The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-10-07
SILVER JUBILEE.
Rev. Father G. A. VerIet, Of MasslllOn
Highly hOnored,
UDon the Completion of His Twenty-Fiiti
Years Service In the Catholic
Observation-Disclosures by
Otto E. Young.

fed Thursday In the granu ceAepEAVtOu
of the tWenty-fifth anniversary OF tne
ordination of the Rev. Il. A. Verlet 70 tne
nriesthood, Never was Silver Jubilee
entered into with greater zest or more
zeal than that which characterized tnls
Occasion, Rev. VeTlet's brother priests,
members of his congregation ana also
his numerous friends wed with one an
other In showing him honor sld lespeGt'
Numerous were the preparations ma9e
for the eyentfuI day, and many were the
nIeasant surprises which proved now
strong hold has the pastor on tne aIec'
tiOns of his people. u, .Lo L
In neat dark suits, the little glrlS IN
white dresses with WTeaths In their
hair and all carrying bouquets OF now.
ars gathered at the church In the morn
inc and marched by twOs to the resi-
de1ce of the pastor, where they sang
HYMN of greeting, after which the pas,
for was presented with DeautlIql
bononet Of flowers by Master Aloert D.
Roerner accompanied by neat presen-
tation address. Then the priests, pre-
ceded by the children, marched In
soiemn procession to the church, where
SoIsmn hi0h mass was celebrated. Fol-
Iowin0 we're the participants In the
mass: Rev. G. A. Verlet, cele6rSnt, heV. T.
Ankley, deacon; Rev. U. Seltzer. suD.
deacon; Rev. F. Metternlch, maSter Oh
ceremonies.
Excellent music was furnished by
Prof. Baer's orchestra, IN c0nnectlOn
with st. JOseph's choir. An interesting
sermon was delivered by Rev. +. T:
Thorpe of Cleveland. At the close OF
the services, the priests, again headed
by the children, proceeded to the rect0ry
and the little folks dispersed after sing.
ing another song. Rev, Verlet was then
conducted into room which had been
completely furnished to the minuteSt
detail as a present to the pastor by the
Rosary society, scholars and teachers.
After being taken into the room ne
was presented by Rev. Ankly, on behalf
of his brother priests, with complete
solid silver tea set and $35 in g0lf.
Dinner was then served. Following is
a list of the ministers present on that
occasion; Cleveland di0Cese-Right
Rev, MonseignOr BOff, V. g.. R9Verends
Thorp, Brown, HOuck, Metternick, Self
zer, Ankly, Vattmann, Horseman, Baker,
Girard, Kirsch, Hahn, Mcclure, Kuhn,
Sinner, HOffeT, FTisbee, Francke, Iheln,
Egler, Tracy, Murphy, DOty, Sproll Ar
mold, AphO!iz. Columbus sdiocese-Blsh
op Lane, ReVerends Harmon, Mulhane,
Campbell; Miseman and Father Antoine,
of Texas.
After dinner large cOncourse OF peo-
ple composed of members of the con-
9regstiOn and friends met at the church
and moved In a body to the rectOry
lawn. where formal presentation OF
purse containing 5000 and numerous
other gifts was made on behalf OF mem
bers Of the congregation and friends,
by Otto E. Young, Esq, OF MassllloD, III
the following address:
MIR. YOUNG'S ADDRESS.
Rev. FATHER VERLET;-We have as
sembied here to-day to celebrate the
tWenty-fifth anniversary OF your ord1na-
tion to the priesthood of the Roman
Catholic church.
The members of st. JOseDh's Catholic
church, your neighbOrs and citizens Of
Massillon, come here to day to congrat-
ulate you on this ausplciOus occasion.
Twenty five years ago you celebrated
your first mass in the little stone church,
then located In the northern part Of
MassillOn, now replaced by that grand
edihce of st. MaTy's congregation which
Is an honor to the church and pride to
the city. NJ! eAsss
Two years later you assumed charge,
as pastor, of st. JOseph's church OF this
city, and ever since you have faithfully,
ably and diligently administered Its
affairs
Massillon was then a village and st.
JosDh's church was then In Its infancy,
and up to that time had many reverses
but by your industry and ability this
congregation grew In proportion, as this
village advanced to the large and beau
tiful city which 1t now is.
The influence Of your church and your
unceasing efforts, as Its pastor, have had
a wholesome effect In advancing the
morals of this community and In pro
ducing the happiness of the people.
In the first nine or ten years Of your
psstOrate of this church, In addition to
its manifold lsbors, you had charge OF
the Catholic church at West BroOkfield,
until II became necessary for that con-
RregatiOn to have pastor Of it's own.
As pastor of st. Joseph's congregation
at MassillOn you have baptized ten hun
dred and twenty two children, you have
administered the first commun on to five
hundred souls, all of whom were con-
6rmed by the Bishop, under your direc.
tion and you haye united In matFim0ny
three hundred and fourteen persons.
Just across this beautiful valley, In the
cemetery. on consecrated ground, you
have performed the sad and painful
duty Of laying TO rest one hundred and
. seVenty.nine persons. Many OF these
had grown old and silver haired In the
church and others were In the prime of
life, but all are now forever separated
on earth from loving ties which unite q
pastor to the members Of his Congrega.
tiOn.
You see before you here many whOy0u
baptized In early childhood, afterward
administered to them their first COM
munion, educated and confined under
your supervision, and they are now
Christian men and women, ornaments
to society, loving and lasting evidences
of your great work as pastor.
You have superintended the schools;
you have managed the finances; you
have gone to the sick and dying, by day
and by night, no matter how contagious
the disease may have been; you have
been charitable to the poor and advised
and protected the weak. Day by day
you have responded to the pesls Of that
bell In the church steeple yonder, pre-
sented years ago to the congregation by
that venerable old gentleman, Christian
Witt. 4q
Yau have braveIy encountered many
obstacles and performed the ardu0us
and trying lab0rs Of priest 80 cheer
fully and 90 kindly that the same will
always be remembered.
We come to bear testimony that the
trusts confided In you, and which you
accepted In early manhood. have been