CHAPTER XXXI.
ST. TERESA’S TER-CENTENARY.
The years that followed the death of Mother Teresa of Jesus, until 1882, were uneventful ones in the history of our Carmelites. The rule was observed, and the routine of Convent life went on.
On September 8th, 1878, Sister Mary of the Incarnation, Catherine Caffrey, made her vows, and on October 13th, Sister Ursula of St. Albert, Elizabeth Robig, was professed. On the 25th of November, 1878, the elections took place, and Sister Beatrix of the Holy Spirit, was elected Prioress.
Nearly two years later, in September, 1881, Rev. Father Sheerin S. J., having been removed from Baltimore, another Jesuit Father, Rev. A. Langcake, was appointed extraordinary confessor. On October 2d, 1880 Miss Mary Agnes Kelly, in religion Sister Agnes of the Immaculate Conception, made her profession.
On November 25th, 1881, Mother Louisa of St. John the Evangelist, was elected Prioress. On April 28th, 1882, Rev. J. Hespelein was removed from Baltimore, and May 4th Rev. Robert Kleineidam, C. SS. R., was appointed ordinary confessor in his stead. On July 1st, of the same year, Rev. Thomas Lee became ecclesiastical superior of the community.
The year 1882 beheld the celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the death of the great Reformer of Carmel, the immortal St. Teresa. As a preparation for the event a solemn Triduum was held in the Carmelite Chapel on the 13th , 14th and 15th of August, and on the same dates of the
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month of September. Every evening of the Triduum, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was given, and prayers were recited in honor of St. Teresa, and on the morning of the third day there were high mass and a sermon. These exercises were faithfully and devoutly attended by the people.
August 27th, 1882, Bishop Gross, of Savannah, preached in the Carmelite Chapel. It was the feast of the Transverberation of the Heart of St. Teresa. The following is an extract from his sermon:
"The human body is composed of many members, each member has its own particular duty. The eyes give sight to the body, the ears convey sound, the tongue gives utterance to its speech. But among all the members of the body the heart holds a most important position. The heart is the very seat of life. The body may lose an eye, or an ear, or a hand and still live, but if the heart ceases its perpetual throbbing the life of the body is gone. From the heart goes the stream of blood carrying life to every part of the body. Our Lord Jesus had a human nature like ours in every respect—sin only excepted. His body therefore was like our body—formed and fashioned like ours. But as this human nature was hypostatically united to the Person of the Word we offer divine honors to this Sacred Humanity. We adore those Blessed Hands which were stretched on the bloody cross for us. We kiss, in devout adoration, those holy feet pierced with cruel nails for our salvation: what then should our veneration be for that adorable Heart which was the very centre of the entire human and wonderful life of our Lord Jesus.
"But the heart is not only the centre of the life of the body. In all ages it has been regarded as the very centre of that other life of man—his morality. Even in common parlance we say of a man that he has a good heart, or that he has a bad heart. The heart has always been held as the very seat of love or hatred. The child will say that he loves his parents with all his heart, and the spouse asks of the bride
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her heart. The heart will beat fast with joy and has literally been broken with excessive grief or happiness. Hence our Saviour Himself says that it is from the heart that proceed bad desires, thefts, adulteries and crimes. God sanctions this view when recalling to us His benefits. He so touchingly says: 'Fili mi praebe cor tuum mihi. My son, give me thy heart.' What, then, must we say of the Sacred Heart of Jesus? What wonderful acts of adoration and boundless love ascended to the Father from that Sacred Heart? When we enter some sacred shrine and call to mind the holy personages that have there offered their holy acts to God, with what awe should we go to that Divine Heart which was the blessed shrine where the countless acts of worship, atonement, humiliation, love for God and man were offered. The Catholic Church holds up this blessed Heart as a model to us. And truly to all and in every circumstance of life what a perfect model! Do honors and joys come on us? O, then, look up at that Sacred Heart as a model of our conduct. Behold how meek and humble, when amid loud hosannas men conducted Him in triumphal procession to Jerusalem as Sion's King and Redeemer. What a model of meek humility amid the honors and applause of men! If humiliations and insults come upon us, what more perfect model than the Heart of Jesus! Go in spirit to Jesus made a mock king, crowned with mock royalty, seated on a shameful throne, and His nakedness covered with the filthy rag of a purple garment. See Him surrounded by the jeering crowd, who dare to spit in that blessed Face and give it blows. Viewing all this enter in spirit into that Heart, and behold it amid such a storm of humiliations—all sweetness and gentle silence without one word of bitterness.
