St Francis Xavier Academy - Xavier Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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A house was procured for the nuns on Weybosset Street and here work be- gan. Saint Francis Xavier's Academy, our own high school, had its beginning in this Convent, September. 1851. A second building was erected in 1856. The classes included every department from the kindergarten through the high school until 1910. when year by year the building was gradually given over to the increasing high school body. The present building, dedicated in 1929, permits the accommodation of six hundred students who come from every section of the State. Thus, we can judge from Saint Xavier's alone the im- portant factor the Order of the Sisters of Mercy has been in the development of Catholic Education. All down the years from the early days of Mother Xavier Warde to Mother Mary Matthew, the present Provincial of the Prov- ince of Providence, there has been constant progress, for the Sisters of Mercy are actively engaged in twenty-one Parishes throughout Rhode Island. Parishes were multiplied and several new churches were erected during the brief six years of Bishop O'Reilly's Episcopate. Then came Bishop McFarland to the See of Hartford. Despite the Civil War, the population of Rhode Island was growing by leaps and bounds. The increase in the Catholic body brought a corresponding increase in the number of churches. In 1879, Bishop Hendricken was consecrated Bishop of Providence, because in 1872, the Diocese of Hart- ford had been divided and Providence was made a separate See. Within two months. Bishop Hendricken had assumed the burden of the Episcopate which he was to bear for fourteen years. The most outstanding feature of his rule is the monument to his labors, one that will ever stand, SS. Peter and Paul's Cathedral, consecrated in 1886. On April 4. 1887, Rev. Matthew Harkins was consecrated Bishop of Providence. From the very beginning of his Episcopacy, Bishop Harkins bent his energies to the completion of the work which God had placed in his hands, and for thirty-five years was the spiritual director of the Diocese. Standing out at this time is the fact that Bishop Harkins especially cared for immigrants and did much for the progress of Catholic education. He exemplified the char- ity of the Church: and it was then that it was remarked by a judicious ob- server that Providence is the pearl among United States dioceses. In 1921. Bishop Harkins died. For two years preceding, he was assisted by Most Rev- erend William A. Hickey who was consecrated in 1919 as Coadjutor, with tight of succession. There had already been auxiliaries in the Diocese, Bishops Doran and Lowney, whose combined tenure of office was less than two years. In 1926. Bishop Hickey made his first announcement of plans for a Catho- lic Charity Fund. In the field of education, he stressed the need of Catholic schools. Outstanding in this development is our own Academy. No appraisal of the life of Bishop Hickey should overlook his zealous attitude towards the missions. In 1933, he was called to his reward, after having given his best to the betterment of the Church in Rhode Island. His absence since has been greatly felt and his kindly influence is missed by all. Catherine L. Leonard TTHnE- XAVIER»i9 3 6 o

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Rliocle Island and ears o The history of Catholic Rhode Island begins properly with the history of the Cathedral. It is true that Catholics visited this section, but they were, strictly speaking, transients. Owing to the troublous times in Great Britain, and a like spirit which seemed to come into the country with the immigrants, it is probable that Catholics may never have declared their faith. Certainly the spirit of adventure, the love of freedom, and the tenacity for the old faith, characteristics so dominant in the Irish, must have prompted many Irishmen to be in the lead among the emigrants from Europe. But there is little data until New England became a diocese. When Father Corry, a young Boston priest, came to Providence in the closing days of 1810. the Catholic congregation owned not a foot of land. In March, 1812, he succeeded in buying the section of land on which now stands our present Saints Peter and Paul's Cathedral, but it was not until December. 1817. the second Sunday of Advent, that the first Mass was cele- brated by Father Corry. It was the triumph of a long and arduous work, the realization of hopes long deferred and often blighted. Before this, every Sun- day in 1816 and 1817, Mass had been said in the Old Town House, where stands the present Court House. The year 1817 had been one of panic, espe- cially in Providence, and Bishop Fenwick had to make himself personally responsible for the indebtedness and completion of the new Church, for an appeal to the poverty-stricken people was useless. In the State, at this time, there were three wooden churches, at Pawtucket, Newport, and Providence, respectively. Two priests cared for the faithful throughout the State. When Father Corry was leaving Newport, in 1817. he praised the toleration shown by the citizens of that community to Catholicism. Irish Catholics play a prominent part in the history of the last century of Catholicity in Rhode Island. During the Dorr Revolution, from 1841 to 1845, Catholics were prominent, but the Church itself did not enter into the conflict. In the forties, the priests who officiated in Rhode Island were nearly all natives and most of them converts. Bishop Tyler was consecrated to the Hartford Diocese in 1 844. He took up his residence in Providence and served as pastor of the Cathedral. When he died in 1849. there were but fifteen priests in Rhode Island and Con necticut. Father Wiley, of Saint Patrick’s Church, was the first to celebrate a Pontifical Mass and inaugurate Holy Week services. After Bishop Tyler’s death, the diocese was without an overseer for more than a year: then it was announced that Rev. Bernard O’Reilly would succeed. He remained in Provi- dence only a little over five years, but in that time he had organized the diocese very thoroughly and trebled the number of priests. Everywhere churches were being erected. During the early fifties, the flood of Irish immigration increased greatly. In the basement of the Church, the children attended school under a lay mistress. In the rear of Saint Patrick’s Church a night school was begun. Bishop Tyler had been most anxious for the Sisters of Charity to come, but Bishop O’Reilly chose the Sisters of Mercy. Mother Xavier Warde and her small band of Mercy Nuns arrived from Pittsburg in 1851. THHOB 103© ■

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The Academy - A name that is wreathed in glory Resplendent with learning’s bright ray, A pride to Rhode Island’s history, Our Saint Xavier’s of today. Eleanor A. Taber