1819
(Flaget), Benedict Joseph, Bishop of Bardstown
(Detroit, Michigan)
to all the Catholics of
Detroit, Michigan Territory
(There is a note in Father Gabriel Richard's hand that Flaget rewrote the first two pages into three pages and seven lines which he signed and which must be accepted. Signed by Richard).
Although he has been consoled by their attendance at the missions he has conducted among them during the past six months he sees that lasting fruits will not be obtained until:
1. he decides on the principal places where they can one day establish parishes;
2. he gives to his dear co-laborers the advice which he deems necessary to assure success to their ministry;
3. he informs the faithful of their obligations towards the priest who visits them and
4. he draws up some rules of conduct in order that they may avoid sin and practice virtue.
(I.) Places where parishes can be established:
Convinced from experience that churches which do not have sufficient land at the start are always poor and incapable of supporting the priests who serve them or the schools for boys and girls, he decides that no parish shall be erected which does not have attached to it at least 200 arpents of land or lots or houses which have the value equivalent to 200 arpents.
1. Having traveled the country from the sources of the Wabash and the Miami of the Lake to Lake St. Claire, he sees that the little village at the foot of the Rapids or thereabouts can be a central point and if a church is ever built there it shall be called St. Vincent de Paul. It will unite into a group the Catholic families from Fort Wayne to 15 or 16 miles from Riviere au Raisin.
2. The Church of St. Anthony of Padua which he found at Riviere au Raisin will remain and care for all within 5 or 6 leagues of the place.
3. The two banks of the River aux Hurons and the two banks of the River aux Ecorse will form a third parish of which the center will be the new town and the church will be called Sainte Marie.
4. The two banks of the Riviere rouge to the bridge of Thomas Tremble will make a fourth division of which Detroit or the Church of Saint Anne will be the center. He will give special rules for the church of St. Joseph on the Cote du Nord Est.
5. From the bridge of Thomas Tremble to the Point a Guignolet will be a fifth division of which the center will be at Grosse Pointe and the Church will be under the name of St. Peter the Apostle.
6. Anse Creuse, the Huron River on Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River will form provisionally the sixth division of which the Church of St. Francis De Sales will be the central point until other arrangements.
7. Since, in the course of time there will be a church between Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron, then the people of the St. Clair River will be detached from the parish on the Huron River and the church will be named St. Agnes.
(II.) Particular rules for the Church of St. Joseph of the Cote du Nord Est.
The church of St. Joseph, since it possesses good land would be erected into a parish if it was sufficiently distant from and not well provided from the parish of St. Anne which will one day be the cathedral and has been the mother parish of all the others. Wishing to fulfill the promises which he made when he was less well informed and when he placed too much faith in the intentions of the people he decrees:
1. That the parish of St. Anne can never tax the people of the Cote du N.E. at least not unless previously in a general assembly all the people freely assented to the particular tax for a certain public object well determined.
2. That the church of St. Joseph ought to enjoy the revenue not only of the land but also of the benches.
3. That until the church of St. Peter the Apostle be built and provided with land at Grosse Point, all the people of St. Peter's can be interred in the cemetery of St. Joseph or of St. Anne. The same liberty will be left to the people from the bridge of Thomas Tremble to the home of Madame Beaubien exclusively, but Flaget insists that all services and sung masses take place in St. Anne's.
4. A priest will serve St. Joseph's if possible, once a month. He adds, if possible, because with the fewness of priests and the greatness of the territory, such service may not be possible and then the people of that region will have nothing to say. If the men of the Cote du Nord Est are not satisfied with this arrangement and renew their complaints and murmurs, Flaget, declares he will declare their church interdicted to put an end to the scandals which have existed there for so long.
