Section Four 1926 – 1956

SECTION FOUR 1926 – 1956 The mid twenties may be viewed as the end of the rugged pioneering days in North America. Except for sparsely settled areas, motorcars took over where formerly horse and buggy had dominated as means of transportation. Parishes of immigrants became congregations of second and third generation American citizens. Within the Congregation we find fewer foreign-born Spiritans coming to serve as missionaries in North America; instead, increasingly larger numbers of North Americans and Trinidadians go abroad to work in Africa and the West Indies, while in the USA we also find a greater commitment to service in parishes for black citizens, who were then still not welcome in white churches. These changes, however, are not yet readily visible in this section because it records only those who died or departed during this period. There was no special reason for choosing 1956 as the end of this section, save the desire to provide a break somewhere in the middle of a long list of about 800 names. 320 Br. Leo (Louis) Schuster 88 USA Germany * Feb 10 1837 Moerlen, Westerwald + Jan 16 1926 Pittsburgh A 27 year old farmer, he entered the Congregation in 1864 and was professed at the German Marienstatt Feb 2 1866. He labored there on the community farm until the Kulturkampf closed the house in 1873. In 1874 he accompanied Fr. Joseph Strub to the USA and worked in the Brothers’ community at Pontiac, Ohio till the Spiritans left this State in 1876. After 2 years spent at the provisional house of Perrysville PA, he was transferred to the new Marienstatt in the Arkansas colony for immigrants. Around 1885 he obtained a leave of absence which he spent as a sacristan with the Jesuits in St. Louis, MO. On his return, about 3 years later, he served consecutively in Pittsburgh’s HG College, Conway, St Stanislaus, Pittsburgh, St. Mary’s Detroit, Cornwells, Tarentum, and then at Ferndale, 1905-25. By then he was 87 years old and retire to Cornwells. When fire destroyed the wing to which his infirmities confined him, he was transferred to the infirmary at Duquesne, where he died in his sleep. His numerous appointments did not come about by his own volition – he loved to stay put – but arose from circumstances beyond his control. He was highly regarded by his superiors and by all who came in contact with him. 321 Fr. Paul Connolly USA May 2 1894 Philadelphia He graduated from Cornwells in 1912 and was professed August 15 1913 at Ferndale, where he also did his philosophy and theology. He was ordained there Nov. 14, 1917. We find him stationed at St. Mark’s in New York’s Harlem, but in Jan 1926 he withdrew from the Congregation at the expiration of his vows and in June 1929 joined the diocesan clergy of Brooklyn, NY. 322. Fr. John Otten 73 USA France * March 12 1852 Aix-la-Chapelle, Rhineland + Feb 8 1926 Pittsburgh A cousin of Fr. John Willms, he entered the German Marienstatt in 1868 to continue the classical curriculum already started in his hometown. Sent to Langonnet in 1872 for his philosophy and theology, he was ordained in Parish Dec 23 1876 and made his profession Aug 27 1877. Till 1881 he taught philosophy and theology in Paris and Langonnet and was regarded as the most eloquent man on the teaching staff. Transferred to the USA in 1881, he devoted his life to pastoral care at St. Vincent, Atkins AK, 1881-87, St. Mary’s Sharpsburg, 1887-89, St. Peter’s and Sacred Heart, Tarentum, PA 1889-95 and then again at Sharpsburg for 30 years. Highly intelligent, full of initiative and competence in all kinds of matters, this zealous pastor build the church and school for German immigrants at Atkins, as well as the complex of Chruch, schools, etc. at Tarentum for German and Belgian laborers. In Sharpsburg he constructed a basilica-like church, grade schools, a large high school and a rectory; in addition, he acquired 87 acres of land for the local Catholic cemetery. He did all this without leaving any debts to his successor. He was much in demand as a preacher of missions in several states, an electrifying speaker at the annum congresses of German-speaking Catholics, and an appreciated popular writer. A marvelous community man, he assisted the provincial in building up Ferndale materially, spiritually and intellectually. For other he was a friend in need “without regard to race, creed or color.” In 1924 he suffered a severe heart attack and had to reduce his activities to a minimum. He died less than two years later and was buried in the Sharpsburg community cemetery. 