Villanova University - Belle Air Yearbook (Villanova, PA)

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new church. On Sunday, September 1, 1844, the Feaat of Our Lady of Con solation, it was blessed and opened by Rt. Rev. Franci P Kcnrick. Ordi nary of the diocese. The main lia'l of this building served ns study hall for the pupils. On Saturday nights the desks were ranged against the wall and the place was made ready for the Sunday service. In this way. Father O'Dwyer passed his summer vacation of 1844. Classes opened as usual in September, 184L On Km her Saturday, Sep temher 21, 18ft, Bishop Kcnrick ordained Brother Harnett in St. John's Church, Philadelphia. When the new term opened February, 1845, Father O'Dwyer began to fee-1 a reaction after his indefatigable labors and the troubles of the past year. He had to erect a new church at St. Augustine's and conduct suits at law against the city of Philadelphia for the recent damages. Father Josoph O'Donnell gave up his mission on Long Island to Bishop Dubois Father Ashe was in delicate health (he died March 18, 181-8). Father Harnett, just ordained, was convalescing from a severe illness. These four, with Father Nicholas O'Donnell, were the only priests of the Order in tin- country. Under pressure of such circumstances. Father O'Dwyer decided that it would be best and, in fact, necessary to close school temporarily. On February 20 it was announced in the Catholic Hcrahl and on the same day Father O’Dwyer called the boys together and announced the closing. Thus after two years of struggling and laboring, during which time forty five young men had been in training, Villanova reluctantly closed her doors not to open again till the Fall of 184(1. During the Summer of 184 the Fathers decided to reopen. Sunday. September (i, 18 Mi. Villanova resumed her great work of Christian educa- tion with l ather () Dwyer, president, and Fathers Ashe and Harnett assist ing him. About a month later Father Kyle returned from Ireland. There were some lay professors engaged. The year was uneventful. On Wcdncs «lay, July 21, 1847, the closing exercises were held on tin- gr«-en—just north of the college building (now Tolentinc Academy). Rev. Janus O'Donnell presided and Mr. .1. I). Bryant read an essay on “Patriotism. This was Villa nova's first public commencement. Three clerics of the order, who had been in Italy in the fall .»f 1842. re turned early in September, 1847. They were F.dward M. Mullen. Deacon (lamed. 12

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But what is to In done with the great farm of Helle-Air, now Augustin ian property? In the spring of 1848, Brothers Dennis Gallagher (Brother .John in religion) and Jeremiah Ryan were sent from St. Augustine's to open the house at Belle-Air. This faet is of interest because it marks the first residence of members of the order at our present Villanova. Tradition has it that Father O'Dwyer said mass in the parlor oratory and blessed the new monastery on St. Augustine's day, August 28, 1818.' He dedicated the new mission to St. Thomas of Villanova. Thereafter, Belle-Air passes away and we have ’illaiKK'd. On all Saints' Day, 181-8 Bro- thers Gallagher and McDonnell were received into the order under names of John and Thomas. Now is was necessary to put the new monastery on a anonieal basis. This was done at the request of Father Philip Angelueei. Vicar-General of the Order, by Pope Gregory XVI, in a brief issued December 22, 1818. The probable date of the opening of school is September 18, 1818. In the ( a holie, of Pittsburgh, it is stated, that “in 1818 the College began its career” and that thirteen youth opened the establishment. We, of Villanova 11)22, lind it rather hard to understand the sacrifices of comfort the boys of the infant school made. Until the erection of the chapel building in 1811, the students' lavatory was in Rudolph's old wagon- shed. A long wooden trough to hold the basins was set up along the far side of the shed: it was open in front. Water was procured from the pump some one hundred feet away. In the new College building (tin east wing of the Tolentino Academy) was completed and the students moved from the monastery. In the spring of 1841, thefirst prospectus of Villanova appeared in the ( ntholic Herald of Philadelphia. Villanova’s first scholastic year was an exciting one. The Augustinian church of St. Augustine in Philadelphia had been burned in tin Know- nothing Riots, and all the inmates of Villanova were in contsant fear of an attack on the College. F.very evening the boys were marched down the Lancaster Pike to Mrs. Rudolph's house to spend the night. That house still stands. It is a stone building on the south side of the Pike about a mile down and almost opposite where, until recently, the Roscmont toll- gate stood. Shortly after the lire in St. Augustine's, Dr. Moriartv and Father Kyle left for F.uropc and Father O’Dwyer became Superior of the Missions, which position he held till his death. May 24, 18- (). Father O'Dwyer's life was a very active one. He now made additions to the barn—two wings; one for corn, etc., the other for wagons and partly for a gymnasium. In May. Father O’Dwver laid the corner-stone for tin ll

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A one-story frame building, to serve as a lavatory, was erected at the northwest corner of the Chapel in 1817. The Fathers in the spring of 1818 petetioned the Legislature for a Char ter. On Friday, March 10 of that yearT Francis K. Sliunk, governor of the state, signed “an act to incorporate the Augustinian college of Villa- nova in the County of Delaware and the State of Pennsylvania.” The first' sail of the college was adopted on December •10, 1818— a Bible, cross, crozicr, cincture, and a flaming heart pierced with an arrow, without anv inscription. On May 18, 1818, Mr Charles F.gan. a native of Ireland, twenty-seven years of age, was received into the novitiate. He was the first cleric mn'icc at Villanova. Commencement of 1818 was held Wednesday, «hinc I!), on the green. There were at least a thousand present. Rev. Edward .1. Sourin gave out the premiums and addressed the audience. In this same year the Fathers began the erection of another college building. They planned to put up a wing only. It was begun in 1818 and finished by February, 1811). It was 88 by .'».’5 feet and cost $'11,1)58.77. At the same time Father O’Dwyer hail a small one-storv stone building erected at tin railroad for a college station. At the closing exercises held Wednesday, July 18, 1811). President Father O’Dwver,, among other remarks, announced that the College was frce of debt. In the year 1811) to 1850, Father Harnett issued a Prospectus. The courses included: Creek, Latin, English, History, Geography, Mathe- matics. Rhetoric, Poetry, Natural and Moral Philosophy, and Chemistry. On the second floor of the wing a large and beautiful ball was opened for a library and reading room. It was open in free hours and all day on Sun- day. Each member paid $1.00 a year. In 1850, the Fathers with the ap- proval of Bishop Kcnriek. opened a manual labor school at Villanova for orphans over sixteen years of age from St. John's Orphan Asylum. But now the light that had burned so brilliantly and unremittingly was flickering. Father O’Dwyer’s health failed and he went to Mt. Hoj» near Baltimore. The chaplain in charge at the time was Rev. John A. Newmann, C. SS. R., afterwards the venerable Bishop of Philadelphia. He gave Father Stanton most edifying details of Father O’Dwyer’s last illness. The saintly man insisted on receiving the Holy Eucharist kneeling on the floor. He died Friday, May 21, 1850, at the age of thirty-six. Father William Harnett succeeded Father O'Dwyer in the presidency. About this time the college regulations were drawn up. We give a copy of them below. They show the strict military training of the Villanova boys of long ago. 13