The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-04
French Catholics of
North Brookfield
Hear Mass
CELEBRATED BY FIR. BERGER.
Service in the Town Hall
Attended by About
Four Hundred.

North brcokfield, Sept. S.-What is
considered, in the Roman Catholic
church, the gravest of crimes left for
man to commit against the church was
perpetrated at the town hall here this
morning when the French element in
seoesslonrfrom st. Joseph's church,
gathered tc hear mass celebrated by
| the mysterious stranger, who annouae
es himself tc be the Rev. John Berger,
"a priest Of the Church of Rome.
| In The eyes of the church, gsuchsa per
Torrance by priest not in good. stand
| ing is a saerilege an abuse of a sacred
thing, aid one of the most deadly sims
in the eyes of God. This scene was
easily thu most sensational feature in
the now famous French church move
ment which has been replete with SEN
sations and what the outcome will be
is a matter of conjecture. To those well
acquainted with the iron-clad rules
which bind to duty the earthly Wears
of Christ there is but one result, name
ly the communication from the Ro-
man church of at least some of the
leaders.
When, in fever heat and burning with
indignation at what it considered IN
fair usage from Rt Rev Thomas d.
Beaven, The committee of three sent an
insulting letter to the head of the.
Springfield diocese. questioning his We
racity, the world held its breath and
waited for the axe to fall, but it has
not yet fallen. Stung to desperation as
they were, the French people, with but
one thought in mind, to be victorious
in their struggle, have gone to the Ii
nit, and have kept their word, to have
a pastor OF their own at any cost.
In open defiance of the royal edict of
Pope Leo XIII, the, visible head of the
Catholic church, and directly against
the wishes of Bishop Beaver, the lead
ers of the secessionists have persevered
and are now apparently well satisfied,
| inasmuch as they can congregate under
! the leadership of a man who was not
sent mere by pope or bishop, and whose
| previous record is kept in obscIfityi
| from the public. Evidently the great
mass of the French-speaking people are
! laborlng under the delusion that this
stranger is keeping within the bounds
of the church in coming here and usurp-
ing the authority of others. Apparent
| ly they have been led to believe that
| the congregation which gathered in the
| town hail this morning is a Roman
| Catholic congregation and the leaders
would be highly insulted to be told
/ that their church is no more nor less
than French Protestant society. Yet
such is fact, and facts are stubborn
Things.
To any one at all familiar with the
rules of the church of Rome, it is well
known that Pope Leo XIII is .acknowl-
| edged the head of the church, and the
/ representative of Christ on earth, and
that every priest and bishop of the Ro-
man Catholic church is under his au-
I.thority and subject to his rule Ev-
Isery one knows the meaning of the WORD
Protestant whether applied to So
lciety or an individual, and, as the pope
and his church cannot be separated
there is but one course left to those who
protest against the pope, and that is. tc
fall under the ban of the church
This is the course that the NORTH
4 Brookfield sessionists have pursued
land now the result will be awaited Will
mo ordinary interest Until the las
few months, the French-speaking PEG.
i pie who seeded from st. Joseph'S
had the sympathy of a large number Of
sympathy, there is nothing but ridi
Guile expressed for them, because of the
foolhardy thing they have done. The
committee in charge have gone about
4 its plans with the utmost secrecy Yes
terday it first became known, as told
4 in The Spy this morning, that mass
Il would be celebrated today. Even tht
most vivid imagination could not con.
Jure up such a proceeding, and, despite
the fact that the French people salt
they would have mass Sept TO- no
much credence was at first given to ths
rumor. But as soon as it became
known that an altar had been impro
vised at the hall, coloring of trutl
was given the rumor and on investi
Loo. i'm
people had decided to defy priest, bish
op and pope in their desire for vic
tory
They were all in a fever of excite
/ ment, and at 10 o'clock this morning
t the hour set for the mass to begin
about 400 people were in attendance
In their enthusiasm. some of then
claimed there must have been at leas
700 in the hall, but as it's seating capae
: ity is only little more than 400, ant
all seats were not occupied, some O
ii them must have seen double. Ever,
i one was agog with excitement to SCI
how the man of mystery would act be
2 fore the crowd, many of whom hat
come out of curiosity, but he was com
: posture itself.
ri Alfred Derosier and Alphonse Ar.
chambault acted In lieu of altar boys
/ and the ceremony went on without 8
hitch, in appearance identical with q
high mass in the Roman Catholic
81 church. The choir was stationed in tbs
v gallery, where We're also j. A. Bowler
4 land V. P Bowler, who have beer
) among the prime movers in the enter
: prise. Wilfred Ribardy was organist
and conspicuous in the choristers were
81 DIR. Remillard and Mr.. Bouchard OF
: East BrQokdeld. From the 'Introibt
1 ad altare Def to the "Credo" there
| was nothing to Indicate that the stran.
4 ger was not a Catholic priest, as he
/ went along like one used to performing
the ceremony every day Then he re.
) moved part of his vestmef1ts, prepare,
81 tory to delivering the sermon HI
/; proved himself a fluent and powerful
! speaker in the French language Their,
s was no stumbling NO repetition, and
4 his pronunciation was good AS {
e French speaker he is really a treat. Be,
2 fore delivering the regular sermon ht
e youehsafed some scant information
s about himself.
i He said. speaking. lof course. il
4 French, that he had been travelling II
: the West Indies because of III health
= Also that he had written to Bishot
: Beaver, asking his permission to com,
to this parish, but had received no re
A