“ If bodily pains afflict us, if we are stretched upon the bed of suffering, again this blessed Heart is our sublimest model. Go to His bed—what a contrast! Our bed is soft, and light is the pillow on which our suffering head rests. The bed on which Jesus reposes is the blood-stained, hard wood of the
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cross. The pillow on which His Head in its agony rests, is the cruel crown of hideous thorns. He is naked and one mass of terrible wounds. Kneeling at those pierced Feet, let your spirit enter the Heart of Jesus suffering, and behold that Heart amid this ocean of pains. How resigned, how meek, how uncomplaining! Perhaps ingratitude and the hatred of enemies torture our heart. Whose heart ever had such an amount of ingratitude to bear as the Heart of Jesus? Jesus, sold and betrayed by His own disciples; Jesus betrayed into the hands of his enemies by one who had received the greatest honors and favors from Him; what a model to us! Go in spirit to the garden, and at that dreadful moment when the arms of the traitor encircled Him, and abusing the tender sign of pure affection, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, hear that Heart uttering those loving words, "Amice ad quid venisti? Friend, why didst thou come hither?" As Jesus hung in agony on the cross, naked and dying, hear the ungrateful throng, guilty of the barbarous cruelty of insulting Him, cursing and blaspheming Him at the very moment He was about to expire. Draw near and see how that Sacred Heart, all sweetness, utters its last prayer—a prayer for His blasphemers:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
"You may be surprised that on this feast I have dwelt on the Heart of Jesus. I have shown you the great model of all hearts—the Heart of Jesus. And I can say that surely one of the hearts that have most perfectly imitated the Heart of Jesus is the Heart of Teresa. It imitated His purity, for it was always adorned with the spotless whiteness of its baptismal innocence. The Heart of Teresa so imitated the Heart of Jesus in His love for God that by an unheard of miracle an angel was sent from Heaven to pierce with a fiery dart that already glowing Heart. Ever since the death of St. Teresa her heart has, been preserved in a wonderful manner unto our day, and continually is the scene of the marvellous operations of God. St. Paul compares the Church to a human body. There are in that glorious Church various orders—all for
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perfection. There are orders that, like the tongue, speak to the world; others that, like the hands, minister to all its wants; others, like the feet, traverse the world, to make known Our Lord Jesus. In the Sacred Body of Jesus there was that blessed Heart, unseen, unheard by men, but which all glowed with love for God and man, and was the very shrine of infinite holiness. May I be permitted to say that in Christ's mystic body—the Church—the order of Mt. Carmel reminds me of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: for like it unseen, unheard by man, hidden away, it glows with love for God and man, and is the sanctuary where blooms so many a flower known to God only. And in conclusion, I would exhort this Community, which has always been so dear to my heart, to go on in its life of love and fervor, praying, sacrificing itself and drawing down graces and benedictions upon those who labor in the active ministry of the Holy Church."
In September, 1882, Rev. A. Langcake, S. J., was succeeded by Rev. J. Ward, of the same society, as extraordinary confessor of the monastery.
On October 6th the public Novena in honor of St. Teresa was begun. Every afternoon during the Novena, at half-past four o'clock, a sermon was preached and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament was given. During the Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament the Novena to St. Teresa, composed by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, was read aloud.1 On the first evening Rev. Thomas Lee preached and explained the Novena and the Indulgences granted by the Holy Father to those who participated in the exercises.
The preachers on the other days were as follows:
October 7 th , REV. E. J. SOURIN, S. J.
" 8th, REV. P. P. FITZPATRICK, S. J.
