of
| the parish until the appointment
: of Father Michael Sullivan, who
was pastor from January, 1854 to
April, 1861, and from October,
1863. to May, 1872.
Father Charles Prendergast was
pastor from 1861 to July ,1862.
Father W. J. Hamilton was pastor
from August, 1862, to October,
1863. Father Patrick Cafferty,
from 1872 to July, 1874, when
Father Hamilton returned to serve
for about a year. From May, 1875,
until December, 1878, Father Mil
ler. Father Richard A. Browne,
Father John Bertassi and Father
Henry Schlenke served succes
sively as pastors.
In December, 1878, Father J.
Kirsch became pastor, and it w'as
during his pastorate that the pres
ent Holy Family Church was built.
Father Schlenke was made pas
tor of the parish again in 1884,
when Father Kirsch was moved to
Atlanta. He served the parish
from then until his death, in Jan
uary, 1928. except for two years
when Father G. X. Shadcwcll
was pastor.
At the time of Father Schlenke’s
death, his assistant was Father
Joseph E. Moylan, now the Right
Reverend Monsignor Moylan, Ad
ministrator, Vicar General and
Chancellor of the Diocese of
Savannah-A 11 a n t a. Monsignor
Moylan acted as pastor until the
• appointment of Father Dan J. Mc
Carthy, w’lio served as pastor from
1928 until he was succeeded by
the present pastor, Father Her
man Deimel, in August, 1943.
Among the priests who have
served as assistant pastors at Holy
Family Church in recent years are
Father Henry A Schonhardt. of
Atlanta; Father J. Joseph Malloy,
of LaGrange; Father Henry
lloneck and Father John A. Mul
lins.
Just across the Chattahooehie
River from Columbus, in Ala
bama, is Phenix City, where
Father James Sahvay, C. M.. Ur
pastor of St. Patrick's Church.