St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-06
Am ORDINATION.
Five ssLevites', Hmducfea Into tn,
Priesthood at Merriam Park.

Five ssLevites'' Imducted Into the
Priesthood at Merriam Park.
To the Editor of the Globe:
Yesterday was one of great joy to the fac
ulty the seminarians and the classical stu
dents of St. Thomas seminary, Merriam
Park, the first seminary of the Northwest.
The occasion was the ordination of five
''lev1tes," who, speaking after the old Gus
tom. went up to the temple to be elevated
to the full in the sacred office. 1t was, of
course, the first ordination held at st.
Thomas, for st. Thomas has been open but
few months, and SO the priests of the do
ceSe were much concerned in it. and as
many as could be accommodated in the
building were invited to witness the solemn
ceremony. The rector expressed re-
greet that all the priests in the diocese were
not present, but when it is understood that
there are in the diocese of Bishop Ireland
ITO priests. and that on these
occasions great Difference is paid to the
families of the new priests, 1t will be under
stood that a comparatively small establish
ment like ST. Thomas could not with salts
faction to the guests accommodate all the
priests and the parents of the boys. For
me-" says the reverend rector, Il can only
say that we need new buildings; there is
not room for another boy here, and l have
applications from thirty new boys, OF from
their parents, for next year, but you must
ask his lordship at the head of the table
when we are to have the new buildings"
Bishop Ireland has Mr. Cleveland, the pro-
fessional landscape gardener. at work max
ing full plat OF map OF the estate, and
he will show general plan
of improvement and suitable development,
so that in the near future the grounds sur
rounding St. Thomas will be probably the
finest for college and school purposes in the
Northwest. Let me remark that gentle
man of st. Paul, who came at one time near
being the owner of the estate, says that for
wood and water and good land there is not
a property in Minnesota that can compare
with this.
THE ORDINATION.
But to the services of the day. The
'levites," which is the ecclesiastical title
of the five young men, not very young
either (for the church never hurreS ordina-
tons, much as priests are needed) who
were ordained were Robert Hughes,
Illidius Lanzon, Patrick McTeague of ST.
Marys parish, st. Paul; Thomas Gibbons,
De Graft, Mimi, and Dennis O'Kutfe, Da-
kota county.
The ceremony was performed by the Rt.
Rev. Bishop Ireland, assisted by the very
reverend and venerable and highly esteemed
Father RavOuX, who has for so many years
labored for Catholicity in the upper Mis-
sissppi and who experienced more of
Catholic struggles than any priest
in Minnesota The Rev. l. [.
Conway, Rev. Father Jeram and Rev.
Father Heffron, all of the faculty of st.
Thomas, were respectively deacon and sub
deacon and master of ceremonies, and the
smoothness of them showed the reverend
gentlemen to be no novices in church cere-
monials. The following reverend rectors
were present:
Stanley, the cathedral of st. Paul; McGol-
rick, Minneapolis; Slevin, Shieldsville; Daily
of the Dominican order, whose white habit re-
minded people of poor Father Tom Burk, Cal
let; Stariha, Reilly, Gallagher, GEMS, Byrnes,
Keane, O'Brien, all of st. Paul; Keul, As
sumption; Raleigh, Hastings; Duane, Maple
ton; McDavitt, Litchfield; Kennedy, Mime
apols; Guilotte, Waverly; Koering, New
Trier; Nongaret, Minneapolis; Dagnauet,
East Minneapolis; Rynda, Delano; ITCHY,
New Prague; Prior, Mankato.
After the ceremony, which was long and
solemn, and was witnessed by the parents
and friends of what we must now call the
reverend fathers, the gentlemen meandered
here and there over the grounds; the bishop
found time to have pleasant banter with the
boys, whose fine. ruddy cheeks showed that
they are well cared for. Then a substantial
dinner was served to the assemblage.
The young priests will now have an OPP
poftunity to visit their homes; those whose
parents live in Minnesota will proceed to
the church of the parish in which their
parents reside, and their first mass will be
in that church next Sunday. Gener-
ally that is an occasion of great con-
Germ to the family of the young priest
Usually priest manages to have youth or
two brought up in the direction of the priest
hood. 1t happens sometimes that boy
does not show clearly enough that he has
calling, vocation" and without otfenSe
the young man is told by his spiritual direc-
tor to go into the world and take up pro-
fessiOn. But the priests who direct boys to
the priesthood are looked up to in after life
as the spiritual father of the protege, and
in that priests church, which is also that
of his parents, the young man wants
to say his first mass. After that the young
priests get a few weeks vacation and then
they ara assigned here or there to assist the
older priests, and in year or two, or three,
perhaps. they get parishes of their own.
Rev. Father Jeram, procurator"-i. e.
he provides everything-of ST. Thomas,
was not remiss in anything that contributed
to the comfort of the guests; they found
conveyance from the depot to the seminary
and back, and when the strangers offered
to pay the driver he replied that he was in
structed by the procurator not to take
money from the guests. Evidently the
Rev. Rector O'Gorman has the whole estab-
lishment in fine order; there was comfort
and satisfaction on every hand.
The strangers departed, having received
the Bishops blessing and that of the new
priests. They in return left good wishes
for St. Thomas, its reverend rector and
faculty, and its army OF twentynine SEM
inarians and forty classical students.
S. j. AHERN.
st. Paul. Nov. 6.