The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-12-11
THE GOLDEN JUBILEE
Continued from First page.>


Gay in July, 1875, when, in this cathe-
dral, in the presence of the hierarchy OF
America, the representative of Plus IN
placed upon his shoulders the pallium,
thereby raising Milwaukee to an arch
episcopal see On that day he told us
that directly on his arrival here he Went
with a friend of his youth, Father Kundig
far from the eyes of the curious. down
along the lake shore. and there he wept
bitterly; for, he said. his heart was
breaking at the thought Of the magnt-
tude of the task before him and Of his
total lack Of means. The old St. Peters
church, his cathedral, and, If l mistake
not. his home; the people in milwaukee,
few and poor; priests to the number Of
four; the whole state of Wisconsin to be
cared for spiritually; the bishop penni-
less and without priests, yet charged
with the awful responsibility Of answer,
ing for the souls of all the Catholics
under his Jurisdiction in the $4,000
square miles of this state. No wonder
he wept. Even the Divine Master wept
in Gethsemane. But even as the Master
conquered passing human weakness,
so, to-, His disciple, John Henri, took
up his work manfully and the wor. .
knows how well he performed it.
He was truly missionary bishop.
Missionary bishops, as 1 now use the
term. are today few in this country
Would you know what missionary
bishop is? Let St. Paul define the term.
St. Paul. writing of himself, tells us
he was in journeying often in perils Of
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils
from his own nation, in perils from the
Gentiles. in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea.
in perils from false brethren, in labor
and painfulness, in much watching, in
hunger and thirst, in HASTINGS often, in
cold and nakedness, besides those things
which are without, his daily instance,
the solicitude for all the churches. Such
was for many years the life in Wisconsin
of John Martin HennI.
His first care was to provide priests,
then schools, then churches. Father
Kundig had opened Catholic school
here before the bishops arrival. It was
improved by the bishop. who also found
ed an ecclesiastical seminary in his own
humble house, and as often as other
occupations permitted, taught the young
levitcs himself The bishop did what
ever finite man could do to supply the
diocese with priests suited to the needs
of the different nationalities represent
ed here. He travelled throughout his
vast estate, on foot and on horseback.
preaching, consoling. encouraging, alb
solving, confirming, forming missions,
building churches and schools; and amid
these distracting and exhausting duties
he found time to plan, to carry into ef-
feet and to pay for the construction Of
this great cathedral. Throughout this
state, to Cuba, to Mexico and even to
funds. He succeeded; for the building
whose corner stone was blessed fifty
years ago this day was step by step
erected, and on July 81, 1858, nearly six
years after the beginning of the work.
the Jealous bishop had the happiness to
see this magnificent temple. free from
debt, consecrated forever to the worship
Of Almighty God. Truly, l know Of
nothing in the history of the Catholic
church in America to compare with this
work of Bishop Henri.
During the progress of the work on
this cathedral the diocese was growing
very rapidly. People from almost every
nation under the SUN were floclling
hither, having nothing in common ex-
priests for them was surely the bishops
first and most urgent duty. But how
find laborers for SO unpromising vine
yard? Henri himself had wept when he
saw the field Of his apostolate. Priests
are human. nor is it given to every one
of them, as it was to st. Paul, to desire
to make himself anathema for his
brethren. AS matter of fact, in those
days priests were few in the country and
the bishops In the more thickly settled
protions in the East had crying need for
all the good priests obtainable. Add to
this the fact that in the East the West
was considered as wild and savage
land, and you will begin to understand
the difficulty that confronted good
Bishop Henri. The solution of that
great difficulty was the establishment of
st. Francis Seminary, an institution of
world wide fame, from whose walls have
gone forth many of the best priests of
the West, among the alumni from this
institution being five bishops now seated
in the sanctuary. The building Of this
church was a mighty work, but mightier
far. because far more fruitful, was the
founding of the salesianum.
When Stephen, the first martyr, was
being stoned to death, he prayed for
Saul, his prosecutor. The martyrs
prayer brought conversion to Saul. Saul
converted became the apostle of the
Gentiles. and by his preaching brought
and still brings thousands of souls to
heaven. ana ever soul that goes to God
through the teaching of St. Paul adds