Villanova University - Belle Air Yearbook (Villanova, PA)

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Boys to rise at 5.30; Prayer at ; Mass at (5.30; Breakfast at 7.30 Recreation to 8.30; Studies to 12; F.xamcn at 12; Anicius and Dinner: Recreation to 2; College Regulations Studies to 4.30; Recreation to 5; Studies from 5-0; Spiritual Reading from 6-6.30; Angelus and Supper at 6.30; Recreation to 7: Studies from 7-8; Prayer to 8.30; Bed by 0. Silence in Refectory; Dormitory; Study Hall; Wash Room. Privations No liquor: No tobacco; No snuff; No ba«l conduct; No absence; No idleness; No negligence; No injustice. Rt. Rev. Francis P. Kenriek, on Sunday June 16, 1850, administered Confirmation to thirty-five |H-rsons; twentv-tliree were college students, six of whom made their first Comunion the same morning. This is the first time flic Sacrament was .«inferred at Yillanova. C ommencement was held on Wednesday, July 17. Bishop Kenriek presided. On December 17. 1850, Brothers Ambrose A. Mullen and Charles F.gau were ordained by Bishop fcnrick. In 1851, Commencement took place on July 16. The valedictory was by Master Charles O’Donnell. There was much advancement in 1852. The Monastery was enlarged by the addition of a stone building making in all 80 by 15. There was also erected for laundry and baking purposes, a large two-story house ( HI by 24 about one hundred yards cast of the barn). The commencement of 1852 was on Wednesday, July 14. The valedictory was by Francis Harper. The Fathers opened a theological department to candidates f«ir the secular priesthood, in 1853. Among the first applicants were Mr. Farren of Boston, Mass., and Mr. Stack of Pittsburgh, Pa. Dr. Moriartv taught the class in Sacred FJoqucncc. In 1853 ,'ommenccmcnt was held on tin- last Wednesday of June, and July commencements were abandoned. On commencement day. Wednesday, June 27, 1855, our College for the first time used the potccrs granted by the State to confer degrees. James 14

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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

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F. Dooley and Henry R. Alexander received Bachelorship of Arts. Two years later, Mr. Dooley received from Villanova the Mastership of Arts. Rt. Rev. Bishop Neuman,’C.SS., presided. In 1855-5(5 Father Harnett was president. Now the Fathers found it necessary to devote their efforts to the development of their missions. Therefore on commencement day, 1857, the hoys were assembled ami tin closing announced. College remained closed for eight years. In the fn'l of 1857, the Bishop of Philadelphia held a retreat at Villa - nova and, on All Saints' Day, conferred sacred orders on Brother Peter Crane. This was the first ordination at Villanova. In the spring of 18(55, a second clergy retreat was held at the College. In 18(55, the Fathers decided to re-open the College. In September classes were resumed with Father Ambrose A. Mullen as President. With him were associated Fathers Pacificus A. Nemo, Philip Ixxo, Francis M. Shecran, the new vice-president, and Thomas C. Middleton, members of the order recently arrived from Italy. Messrs. Michael O’Farrell, Timothy Donovan, Charles Marsden, John Dcvir, and Thomas Cullen were candi- dates for the order. The ecclesiastical department of Villanova was under the guidance of Father Father Ixxo was master of novices. With Father who in I8 ) received the doetorship, were allied during his sixteen years of regency in the studies, Father A ngostiw 1 ' nun», Middleton, O'Farrell, Fleming, Naxxnreno Proposta, Joseph A. Locke, and Maurice M. Ryan. On Palm Sunday, 18(5(5, the Passion was sung at Villanova for tile first time. The chanters were Father Ixxo. .Vumu, Middleton. On Thurs- day, July 20, Father N smt was invested with the master’s cap and ring by Dr. .Moriarty, delegate of the general. This was the first time such n cere- mony took place in the province. In 18(5», Father Stanton succeeded Father Ambrose Mullen as president of Villanova. His term was a very prosperous one. In 18(i{), a gymnasium was erected. It was a frame building 81 by M) and was fully equipped. Cndcr Father Stanton's administration, college catalogues were published tor the first time—1871. In 1871, water works were erected at the foot of Mt. Misery. The first jet of water reached college reservoir on Wednesday, December (5. Mt. Misery is, of course, known to all Augustinians and most of Villanova's old boys. The boys of today seem to be letting the old name die out. It is the- hill on the north side of the Pennsylvania Radroad Sta- tion, above the old spring-house. Some time in the early 'Ml’s not long after the Fathers had come into possession of Belle-Air, Dr. Moriarty, being y M f e I' V i r