Power Memorial Academy - Power Yearbook (New York, NY)

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REV. BRO. P. J. RYAN was the founder and first provincial of the Irish Christian Brothers here in the United States. Brother died in 1947 after having spent over sixty years in the service of Christ. QQ!! is ,v -H -1, r ' - '. 6 lv . f-1...' ' f rf f, ,, iv' ,ZW 9, Ar, z. ,z aff 4 . f' ,,,, I, fee, ' 'V ya, V ff? , 4 ,K 4? f 'r a t s .yi ,. ,.,,,,,,,, . , ,.,, ,VV , -QW .X if if 'gag my 2 C Z 1 ff' i ' L 'I ' Q mf f Wa.. ' SANTA MARIA NOVITIATE, opened in 1015, was the iirst house of formation opened by the Brothers in the U. S. Because of the great increase in vocations it was moved to larger quarters in West Park. TT FOLLOWING IN THE FOOT-STEPS OF VENERABLE BROTHER EDML t.t,...wa A- Their breasts torn asunder by oppression, scoffed, de- rided and defiled as they were at the beginning of the 19th Century, the descendents of St. Patrick, still en- kindled in their indomitable souls a fervent spirit con- sumed with love of Christ and His establishment on earth. These emotions simmered over the years until at the veritable zenith of their compulsion they burst into a blaze of God's glory and were manifested through the eloquence and Christian heart of one poor Water- ford boy - Edmund Rice. From the humble beginning which nurtured him to the wealth he acquired in later life, both temporally and spiritually, this modern-day disciple of Christ carried with him an unquenchable desire to spread the gospel of our Saviour to the poor neglected youth of that Emerald Isle. Up until that time domination by a foreign country and the pauper- ous conditions of the villages retarded formal education as well as the acceleration of Catholicity through the land of kings. However, the deliverance of these serfs from the bondage of g'Monarch Ignorance and Baron Athesinf' was at hand, in the personage of one of those subjects - Edmund Rice, the man. There was a harvest to be reaped and n1ucl1 labor in the vineyard to be done before Edmund's eternal reward and rest was to he had. The streets of his native Waterford were the field, the place of His lVlaster's cultivation and the crop was a precious one, that of young souls and minds. Inspired with the greatest zeal possible in man and

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IN THE BEGINNING In the beginning was the NN-ord, the Vllord was with God, and the Vford was God. There came a man tobear witness to the light . . .N These sentences originate in the Last Gospel, the Gospel of St. ,Iohn the Apostle, and was in reference to the coming of a prophet John the Baptist, who would be the com- municant between God and man, preparing him for the coming of his Redeemer. Also may these words be paraphrased, they may be applied to coming of a man from a distant isle lying in a emerald sea to bear witnessw to Christ and His teachings. Across the vast expanse of the Atlantic, through the icy breath of the Channel to the port of New York, this Inan,s ideals, his prayers, traveled. There was, nor is there now, a great variance be- tween the fields of Waterford and the meadows of Indiana, except for shamrocks growing wild against the radiant turquoise sky. Particularly in the con- fines of Manhattan island did Edmund Rice's con- stituents and followers feel at home. The refreshing aquatic breezes which came from the crests of the Irish Sea's waves lulled them to sleep on Ireland's friendly shores while the invigorating fragrances of the scenic Hudson River bathed their countenances upon arising in the glow of morning. Parallel was the physical and geometric structure of the nation and of the city. Also congruent were the friendly faces to be seen on the earthen roads of Ireland and the paved bustling sidewalks of Manhattan, beaming jovially at one another and heartily acknowledging acquaintances. The spiritual ties, the moral binding were similar, both believed in Christ, the devine Son of God and His bestowal of free will and liberty of mind to man. Closely were the two civilizations bound by custom, by ideals and - as strong-as any of these - by the Christian Brothers of Ireland. fiffp f WW NEW norms if ff ii, W ff , f if f fff ff MW? Wfi W JU O Z X VER ARK R HUDSCN CENTRA HAT TAN f 5 f ff X X Z Q XM f 'JH-AAA LP MAN All Salnts 1906 Brothers with drew ln 1939 All Hallows Hugh 1909 Iona School and Prep 1916 College 1940 D Sacred Heart School 1924 E Power Memorial 1931 F Rlce Hugh 1938 G St Cecllla's School 1939 H St Helena's Annex 1940 R I Blessed Sacrament Hugh . 1940 SCALE OF MILES 9 li I 2. f I W My nw, J 'cf QU, L , W I- Awwf, .fa .rf mf, 4 ,fwmff w f f, C ,f ,.,, ,,,., ,,,, v7f'4',y11,f,'-if 'f,,y,QgCf'f4f,fgq I 0 f 2 i ,L, I i ,,,, .V V71 ,, ,, 4 ,,,g,,'Maf,,,,.g1f'f',,, ,V 4f-nf, 7f.4'ff,f ff.g-f f ' ff: I I ,Lf 2'Q2I2i2ff .I , , , may I- Q1 'I fp , ,, ,V L , fizfiis .r S? 1ffg?,,,,, I fzwfff' Lvilaf, ,300 ,Vpfw f:,w.:fafQiz1.:,',,',',', ,I ,mfwl -504,4 w,5y,- , ,iff I '-,Ziff f. X ,. A . 1, 1, , V , I W, ,-m.,.,f:f1, , ,yqf,vf,f ,I , 5' f. l ' vIQ3w5,2fga5'f it? 'J , f ' if 4 ' iff 6.11171 -,wi 3 ' I 'f29fff ., , I , f ',.- ,jf ff,f,,',I7ff' ' '- V . ' V alle: 11 I 0 'VD K I A , V ,ry , V . . V,,, ,V I F . 1 I I I - I I I I ll I I, I I 9 I O D A. ' . . . . ' . , B. ' . . . . c. , scHooI.s CONDUCTED BY THE mls:-I CHRISTIAN BROTHERS IN THE New Yomc AREA. 4-I BROTHER EDMUND IGNATIUS RICE, FOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS OF IRELAND. 5