(III.) Advice to the missionaries:
Having witnessed so much of friendship and cooperation during his visit with them he cannot leave without giving them some advice. The thing that he recommends as most essential is the intimate union-that holy friendship-which will give rise to a unity in their public services and enable them to surmount difficulties and obstacles. There are no vices in the parish or in a country which will not yield to a constant and uniform effort like that of the Apostles which is unified to destroy them. More than in their talents he has confidence in frequent meditations on Jesus crucified. Although one can preach beautifully without the love of God one can never convert the hearts of sinners. The men of prayer who are united all day long with Jesus will be faithful representatives of him to the faithful. It is important that the missionaries form a rule for insisting the principal points of their journey and be faithful to it. They should arrange to visit all the stations at least every two months and see by prayers and threats that those who have made their first communion go to confession and communion, if they are worthy. Father Richard by reason of his age and experience in the country is the superior of the missions. He is sure that Fathers (Philip) Janvier and (John) Bertrand will submit willingly to him. According to law they shall arrange their board and lodging. He foresees for them the poverty of Christ. Finally he recommends them to the care of the church property, linens, etc. and urges that they form the youths for choir and for ceremonies as the chief means of attracting people to the church so they can be instructed and converted.
(IV.) Duties of the people towards their pastors.
If the pastors have their duties towards the faithful, the faithful have also their obligations towards their spiritual fathers. Since the priest is the ambassador of Christ, the people should treat him as if Christ himself attended to them. They have the obligation to hear his voice and follow his advice. The pastors command in the name of the church, even in the name of Christ and the faithful must obey him. Finally, since the priests have given up temporal goods and devoted themselves to the welfare of the faithful, the faithful should feel obliged to see that they have an honest sustenance and a decent living and are at the same time able to help the poor.
(V.) Spiritual advice.
All must do good and avoid sin. None of the evils of this life are really evil because they can be a source of penitence and merit. The only evil is sin. The sin most common among the missions he finds is that of anger, swearing and using the name of God. He find it even in families and that the parents give the first bad example and the children take up the habit at the earliest ages, sometimes speaking the language of hell better than their parents before they reach the age of reason. He warns them of the punishment this will bring upon them. The sin not less horrible which he finds among them he calls impurity. He begs the priests to labor unceasingly against this evil. They should endeavor that parents be pure and chaste at all times. It is above all among the young of both sexes that care must be taken, especially to prevent those familiarities, words, etc. that offend purity. Children should be restrained from vanity of dress and ornament that so often leads to living beyond their means and sometimes to crime. Parents are to be warned to look carefully after their children and to tremble when they see them hide themselves and seek the darkness in couples or even in larger groups. He (Flaget) has noted also a growth of intemperance among the Canadians, formerly noted for their temperance, and not only among the old but even among the younger people. They must threaten these sinners with the wrath of God. He also warns them against the occasions of sin. The most dangerous of these occasions in this country are:
1. Balls and "vigils." Nothing is so contrary to the spirit of the gospels, since all the Fathers and Councils have regarded dances as the most fruitful source of sin, because the commandments of God and the church are violated at balls. The ball introduces into the heart of youth the love of luxury and ornamentation. When one considers the expense and the loss of time resulting from these balls, one is not surprised that so few of the Canadians are well off. Everyone knows how Flaget has fought against these miserable entertainments. He hopes that they will enter into his sentiments and aid in the execution of his decrees.
2. He condemns those "vigils" which are accustomed to be passed in this country particularly by persons of both sexes, not to do good but rather to spend the greater part of the night in conversations, often accompanied by sin and nearly always terminated by indecent games more criminal than the most disorderly balls. Parents are responsible in the sight of God who tolerate these things. And Missionaries would be participating in their sin if they did not endeavor by example and by their efforts to eradicate these disorders. The avoidance of sin and the proximate occasions of sin is so agreeable to God, but only by doing good can one gain heaven. Hence he gives them some special rules. He outlines their daily life beginning with the prayer on their knees in the morning, their prayers during their work in the fields or in the household, the prayers at meals, their prayers after supper and finally the examination of conscience at night. The Missionaries are to urge these holy practices on their people. He also urges the observance of the abstinence of Friday and Saturday. Missionaries are to see to this observance against the double vice of gourmandizing and disobedience to law. Since God set aside the seventh day for rest after the six days work so the church directs that Sunday be set aside and ordains that all the faithful assist at mass and the instructions. Strong reasons are necessary to dispense from this obligation. Since there is a want of priests in the territory it is not always possible to hear mass, but the people are not therefore absolved of all obligations and should endeavor to pray together for the hour and a half or two hours they would have spent at the mass. For this purpose Flaget urges the saying of the three chapelets of the rosary during the day. Since it is hoped that the missionaries will visit their parishioners at least once every two months, Flaget urges that those who have made their firs communion make an effort to go to confession and communion, if their confessors permit them. The Bishop urges frequent confession and communion and that wherever there is a church the confraternities of the Holy Sacrament and the Rosary be established. In parting he says he would have written in better order had he not been so busy, but he is sure that if they follow his advice they will attain the peace they desire and the eternal crown.
