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

Page 76 text:

' 4

Page 78 text:

Joseph ' s Church. Mount Oliver. Father John McDowell, then assistant Superinten- dent of Schools, was in residence at St. Mary of the Mount and offered his daily Mass here, but the strenuous demands made on him by his school duties, naturally pre- vented his being able to assist in the work of the parish. This condition continued until Jtine, 1953 when Rev. J. Donald O ' Neil came to St. Mary of the Mount. Among Father O ' Neil ' s many duties is that of supervising principal of the school, an office that is very demanding and time consuming. Later in 1953 Father Joseph Bryan came to the Mount to replace Father Connolly who was assigned to St. John the Baptist Church in Monaca. On June I G, 1955 Father McDowell left the Mount to take up residence in Sacred Heart Parish in East Liberty. Since his coming to the Moinit, Father SiUlivan has impressed all by his qtiietly serene and deeply spiritual manner. He is a priest who is both a contemplative and doer of The Word. With his characteristic perspective of first things first , Father Sullivan ' s first con- centration was on the spiritual. Revived emphasis on the use of Liturgical music, and encouragement towards a fidler and personal participation of the faithful in the Divine Drama of Calvary, and his appeal for daytime adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are external fragmentary evidences of Father ' s interest in the spiritual growth of the souls entrusted to his care. Like his predecessors, Father Sidlivan ' s chief interest, too, is the children of the parish over whose spiritual and sectdar instruction he keeps vatchful vigil. The overcrowded conditions in the grade school are of paramoimt concern to Father Sullivan. One of his first official acts as pastor was the renovating of a room in the basement of the school so as to provide another classroom for the second grade. This, of coinse, required another teacher. Althotigh the sisters were willing to teach double sessions, Father would not permit it and generously and solicitously hired another lay teacher. Looking into the fiuure Father foresaw that, within a few years, the present school btiilding vould be sufficiently large for the grade school only. Thtis, he knew that the construction of a new high school in the near future vas of absoliue neces- sity. The urgency of a new convent for the sisters vas apparent after Father made a toiu through the two houses that had served as living cjtiarters for the sisters dur- ing past years. Before formidating any definite plans for building, Father first tackled the financial problem. WithotU the cooperation of the good people of the parish, St. Mary of the Moiuit coidd never have grown materially as it had since its early beginnings. Encouraged