The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-04-01
lernlng Star and Catholic MESSENGER
4 MEw ORLEANS. SUNDAY APRIL s.T


Il Nlnall church could no longer contsin them
a Tho work was commenced Septem Der god, ap'
3&nmpleted November God, on which day it W q
Blessed by the Most Rev. Archbishop Blanc.
From the time of his arrival Father Duf!
AhoWed himself Nm indefatigable lAborer In th
vineyard Of the Lord. He was ever ready Il
perform ell the duties assigned 10 him, ever
preaching here and there iD the German Ian
Guage. The more he had to do. the moro con
Densed be was. This soon gained for him th'
nnivefsal affection of the people. Still he wa
not then rs popular as Father McGrane, wh'
had been here much longer, and who was "a
more eloquent ~ q preacher.
One thing struck Father Doffy very forcibl,
Dome time after his arrival. Every Sunday. a
every AAss, the church was filled TO overflow
ang, or, as was often remarked at that time, II
was full on side and inside, g., there were oil
1suy persons remaining outside who could NOT
ret In, as there were inside during divine
service.
Now. among all this crowd, there were
soarcely any children. Father Duffy frat ask ed
hiDseif: "Are these all the children belonging
70 90 large q congregation 7" No, it could not
be possible. Besdes, what numbers of child
rem he met in she streets who salnted him, aud
whose faces and language clearly showed they
wore Of Irish parentaRe. Where were all these
children on Sundaysi Why did they not come
60 Mass These questions presented themselves
TO the mind of Father Duffy. Over one hmm
dred of these children mad. their First Com
mnniou in 1852 and yet scarcely one OF them
previous to AT time attended Mass on Sundays
The cause of this sad state of affairs was the
want of n CAtholio parochial school for st. Al
phonsus' congregation. Several attempts had
been made to establish such an institution,
but owing TO the difficulty of obtaining con-
petent teachers, "a suitable location, aud many
other ob,tacl les, the II Jrts made bad not IL et
With much success or encouragement. What
panied the heart of Father Duffy most was the
fact that these Catholic children wero sent -
the public schools. He remem hered most Wv
Idly the days bs had .prnt in the pnblic
NOlOOlH. -
exposed of remaining Ignorant of the affairs of
his sOnl. He dreaded the effect the sarne dan
gers would produce on children, most of whom
dld not possess the advantage of baVlog GOOD,
pious, exem piary and well instructed parents,
as he had possessed. He saw how we'll the
Germans Were progressing with their psrochlal
school; how punctuslty the children assisted
ut Mass and how we'll they were iustructe ed i'll
their catecb ism. He saw that to succeed with
q school in st. Alphonsns' congregation it WAS
necessary to established q well organized one.
To do this q decent SCHOOL house must be
built, and q corps of excellent aud competent
teachers engaged. 10 such an Important affair
Father Dnfty was not the man to be deferred
by any obstacle. He had great deal of diff
Guilty in obtaining permission from bis supe-
fiors. They saw the necessity for tie school
- well rs he did, but they were deferred by
the i'll success of all the previous attempts to
establish good and permanent school they
considered, 1t very imprudent to entail any
large expense for what might prove to be an
other failure, when they could scarcely raise
sufficient means to pay current expenses and
begin to get out of debt. Bot Father Dolly had
faith he felt that If the school were properly
started, 1t would prove success; hence he
used every argument aud entreaty III his power,
even gong far rs to go on his knees to
Father Bernard, the Provincial, who bad como
TO New Orleans in October, 1852 Father DuHy
did not leave his position until inc had obtained
the permission he sought. 1t may here be
stated for the editicatlon of ALL that Father
Duffy was in the habit of getting on his knees
nt,,i LII
fore his SUPERIOR, " hen he fnuud 1t d, f1icut to
obtain their consent TO what he thought neces-
cary or advantageous for promoting the glory
OF God, his own sGnctlicatioD, or the sanctlh'
cation OF bis ncigbbor. At such times accuId j.
ing to the esiipony Of one who had long been
his superior, Father DuGy's prayers were IRE
sistible.
The work be 80 ardently desired was about
to commences. Now at length he could preach
from his heart. lie called ON the congregation
TO come forward and assst him in this abso-
lutely necessary work. Uotil then he had
been q solid and practical, but dry and mouoto-
nous, preacher. His sermons were substautisl
bat were delivered like lesson learned by
heart. But the school question transformed
him Into u real orator; mis- mouth spoke then
ont OF the abundance of his heart; the very
sound of his voice was 90 ficient TO move, to
convince the hearts of all who heard him. He
not only undertook to preach, but he also as
sumed the disc agreeable task of collecting TOR
the erection of the school.
We may here remark that as long he
manned in New Orleans, on him devolved the
duty of making all the collections necessary.
To the honor of st. Alphousus' congregation,
Father Duffy everyw where met with such suc.
cess on his collecting tour, that no felt prond
of their generosity. The foundations of ST
AlphOnsrs' school were commenced December
Ssh, 1852; the ohrner-stone was laid on the
18th of the came month, and the building com.
pleted June 10Th, 1853
We have now reached an epoch when Faith al
Duffy had ample opportunities of testifyiug TIL,
extent of his Z-aI aud ch"rtty-the yellow
fever epidemio of 1858 OF IL Father Duff,
wrote as 70 lows: TOTS year (1s53) the yellow
fever ragged as n most fearful epidemic. l
commenced in the month of May and continued
toiucTesBe in ruenoe until August, when for
time the number of deaths daily exceeEed tw,
hundred. The fathers we're Constuntly OF
sick calls both by day aud night; sometime
there were as many asseVcnty sick calls daily
The epidemic did not i sappoar IN til the latte
part of September. The total number " no FOL
victims to the yellow fever exceeded ten thou
sand. The yellow fever attacked Father Su
perior Massuu on the . h OF Jdlv FAthe
KlabolZ, on the 19sh; Father Duffy, on tn
25th, aud Bro SerRphicus on the % ii. Augus
18th, Father Superior had relapse. DARN
the Illness of tho other three fathers, he alou
had oil the sick calls to attend 10, hence u
second attack. which nearly proved fatal