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CATHOLIC ACTION OF- THE- SOUTH-'<-<

Natchez >■ Centennial Edition.
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yivihe Word
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iBV; Rev. Gerard Fsser, S. V. D.
[S’S.t:;!';Augustine’s. Seminary has irTestablished by the Society of ^Divine Word for. the educa-i-Q| colored youth to the priest-, I^nd , religious vocation. The 'ajljers of. the same Society, wh*o liq-jpastoral work among the Ne-(es-of North America, in the
*	r^of ;-Mississippi, by their con-"With the Negro population dually came to realize how Iful and greatly needed was ithd sacred ministry of a Colored Ifclergy. They noticed that the ^-Protestant denominations were '^ithmving with life among the 'American Negroes: they saw new ‘■icKtrches rising from the ground, tfwhich, in beauty and style of architecture, rivaled white churches; $f;’they saw scores of new prayer-‘iJionses built in the county; they | observed, besides, that the mini.s-n;lors numbered in the hundreds lo ' lake charge of Ihe churches. Wliy •/could not the Catholic Church of-r.fer: the Negroes the ministry of ^.-pric.sts from tln.'ir own peopie? ^ < Fattier Hoick Pioneer -p'-With these thought in mind, the ^-'superior of the Southern Missions ; of the Society of the Divine Word, ■'^lev.' Aloysius Hoick, S. V. D., accompanied. by the provincial of
.lijg-Same Society, in the year 1920
\ -? w*m
Seminary and College Conducted at Bay St., Louis by Fathers of Divine Word to Prepare Colored Young Men for Religious Life; Five Negro Priests Ordained
- sMission House
pie from all sections of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama to witness the unusual ceremonies, especially for the celebration of the first Masses.
Besides these, a Negro secular priest also made his studies at St.' Augustine’s and was ordained there. He returned after ordination, to his native country in Central America to take up his priestly labors.
A Religious House
This seminary is at the same time a religious house; it, therefore, has extended a welcome also to candidates for the religious Brotherhood. On May 1, 1935, the first two candidates entered the novitiate for the Colored Brotherhood; they took their first religious vows on May 1, 1937. At present there are at St. Augustine's t w o professed Colored Brothers, seven novices and seven postulants for the religious Brotherhood. May the day not be far away when both Colored priests and Brothers, bound together by the tripie vow of religious life, form a religious community under the patronage of the African Father of the Church, St. Augustine.
^approached Most Reverend John 'Gunn, D. D., Bishop of Nat-jj;chez,"'Mis6., asking "permission to ^establish a seminary in which Ne-&gr<5 "students should be prepared ffjfoiy.th.e 'priesthood.' The Most Rev-‘“ferend.v Bishop ; welcomed the un-Heflaking. He wrote an encourag-|ngilettef in which he laid down pC.fpy°wing instructions: “I ap-^XOye’-of the idea of a religious onpimunity of Colored priests, ^rmed and trained by the Fa-/	Society	of	the	Divine
1 ^Cr°/d'[:'Such a community would gsya^ifyour...spirit, yoUr zeal and
I peyote cinoss to the cause of be in itself a bless-.entire'work. ■ I would ftyOKtheoi ymissiohs .Cand I-.'would |W5ret£Qm'.faculties ’and a-vwel-;
thei'-wojJk among their-afi^^P^^ej-justjiij/the^saSe -way I^do- Jor •' members j of. any'-’ re-OTjigiptastcornniunity'.’’>*>'}* ••-. ;; >vv/-.MfWfi^ormairappfoval-of'tlie'es-'gttab^bment of the' Colored semi-Siven by His Excellency-,' ^-gBis{iop*Gunn,'in a letter of‘June Ir^.^^Oy^'The Bishop of Natchez fcwjlhnglyrgrants the request of the 1-Fathers -of , the Society of the Di-._^Vihe‘Wofd. to open a preparatory *5- r Jhe training of young .glColorea men for admission into a ^»|'er*1210_us life, in view of becoming 4tt*a;‘religious order. This gaining'.!which will be given by ^Eathers of >. the Divine Word ;&®l~v>:?nsure a good - selection the,;,Colored, and a good
A view in the garden of St. Augustine’s Seminary, Bay St. Louis, conducted by the Society of the < Bivine Word for the preparation of Colored young; men for the religious life.	t
training for the big work of the priesthood. The approval is given in view of these young men becoming priests in a recognized religious community.”
