Niagara University - Niagaran Yearbook (Lewiston, NY)

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Saint Vincent de Paul, founder of the Vincentian Fathers. When Fr. Higgins joined the Vincentians in 1888, this community of secular priests living a common life had been established in Germantown, Philadel- phia, for four decades. The Little Company , as St. Vincent was wont to call his yearling com- munity, was founded at Paris in 1617. Vincent's life and his labors with this new community were such that he occupies a multiple place in history as the Universal Patron of Charity, the Father of Modern Social Service, Founder of the Daughters of Charity, defender of the Faith against the heresy of jansenism, founder of the modern seminary, - to mention but the major works in which he Was directly involved. Vincent's prudence and foresight were such that the Common Rule which he established for his young congregation has never been revised, a phenomenon unique in the history of religious communities of comparable age. The Community now numbers over 5000 persons living in 470 foundations spread throughout the entire world. Two centuries, however, were to elapse from their founding until, in 1816, the first Vincentians arrived in the United States to engage in preaching to the poor of the Louisiana Purchase Territory and in teaching future shep- herds of souls. The formation of the clergy of numerous dioceses, -- New York, Brooklyn, Phila- delphia in the East, and Denver, St. Louis and Los Angeles in the West, and many others - was placed in their hands. Three universities, Niaga.ra, St. john's and DePaul were to grow out of their zeal. Over fifty parishes, hospitals, prisons, homes for the aged and the young, as well as countless members of our armed forces, know the priestly ministrations of the sons of St. Vincent de Paul. Parish missions, novenas and retreats to the laity and reli.gious constitute a principal work of scores of the Priests of the Mission. Missionary posts in our own Southland, in Panama, and until very recently in China have for long been the scene of the zeal in action of many others. It was this same zeal which in 1856 found expres- sion in the writings of Niagara's founder, Fr. John J. Lynch, C.M.: We have everything but the university, and we'll put that here, - the same zeal which brought to reality the dream of a Catholic institution of higher learning in Western New York.

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UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATICN We 1953 7Zz49mn pzaeadlqpzefaeea de Zlndaezady Aimauamzzm wzzapvadyumuwmdzdepzaaulq andfavfdldazfdgwwtiatda 71. Wdggaw. 6.776 R. HIGGINS, now approaching sixty years of service in God's Priesthood, is the oldest living son of St. Vincent dePaul in the world today. The briefest summary of his long and fruitful life would suggest that he might well have adopted as his motto the directive of the saintly founder of the Vincentian Fathers, Let us love God, Gentleman: let us love God, but let it be with the sweat of our brows and the strength of our arms! . The Civil War was yet a month away when Fr. Higgins was born, March 9, 1861. Niagara' Uni- versity and Fr. Higgins were youngsters in the same era. Six years after entering the Vincentian Commu- nity, Fr. Higgins was ordained on May 19, 1894. His first years were spent at St. John's College and Seminary in Brooklyn. There he was engaged in teaching and from 1896 to 1902 was treasurer of that institution. In 1906, after two successive periods of two years each as curate at St. Vincent's parish, Germantown, -and at the Immaculate Conception parish, German- town, Fr. Higgins began twenty-seven brilliant and beloved years as pastor of the latter parish. This period was signalized by a building program that must have been staggering in anticipation, one that was to be magnificent in realization. A Parish Hall, the wonder of 1908 , a Lower Church in 1911, a rectory in 1914, a convent capable of housing forty Sisters in 1922, an Upper Church with seating capacity of thirteen hundred in 1930, - these were among the factors that kept Fr. Higgins' ministry an active one. In 1933, at the age of seventy-two, when the thoughts of most people are turned toward retire- ment, Fr. Higgins came to Niagara as University Treasurer, in which capacity he was to serve for ten years. In twenty years at Niagara the genuine friendlin- ness, radiant happiness and abundant energy'of Fr. Higgins have occasioned his being called the youngest person on campus. Reverend Michael J. Higgins, C.M.

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1 UUR PRESIDENT