The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-12-11
OR FIErlETH ANNIVERSARY OF ST,
JOHNS CATIIEDRAl..
IN THE CITY Of MILWAUKEE, WIS.,
AN ELOQUENT TRlBlTE TO ARCH.
BISHOP JOHN HENNI.
BY BISHOP STANLEY, OF FARGO, n. D.
A NUMBER OF CIIuRCH DIcNITARIES
PRESENT ON THE OCCASION.

Fifty years ago last Sunday he corner
stone of st. Johns cathedral was laid by
Archbishop John llcnni, and the cathc-
dral stands today rs y monument to the
most fruitful work done in any COM
munity in the country by the CHthclic
church
. 1t WAS the commemoralion Of the ia
ccption OF this work. rs well as The lay
Ing OF the corner stone, that brought to
the cathedral Sunday morning Il ,Irong
OF people larger than the church could
hold.
Among the church dignitaries present
were Archbishop Il. y. Katzer. of Mil
wauke; Archbishop John Ireland. of
ST. Paul, Mimi: and bishops John Vcr-
tin, ID. d., Of Marquette. Mich; John
licnnGssey, ID. d.. of Wichita, Kan; John
Stanley, ID. d.. of Fargo, n d.; Joseph
Cottcr, ID. d.. of Winonu Mimi: James
McGolrlck. ID. d., of Duluth, Mimi: S.
G. Messmor, d. d., of Green Bay, Wis:
Thomas O'Gorman, ID. d., of
Sioux Falls, la; the Revs.
p. M. Albion of this city;
j. eaner, of st. Francis; II. +. Fair
banks. l.. Bushart. S j.. William Mctiill,
+. II. Durnin, H. Williams, Il. @. Ryan, A.
F. Schinner A. Hayden, S. j., George
Durnin, j. j. Ryan, F. r. Raphael.
james Kcogh, Michael Huston, David
O'flcarn. Of Milwaukee: John Nj. Naugh-
ton. of Madison. Wis: James NJ. Cleary,
OF Minneapolis, Mimi; John Morrlsscy.
OF Oshkosh, Wis; J. Sclingcr, d. d.;
j. Il. LaI3oule Richard Smith, J. J.
Ryan, N. kerstom. of st. Francis;
Thomas Flynn, of Madison, s. d.; E. J.
! Blackwell, of Fox Lake. Wis; ...onas
fagan and Stephen TrAnt. of Racine;
Charles II. Becker, S. Lcbcl, d. d.; Louis
Prcsrhog, of st. Francis and Francis
Schmit, Of Milwaukee.
The sermon was delivered by RI Rev.
John Shanlcy, d. d., bishop of North
Dakota, and was ns follows;
FIFTY years ago today, in the cold,
chccress winter air, II large gathering
OF people assembled where we now are,
to witness the blessing and laying of the
corner stone OF this great cathedral.
The records relating to the event are
lar from complete. We know simply
that the day was dismal; the crowd wa,
large; the ceremony was conducted by
itl. Rev. John llcnni, bishop of Mil
"alkcc, assisted by the ltcvs. Thomas
Morrissoy and Peter Mclaughlin; that
Father Mclaughlin preached the sermon
on the occasion and that many Of the by
ISLANDERS pi'1ed the poor bishop whC,
In his folly, was beginning the erection
OF church ten times too large for the
present Or future needs of the few
Catholics In this city 70 commemorate
the lifticth anniversary of that event
we assemble this morning. The citi-
zcns of Milwaukee arc here in great
numbers; joy, triumph, plainly legible
on the face of each one. Priests and
prcatcs from afar have come to share
In the jubilee of today. The holy faith
er himself is with us, for tidinps of this
blessed event have reached the Eternal
City, and from Leo XIII has come to the
cathedral congregation and to the arch
diocese of Milwaukee the blessing of the
vicar OF Christ.
TO me has been assigned the pleasing
task Of telling the story of this cat!lc-
dral; its beginnings. its struggles, IL
progress, its trlumphs. Why among so
many more renowned and abIcr prclatcs
| should have been chosen for this III
bilco sermon I know not Perhaps II
was thought that by reason of my OK
l'cricnccs in a new diocese very similar
to the difficulties which Bishop Iicnri
had to encounter when no came hero.
l could better understand his trials
and his achievements than others, and
therefore, enter more synpathetlcally
into the subject. Be that as it may.
have left a distant home and pressing
duties to be with you today and to tell
you from the pulpit Of his own cathe-
dral and in the presence of his mortal
remains, which lie in yondcr vault be-
meath the chapel, the enduring works
John Martin IIcnni did for God.
1t matters little who was the first
white settler in this prosperous city;
whether La I'ramboise, Miranlcau or
Nicau lived here before Solomon .Ju-
ncan's batcau entered the Milwaukee
river Sept ID, 1878, may well be left
to the spcculations of the curious
Whether Pcrc Membrau or Pcrc dc st.
CnsmO ever celebrated mass on this
site must prChhbly remain unknown.
This much Is certain: The first white
settler here was q Catholic. The first
public act Of Catholic Worship performed
mere Of which we have any record was
nc offering Of the holy sacrifice of the
mass in August, 1887, by a French priest