Evening journal., 1897-11-20


REMODELED CHURCH - SER
VICE OPENS WITH FOUR HOURS
DEVOTION.
When the parishioners Of st. P2ul's
r. c. Church assemble tomorrow TO
worship in their remodeled edihce they
Will scarcely recognize the Old place
The church has been vastly improved
az an outlay OF $4,000, and The i'm
Wovements make it one CT the largest
aEdhandsOnl5s Of eCa,holc churches
in Wilmington. The ceremonies attend
ing the recpening of the church will
abound in grandeur and pomp, and the
music will be a special feature.
AprOpOs cf the opening and the re-
dedication the service Of four hours de-
vctlcn will begin. The finishing touches
were made to-day, when the decorators
put the palms and altar decorations in
place.
Bishop Monaghan Will be the cele-
brant Cf the mass He will be assist
cd by Fathers FallOn, Quigley, Hugo,
GOltz, Flynn and Sice. Rev. ID. j. FLYNN,
d. d., win be the preacher Admission
to the church is by ticket only.
The ushers have been selected from
/ the members of these societies: A. o.
H.. Brownson Library, Reilly Lyceum
and the clerks from e. II. Brennan's.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
A Journal man called on Father Fal-
! lon last night and found him suffering
from headache, earache and an ulcer
ated sore throat, with la grippe within
touching distance. He said he knew
nothing new about St. Paul's Church,
and what was known is now ancient
| hiLtory-though some versions of that
history, he said, quoting Bobby Burns,
Are lies frae end to end He was evil
IDENTIFY not in it for reporters, but said
in passing:
"St. Paul's congregation has been
worshiping since August in the base
ment of the church Last Sunday, at
the noon-day service, / announced that
the church would be reopened Sunday
| at 1890 o'clock, Bishop Monaghan
would sing the pontifical mass and Rev.
! DR.. ID. j. Flynn would preach the ser
mon in the morning and Rev. Father
Hughes in the evening. l will now give
a few of the salient points in the his
tory of the church:
"On December 2l, 1869, the church
was dedicated and opened for divine
service at 1890 o'clock by Rt Rev. DR.
Becker, Delaware's first bishop, but
now bishop of Savannah: Father Plum
kett. of Portsmouth; Father Daley and
others Bishop Becker sang the pontih.
cal mass and preached the sermon, TAX
ing as his text the eighth chapter, tn,
Third Kings, verses % to SO. AT the af
ternoOn service the bishop agair
preached and publicly appointed me tC
take charge of the temporal, financia
and spiritual affairs of the parish
which was then bounded by Marke
street on the East and Fourth street OF
the North. The open of the angl,
r was left indefinite. The disappoint
ment at the appointment has long sine,
shot from the wheel of time and can
not be of any interest to you or you
readers. A process of formulation be
gan and a study of the social. mental
aesthetic, moral and financial surround
ings or environments / began immedi
, ately.
j "The wide farm of Aaron Conrad wal
: cut up into building lots and Catholics
Of small means began to build humbl,
! dwellings and clustered around the new
church. because of the facilities it af
forded for Catholic Christian education
The Catholic is a great stickler for tn
healthy education of his children ant
will move to a strange place to get it
A very fine choir was Immediately or
ganized; musical and dramatic societie
began to please and instruct the publ
and in an astOnishingly short time tn
Thespian and Cecelian clubs and Cate
chetical classes had made Fourth an
Jackson streets the most attractive spo
: in Wilmington west of Market street.
- "The building committee had mad
q no financial statement, but enc year af
4 ter the opening Cf the church sent in
bill for $4,000. Twenty-one thOusan
q / of This sum was paid in seven year
OS17l Meanwhile The big Tange,u
bell came. which cost 81 AGO. 1t wa
paid for by the musical ami dramati
" clubs. This was in 1873 during tn
> terrible smallpox epidemic In 1875 tn
famous Roman artist Ccs.ag.ni frescOe
the church. That cost 81. GOO. Some {
,r his great work still remlins on 5he cei
/ ing. viz: THE Conversion Of Saul {
y Tarsus.' This work was paid for by
bazaar in the Institute Hall (n0w ga
Free LibIary), and the musical an
dramatic entertainments cf the youn
peoples clubs. The tail spire was bui
by BOcRmann, OF Dover at cost
- $4,000 This was also paid fer by TIA
Children's and young peoples entertain
ments. In August, 1880, / was sent b
l Bishop Becker to build 81. Patrick
ChuaCh, at Fifteenth and King street
which cost S16,771. That was paid j
four ytals. On September 8, 1885,
was sent to take charge of St Mary
Church, made vacant by the death ,
the veneratci Very Rev Fa'hsr Real
On March 20. 1887. ] was suddenly SCI
! back to take charge of this pace b
Bishop Curtis. Upon assuming chars
u found a debt here Of $4,000, made u
l. of mortgages, unpaid bonds, steal
heating, etc. Defective drainage' in tn
> basement floor. and a threat Of 5yphOl
epidemic made The building Cf On
school-hnuse. at Fourth and Va
re Buren streets an absolute necess
IN The cost CT building the school W,
.lr C1Q 00O buf nm a 1afp il has rref wifi