The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1874-03-01
IMPOSING CEREMONIES In MONROE.
ADDRESS BY HON. ROBERT RAY.
Noble Tribute to the Catholic Priest
~ hood.

& From the Monroe (La) Intelligencsr.l
On the 9th of January, Father Enaut,
pastor of st. Matthew's Church, went from
Monroe to Shreveport for the purpose of
Il transporting the remains of the Rev. L.
&ergaud to the former city, where suita-
He tomb had been prepared by the Ger
gnud Monument tai Association for it's recep-
zion. Having fallen martyr to his high
eense of Christian charity in ministering to
the wants of it's citizens during the great
last fall, it was but natural that
The people of Shreveport gathered in multi
tudes to accompany the remains of the
4 self sacrificing priest from the grave in
which he had rested till then, to the boat.
sSDn Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, the remains reached
Monroe and were placed in st. Matthews
Church preparatory to the funeral on We'd
4 nesday.
sf Wednesday morning a grand high mass
0f requiem was celebrated by Father Mar
Gin, assisted by Fathers Gentille and
Quelard. The sermon was preached by
y Father Gentille in his usual able and i'm
II Matthew's Church SO crowded-not only
q were the pews full, but the aisles and
wherever there was standing room was oc-
cupied.
s% At the close of the mass, Grand Marshal
~. Frank Pargoud, assisted by Assistant
sMarshals r. Richardson and II. G. Dobson,
Formed the procession, consisting of ell the
Societies, and the cortege moved through
sthe principal streets to the graveyard.
After the arrival at the cemetery the coffin
was placed over the vault prepared for its
receptiou, the clergy and sisters of the con-
vent took seats assigned to them. the pro-
. cession formed in a circle around, and the
Following eulogy was delivered by the
W HON. ROBERT RAY. -
81 Reverend Fathers, Pious Sisters, and
Ladies and Gentlemen.--Whena commander
sof an army, who has distinguished himself
An the service of his country, who has in
many hard fought battle snatched victory
after victory from the enemy, falls in the
heat of the fight, the soldiers under his
command, who were In the habit of march
ling under his orders, who loved him for his
bravery, who loved him for the many tri-
round the body of the dead hero-their
drums are muffled, they trail arms, and |
dark gloom and melancholy pervades the
whole camp.
So with the Catholics of Monroe to- day.
We have lost our commander. He has
Ifallen in the thickest of the battle, where
spestilence moro powerful and certain than
powder and ball was Staying his fellow
man by the hundreds, where soldier after
soldier of the cross had fallen before him.
His dead body lies before us. We hear the
Hequiem of the dead we stand round his
grave sorrow fills our hearts; we loved
EiEn for his great worth and usefulness; we
1eved him for his learning and piety
we loved him for the brave manner in
Hhich he led us in the good fight; we
loved him for the interest he always took in
Gur welfare, both spiritual and temporal
Tor the good he accomplished in this COM
snunity we loved him for the reason that
he baptized our children and taught them
their catechism-for the reason that he
built up Catholic community from a very
small beginning, until it now mum bers. hun
dreds of the citizens of Monroe. {
] 1t would be an endless task for me to un-
dertake to enumerate the many reasons !
why the Catholics of Monroe loved Father l
Gergaud, and deplore and mourn his loss. |
We are unable to look around us without
within the last eighteen years. 4
The first settlement of this country was '
by Catholics, from the Catholic countries 6
81 France and Spain. In the latter part of {
last and the first part of this century, the '
Church sent her priests into this country 7
Then wilderness to administer her rites to t
The people, who were sparsely settled on i
the banks of the Ouachita. From the pur- 6
ohase of Louisiana from France, in the '
year 1903, to 1e55-the year Father Ger i
gaud arrived in Monroe-the missions i
we're neglected. The Church withdrew her f
from this territory when the t
allegiance of its people was transferred by I
Napoleon to the United States. t
During the half century that passed from Il
Ihe year 1903 to 1855, no trace of Catho- tt
10 priest can be found in this part of the e
state-except in one solitary instance, of a h
Tisit of the celebrated Father Timon, tt
lfterwads Bishop of Buffalo, who baptized t!
pine of the inhabitants now living on the II
1nachita river. During that long period q
y time, it is nothing but natural to sup d
.ose that the fires of Catholicism fret "
Iindled here by the French missionaries b
I'D died out. Only few of the old Creole N
aGnilies retained tho seeds of the faith of
aeir fathers-others had lost it, never G
lore to return to it-when Father Gergaud Il
anded in Monroe. But from these few Il
eeds he went to work to plant field, that OF
las brought forth abundance of fruit. Now, in