The Irish standard., 1895-06-08
.FR|lAD10|| RED. nAA !
1t. Rev. Bishop Meers scfnaert, tiie 'E|Is'5A;
Vicar Apostolic Of the I'M .1I..
.. dia,, Territory {. ...I.
His Remarkable Work An1o7g the
cl,erokees and serninoles's. ';. (
for Many Years. i.555 .#5sS{ 4
His Active Life in tbs unitess
states Has Beer Productive 9. "a
of Great Good. 15..@3

States HaS beeH FIosaASlss's'si - E$.
of Great GOOD. :. Ii
ss5 S6S '.-..------- Ssf
The work OF the Catholic Church az " q
civiIizer and Christianizer is aptty H II
lustrated in the vicariate Of the lndiah
Territory. I. While the number ct Indians
within it's ecclesiastical lines may a'os
be as large as some others, aad While LIS
work may be no greater, II is tvpieai oH
the good that is being done IN chAs paa-
ficular field. Although the missionaries.
of the church have labored i'll this To-
cality for many years, it was not 'l1aeh
May IA, 1876, that the territory was en-
trusted to the French BenedsoDaiie ii
Fathers. Their: principa mon asSsfy
was, in the diocese OF Sens. France, and
from thence many jealous priests came
to devote their future lives In che me-"
and comparatively unworked. tefpatesS.
1t was enacted into a ylcarlaSs a!,es~
tol;c by brief of May 20, 1891, and eezsa-
nrises now the Indian Territory aua
Oklahoma Territory.
The new vicariate YVES extremely ZOE
tuuate in its first vicar apostolic, sf1e
I Right Rev. Theophile MeerschaeSt ~.
r.. Even the jealous little bano OK
PRIESTS that have labored by LIS saae
since the day Of his appointment caEnes
begin to measure the good that ne has
ACCOMPLISHED. But it is safe co pi'stlliiss
that his carer OF usefulness has Only
fairly begun. His past life Is fa+f
e,,arantae Of his future devotion fo Gaty"
alshop Meerschaert, like 50 MANY
Of his fellow missionary bshcps, was
born on the other side OF the A1iaHasS.
He first saw the light al da IN fSnsss:'l gu
iez,s near Reniex Flanders, beiglu1h, or
the 24th OF August, 1947 He 'exhibtta6
traits of brightness in his chlssts1oou
days, and when but IL years OF age was
entered as q. student in the college oE
Rer1aix, remaining there until he Was II
years of age. From there he was sent
to the college at Andenardes. -Four
years were spent in this institution, ard
in 1868 he was transferred to the Amer
ican. college of IIouvain. He remained
there until 1872, being in the meantime
solemn!y ordained to the priesthood in
Malines on Dec %, 1871. He had start
cd out with the intention OF becoming
missionary priest, hence, when he fels
that he was fully equipped for the i'm
portant task, he left Belgium for the
United States on Sept. 26, 1872.
On arriveing in this country the fu-
ture bishop departed for the South, where
he enlisted for the missions OF Natchsz,
Miss. Here he labored successfully Tor
about two years, the particular field OF
his operations being the missions Of Jor@
dan. River, Wolf River and Pearl River
From these missions he was sent on Aug.
I 2s, 1874, to Ocean Springs, where ne was vas.
destined to have an exceptional ogpoor--.. otr 4.
!ttunity Of showing the courage and fort1r@ rr 4
tude that was in him. a year after ne
had reached his mission the dreaded.
yellow fever broke out at Ocean Springs
I and practically depopulated that place.;
! it brought disnay to many, but not to
Father Meerschaert. When he was orr
dained he had given himself entirely 10
| the priest hood there was no family 70
| look after and no material inter ests az.
stake, and he was in the position that
every true priest finds himself in sllch an
enlerg rgency, ready to THROW his undiy ided}
heart and soul into the work before
him. His isympathtes had ever bearstna, n
unison with the poor land afflicted, aildS f1s
never more 60 than at this trying times
Day and night he attended to the spirit
luaI and temporal wants OF the yellow;
fever sufferers He did this, too, With
out distinction Of color or creed and with
a gentleness that endeaTed him TO Inc
afflicted people. I'll II would be dificnlt t0
adequately picture the herOism OF
exhibited by the good priest during this
crisis. But to him and to- his Jealous
| colleagues the occasion was not locked
upon ais extraOr dinary. An emergereys
| had affsen end they felt that they srt3s
simply there to meet 1t. Father leSfsssS
schaert was fearless, attending be- stskSI
without thought 8 of the conseq qtencss
| Of this sort had Its natural effect ,laef
1 morning hASwas himself stricken
with the disease. A naturally skr roflx
const tuition brought him through $All aAll
fright, and eager TO be about, he Was;
j soon at; che ahedstdeS OF his fellow sNfs5
/ ferers again. On the last Sunday Of SOc-
/ tober. while singing High Mass, ne sui
4 fered 10 relapse and for more than 5SSa
week life hung by al slender thread. .sS vi But
HE was to oSbe preBerYed tor greater EWorkls
IN ot Ter fields. seven days g srsS
Ipassed.a s as sooia az he wass able tns ~ mn
Ihe atteuded once. NOR the sick pf
4 own missions and alseSof PascagO OnlA
lBiloxi talinE & the places there of h
i that had been 81 iatrfcken down
tfeYer while ginsl the per fOr1nAnge Sok athe1FE