The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-06

know something of the history anC
characteristics of the organization.
The Paplist community-or, more
| properly, the missionary priests Of st
Paul the apostle-was established il
the archdiocese of New York in 1850
and received the approbation of Arch
bishop Hughes on July of that year
The founders of the community, Isaac
! I. Hecker, Clarence a. Walworth, Au
! gusttne T. Hewitt, George Deshon and
! Francis a. Baker, were originally mem
! bers of the Redemptorist Order, from
which 5heY were released by Pope Pins
| TX. and authorized to form a new body
devoted in a special manner TO mission.
ary work in the United States. They
were all converts to Catholicism; men
of American birth imbued with the
spirit OF the republic; and keenly alive
to the condition and needs of the
church in the United States.
Father Hecker, the man who stood
head and shoulders above the little band
which drew about him, who left the
clear impress Of his ideals upon the
character Of the new community, was
elected the first superior. He was then
40 years old, having been born in 1919
IN Christie street, between Hester and
Grand His mother was Caroline
Freund, his father John Hecker. a
thrifty brass founder in Hester street.
whose business failed during the boy"
hood of hs three sons. After years of
carly toll, in which he learned the trade
of baker, we find Isaac Uecker in 1Si3
member of the famous Brook farm
community and in contact with such
men as George Reley, Orestes Brownson,
Nathanial Hawthorne, Charles A. Dana.
later of the New York Sun; Emerson.
Theodore Parker, George Curtis and
others of the Transcendentalists. This
phase of Father Hecker s life is most
interesting. for after his entrance into
the Catholic church his release from
the Redemptlonists, and his election as
superior of the new Paulist community,
it was to the firm establishment of a
common life, especially adapted to
American conditions. that he devoted
his life; and TO this labor in the re-
ligious field hia experience at Brook
Farm stood in the relation Of secular
preamble,
When Building Was Erected.
Under Father Hecker's s direction. and
with the assistance Of large gift from
his brother. George Hecker, the present
site Of st. Paul s church and convent,
at Fifty-ninth street and Columbus ave-
nue., was purchased and ground broken
for the new church. This section was
Mt the time given over to market gar
dcns. Sixtieth street was not opened
and Ninth avenue existed only on paper
Pending the erection of the church, the
fathers rented a frame house on Sig
tleth street, Just west OF Broadway,
which served as a chapel and residence
The cornerstone of the new structure
was laid by Archbishop Hughes on
June 10, 1853, and on November 81 of
the same year it was completed. This
building Is the present clergy house
aud served at that time as a chapel as
well. The pansh, since divided many
times, then covered the immense ter
ritory from Fifty second street TO
Manhattnnvillc.
The present church Of ST. Paul the
Apostle, one Of the most notable &c
was begun in 1876 and completed in
1855 OF Romanesque design, it has
tho massive soliIiiy and vast propor-
tions of medieval basilica. Some idea
of its size can be gathered from the
fact that it IL l06 feet broad bv 262
feet long, the second largest church
IN this country, and that it compares
IN many of as measurements with the
new cathedral al Westminster, England, |
There are ten side affairs in ad lition |
TO the high altar. The interior scheme |
ot decoration is being carried out on |
IN elaborate scale and will REQUIRE |
years for its completion.
Affairs Are Magnificent.
II has drawn on some Of the best
talent IN America; the late Stanford |
White designed the main and two side |
lltars. which are built of Nubian mar
BILE. the first shipment of which from |
Africa was lost AT sea- He also de- !
signed the beautiful sanctuary lamp. |
which is one of the finest specimens |
of bronze work of its kind in the |
United States. The decorations in the |
are the work Of John La |
farge, as arc also the windows in the |
lpse, the clerestory and the lancet win.
lows at the back of the church Mr.. |
Lafarge also designed the baptistry In |
his connection it is interesting TO note
hat The Angel of the Sun, a mural |
medallion on the north side of the apse,
md the work of Mr.. Lafarge, is the
companion picture to the CANCEL of |
he Moon painted for a correspond
ng wall-space on the south side, and
hat it was for this latter that Mr..
.afarge was awarded n medal by the
Architects league in 1909.
The decorations of the church are
low in charge of Mr.. William Laurel