The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-07-15
AN ITALIAN CHURCH il il !, {,
A HOUSE OF WORSHIP cALLEc
"cHuRcH OF THE RAGPIcKERs."

Ahere sons and Daughters of Ital,
Combine Religion and Business.
Not many New Workers. have owe,
heard OF the Church of the Ragpicls
ers." In the neighborhood of Roosevelt,
etreet, where it is located, this is tn,
Iamlilar name of the Roman Catholic
church OF st. Joachim, of which Fathe,
vlncini is the pastor. The members ar.
Italians exclusively, inhabitants Of thu
densely populated district roundabout
and as some of them are ragpickers anc
nave rented the lower half of the church
Tor the storage of their goods the nick
name which designates the church o.
the peculiar place of worship of thi
class came into use,
Years ago, when Roosevelt street wal
not so equalid and as OVERLOOKING will
human beings as it is today, this church
belonged to a Methodist Episcopal con.
gregation. There were merchants, solo
men OF down town New York, living
there, and the neighborhood was emf.
nently respectable.
Now the church stands with cheat
lodging house on one side and q typica.
Stun grocery store on the other. A nest
of tough saloons are near by, up anc
down the street. Organized in 1883, the
Italian population thereabouts grew sc
RAPIDLY within radius of q mile that
tue church has now one of tho largest
congregations III the city.
The building is of brick and is dingy
and dirty. 1t is only by standing across
the street that you can see small cross
on the roof, the only thing about the
eolhce that suggests its religious charac
ter. Looking i'll on the first floor, you will
witness curious spectacle. The whole
depth and breadth of the floor is filled
with rags. Rags loose, rags in piles and
rags i'll bales ready for shipping are all
about. Big cranes and chains for hoist
Ing purposes run here and there. Hall
buried i'll these piles of rags are men
women and childrcn-the men and WON.
Ell busy asserting rags and the fat, brown
youngsters tunbling about in play OF
sleeping, as the case may be.
liz is the biggest ragshOp in this city.
1t is wholesale and retail in the SENSE
that here the individual ragpckers, OF
the town dispose of their wares, which
are assorted and baled and sold for man.
ufacturins purposes. The pastor of st,
Joachim's rents this lower floor to the
company that conducts this rag bushes:
at good rental, and indeed were it moi
for that the mission would suffer.
Italians are very practical about Their
religion, when they care for it mt all, and
they are very slow ut contributing to the
support of the church and expect n GOOD
deal of religion for Il very little money.
The church proper is on the floor oveI
the ragshop, and this in itself gives al
odd character to the services at times
On weekdays the men are at work in the
basement when services are going on mr.
STAIRS, and one can plainly hear them
joining Ill the responses and chants dur.
ing the celebration of the mass While
q reporter was there the other day one
OF the ragpickers in the basement sang 4
hymn to the Virgin while the service.
were going on, and his voice was of rare
sweetness and purity.
at certain hours of the day laborcrs
will come i'll. set their picks and shovels
in corner, and then join in the devo.
tions. The peanut vendors and fruit
stand keepers in the neighborhood al
ways attend the services for at least
~" iiiHbtNo tatOil OttJ DOOlDldCKS WtlI
der III With boxes on their backs and say
few brief prayers, and the Italian pop.
ulation generally comes and goes.
Six masses are said in st. Joachims
church every Sunday, and from 1900
to 300 persons attend every mass. 81
that some 5000 or moro people wor
ship in the little church every week.
Father Morrill,, who established this
mission, and who conducted it fo,
years, has been sent to New England
to organize Italian churches there.
His place has been taken by younger
priest, Father Vincini The position OF
parish priest of st. Joachims is that of q
patriarch. Not only does he marry his
parishioners, 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. Coming from Italy, where
civil marriages are the proper thing, the
Italians believe that the same laws OBJ
tain here. AS result the Italian quar-.
ter is filled with professional marriage
brokers and matchmakers.
They bring couples together for a fee.
then steer them to the city hall, where
two men have for years done steady
business securing aldermen to marry
couples, i'll getting certificates for them
and arranging all the details of city hall
weddings. Father 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 60 Int thnir frio,,dr ,aa.z co, IL