St Josephs Academy - La Lumiere Yearbook (Prescott, AZ)

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1 LA LUMIERE Ulialuip’n 14ausr 51 Corral trrrt annum, Arizona 0 0 the (graduates of Saint Joseph’s Jlcadem Prescott, Arizona, A. D. 1927 It seems strange that the end of a young man or woman's school days should be called Commencement Day, and yet the reason of this is clear, for the young graduate has not finished his career. He is only beginning. He is just commencing to make use of the knowledge he has been acquiring, and on the way he lines up to true principles in the world he is entering, shall depend the measure of his success. Qenerally speaking, the world counts success by the amount of power, honor, or wealth a man may possess; but history and our own experience teach us other- wise, and show us that the world's standard of what constitutes real success in life is wrong, for they give us too many sad examples of men whose lines were richly en- dowed with power, honor, and wealth, and yet were failures. If your careers are going to be successful ones, you must remember that mere material things, how- ener necessary they may be, are short-lined and should nener be regarded as more than means to a noble end. In enery true man and woman there must be found something higher, nobler, and holier, that shall line for eternity, and that is fidelity to duty IDhen a man has lined his life and it can be truly said of him that all his actions were characterized by honest effort, by fidelity to duty- duty to Qod, his fellow-man, and his country that man, and he only, has achiened success. He may have died poor, unwept, and unhonored, as many a brane soldier has, but his deeds shall be eternal, cfo be a success, then, means primarily to be men and women of duty, and to be this, you must hane principles to guide you in your relationship with Qod and your fellow-man. Ifou must be intellectually conuinced that a certain line of action is right and then this conviction must pass beyond your lips by influencing and governing the actions of your lines. Strength of will is at the bottom of real character, and virtue, without which life is worthless. 11?e take this occasion of extending our heartiest congratulation, and of wish- ing you the highest success in life success that shall merit eternal friendship with Qod in Heaven, for to each one of you He speaks today;— Esto fidelis usque ad mortem et dabo tibi coronam vitae. (Apol. 11-10). Devotedly yours in Christ, DANIEL J. QERCKE. bishop of Tucson, Page Two

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LA LUMIERE RIGHT REVEREND MONSIGNOR GERARD February 2nd, 1927. “Time has had power to wither him and bozv And set a claimant seal upon his brow, But daily at the altar when he stands And knows his God to lie within his hands He feels again within his breast the glow Of fires that on a morning long ago Swept him to rapture. Though upon his head The garnered glories of his years are shed, Time has no more dominion over him He shares the bright youth of the seraphim.” For the first time in Arizona's history a Golden Sacerdotal Jubilee was celebrated today, when the Diocese of Arizona, and especially the Catholics of Prescott, most fittingly observed the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of the Reverend Edward Gerard. The fact that Father Gerard was ordained fifty years ago today in Tucson, Arizona, and spent the half-hundred years of his priestly missionary career in this State, made the occasion so much more memorable. The comprehensive program for the festivity, arranged by Father Felician Payas, C.M.F., pastor of Sacred Heart Church, and Father Paul Neil P rennan, of Whipple Barracks, was splendidly carried out. Father Gerard was born at Bruz, near Rennes, little Brittany, France, on July 19th, 1852. He made his first studies for the priesthood in the Eudist College at Rennes and his superior studies in the Diocesan Seminary of the. same city. He was ordained Sub-Deacon in June, 1876, by the Cardinal of Rennes, and in September of the same year came to Arizona at the request of the then Bishop of the Arizona Territory, Rt. Rev. J. B. Salpointe. Bishop Salpointe ordained him Deacon on Christmas, 1876, and Priest on February 2nd, 1877. In July of the same year Father Gerard was sent to Florence, Arizona, as assistant priest under Father A. Echallier and soon afterward replaced him as pastor. During his administration at Florence, he attended the then small towns of Tempe, Phoenix and Globe, where there was no resident priest. He built the first Catholic Churches in Phoenix and Tempe. He started in the old Church of Florence a parochial school and built a new and substantial Church. In 1885 he was sent to Silver City, New Mexico, to replace Father Bourgarde, who had been appointed Bishop of the Diocese. He remained there for four years. In 1889 Father Gerard was sent to Tucson, Arizona, with the appoint- ment of Vicar General of the Diocese and Rector of the Cathedral, and he served in that capacity ten years under Bishop Bourgarde and ten years more under Bishop Granjon. In 1909, on account of failing health, he retired to Silver City, New Mexico, as Chaplain of the Sisters Hospital and Academy until 1914, when he came to Prescott in the same capacity. Page Four