The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-02-14
A VERY SAD ANNIVERSARY,
Bishop Fitzpatrick, the Eminent Boston
Pselate, Died Twenty-Five
Years Ago.
HIS KINDNESS TO YOUNG MEN

HIS KINDNESS TO YOUNG MEN
In One Sense 1t May be Said That dc
| Was the First Genuine Boston
Bishop.
Twenty five years ago the coming
month the present revered and beloved
archbishop of this city was consecrated
the fourth ordinary of the Boston do
cese in the old st. James church, on
Albany street, by the late Cardinal
McCloskeY, then the metropolitan OF
New York. Twenty Eve years ago the
present month-or, to be more exact. a
quarter of q century ago come Friday OF
next week.-Mrs. immediate predecessor
in the diocese, Right Rev. John B.
Fitzpatrick. coadjutor to whom, with
the right of succession. the Papal bulls
had nominated DR.. Williams, died at
the episcopal residence on Washington
street. of the lingering illness which
attended his last years. On each recur-
ring anniversary of his death appro-
pirate services are held in the cathedral,
for whose erection he planned, even it
he was not permitted to see the work
of construction begun, and many pleas
ant and loving memories of the good
prelate are still entertained in this city.
wherein Bishop Fitzpatrick was hon.
ored and esteemed. not alone by the
Catholic, but also by the Protestant
community.
DIR. Fitzpatrick may be said, IN one
sense, to have been the first genuine
Boston bishop. Fer. although Bishops
Cheverus and Fenwick, during their
administrations of the diocese, identified
themselves fully and unreserVediY with
the Catholic interests of the see. neither
of them was, properly speaking, a BOs-
t0nlan. France gave us DR.. Cheverus,
and Bishop Fenwlck came OF an old
Maryland family. Bishop Fitzpatrick.
on the other hand. was Boston boy;
he began the study of the classics in the
Latin school of Boston, of which instr
tuition he was always fond of talking
with those graduates OF it who applied
to him subsequently for admission into
the ranks of the ecclesiastical students
of the diocese. An admirable classical
scholar himself, he delighted to talk
with such applicants about their studies
and more than one student, i'm the
course of such conversations, discovered
sometimes to his own confusion thai
the good bishop, despite the years that
had elapsed in the meantime, had not
forgotten his Latin nor Greek pr0sody
or his acquaintance with Virgil and
Homer. The bishop always entertain
ed the warmest of friendly feelings for
young aspirants to the prlesthood; and
albeit the revenue at his disposal was
oftentimes scanty. he never hesitated
to aid. as we'll as he could, every worthy
applicant who came to him for assis
tance to prosecute his studies. He
generally had number of such pro-
teges at the Latin school. and when
thelrstudies there were finished. he sent
them to Holy Cross, or to some other
Catholic college. and thence to the
seminary, continuing his generous as
sistance all the while.
DR. Fitzpatrick's ministry began at
the old cathedral, in Franklin street.
then quite an imposing residential
street. lined on either side with those
old mansions which have all passed
away, and boasting Of its little park,
which contained some fine trees. He
also served for while as pastor of the
old ST. Mary's church on Endicott
street, following ReY. T. j, O'Flaherty
in the administration of parochial af-
fairs there, and on Sept. 3, 1843. Bishop
Fenw1ck appointed him the. first pastor
Of st. Johns church, East Cambridge.
the old stone church which was dedi-
Gated on that day. but which has since
given place, for parochial purposes, to
the magnificent Church Of the Sacred
Heart, which Rev. John O'Brien, the
present worthy pastor, has the credit Of
having erected. Prior to Father Fitz-
patrick's appointment to this church,
the Catholics of East Cambridge had to
depend principally on ST. Mary's church
in the Charlestown district, which at
that tins was under the pastoral charge
OF ksv, George j. Christie. a convert to
Catholicity. The site for the East
Cambridge church was purchased Jan.
20, 1912; the foundation of the edif1ce
was laid in the spring Of the same wear,
and the first mass was said there. the
celebrant being Father Fitzpatrick, the
9th Of the following Ostober; though it
was not until the fall Of 1913, as already
noted. that the church was dedicated
and Father Fitzpatrick appointed It's
1rst rector.
Father sFitzpatrick's pastorate at
East Cambridge was not destined TO be