323. Bp. John T. Murphy 74 Trinidad USA Ireland Great Britain Mauritius * June 24 1854 Castleisland Kerry + April 16 1926 Port Louis MRT He entered Blackrock’s junior seminary division when he was about 14 and in 4 years brilliantly finished his classical studies by gaining a prize for Greek poetry from Dublin’s university. “To test his vocation” he was sent to Trinidad in 1872 as a prefect at CIC. He passed the test so well that the Fathers kept him for 5-1/2 years and only very reluctantly allowed him to return to Europe in 1878. Meanwhile he had privately studied philosophy and theology and received the subdiaconate. Ordained a priest Sept 21 1878 at Chevilly, he made his profession Dec 8 1878. Although he was supposed to return to Trinidad, he was appointed to Rockwell as dean of studies and dean of discipline. He worked there with great success for 7 years. In 1886 he became dean of studies at HG College in Pittsburgh, where for 13 years he made a large contribution to the development of this school, of which he became president in 1893. Continuing his career as an educator, he then was appointed president of Blackrock in 1899. Five years later, we find him as novice master in the new foundation of Prior Park, England. He was happy there, for he finally had the time to delve deeper into the philosophical and theological problems of the era and to lecture to Catholic students at Oxford University. In 1906, at the request of his American confreres, he became provincial superior of the USA and began the construction of new buildings at the Cornwells seminary. Unfortunately, he became ill in 1910 and had to return to Ireland. Soon after his arrival, however, he was appointed provincial of Ireland, where he built the novitiate at Kimmage. In 1916 Pope Benedict XV, in a rare gesture, conferred on this self-taught priest the doctorate of theology and, later in the same year, named him Bishop of Port Louis, Mauritius. He was ordained Aug 13 1916. Thus he could finally devote himself to the pastoral work for which he had longed all his life. For 10 years he gave himself whole-heartedly to this task as a teacher and guide of his multiracial flock, fostered local vocations, and founded Laval seminary and a college. At the same time, the poor and the sick were the object of his personal attention. He often visited them in their humble abodes, while also forcefully persuading the government to provide clean streets and good drinking water in the slums. Cardinal Newman was his guide in his educational work, the “Good Shepherd” his ideal in his pastoral undertakings. He died after a brief illness and was buried in the Congregation’s crypt near the grave of Blessed James Laval. 324. Br. Materne (Emile) Comte 545 Canada France Germany Ireland * August 4 1871 + April 17 1926 Langonnet “with the reputation of a saint” After trying the junior seminary at Beauvais, he asked to be admitted to the Brothers’ novitiate and was professed Sept 8 1889. He learned to be a master builder, who was very much in demand throughout the Congregation and spent his life wherever new buildings or restorations were needed: At Chevilly, Orly, Orgeville, Knechtsteden, Mesnieres, Rockwell, etc. In addition, he trained many young Brothers in his trade. In the New World he helped construct St. Alexander College in Canada (1913-20). Highly qualified but very unassuming, he was a model religious. “We have lost a saint,” sighed his superior when he died of tuberculosis and a heart attack. 325. Stanislaus Mielnicki USA * Dec 6 1900 Vilna Lithuania Professed at Ferndale Aug 17 1918, he perfected at Duquesne 1921-23, but withdrew from the Congregation at the expiration of his vows in 1926. 326. Br. Fulbert (Gottlieb) Heim 64 USA France Martinique Reunion Kenya Ireland Germany Belgium * July 12 1862 Schrenkenmaglize, Bavaria + Oct 12 1926 Bridgeport CT After studying painting at Munich’s Academy of Fine Arts, he tried the Cistercians but left at the end of his first vows because he felt attracted to an active life as a missionary. Thus he joined Dom Amrheim’s new Benedictine missionary foundation in 1886. When the foundation failed, two of its former members who had become Spiritans directed the young man, serving as a watchman in the empty novitiate of Reichenbach, to Chevilly. There he learned what it meant to “join the Congregation and see the world.” Before his profession on March 19 1892, he decorated the Orly community chapel so beautifully in the then fashionable style that everyone was in ecstasy about it. Chevilly’s chapel followed while he was teaching design to young Brothers. Soon after, he traveled all over France to Cellule, St. Ilan, Merville, Mesniéres, etc., etc. In Bordeaux the local chapel became a ‘real gem.” Sent to Martinique, he adorned the shrine of Notre Dame de la Délivrande and the college chapel of St.

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