St Francis Preparatory - Boxwood Yearbook (Spring Grove, PA)

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WHO' . :.: 3 N W WED, -our QV' if EST FRU T

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Study Hall Plzysicisfs

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184717947 During this year, l947, Saint Fran- cis Preparatory School celebrates the liundredth anniversary of its founda- tion. For it was in the year 1847 that her doors were first opened in the in- terests of Catholic education. Al- though at first her enrollment was Small, the beneficent Lord smiled with favor upon her endeavours and blessed her work over the century. At this point in the entirely brilliant and re- splendant career of the Prep School, words are unable to express the monu- mental tribute which are hers. Saint Francis Prep now stands on the thresh- old of that career, closing an imagin- ary door upon one hundred prosperous years and at the same time stepping into a future which holds undreamed of opportunities. The sun is setting on a day which has been one of harvest and cultivation, but the benehts of its golden rays on the morrow will in- crease beyond all the fondest hopes of the harvesters. The courage, stamina, and fortitude of the Franciscan Order has incited its members during the last century to persevere always even when adversity turned its cruel face toward them. Carrying on in the exemplary tradi- tions of their Seraphic Father, Saint Francis, the early small group doubled and re-doubled a countless number of times. In the field of education they have prepared men to cope with life's problems and to be Htting heirs of heaven. So it is that in view of these many years spent in unrelentless labor, the Centennary Graduation Class of the Prep takes this opportunity to sum- marize the important list of events which have made the history of their Alma Mater such a remarkable and beautiful one. The history of the Prep can be traced back to the days of the noble and pious pioneer, Prince-priest of the Alleghenies, Father Demetrius Au- gustine Gallitzin. In l800, Father Gal- litzin founded a school in Loretto, this being the first school in Cambria County. As is evidenced in a letter written by him in l823, he saw in Lor- etto the site for an institution of higher learning and set aside lands for it. In l843, the Most Reverend Mich- ael O'Connor became Bishop of Pitts- burgh. Like Father Gallitzin he, too, was concerned with the promotion and development of Catholic education in VVestern Pennsylvania, and at his in- vitation various groups of religious teachers came to Pennsylvania from Europe. So it was that in l845, six Franciscan Brothers from the schools at Roundstone and Clifton, Ireland, came and settled in Loretto. Immedia- tely they took over the school founded nearly half a century before by Father Gallitzin and began to plan the erec- tion of the Prep buildings. In l84-7 they welcomed the Hrst student of Saint Francis Preparatory School. The fruition of their desires was more fully realized in 1858 when the Prep expanded into Saint Francis Col- lege. The College was chartered by the Commonwtalth of Pennsylvania to grant academic degrees in the same year. During the next fifty years the prep and college developed as a unit in prestige and power. In pre-Civil VVar America, the Loretto foundation became a well-known institution. VVhen the war commenced a consider- able number of the students returned to their native South to join the armed forces of the Confederacy. Likewise, the boys from the North returned to their homes to take up arms for the Union.