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1 The devotion of St. Alphonsus to St. Teresa is well known to all. He generally headed his letters with the initials J. M. J. T. (Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Teresa). St. Teresa is one of the Patrons of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, founded by St. Alphonsus, and her festival is one of the first class in the Congregation.
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October 9th, REV. E. DIDIER, pastor of St. Vincent's Church.
" 10th, REV. Wm. BARTLETT, pastor of St. Ann's.
" 11th, REV. JOHN FOLEY, D.D., pastor of St Martin's, now bishop of Detroit.
" 12th, Rev. J. McDEVITT, assistant pastor of St. John's.
" 13th, Rev. GEO. DEVINE, chancellor of the diocese.
" 14th, REV. E. J. SOURIN, S. J.
Finally the long expected 15th of October dawned. Three hundred years had elapsed since the blessed soul of Teresa of Jesus had winged its flight to realms of immortality. The Catholic world united with the Order of Carmel in venerating the great Reformer of Our Lady's Order. His Holiness, Leo XIII, granted extraordinary indulgences to all who would take part in a Novena or Triduum of devotions preparatory to the festival. Among the prelates of the American Church who contributed to the glory of the Saint on the occasion, Archbishop, then Bishop, Elder, of Cincinnati, was conspicuous for his zeal. In a circular letter to the clergy of his diocese he recommends them to celebrate a Novena or a Triduum on the occasion, and authorized them to give the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament each day of the devotions.
In Baltimore the feast was celebrated with the greatest solemnity. Archbishop Gibbons officiated at Pontifical Mass in the chapel of the monastery at eight o'clock. Rev. B. J. McManus, pastor of St. John's Church, and Rev. J. T. Gaitley, pastor of St. Patrick's, were the deacons of honor. Rev. A. L. Magnien, S. S., President of St. Mary's Seminary, was assistant priest, and Rev. P. Fitzpatrick, S. J., and Rev. Andrew Wynn, C. SS. R.,1 were deacon and sub-deacon. Rev. J. Berger, C. SS. R., filled the post of master of ceremonies. There were present in the sanctuary the Very Rev.
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1 Rev. Andrew Wynn, C. SS. R., was one of those who in his boyhood's days had knelt to serve Mass in the little Carmelite chapel on Aisquith street. In the same sanctuary he had the pleasure of celebrating his first Mass and administering Communion to his parents.
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E. McColgan, vicar-general of the diocese, who has since been honored with the title of Monsignor, Rev. John Slattery, of the Congregation of Mill Hill, England, then stationed at St. Francis' Church, Rev. Father Barrett, C. SS. R., Rev. Father Speidel, C. SS. R., and other clergymen.
A throne had been placed in the sanctuary for His Grace. The Most Rev. Archbishop and his assistants, preceded by the clergy and sixteen acolytes, entered processionally into the church. The altar was tastefully decorated with lights and flowers, and a shrine for the statue of St. Teresa had been erected on the gospel-side near the grating of the choir. The sanctuary was hung with garlands of evergreen, and scrolls were here and there suspended, upon which were inscribed in letters of gold, various mottoes relative to St. Teresa.
An impressive and eloquent panegyric of St. Teresa was delivered by Rev. Wm. Clarke, S. J. The Mass, Haydn's 16th, was executed by a string orchestra, under the direction of Prof. F. X. Hale. The choir was composed of select volunteer voices. Hummel's Alma Virgo and Regis Superna Nuntia were sung.
On Monday, the 16th, the Triduum, to which special indulgences were attached, was commenced. High Mass was sung by Rev. J. R. Slattery, Superior of the Josephite Fathers, assisted by Rev. P. Fitzpatrick, S. J., and Rev. J. N. Berger, C. SS. R., as deacon and sub-deacon. Rev. F. Maloney, C. M., was master of ceremonies. The sermon was delivered by Rev. Alfred Curtis, then secretary of the Archbishop, and now Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware. There were present in the sanctuary Rev. Wm. Clarke, S. J., Rev. J. Mackin, Pastor of St. Joseph's Church, and other clergymen to the number of thirteen.
