The Irish standard., 1906-01-27

u ~ named Bishop of Dubuque. He
rs g bishop without one single priest
80 help him. To France he turned in
earch of auxiliaries; to France the
land OF the Catholic apostle
II nip. There he journeyed from semi
to seminary, from diocese to
|sdtncese, giving the call,-'Come with
Sfna to the valley Of the Mississippi;
SM earthly fame will be yours there,
gold or silver will fall into your
3 hnnds; there you will find poverty,
5 hardship Of every nature solitude and
suffering, but still God is to be there,
souls are to be saved
ss@s Seven answered his call Among
them Lucian Gaultier, who later was to
give to our fair city it's name st.
Paul. Joseph Cretin, then we'll known
! as the pastor of Ferney, once the
home Of Voltaire, later the bishop
s9t st. Paul; and Augustine Ravoux
the inspirer of this mornings cere-
] monies. Loras and his little band
4 landed in Dubuque in 1889, and at
I once they set to work to preach Christ
and his gospel. Gaultier was sent TO
St Peter, now Mendoza, to minister
to the soldiers at Fort Smelling and
the traders in the neighboring re-
I gions. Ravoux was ordained priest
; in 1910. He labored at first at Prai-
RE du Chen and in 1S41 he came to
! Minnesota as the missionary of the
\ Sioux. For three years he followed
them from camp to camp, from Ca
! potio to Chaska, from Traverse to
I Big Stone and Traverse lake. He was
near by to minister to the wounded
and the dying when the Chippewa
warriors were slaughtering the Sioux
at Capotio. He journeyed with his
pony at one time as far as Vermillion
I cn' the Missouri, at another time as
far as Pierre on the same river, de-
. layed often by rowing bands of saw
ages or dense herds of buffaloes.
while among the Sioux he mas
tered the language, and by the aid
OF interpreters composed in Sioux
scatechism which has ever since been
held as very valuable by the mission
aries amid this missionary nation. His
hardships, his sufferings may not be
told in words. Oft his unpalatable
dog meat was his sole comfort oft
days and days went by without food
or rest save that which was allowed
on the bare ground beneath rain and
wind.
ION one OCCASION it was the last
week of Lent. he and his companions
were without food. almost starved to
death. On the morning of Good Fri
day a flock of wild ducks flew by.
A few were brought down by the guns
of his companions. Eat quickly he
said, of this meat which God has sent
but for me let me hold to the old
law even on this Good Friday and
until Saturday morning no morsel Of
food did he touch.
I'm 1874 Father Gaultier was called
by Bishop Loras to Southern Iowa,
and Father Ravoux took his place at
Mendoza and st. Paul. In 1912 the lit
tie log chapel, sixteen feet by twelve
with its two small windows, each of
one pane of glass, had been built on
the hill overlooking the Mississippi
Some fourteen families had their huts
Ia the neighborhood. The little house
which in Mendoza served as church
night after the arrival of Father Ravoux
1t fell to pieces, the missionary barely
escaping with his life.
MENDOZA was the chief mission;
hence he visited st. Paul, the shores
of Lake st. Croix the shores Of Lake
Pepin. So Insignificant was st. Paul
that he said mass there only one Sun
day in the month; later he gave 1t
two Sundays in the month; In 1847 1t
had grown and he gave to It three
Sundays in the month.
until 1851 there were only two
priests in what is now Minnesota and
the two Observation-Disclosures at Pembina
and Ravoux at st. Paul. The near
est priest to st. Paul lived In Dubuque,
and thither once a year. on every
Easter Monday, he would wend his
way to confession. He was poor, often
destitute, but always happy. His lit
tie sanctuary was his hearts treasure
and he sought for no other comfort,
no other source Of bliss. The people
who worshiped with him proclaimed
him saint and believed him so near
TO God that his words came to them
as from the sky itself.
1T was we'll that In those early
days Of the Northwest there were q
Loras, Gaultier, a Ravoux and a
Cretin. Men were hurrying to It's for
ests and its prairies in search Of earth
ly homes, in search of earthly wealth;
busy building villages and laying the
foundations of cities. They were
brave, good, Intelligent men. The
early settlers in Minnesota were men
y OF rare qualities; only men of such