Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-09-19

c1ety was started within that parlSf
Fire Destroys Church.
An unfortunate fire destroyed ST.
DominiC's number of years ago,
nd with the destruction the records
# many of the parish activities, in
luding the Holy Name. were burn
ID. Tracing back through the memo
les of some of the oldest members
f the parish, however, the honor of
Icing the first lay leader of the
'rovement in the District of Column
ia fell to Mr.. Mattingly. This man,
ne of the pioneers of st. Dominic's
'arish. was the leader of the second
mall band of Holy Name men to be
formed in the United States. and
which was to grow in Washington
f-om a few persons to $4,000, and the
1ealS of which were in so years to
;pread throughout the Nation until
embraced more than a million and
half Catholic men.
Because of a rule enforced in
europe that there could be only one
Holy Name Society in each city or
town. for many years the branch at
st. Dominic's was the center of all
The society's activities in the Ma
fional Capital Later that rule was
fitted in the United States, and al
most Immediately in Washington, as
we'll as throughout the country,
'ariShes began to form their own
ranches. William Brown, George
Petty and William A. Johnson We're
presidents of the St. Dominic'S
ranch and were active in the spread
lg of the organization throughout
he city.
Many years passed with each
ranch acting Independently until in
3o1 a meeting was called for the
lie Holy Name Society of the Dis
"ict of Columbia. The meeting was
cid at st. Dominic's under the chair
lanship of T. X. Gallaher. Rev.
ather Fealy of st. Josephs Parish
zen outlined the result of Il visit to
lie late Cardinal Gibbons in the in
rest of the proposed union. The
lrdinal gave his consent to the I'M
IN and referred the matter to Bishop
'orrigan, who had charge of the
ioly Name activities in Baltimore.
Proposal Carried.
The proposal of the union was ia
orably received. and speeches were
made by j. +. Gill of St Peters and
"thers interested in it's inception.
-'he following officers were the first
raders elected to head the Washing
IN section: T. X. Gallaher. st. Domi-
asa's, vice chairman, and Richard a.
''urtin of st. Joseph's Parish. At that
litial meeting the following dele
ateS were present. representing Holy
comforter, st. Dominic's, st. Peters,
t. JoSeph's and St. Teresa's: Rev.
ather Fealy, Rev. Father Finnerty,
AIRY Buscher. Leo V. Cooney, Will
am Keull, Louis \. Everett, ]. p.
less, p. S. QUAD. J. F. Gill, James
-
= julien, James F. Addison, r. H. John
IN. J. II. liable, T. X. Gallaher and
I. J. Driscoll.
The first grand rally of the union
TaS held on the feast of the Holy
lame at st. Dominic's, January 10,
sos. All the local branches were
represented, as well as guests from
"ther cities and towns. Quarterly
meetings then began to be held in
churches in various sections of the
.ity, and the work of the organiza-
ion was carried from parish to parish.
HiS proved a great stimulus, and
he membership began to grow rapid
y. Meetings and rallies were held
rom time to time, and prominent men
began to address the meetings that
-iwelled in numbers more and more on
zach occasion.
Fought Profanity.
As the organization of the union
began to work smoothly and the To-
al parishes began to establish
ranches, the Holy Name Society
urned it's attention to outside con-
ltions and to inauSurate d campaign
lgainst foul speech and perjury.
Srother Gilbert of Holy Comforter
ormed a circle in shop where he
worked, the members of which
la6c hen
:ty. This circle was not in the Holy
Name, as its members were of all
faiths, but approval was shown of
the great lay spiritual organization
IF their Catholic fellow workers in
Washington. Appeals were made to
The local press to speak editorially
against foul talk, and large signs
were placed in the barrooms, barber
shops, etc, calling the attention
against the practice of abusive talk.
All these efforts bore fruit, and
number of persons were recruited to
the ranks of the society. and a large
number of adult converts were made
by the examples set by the leaders
of the union and their assistants.
The union then felt the desirable
ity of spiritual director from the
ranks of the priesthood, and it was
decided to ask Cardinal Gibbons to
appoint such an officer. Consequent
ly, in 1908, the late Mgr. Lee of st.
Matthews Parish was appointed by
his eminence to be the first spiritual
director of the Washington section.
Big Celebration Here.
A large demonstration of the
Archdiocesan Union was held in
Washington in 1910, which drew sew
eral thousand men from Baltimore
and all parts of Maryland. The line
of march was very similar to the
one to be followed in the present
national demonstration. Following
the march a meeting was held at the
Monument lot. Patrick J. Haltigan
was grand marshal of the parade at
that time. Others in charge of the
affair, which was up to that time
the largest Holy Name demon stra-
ton in the diocese, were Joseph M.
D. Schaffer, chairman; Clarence
Do::ohue, J. A. Dillon, Andrew Betz,
p. F. Hannah, James F. Flynn, M. J.
Shea, Joseph P. Burg, p. J. Haltigan,
p. ]. inland, Thomas P. Brown and
]. S. Doran.
During these years the society in
the District continued to grow, as did
the other sections in the archdiocese.
A Holy Name Junior Society was
formed for the smaller boys and
grew in considerable numbers. Out
lying parishes began to form
branches and sections in the suburbs,
and as they formed their parishes
Joined the Washington union and
swelled the numbers continually.
The Holy Name Society not only
continued it's work for the elirnina-
tion of profanity, but by its interest
in other parish matters and the sub
stantial and capable men that COM
posed its ranks it's branches gradually
became recognized by the pastors OF
the various churches as the back
bone of their parishes. 1t was not
long before the local Holy Name men