The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-07-05
AN ITALIAN CHURCH.
A HOUSE or WORSHIP CALLED
"cH0RcH 6F The RAGplckERs.n

- 80 sssO &~efAces kAacC "a tne kAhuO IN
New York and Probably In the Coun-
try-There s ons and Daughters of Italy
Combine Religion and Business.
Not many New Workers have ever
heard of the 1'Church of the Ragpick,
ers." In the Aeighborhood of Roosevelt
street, where it is located, this is the
familiar name of the Roman Catholic
church of st. Joachim, Of which Father
Vincini is the pastor. The members are
Italians exclu siyely, inhabitants of the
densely populated district roundabout,
and rs some Of them are ragpickers and
have rented the lower half of the church
for the storage of their goods the nick
name which hesignates the. church as
the peculiar place of worship of this
class came intp use.
Years ago. when Roosevelt street was
not so sQualid and as OVERLOOKING with
human beings as it is today, this church
belonged to u Methodist Episcopal con-
gregation. There were merchants, solid
men of down town New York, living
there, and the neighborhood was emf
nently respectable.
Now the chu rch stands with cheap
lodging house pm one side and typical
slum grocery store on the other. A nest
Of tough salob pms are near by, up and
down the street. Organized in 1888, the
Italian population thereabouts grew so
rapidly within a radius of mile that
the church has now one of the largest
congregations In the city.
The building is of brick and is dingy
and dirty. 1t Is only by standing across
the street that you can see q small cross
ON the roof. the only thing about the
edifice that sug gests its religious charac-
ter. Looking iil on the first floor, you will
witness a curious spectacle. The whole
depth and breadth of the floor is filled
with rags. Rags loose, rags in piles and
rags in bales ready for shipping are all
about. Big cranes and chains for hoist
ing purposes run here and there. Half
buried in these piles Of rags are men,
women and children-the men and wOm-
en- busy asserting rags and the fat, brown
youngsters tui milling about in play or
sleeping, as the case may be.
1t is the biggest ragshop in this city.
1t is wholesale and retail in the sense
that here the individual ragpickersI of
the town dispose of their wares, which
are assorted an d baled and sold for man.
ufacturing purposes. The pastor of ST.
Joachim's rents this lower floor to the
company that conducts this rag business
at good rental, and indeed We're it not
for that the mi sion would suffer.
Italians are v cry practical about their
religion, when they care for it at all, and
they are very S low at contributing to the
support of the church and expect good
deal of religion for a very little money.
The church proper is on the floor over
the ragshop. an d this in itself gives an
odd character, 10 the services at times.
On weekdays the men are at work in the
basement when services are going on up
stairs, and one can plainly hear them
joining in the r .sponses and chants dur
ing the celebration of the mass. While
a reporter was there the other day one
Of the ragpickef Is in the basement sang
hymn to the Virgin while the services
We're going on, and his voice was of rare
sweetness and purity.
At certain ND urs of the day laborers
will come in. SCI their picks and shovels
in corner, and then join in the devo-
tions. The pc nut vendors and fruit
stand keepers in the neighborhoOd al
ways attend the services for at least
few minutes each day. Bootblacks wan
der in with boxes on their backs and say
a few brief prayers, and the Italian pop
ulatiOn generally comes and goes.
Six masses are said in st. JOachim's
church every Sunday, and from 200
to 800 persons attend every mass, SO
that some 5000 or more people wor
ship in the little church every week.
Father Morrill,. who established this
mission, and who conducted it for
years, has been sent to New England
to organize Italian churches there.
His place has been taken by younger
priest, Father v incini. The position of
parish priest of st. Joachim's is that of
patriarch. Not only does he marry his
parishiOne-s, baptize their children and
bury their dead, but is their constant
adviser in other matters. He settles
their disputes of all sorts, from business
differences to LOVERS quarrels.
One trouble the priest has to contend
with is the manner in which his charges
get married. Ginning from Italy, where
civil marriages are the proper thing, the
Italians believe that the same laws OBJ
tain here. As a result the Italian quar-
ter is filled with professional marriage
brokers and natchmakers.
They bring couples together for fee,
then steer them to the city hall, where
two men have for years done steady
business securing aldermen to marry
couples, in getting certificates for them
and arranging all the details of city hall
weddings. Fath Ter Vincini tries to i'm
press upoa his people that he will marry
them for nothing at all, but they still
flock to the city hall. Some of them buy
pictures of the building and send them
TO Italy so that their friends may see the
palace in which they were married.
New York World.
fhC hlinAh MArtlRE