Norwich bulletin., 1916-12-09


God, ard under the patronage Of the
Blessed Virgin in the mystery of Her
Visitation, the CONVERSIONS Of this
church was laid by the Right Rev
erend Michael Tierney, Bishop of
Hartford, in the year one thousand,
nine hundred and two; under the glo-
| rious Pontificate of Leo XIII. during
| the administration Of the Honorable
| Theodore Roosevelt, president of these
United States; the Honorable George
| Mclean being governor of the state
of Connecticut, the Honorable William
Barber, mayor of Putnam, John Van
den Mort rector Of the parish and
John H Stapleton assistant; architect.
| Joseph Jackson of New York city;
builder. Ellie Belisle of Worcester,
| Mass.
Destroyed by fire in the year One
| Thousand. Eight Hundred and Seven
| ty-Five, this church is being rebuilt
by the generous offering of Faithful"
Father BeiIerose Preacher.
Rev Father U. o. Bellerose, who on
Friday at the celebration of the f1ftieth
anniversary delivered a sermon in
| French, delivered an address in French
at the laying of the. cornerstone. talk
! ing as his ext. The Church as Gods
|
Father James c. Clyne, member of
! the Diocesan Mission band. spoke in
English on the Church, "as devine in
its perpetuity and strength" ~
The bishop also made short ad
| Dress.
During the ceremony the first
church. a wooden structure, stood
| nearby. as it stands today at the cor
ner Of Providence and Marshall
streets. like a ghost of the past. de-
serted and humbled to the conditions
! of tenement house.
So Father Van den MORT. second
pastor of st. Mary's parish assumed
| the burden that his predecessor had
| voluntarily assumed but was unable to
! carry to completion because his life
! suddenly was snapped off. The bur-
| den however, fell upon strong should
ers, a successor worthy and well quail
| flied to cars on the great work to
| completion. He supplied the need
and the monument he erected is
credit to his courage, ability and ar
i tistic taste.
Church Dedicated.
On Sunday, April 10th, 1904. the new
| church was dedicated with more i'm
| pressiVe ceremonies. The assistant
curate. Rev. John Stapleton acted as
/ master of ceremonies. The bishop cell
| ebratsd q high mass. Rev. FIR, McQuil=,
| Ian of Holy Cross college gave an ad-.
1 dress in English and Rev FIR. Ian
| dry spoke in French. There was again
| 4 procession and music and it was
/ day of rejoicing. The city officials
| and many prominent citizens attend
| ed. One of the interior decorations
| that attracted attention was a beau
tiful painting, St Cecilia, over the
| new organ. done by the pastor, leaving
| a personal touch upon the monument
/ that was already his.
| The following memorial windows
/ fl1apoH in, the church. One Civ
en- by Isaac Champeau in memory of
/ his wife. Mrs. John Rearden, by
| Thomas Kennedy and family. Miss
iT-esperance. in memory of her father,
| The Catholic Society of Washington.
The Altar society. Mrs. HerricEs of
| Providence. Rev. FIR. O'Leary in MEM
DRY of his mother. Sacred Heart and
| Holy Name society.
| And so the beautiful church was
i dedicated and will serve the needs
| of the parish for years unless. like its
predecessors, some untoward calamity
befalls, which God forbid.
| Parish Prospered.
! Under the administration of FIR Van
/ den Mort the parish progressed and
| f1ourished. The convent broadened its
| field and became one of the leading
| Catholic educational institutions for
Young ladies in the state. AS the
parish grew the children in the pa
rochia1 schools increased in numbers,
all of these parish Institutions were
| ably managed to meet the increasing
demands of increased numbers. FIR.
! Van den MORT also exercised a be-
uplift in the parish. He was below
ed by all. His philanthrophies were
| many and varied. He watched over
bis flock with a jealous eye and saw
that their material wants were salts
fed and that their spiritual needs were
| iuiS to His Influence made
Putnam better city.
| Resigns After % Years.
| On account of his many years Of
den MORT resigned his pastorate in
August, 1912, after twenty three years
service, in favor of a younger man,
/ Rev Charles F. Bedard, the present
pastor.
] Rev. Charles r. Bedard Appointed.
Sunday, August IS. 1912. at the two
masses at st. AIMS Catholic church,
Hartford. Rev. Charles F. Bedard. Tor
twelve years pastor of that church,
announced that he had Been trans
ferrSd to Putnam and would take up
his new duties the following week.
When FIR Bedard arrived he imme-
diately investigated the needs or the
gress and betterment. He was full
of energy, realized the great possible
ties of his new parish and lost no time
in setting to work for its physical and
spiritual upbuiIdfng.
i Changes in School. -.
The fact that the parochia1 schools
81 were ove<crowded and not in the best
sanitary condition was one thing that
received his immediate attention. In
seeking the solution of this first and
most important problem he found that
Notre Dame Academy for young Ia
. dies was using valuable parish prop
erty with little return to the members
of the parish He found that this
school was really a detriment to the
parish and set about having 1t remov-
ed. The pupils were soon transfer
red to similar school in Hartford.
Fine School Building.
With this fine building as means