St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-01-10
CATHOLIC CHURCH DEDICATED
Imposing Ceremonies Last Sunday
Description of the New Church.--Hfs-
tory of the Parish


tory of the Parish.
The new Catholic church was ded-
1cated last Sunday with imposing
ceremonies before an audience of
1900 people including many Protes-
tants. The blessing of the church
was pronounced at $50 a m, by
the pastor, Rev. ]. A. -Boissonnault,
assisted by Rev FIR. p Moroccan of
the diocese of Quebec, Rev. FIR ].
Roy, superior at SherbrOOke college,
and the Rt. Rev Bishop De Goesbri-
and of Burlington, who presided over
all the exercises. Following the
blessing came high mass at which a
rich musical program was rendered
by chorus choir with Thomas Gag
non and Mrs P A. Roach, so1oists,
and Miss Mary Provost, organist
After the ceremonies at the altar a
shorx iermon was given by the Bish-
op, first in French and then in En-
glish
The Bishop began by returning
thanks to God who had inspired the
people with a desire to build this
sanctuary. The church is God S
house offered to him by the people
and accepted by the Almighty be-
cause it is blessed and dedicated to
him by a priest, successor of the
apostles. Consequently God dwells
!, =,
You will meet here to adore your
Creator, but the alteration of men
and angels cannot honor him ade-
| quately. Christ came to this earth
and by his prayers and works render
ed perfect homage to God. But he
did more. He allowed himself to be
crucified and the death on the cross
is represented tou and continued, as
it were, on the altar of the church.
Hence this house is house of ado
ration. 1t is also the house of truth
Here your children will learn the
apostles creed and the command
ments. Here will be placed before
your eyes the examples and doctrine
of Christ. This is also the house of
grace and consolation. Here sinners
ance. Here your souls shall be fed
with the bread of life the doubtful
shall be guided by their confessor in
the tribunal of penance; those who
mourn shall be cOnsoled by Him who
said, Come to me all We who suffer
and are heavily laden, and | will
comfort you"
At the conclusion of the sermon
the offertory was taken and the
blessing offering amounted to $4OO.
The service closed with more music
of high order In the afternoon
another large audience gathered at
8 O'Clock when the service of blessing
the stations of the cross was held.
Description of the Church.
On July %, 1856, the foundations
of the new church were laid by the
contractors, Debuc & Belisle of Mon
trcal. The corner stone, the gift of
Carrick Brothers of this place, was
laid i'll the south angle of the tower
on June 1, 1887, and on July + was
blessed by the Bishop, assisted by
Rev Frs. n. Proulx of Newport, n.
Plante of Whitefeld, A. Dufresne of
Stanstead, Brelivet of Northfeld and
]. a. BoissOnnault, the parish priest.
At this service, attended by over
5000 people, Rev. FIR. Nj. Callaghan
of Montreal preached the sermon,
proving with the highest degree of
certainty and eloquence the sublimi-
ty of churches cOnsecrated to God
The building was so nearly complet-
ed upon Thanksgiving of 1888 that
a supper was given there in the
evening and the church illuminated
for the first time. The church was
dedicated and opened for public wor-
ship on January 6, 1888.
The church was built after plans
by Architect G. H. Gurnsev of Mont
pelier and cost about $37 900. 1t is
constructed of Isle La Motto lime
stone and surmountcd by a tower
1913 feet high, the highest tower in
town. The dimensions of the church
are 40 by 60 feet and the seating
capacity is 1900 The vestrv is 26
by Sc feet. The church is handsome
" finished in ash and beautifully
frescoed. The colored glass windows
are given by members of the parish
The figures in the chancel windows
are Notre Dame des victories, the pa
tron OF the church, st. Leon, patron
of the sovereign pontiff and St Louis,
patron of the Bishop. Above the
transept windows are the heads of
st. Joseph and st. Ann The figures
i'll the central windows are st. John
the Baptist, st. Patrick, ST. Mat
thew, st. Mark, st. Luke and st.
John. In all the other windows are
religious emblems. The carpenter
work was done by A. Provost of
Montreal, the plastering by Mr.
Annis of Passumpsic, the frescoing
by Mr.. Hernay of Boston and the
colored glass furnished by Mr.. Castle
of New York. The completed church
is one of the handsomest Catholic
edIfices in this section of New En-
gland.
History of the Parish.
Before the foundation of the diocese
of Burlington in 1858, st. Tohnsburv
had the privilege of only occasional
visits of Catholic missionaries from
Boston and Canada The first mis-