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CHAPTER XXVI....concluded
As the Brothers of the Christian Schools are amongst the most successful promoters of Catholic education in America, something may be said as to their progress. They were first established some thirty years since in Montreal, to which city they were invited by the Sulpitians; and last year, 1866, they had in Canada 19 houses, 170 Brothers, and 9,000 pupils. The first establishment of the Order in the United States was in 1845, the next in 1848; and in 1866 they were to be found in successful operation in the chief cities of the Union--in which there were, that year, 35 houses, 370 Brothers, and more than 20,000 pupils. This year, 1867, there is a considerable increase of houses, brothers, and pupils. The Brothers now exceed 400, and the pupils are fast rising to 30,000.
Besides parochial schools, which they teach with signal success, the Brothers conduct several colleges, including that at Manhattan, in New York; St. Louis, Missouri; Rock Hill, Maryland; and Rass, Mississippi. Of the 370 Brothers who constituted in 1866 the strength of the Order in the United States, 300 were either Irish, or of Irish parents. And of the English-speaking Brothers in Canada, the great majority are of the same race. Probably in 1868 the number of Brothers in the States may be at least 500; but were there 5,000, that number would not be too many for the work to be done. There is in America no lack of appreciation of the educational labours of the Christian Brothers. With bishops and clergy the cry is, 'Give us more Brothers'--'Oh, if we had more Brothers!' These men are the inheritors of one of the best educational systems in the world; and devoting themselves exclusively to their self-imposed task, their success is necessarily great. Their parochial schools vie with the Public Schools in the excellence of their teaching--that is, in mere secular knowledge; and their high schools, academies and colleges rival any corresponding institutions supported by the State. The proficiency of their pupils in the highest branches of polite learning is the theme of admiration in journals of the most marked Protestant character; and enlightened Americans of various denominations admit the services which these men render to society through the influence of their teaching on the rising youth of the country. The Brothers are eminently practical; they thoroughly comprehend the spirit and genius of the American mind; and they so teach their pupils, of whatever class, rich or poor, as to suit them to the position they are to occupy in life.
Perhaps the truest proof of the religious influence which they exercise over their pupils is this--that wherever they are any time established, the Bishop of the diocese has less difficulty in procuring candidates for the ministry. They themselves are examples of self-denial and devotedness. All men of intelligence, many full of energy and genius--all capable of pushing their way in some one walk of life or other--not a few certain to have risen to eminence in the higher departments, had they dedicated themselves to the world and its pursuits; living a life almost of privation, content with the barest pittance--what will, in fact, afford them the merest means of existence--the Brothers labour in their glorious vocation with a zeal and enthusiasm which religion can alone inspire or alone explain. To the mind of generous youth the ambition of rising in the world is natural and laudable, and in a new and vast country like America, and under a constitution which throws open the path of distinction to merit or to courage, the world offers too many tempting attractions to be resisted by the young and the ardent. Hence there is a constant complaint on the part of Bishops of the want of 'vocations' for the priesthood. Indeed the latest utterance on this subject, at once the gravest and most authoritative, proceeds from the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. The Bishops say:--
We continue to feel the want of zealous priests, in sufficient number to supply the daily increasing necessities of our dioceses. While we are gratified to know that in some parts of our country the number of youths who offer themselves for the ecclesiastical state is rapidly increasing, we are obliged to remark that in other parts, notwithstanding all the efforts and sacrifices which have been made for this object, and the extraordinary encouragements which have been held out to youthful aspirants to the ministry in our Preparatory and Theological Seminaries, the number of such as have presented themselves and persevered in their vocations has hitherto been lamentably small. Whatever may be the cause of this unwillingness to enter the sacred ministry on the part of our youth, it cannot be attributed to any deficiency of ours in such efforts as circumstances have enabled us to make. We fear that the fault lies, in great part, with many parents, who, instead of fostering the desire, so natural to the youthful heart, of dedicating itself to the service of God's sanctuary, but too often impart to their children their own worldly-mindedness, and seek to influence their choice of a state of life by unduly exaggerating the difficulties and dangers of the priestly calling, and painting in too glowing colours the advantage of a secular life.