Th<* preparatory college was opened at Greenville, Miss., November 8, 1920. After the episcopal approbation had been ob-_ tained, the Society submitted, in December, 1921, the work of the Colored seminary to the approval of the Holy See. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XV, in an audience granted to the Procurator-General of the Society, approved . of ■ th.e founding.. of' the. seminary, praisejd the., work, blessed- it and requested! the Procurator-General to tell the- prqyincial - to. -proceed
'Without i delay *
In.^thejfall. .of 1923, the seminary was transferred from. Green-ville,Miss., to Bay-.'St. ;Louis, -Miss.-,: where there ■ is ~.a more* Catholic -^neighborhood, -On this' occasion,- the Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, wrote a letter of approval to the Superior-General of the Society of ■ the Divine Word, in which he spoke clearly about the necessity of educating a native clergy: “Does it not indeed follow, from, the very nature of the' Church as a Divine Institution, that every tribe or people should have priests who are one with it in race and character, in habit of
thought and temperament? Aside from the fact that such priests will find a friendly welcome, will they not also prove far more effective in leading their brethren into, and confirming them in, the Faith that any priests of a different race and from another country? If, therefore, we wish to accomplish some useful and solid work in this field, it is indispensable that priests of the same race shall make it their life task to lead these peoples to the Christian Faith and to a higher cultural level.”
Open Major Seminary ’ ..
Until the year 1927, St. Augustine’s was only a ' preparatory seminary comprising four years high school'and two years' college.-/ This six-year course,' With 30 class ■periods per week, offers all the^ ordinary : branches ' of Study1 by'.Whith' candidates are prepared for •tlie',pi'ieStly Vocation. In 1926, the first graduates from college entered the novitiate of the Society of the Divine Word, at the completion of which they took the religious vows.
. Soon the major seminary was opened, with a three-year course 'of philosophy arid a four-year course in theology. It has been our great pleasure to witness that the Negro seminarian compares favorably with his white compan-
ion as regards keenness of philosophical investigation and depth of comprehension. He is alert at speculative inquiry -and he is able to discuses problems of thought delightfully even in the Latin tongue.
The school years 1936-37 was begun with an enrollment of 48 students for high school and college and of 15 seminarians in the •courses of philosophy and theology. Besides, four clerical novices are making at present their H9viceship..,.-From the establish-^.meflt,of ;the seminary, in 1920, un- -".til June,'l>J.fl37!; -£15j students havyeI 'r-t>eeii .^jo^onetll -,'41--,of '; whorpj rhaye
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, first gbloppfl-pnegt* were,or- }", daiqed -in JVfay; 1'954>js ilhree p.ther l,\ ,:'CQl.Qred priests have.-jmade -part-.of; their; studies , at -St,: ,Augustii&’s. Semipary.	1
First Masses The first four Negro priests to be ordained at St. Augustine Seminary were Rev. Maurice Rousseve, S. V. D., Rev, Vincent Smith, S. V. D, Rev. Anthony Bourges, S. V. D., and Rev. Francis Wade, S. V. D. They received Holy Orders-from Most Rev. Richard O. Gerow, D. D., Bishop of Natchez. All four celebrated their first Masses on Thursday, May 24, 1934, the day following their ordination. These-ceremonies drew hundreds of peo-
, VeryJ Rev. John .Henry ' Gas- f per, S. V. D.) borni Duren,.' Rhineland, Germany; studied ■' at St. Gabriel’s seminary, at, Moedling, Vienna, Austria; or- ' dained, May 15,	1929,	at
Moedling, near Vienna, Ausr ( tria; came to the diocese, Au-, gust, 1930; successive appoint-' ments, August 1, 1930, St. Au-:, gustine’s seminary, Bay St.’ Louis. July, 1937, St. Augus-.. tine’s seminary, Bay St.' Louis, rector.	’
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THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
. AND THE 'V;:,: OFFICIALS' OK HANCOCK COUNTY EXTEND. SINCERE; CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE DIOCESE OF NATCHEZ ON TFIK OCCASION OF ITS | CEM5TENNIAL CELEBRATION
Members of the Board.,
CHA^S; .B. ;MU^PHY ,
-President
JOHN B. ^WHEAT T. EDWARD KELLER JACK LOTT’ i
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