III-2-f A.L.S. (French) 8pp. 4to.
6
(1819)
(Flaget) Benedict Joseph, Bishop of Bardstown
(Detroit, Michigan)
to all the Catholics of Detroit
Michigan Territory
Although it has been a source of satisfaction to have conducted missions among them unceasingly for six months and to see the fruits among them from their chance to hear the word of God, he is yet uneasy about the perseverance in these good dispositions, because of bad habits, the seductions of the world and the work of the demon. He fears that they will be like flowers that bloom in the early spring but which fade and die at a sudden north wind. He fears that he will soon learn that their fervor has soon cooled, like the flames of a prairie suddenly dying out. It is in fear of this that he has prepared some rules governing the centers for churches and their own personal life, to preserve them from the greater evils. The places where one day there will be parishes.
Convinced from experience that churches which do not have sufficient land at the start are always poor and incapable of supporting the priests who serve them or the school under their care, he decides that no parish shall be established which does not have attached to it at least 200 arpents of land or lots and houses which have the value equivalent to 200 arpents.
1. Having visited the land from the source of the Wabash and the Miami of the Lake to Lake St. Clair he sees that the little village at the Rapids can be a central point and if a church is built there it will be called St. Vincent de Paul and shall serve the people from Fort Wayne to about 15 to 18 miles from Riviere au Raisin.
2. The Church of St. Anthony of Padua, situated on the banks of the Riviere au Raisin will continue and serve all the Catholics within 5 or 6 leagues.
3. The two banks of the Riviere Aux Hurons and those of the Riviere aux Ecorses will form a third parish in the village that is being built there and the church will be called St. Mary's.
4. The two banks of the Riviere Rouge up to Mill Creek or Riviere du Moulin will constitute a fourth division of which the church of St. Anne will be the center.
5. From the Riviere du Moulin to the point at Guignolet there will be a fifth division of which the center will be at Grosse Point and the church there will be called St. Peter the Apostle.
6. Anse Creuse, Riviere aux Hurons, on Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River will form provisionally the sixth division of which the church of St. Francis de Sales will be the central point until other arrangements.
7. Since, in the course of time there will be a church between Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron, the people of the St. Clair River will be detached from the parish on the Riviere aux Hurons and the church there will be named St. Agnes.
Particular rules for the church of St. Joseph of the Cote du N. E. parish if it was sufficiently distant and not well provided from the parish of St. Anne, once the only church of the territory and one day to be the Cathedral or mother church. Wishing to fulfill the promises he made when he was less well informed and when he placed too great faith in the intentions of the people he decrees:
1. The parish of St. Anne can never impose a tax on the Church of St. Joseph unless previously in a general assembly the people consent to the tax for a public good well defined.
2. That, although he desires that all the burials take place in the cemetery of St. Anne, nevertheless, in case of necessity or an unforeseen reason there may be some burials in the cemetery of St. Joseph but that all the services and chanted masses must take place in St. Anne's.
3. A priest shall go once a month, as much as is possible, to take care of the church of St. Joseph. He says expressly, as much as is possible, because the priests are few and the territory to be cared for great and when such service cannot be given, the people shall have nothing to say.
4. Finally, the church of St. Joseph will be only succursal and contained in the limits of St. Anne's and St. Anne's will remain the only parish. If the people of the Cote du N. E. are not satisfied and renew their murmurs and complaints he will interdict their church forever to put an end to the scandals which they have maintained too long already. Further since only 5 or 6 of the Cote du N. E. have paid their tithes, he demands that they either present themselves to pay the debt or make an arrangement on the subject before the next visit of the priest. Besides, he insists that what he said in his judgement sent from Loretto concerning all the bodies of the dead in the principal street and in the old church of St. Anne be executed by those of the Cote du N.E. jointly with those on the other shore. (crossed out under threat of refusing a priest to St. Joseph's).