The 'some parts' referred to in the Pastoral Letter may signify those places in which the best provision has been made for religious teaching, including those in which the Christian Brothers have established their schools, and have had time to exercise their influence on the mind and heart of youth. It has been remarked that the influence of their teaching is not alone manifested in their own immediate pupils; but that many young men who have never frequented their schools have felt themselves impelled to a religious life by the example of a friend or companion educated by the Brothers. Here then are grand results of the successful labours of this Order: youth fitted to make its way in the world, and fortified by the best influences, if not wholly to resist, at least not to be a willing victim to its temptations; and young of higher and nobler purpose induced to sacrifice the glittering attractions of the world, for the self-denying and laborious life of the missionary priest.
The Third Order of St. Francis is rapidly growing in strength and usefulness in the United States. It comprises Priests, Brothers, Sisters, whose ordinary avocation is the training of youth of both sexes, and ministering to the sick and poor in hospitals. To the Archdiocese of Tuam, Ireland, the Catholic Church of America is indebted for the Brothers of this Order, who have established several communities, and conduct with great advantage academies and parochial schools in various dioceses. In 1847, Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburg,* obtained six Brothers, who founded some communities of the Order in his diocese, the principal of which is Loretto, containing about forty Brothers, who conduct an extensive college in that city. This was the origin of this Order in the United States. In 1858, Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn applied to the Archbishop of Tuam for Brothers, and obtained two; and in the diocese of Brooklyn there are now about thirty of the brotherhood, conducting academies and parochial schools which are largely attended. They have opened a mission in Los Angelos, California, for the last four years; they have founded another in Elizabeth Port, New Jersey; and this year they have established a branch in Erie, Pennsylvania. Thus has the good seed from the old Catholic country fructified in this new domain of the Church.
As the educational necessities of Catholics increase, so in the same or a greater proportion does the Church display greater zeal and greater energy to supply the want. New Orders are constantly springing up for new fields of spiritual and intellectual labour. Thus the Congregation of the Holy Cross, founded in France in 1856, and approved by the Holy See in 1857, has established several flourishing educational institutions in the United States; its teaching ranging from the simplest elementary instruction up to the very highest standard of collegiate requirements. The Priests, who are called Salvatorists, from being specially consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, devote themselves exclusively to missions and the education of youth. The Brothers are devoted to the great work of religious instruction, with which, according to the circumstances and the necessities of their pupils, is combined practical training in various branches of industry. The Sisters, who are consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Mary, educate female youth of all classes of society, and are also employed in hospitals and asylums. The Sisters already number more than 250 in the States.
Among the most prominent structures in New Orleans are the great schools conducted by the Redemptorist Fathers of that city; and among these good men is one--all zeal, all energy, all ardour--whose name is venerated in the South. Father Sheeran was one of the most devoted, not to say one of the bravest, of the Chaplains of the Southern army. As cool under fire as the oldest campaigner, one glance from Father Sheeran's eye would send the waverer dashing to the front. And now that, happily, the sword is returned to the scabbard, and the generous of North and South can meet again as brethren, if not as friends, Father Sheeran is, with his fellow-priests, actively engaged, indeed almost wholly engrossed, in the noble work of Christian education; which he and they promote with such success, that 1,400 children--the children chiefly of Irish parents--are educated in such a manner as to elicit the warmest and most elaborate praise from Protestant journalists. New Orleans possesses several important educational institutions, academical and parochial; but that of the Redemptorists is remarkable because of the well-known career of the famous Chaplain of the 14th Louisiana Regiment.
END OF CHAPTER XXVI.
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NOTE:-
* One of the most accomplished and zealous of the Catholic Bishops of America, who did great things for the Church, but who--compelled by ill-health to surrender his diocese to other hands--is now a simple Jesuit. He is loved and esteemed by all who know him; the writer venturing to include himself among the number of those who regard this good man with sentiments of affection and esteem.