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

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Annual Banquet for Various Church Organizations Speakers ' Table

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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

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by past records, Father Sullivan presented the gigantic task that lay before them — the building program. Characteristically the people responded to Father ' s appeal. The envelope system for the Sunday collections was revised, and in an incredibly short time, the Sunday collections boomed. Father assured his people that if the collections would continue, that the expenses of the parish could well be taken care of. The next step, financially, was a drive to raise money for the expansion of the parish buildings. The response was good. Explaining to his people that he was only custodian of the ftmds. Father Stillivan periodically made a report on the financial standing of the parish. Openly and sincerely, he assured them that this first drive would not be the last, but rather the beginning of appeals to raise money to further the growth of the parish. The original plan provided the renovrtion of the convent first. This vork was started in 1953 and the house at 714 Grandview Avenue was made habitable and comfortable for the sisters ' return in September of that year. By the follo ving Sep- tember Father hoped to have the large house on 710 Grandview made equally comfortable. However, man proposes and God disposes. Father was assured that, in the long run, it vould be cheaper to build a new convent than to try to restore the old Cliff House . Disappointed, but not discouraged, Father Sullivan began to formulate other plans. These plans included the building of a new convent and high school on the site where the two convent houses stood. The first step towards the furthering of plans was the purchasing of the Hill homestead and the renting of the newly remodeled home of Mrs. Helen Knee as temporary living quarters for the sisters. And so, in Jtme of 1955, the wrecking crew arrived to dismantle and demolish the old convent, thus causing nostalgic memories in the minds of old parishioners and sisters alike. After considering bids from various contractors of the city. Father Sullivan and the members of the Church committee awarded the contract for construction to F. J. Busse Co., whose bid for the work was an estimated $598,591.71. The archi- tects, Marlier and Johnstone, after many hours spent in constiltation with Father Sullivan submitted the plans for two separate btiildings rather than a combined school and convent. Our new high school is designed to accommodate fotu himdred ptipils. In addi- tion to the eight typical classrooms, specially equipped rooms provide for instruc- tions in typing, sewing, cooking, the sciences and art. There is an ample library, and a room for atidio-visual instruction which will also accommodate limited assemblies.