The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-12-15
DOE RUN CATHOLIC
CHURCH DEDICATED
Named for Saint Francois Xavier
Jesuit Missionary and Patron OF
Saint Francois County.

Run and Pennington, witnessed the
solemn ceremonies Of dedication OF
the Catholic Church at Doe Run on
last Sunday morning.
The sermon on the occasion, de
liyered by the Reverend Thomas V
| O'Reilly, pastor Of Saint Ange
Church In St. Louis, was most elo.
quent and instructive. The reason.
ant voice, clear cnunciation and
unusually beautiful word painting
of the speaker made the ceremony
very impressive.
In his sermon Father O'Reilly
drew strong comparison between a
devOut congregation come to dedi.
cate Il temple to God, their Creator
and their Father In heaven" and
those souls of low ideals whose re-
ligion consists in taking care of the
material things round about them;
who look no higher than the ami
mails beneath them; whose lives are
taken up in the pursuit of wealth
and pleasure; who merit only ma.
terial reward.
"The saint" he said, "after whom
we have named this church, was a
Catholic priest. The county in
which: you dwell Is named after a
Catholic priest! And as we look
over the map OF this and adjacent
counties we find them dotted with
the names Of Catholic saints; for
the Saints of the Church were ven
Grated by those who discovered our
country, by those who first settled
in these very hills"
Archbishop Glcnnon delegated the
pastor to lay the cornerstone and
Father Collins OBLIGATED at the sol.
emn dedication OF the edince. ROBBED
in an alb, stole and purple cope, ac'
companied by the clergy and AGO.
lytes, he proceeded to the corner
and read the prayers for placing the
stone. Then led by the acolytc car.
rying the image of the Crucihed, ar,
irving at the church door, he reaC
in Latin:
"Direct, O Lord, we beseech Thee
our actions by Thy inspiration, anC
further them with Thy Lcontinua
helps that every prayer and work %
ours may always begin with Thee
aud through Thee be brought (,
completion. Amen"
Then he and the attendants pro
ccdcd around the outside walls
blcssi them and chanting tn,
psalm Misercre. Arriving at tn,
door, IA prayer was read begging
God to accept:the building a. Hi
home upon earth, under the title
Church OF st. Francois Navier. En-
tering the church, the Litany o
Saints twas chanted in which al
the saints rcvercd for long centuricI
In the Catholic Church were asked
to pray To God for all those de
voutly assisting in the ceremony
The Altar and interior were thcr
blessed, dedicating the entire build
ing exclusively to the worship o
God. The immense throng of PEG
pie was then admitted and Mas
was begun by the celebrant.
The music was furnished by thu
children's choir OF the Pennington
Catholic school. Many favorable
comments upon their splendid worl
were heard. They are n source o
pardOnable pride To their pastor
Their pronunciation of the Latin
was faultless and they deserve mucl
credit for the manner In which TIL
Mass was sung. one of the schOo
children presided at the organ
Father Joseph Casey OF Desioge wa
present In the sanctuary.
After Mass Father Collins nd
dressed the congregation, praisinl
them for what they had accomp
lishcd He expressed his gratitude
to those who were one in faith will
him, and to those who did not be
long TO the church, assuring then
that Mt all the services in tina
church they were always welcome
and urged them to come whencve
they felt so disposed.
The structure presents n very ar
tistic picture, set in the beautiful
lot adjoining the Office building o
the Mining Company, and immedi
ately beside the old grandmother o
Doe Run, the Merryman homestead
The building Is 29x5j feet, with
tower 9x45 feet. The roof, gable
aud upper portion of the tower ar
of Oregon cedar shingles, in mos
green English stain. The siding /
California redwood in natural fin
ish. The outlines on the building
and tower and the crosses are i'm
maculate white. A very neatly Gu
corner stone bears the texts: "On