St Mary of the Mount High School - St Mary Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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McMahon became resident pastor, the parish rented a small frame house on Belonda Street. However, during the pastorate of Father Tobin, a hotise was pur- chased (supposedly by Father Tobin ' s family) and served as a Rectory imtil the present St. Mary of the Mount Church on Grandview Avenue vas built. The rec- tory occupied by Father O ' Connell was a small house next to the Church on Cirand- view Avenue. One can readily imagine its inadequacy when one realizes that it fit compactly between the Chtirch and the present rectory property. This, then, was the living quarters for the priests when Father Griffin came to the Mount in 1903. The Apostolate House on Ulysses Street was home to the priests who assisted Father Griffin in his Confraternity v ' ork while Father Griffin and his assistant, Father Benson, lived in the makeshift rectory. The steady growth of the parish required the help of another priest and Father Munster joined Father Griffin and Father Benson at St. Mary of the Motnit. So inadeqtiate was the rectory, that Father Munster was compelled to live at the Apostolate House. These imfavorable living conditions contintied until 1923 at which time Father Griffin completed negotia- tions (through a third party) for the purchasing of the Harper Estate, which estate adjoined the Church property. Work on the Harper home was begtm immediately, and in an incredibly short time the present comfortable rectory was ready for occupancy. Fathers Griffin, Benson and Munster gratefully took up residence in their new home. The old rectory was rented for a while, but in 1933, was torn down to make room for the present baptistry. Since St. Mary of the Mount played such a vital part in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and in the formation of the Apostolate, no history of the parish woidd be complete without a history of the Confraternity and the Apostolate. THE PITTSBURGH APOSTOLATE Prior to, and for a time, in conjtmction with his strenuous pastoral duties at St. Mary of the Mount, Father Griffin vas a great moving force behind the Apostolate in the diocese of Pittsbingh. In retrospect, let us glance at the life of this zealous priest of God who so generously emptied himself to become all things to all men. The son of Ed vard J. and Mary Keary Ciriffin, Father Griffin was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 4, 1863. Both his college and seminary studies were pursued at St. Vincent ' s College and Seminary in Latrobe, Pa. On July 13, 1888, he was ordained by Bishop Phelan and almost immediately began his priestly ministrations at St. John Baptist Church on 36th Street. After two years he was appointed as pastor of SS. Philip and James Church in Meyersdale, Pa. In 1891 Father Griffin, in accordance vith the wish of his Bishop assumed the Chaplaincy of St. Paul ' s Orphanage. This appointment also incltided the spiritual care of

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Minister died, at the age of 46, at St. Mary of the Mount Rectory on January 24, 1925. He was buried with full military honors from St. Mary of the Mount Church on January 28. May his soul and the souls of all priests rest in peace! Besides Father Benson and Father Munster the following priests assisted Father Griffin: Reverend Bernard McGuigan (1919 - 1923), Reverend Peter J. Bernarding (1922 - 1924), Reverend Henry L. Immekus (1924 - 1937), Reverend Francis J. McCarter (1923 - 1936) and Reverend Thomas C. Brown (1923). Father Griffin lost no time in organizing the various Church societies. In fact, St. Mary of the Mount was one of the first parishes of Pittsburgh to have a Holy Name Society. Founded in 1909, the society consisted of four hundred and fifty three members in 1910. The first Holy Name officers, according to the Catholic Yearbook and Directory of the Pittsburgh Diocese were: president, J. B. Sullivan; vice-president, E. McAninch; treasurer, Robert Philpott; financial secretary, John Tighe; recording secretary, John Duffy; monitor, William Shields. The Holy Name Society is a potent factor in any parish. Its aim today as it was at the time of its birth in 1433 is one and the same — to make Jesus Christ better known and better loved. A body of men banded together under the banner of Christ and striving to promote respect and honor for Christ ' s Holy Name is bound to bring blessings on a parish. The annual picnics sponsored by the Holy Name Society at Southern Park and later at Olympia Park are delightfully happy memories for those parishioners of today who look back upon the good old days. The present flag pole which stands in the school yard was donated by the Holy Name Society. The beautiful flag Adiich the society also donated was unfurled with great pomp and ceremony on May 26, 1910, in the presence of the local post of the G.A.R., the local and visiting Holy Name Societies and 700 children from St. Mary of the Mount School. While the flag was given to the breeze, the air around the Mount reverberated with the singing of patriotic songs. Other societies in the Church from its early beginnings were the St. Vincent de Paul Society, founded in 1908 with Father Griffin as its spiritual director; the Altar and Rosary Society; the senior and junior Blessed Virgin Sodalities. All societies form an integral part of the parish and give glory to God. They contribute, in no small way, to the spiritual growth of a congregation and they assist the priests by sharing with them the burdens that necessarily attend the work involved in spreading Christ ' s Kingdom on earth. While St. Mary of the Mount was a mission of St. Malachy ' s the priests — Fathers Cosgrave, Neville and Tobin — resided at St. Malachy ' s Rectory. When Father

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- ' prisoners of the Allegheny County Jail and of the Boys of Morganza Training School. During his Chap- laincy Father Griffin became associ- ated with the Reverend Walter Elliot, a noted Paulist missionary, in conducting missions for non- Catholics throughout the Pitts- burgh diocese. Although ill health from over- work forced Father Griffin to re- linquish his Chaplaincy and his mission vork, he never abandoned the idea of finding ways and means to reach out to the souls in outlying regions where there were no means of Catholic Instruction. After a short period of eight steps from Duquesne Heights to Carson Street months at St. Joseph ' s in North Oakland, Father Griffin regained his health and assumed the pastorate of St. Joseph ' s Parish in New Brighton. From New Brighton he came to St. Mary of the Mount in 1903. Through his missionary experiences with Father Elliot, Father Griffin was aware of the spiritual condition of the people residing in the remote sections of the widely- scattered Pittsburgh diocese vhere there vere neither Churches nor priests. Like a