III-2-f A.L.S. (French) 4pp 4to.
3
1819 July 20
Grassi, Father John S.J.:
Genoa, (Italy)
to Father (Simon Gabriel) Brute:
Emmitsburg, Maryland
Brute no doubt expected to hear of Grassi's landing in some part of the U.S. Grassi expected to see him in Maryland again but Providence disposed otherwise. He left Rome May last to sail for America since he has been invited to visit Stonyhurst but because of an accident which happened to him in Rome he suffers from sea sickness and it is quite dangerous to make a sea voyage. He has had to submit. His disappointment is lessened by the fact that he can yet be of assistance to the American missions by his service in Rome. Brute can write freely to him and he will do all he can. He had been much displeased with what he say in Rome and glad to be in country where religion was not protested by law. Such a worldly spirit moves those around the Pope who is himself spiritual that spitiura is made subservient to the temporal. He sends his best regards to Father (Jean Dubois), Mrs. Seaton and all who have not forgotten him. P.S. he asks Brute to tell Mr. Cooper that he has not written him because he has been so busy. The last time he saw the Pope he asked and obtained a blessing for Brute's Emittsburgh establishment. (In Brute's handwriting) Brute received the letter only on April 18, 1820, Grassi may be dead before the letter arrived and Brute may be dead before his letter reaches the other shore.
II-3-o - A.L.S. - (English) - 2pp. {4to.} 1
1819 Jul. 21
Menochio, Bishop Joseph Bartholomew
Rome, (Italy)
A document attesting the authenticity of a relic of St. Stanislaus Kost(ka). Signed by Dominic Conseptabile as secretary. (In the Vincentian Papers).
IV-3-i D.S. (Latin) 1p. folio
1
1819 Oct. 4
(Dubourg, Louis William) Bishop of Lousiana:
St. Louis, (Missouri)
to Father (Simon Gabriel) Brute:
Mt. St. Mary's Emmitsburg, Maryland
Dubourg has received Brute's letter through Rodgers and will have all consideration possible for his recommendation. The young man has neither learning talents or a trade, and there money or strength are needed if one does not have a trade. Dubourg has hired him to work on the soil on one of his farms. Another youth from Brute's neighborhood has arrived. He was robbed of all his baggage and lost Brute's letter of recommendation. He speaks of Father (Samuel) Cooper and of his successor. Dubourg does not remember his name but he will try to give him work. He expects Brute to give more details about Mt. St. Mary's. He has heard Archbishops Carroll and Marechal regret their inability to exploit fully Brute's great talents. Dubourg has learned of the decision of the Sulpicians about Emmitsburg. He wrote to Father (Jean) Tessier what he thought on the matter. He has heard from Father (Jean) Dubois of the decision of the Superior General to keep it but there is still a difference of opinion between him and the Sulpiciams in Baltimore in repect to the prietorship and responsibility. Dubourg is very happy that the matter has been settled satisfactory since he would have regretted the closing of the Emmitsburg institution. The progress of the Sisters fills him with consolation. As to himself they have commenced well. Among the things begun are the cathedral, the college and the seminary and the establishment of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, the replacement of some bad priests with good, and the reunion of two parished in New Orleans. Finally he had filled up the vacant parishes with the erection of several beautiful churches in brick, the prospect of native priests is already encouraging and he has also a Roman count already 26 years old, wealthy and learned. He has made part of his theological studies before family circumstances caused him to interrupt them. He has traveled six years in Europe. He was in New Orleans when the needs of the diocese revived his former interests. Brute is already aware of one wonder worker of Bardstown and he will not repeat these deeds. He assures Brute of his affection. P.S. He will write to Father Dubois and the good Mother.
II-2-o - A.L.S. - (French) - 3pp. {4to.} 6
1819 Oct. 14
Mean, Archbishop Francis Anthony de
Mechlin, Belgium
A certificate concerning a relic of the ears of St. John Nepomucene, approved by Cardinal (Lorenzo) Litta, vicar general of the Holy Father (Pius VII). Signed by J. Forgeur, Vicar General and by A. Gennere, Pro-Secretary. (In the Detroit papers).
III-2-1 D.S. (Latin) 1p. 4to.
2