Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-14
The Old Chapel and the New.

curb to curb were filled with vast throns
of people.
The Old Chapel and the New.
Almost on the southern crest of the hill
stood the plain, severe old church of Most
Holy Name. Further up the street stands the
handsome new stone chapel of St. Anthony,
where rest the relicts of half thousand
saints and whose interior decoration cost q
quarter of million of dollars.
The surging mass of humanity moved up
Troy Hill. A tenth part of the people
filled the church to overfowing, while thou
sands of others knelt on the hot, dry bricks
outside, happy that they were even so near
the sacred church and believed that even
the bricks of the pavement had saving
power. In the rear of the church cripples,
invalids and deformed people of all kinds
were carried by loving friends and relatives
and for hours they waited patiently in the
sun for the coming of the holy man. Others
waited outside in the carriages.
The first masses had been said. Father
Mollinger was still too worn out to
appear. At 10 o'clock Rev. Father
Murphy, of Holy Ghost College,
celebrated high mass, assisted by Rev.
Father Dangelger, of France. The throng
without was greater than the throng within.
He said mass at the entrance, that all
might hear. Two great trees that shade the
doorway were his altar The roses that
waved beside the chapel door mingled
their fragrance with the odors from the CEN
Ser. The choir of 100 voices chanted the
solemn service, and as the priest raised
high the crucifx, the vast multitude knelt
in the dust of the open street.-The rich and
the poor alike.
Wanted Only to Touch His Robes
At last the side door opened and the ven-
cradle Father Mollinger appeared. There
was death-iike stiffness. Even the boys
hawking lemonade were still The grand
old man pronounced a benediction and then
hundreds scrambled almost over each other
in their desire to even touch his robe The
sick and infrm that had waited
for hours bended forward that
the holy water might touch
them. In carriages, doors were thrown
open and mothers held on high their babes
that on them might fall even a drop of the
sacred moisture. The aged priest was too
i'll to bestow individual blessing and retired
to his home.
1t was not until o'clock in the afternoon
that the new chapel tc St. Anthony was
thrown open. 1t is the greatest repository
of sanity relics outside Of the
ancient monasteries and churches of Italv
They were given Father Mollinger by the
Pope in honor of his great work, and the
aged priest has expended $3.50, 900 in provid-
ing fitting shrines for these sacred relics.
The Catholic belief of virtue in the re-
mains af the saints is, mayhaps, one of the
prettiest tenets of that great church. 1t is
that these persons were holy and pure
both in mind and body. In lite they were
temples of the Almighty. In death they
are still habitations of the Holy Spirit
Gathered in this sacred chapel are relics of
all the saints and many of the martyrs
Thousands Kiss the Sacred Relic.
Outside 10000 people pressed the great
iron gates that were guarded by half
dozen sturdy policemen. In the crowd
were Detectives Steele and johnson who
were watching for pickpocketa The great
throng of humanity was sweltering with
to where the relics were kept, but
hushed and moved with bowed head. At
the entrance the pilgrims sprinkled them
selves with holy water and prayed before
the seven groups of statues representing STA
tlons in the crucifxion. Passing on up they
passed relic of St. Anthony in golden
vase. Father Meyer held it, and after each
the head of the pilgrim and pro-