The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-09-09
A CATHOLIC SCHOOL.
A SOUTHERN RENEDICTINE ABB
BEY.

~ SoOlhERN IhfANED1CAANE1 IL ADJ
Established in CASTOR County, North
Carolina, under the Title of the Alb
bey ofSt. Mary of Help.
BY DIR. J. ]. o'CoNNELL.
The details of the establishment of
a Benedictine abbey and college in
North Carolina cannot fail to inter-
est your readers. especially those who
watch the progress of religion and sci-
ence in the Southern States.
This is, indeed, one of the greatest
strides made by the religious and edu
cational orders of the Church since its
organization under, Archbishop Car
rol in 1890. 1t is the renewing of the
missionary spirit of the sons of St.
Benedict, and the assertion of their
ability to plant science, virtue, and
learning in this remote region, as they
had done for Europe after the dis
memberment of the empire, when all
civilization was swept away by the in
cessant wars of northern invasion.
Remote from great centres of pop
ulation, land outside the settled currents
of immigration, the attempt seemed
destined to speedy defeat, possessing
none of the ordinary elements of sue
cess conspicuous in modern enterprise
of similar nature. Scarcely number
ing two thousand, and loft penniless
by the war, the Catholic body could
afford no trustworthy encouragement
There was only a nominal parish, and
some outside missions, running over
several counties and numbering about
100 souls, scarcely able to pay the
travelling expenses of the missionary y.
Nothing daunted, Archabbot VIM
mer, o. S. B., relying on divine aid,
with the experience of his order for
nearly fourteen centuries to direct
him, at the invitation of his Grace.
Archbishop Gibbons, d. d. at that
time, the Vicar-Apostolic, accepted
the gift of the Caldwell place, which
I had purchased after the war at a
bankrupt price, and transferred thith-
er the first colony in 1876. Its con-
tinuation since was little short of mir
aculous. A
The lay brothers, unacquainted with
our Southern system of farming were
unsuccessful in some departments of
agriculture. The number of pupils
were scarcely score annually. Near
ly all of the professors and most of
the fathers were disheartened. Their
sojourn was purely an act of obedience,
and they entertained no hope of sue
cess. Instructed by the Archabbot, the
Rev. Father Placidus Pilz 0. 5. B.,
faithfully erected a large brick build
ing, now filled to its utmost capa city.
In 1884 the Archabbott, than whom
in our hierarchy, petitioned the Pope
to confirm the action of the chapter
creating two new abbeys, one in New
ark, the other in North Carolina.
After mature deliberation his Hol-
mess ratified the action of the chap
ter of St. Vincents, gave canonical eX-
istence, and established the abbey
Of st. Mary of Help: ad Ranctum
Marian Auxiliatricem, as the See of
Charleston.
The situation is of incalculable adj
vantage for the moral training of boys.
It is twelve miles by railroad from the
nearest town, and sufficiently remote
to save them from ali contact with the
seductions and temptations OF city life.
The healthiness of the locality is un-
surpassed, and absolutely exempt from
all malaria, with a climate mild in
summer and temperate in winter.
None has died, none has lost heal tn
from the beginning, while some, wheth-
er students or religious, who had ar
rived in despeate state of infirmity,
were speedily restored to usefulness.
The Piedmont range of the Caroli-
mas is exempt from the long and
stormy winters of Asheville and the
mountain section. The county is set
tied by the descendants of our first
colonists, who are law-abiding, sober
thrifty and moral. Longevity is the
normal condition of human life, and
the graveyard rather then the hearse
the solemn monitor of mortality.
Fresh meat and all the unadulterated
country produce can be purchased at
the door of the store-room. Milk is
milk and butter is butter; consequent
ly the boys are blooming with rude
and ruddy health.
At the election held at St. Vincent's
Abbey in 1885, the Rev. James Zil-
liox, o. S. B. was chosen for Newark,
and the Rev. Oswald Moosmuller, o.
$. B., Of Savannah, for North Caro-
lima. The latter, from motives of hui
mility declined the dignity and the
care. After some months, the Rev. Leo
Haid, O.S. B., was unanimously select
ed for this arduous mission from among
many other distinguished and learned
fathers. Raised from boyhood in the
monastery, and thoroughly imbued
with the monastic spirit, his admins
trative abilities and notable success in