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.,. P khan. 'ii nNATIUS RICE, THE FOUNDER OF THE IRISH CHRISTIAN BROTHERS, SEVENTY-TWO YOUTHS DON THE LIVERY OF JESUS CHRIST. AND P PAL APPROVAL I 1820 endowed with almost divine patience and perseverence, Edmund Rice at the age of forty, established the New Street School, the first of many, which soon were spread from the acrid expanse of South Africa to the iey shores of Newfoundland. There at New Street, Waterford, were to be solved many-of the educational problems which would face the successors of Ignatius and also was the format of instruction procedures outlined and actually employed in everyday classroom techniques. The response when the school was once establish:-d was overwhelming and exceeded the most aspiring wishes and desires of that holy man. Eighteen short years after this gigantic step forward came another marked ad- vance in the educational and religious development of his infant society. Edmund Rice petitioned Pope Pius VII for his sanction to establish an order of Brothers devoted and dedicated to the teaching profession and spread of Christian doctrine to the outpost of the world. After due deliberation and much consideration of the accomplishments of this proposed organization during their two decades of existence, the Pontiff most will- ingly and eagerly granted Edmund's request. Thus was a new congregation initiated into the army 'of Christ and from that emblazoned date has served in the foremost ranks of that body, repelling and thwarting, by their Christ-like example, any attempts to captivate the young minds of Catholics who are becoming accustomed to the. vices and vicissitudes of life, under God's loving care. The burden of this great work cannot he placed upon one pair of shoulders, nor can all the credit be bestowed upon one man. Reverend Brother Rice always held the opinion that all mortal reward and concern should be borne by all. To the Herculean undertakings of Reverend Brother Eugene Finbarr Ryall, Superior of All Saints High School, and founder of our own Power Memorial Academy, and the efforts of saintly Brother Ryan, the first Superior of the primary founda- tion of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in America, is due a great deal of the credit for the faith and edu- cation of the youth of our great land during the past half century. Throughout their lifetime they exempli- fied the very principles that any Catholic educator should, while expressing the extraordinary zeal and charity that enabled them to become models in an order noted for its ability and optimism. It cannot he adequately expressed, the gratitude and sentiments of the multitudes of students under the loving and guiding care of the Brothers. There have been countless and conspicuous deeds done by individuals entrusted to their supervision and due to the excellent preparations given in their institutes of knowledge more and impor- tant things shall be accomplished by those instructed by them today. All the gold of the seven seas or all the jewels of creation's greatest empires are naught appre- ciated as much as a simple dictum, MThanks, Brother. 7 351' at