On Tuesday, the 17th, Pontifical Mass was celebrated by Rt. Rev. J. Loughlin, Bishop of Brooklyn, assisted by Rev. R. Pardow, S. J., and Rev. R. Kleineidam, C. SS. R., as deacon and sub-deacon, and Rev. P. McCoy, Pastor of St. Mary's Star of the Sea, assistant priest. Rev. Wm. E. Starr, Pastor
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of the Church of Corpus Christi, preached. Rev. Fathers Griffin, of St. Charles' College, Ellicott City, Maloney, C. M., Sourin, S. J., and Berger, C. SS. R., were also present.
On the following day, Wednesday the 18th, Rt. Rev. Wm. Elder, Bishop of Cincinnati, celebrated Pontifical Mass. Rev. H. Dauenhauer, C. SS. R., Rector of St. James' Church, was assistant priest. The sermon was delivered by Rev. E. J. Sourin, S. J. There were also present Rev. W. Clarke, S. J., Rev. F. Broché, of New Orleans; Rev. W. Jordan, Pastor of St. Bridget's Church, Rev. E. McKenzie, Pastor of St. Edward's, and Rev. W. Caughy, assistant Pastor of St. Peter's Church.
Throughout the Octave of the Feast there was benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament each afternoon at half-past four, and prayers were recited in honor of the Saint. Rev. Fathers Sourin, S. J., and Berger, C. SS. R., conducted those exercises. On the evening of October 17th, a sermon was preached by Rev. W. Caughy, and on the 19th by Rev. J. Ahern, assistant Pastor of St. Vincent's Church. The closing sermon on the last day of the Octave was delivered by Rev. E. J. Sourin, S. J., who had been present daily. Rev. Father Berger, C. SS. R., gave great assistance to the Carmelites at this period. He devoted much of his time to their service, and did all be could to promote the celebration of the Ter-Centenary Feast. Notwithstanding his failing health, he cheerfully underwent much fatigue in attending to the necessary preparations and assisted as master of ceremonies at all the public exercises. The author is indebted to Rev. Father Berger for his first introduction to the Carmelite Community of Baltimore. It was some time before the Feast of St. Teresa, 1882. Having been informed that I had visited the monastery at Antwerp, where the Ven. Ann of St. Bartholomew, one of St. Teresa's first companions, had spent the last years of her life, the Sisters were anxious to converse on the subject.1
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1 Father Berger is the author of the life of his saintly uncle, Bishop Neumann. He died soon after completing this biography.
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During the celebration of the Ter-Centenary, both priests and people manifested their interest, and the chapel was daily crowded by devout clients of St. Teresa. Many persons came even from a distance to show their love for the Saint, and to participate in the indulgences granted by the Holy Father.
For several months previous, the Baltimore Catholic Mirror had contained weekly articles relative to St. Teresa and the approaching Feast. A four-page extra edition of the paper, handsomely illustrated, was issued for the 15th of October.
The following sonnet, expressive of the love of St. Teresa, was composed for the Feast by Rev. Edw. Sourin, S. J., of Loyola College:
“I know well that I have not yet so much as begun to love God.”- St. Teresa.
Eternal lover of my soul, to Thee,
My God! my purest only Love! my King!
All that I am, or have, or e'er shall be,
E'en through the ages of eternity,
In silent love unto thy feet I bring.
Wearied and wounded thou hast sought my love:
O! shall one hour more to aught be given
Save to Thy wounded heart ?-alone! above,
Though every private tie of earth were riven,
Earth's brightest joys, its fairest, richest dower,
Health, glory, fame: yea, e'en imperial power:
In humblest hope beneath thy feet I fall.
And on thy heart of boundless love I call:
Accept the offering, my God! my All!
Sometime before the Feast the Sisters sent money to the editor of "Les Annales du Carmel," at Paris, to purchase a lamp, to be placed at the tomb of St. Teresa at Alba de Tormes, in Spain. In the month of January following the information reached them that the lamp, having the name of the Community inscribed upon it, had been accepted by His Grace, the Archbishop of Salamanca, for the purpose designated.