The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-07-04
CORNERSTONE LAID.
New St. Peters Catholic Church in Oak.
land.

III Jno presence OF vast crowd OF
people representing every denomina-
ton of this and adjacent communi-
ties, the cornerstone of the new St.
Peters Catholic church was laid by
Bishop Curtis with impressive cere-
monies.
The cornerstone is massive piece
of white marble with the name of the
church cut in bas relief thereon. The
workmanship on the stone was beau
tifully executed and in the receptacle
for the purpose was placed copy of
The REPUBLICAN, Mountain Demo
crGt, Garrett Journal and the Bdlti-
more Sun, compendium of the prin-
cipal. events of the parish, names of
the leading men of the day, coins of
different countries and medal com
memorative of the Holy Year, ordered
by Pope Leo.
Excursion trains from Cumberland,
Homecoming and other points in the
Georges Creek region were run to
Oakland on that day which brought
several hundred strangers and the
Homecoming band to town. The lat
ter organization, in conjunction with
the Oakland band, furnished music
forlthe occasion.
During the day meals were served
NV hn 10 Af hn al, 70
multitude gathered.
The people here from distance en-
joyed the day, although it was eXces-
sively warm, and at three o'clock the
church societies headed by the Iona
coming band marched from Offutt's
Hall to the site of the new church
where exercises prior to the laying of
the cornerstone were gone through
with.
Revs. L. E. Gallagher, of Cumber-
land, and James E. Connell, the
church pastor, acted as assistants to
the Bishop; Messrs. Thos. McGuigan,
Joseph holland, Kenald Keegan and
John Smith, of st. Mary's Seminary,
Baltimore, also assisted.
Rev. Thos. J. Stanton, of Lonacon-
ing, preached the sermon. He said
in part:
In the fourth chapter of the book
of Joshua we read that when the Is
raelites had crossed the River Jordan
Almighty God commanded them to
take twelve hard stones and set them
up as a monument where they had
pitched their tents for the night.
And when your children shall ask
you, What mean these stones?' you
shall relate to them the wonders that
God hath wrought; that all the peo-
pie of the earth may learn the mighty
hand of the Lord, and that you your
selves may fear the Lord your God
forever"
Nearly thirty five centuries have
piled their dust on the desolate shore
where Joshua erected his monument,
and the children who asked of their
parents, What mean these stones?''
have for long, long ages slept in their
native dust; and we to-day, the chill
dren of a new dispensation in a new
country, stand in the presence of a
new monument, raised to Almighty
God, and like the children of Israel
we naturally ask, What mean these
stones?" And the time and the cir
cumstances require that we make an
swer
What mean these stones blessed
solemnly this afternoon? What
means this vast assembly? 1t means
an epoch in the history of your
parish; an era in Catholic progress:
an advance in humanity; a move of
earth towards heaven! A new church
for Oakland! a new altar of sacrifice!
a new temple dedicated to Godi The
words speak so eloquently to my soul
that must give expression to some
of the thoughts which they inspire
and some of the feelings which they
awaken. This ceremony speaks elo-
quently of the vigorous life of your
congregation to-day and the magnifi-
cent promise of its future. Some
among you have vivid recollections
of the past, when priests and churches
in this portion of the Archdiocese
were few. You can recall the time
when the angel of death was knock
ing at the door and no priest near to
prepare the departing soul for the
dark voyage of eternity. Some
among you can recall to-day the time
when the Jealous Father Slattery
traversed this territory, administer
ing to the few scattered Catholics
from Cumberland on the east to the
Virginia line on the west, within the
limits of whose parish to-day wor-
ship, at the lowest estimate, $4,000
Catholic souls, and score of priests
offer up the 'clean oblation,' fore
told by Malachy, at more than TWEEN
ty Catholic affairs. The laying of the
cornerstone of the new st. Peters
church speaks, therefore, of healthy
and vigorous growth of your parish,
a move of earth towards heaven, an
approach of the people towards God.
Here the speaker broadened out
his subject, and described the
triumphal march of Christ through
the centuries. He sketched, in par
ticular, the historical relations of the
Church with the new world. He, in
conclusion, expressed sincere and
heartfelt congratulations to the
young, active and succersful pastor,
and exhorted the people to cooper
ate with him by substantial aid-and
thus the old Church in this prince of
lands will secure another grand vic
tory in the grandest of history's ages.
SUPERB SINGING,