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Zealous Missionaries Served Our Lady of the Gulf Parish at Bay
^ '^(Continued from Page 39) Aaad‘ prevented the federal soldier fromt-finishing Captain Marshall $ with' his bayonet. The Yankees pwere then determined to burn the town.;-They burned several prop-erties and the town seemed j doomed. The people were terri-fled.-'Father LeDuc, then a young ^priest, appeared on the street in £|.thfe neighborhood of the church, ^i^olding aloft the cross of Christ.
ng 'federal soldiers, who were for ;; \p"most part Irish Catholics, in-
Jtly. ceased firing, and in re-it to'the cross of the Savior ed their hats. Thanks to the ,%Mge and religious influence of * cuner LeDuc, peace was restored /and Bay St. Louis was saved from ^destruction.
J; Father LeDuc was a builder of ^the't-first rank. He rebuilt the ^original church, which had been ^condemned by the architects." He 'Inbuilt-''churches at Bayou Binan-tf.'choai'’; Bayou Cadet, Pearlington, v-Bayou'LaCroix, Waveland-and St. 4 Joseph’s on Dunbar avenue, and ,f inlhis 'will he left money for the .‘ ‘.erection’of a church at Edwards-L,;.villie,;£He opened St. Mary’s ceme-tery^on;/ December 22, 1872. His - recPrds;show thaf in the year 1879 tJlie^aPSnded 13 missions in addi-5'tionito'the Bay and during this yyear *382 were Confirmed; of this ^number’49 were converts. These Vfac'ts. are 'sufficient'to stamp him ||as.'f a* missionary of apostolic zeal. M In’,July)l 1897, Father LeDuc de-<acided'.to,yisit his native land. In //iboa'^ing’'the ship' he hurt his leg. '*'The>*u?jury hastened his death, ’AvhichiVoccurred August 27, 1897. ■^IlSwas’buried in France, far from /hisj^belove,d r parish. Fifty years ■' year^-havevpassed since the death ' ■of father, LeDuc, but she is still loved|by>’!hi^_ children. ’ Even to • 'thisfdayjyou can hear the older memljejrs'iof the congregation say ;wifH^ra^'fe$ling'• of pride; “I. was i£a^ze^ByvPere. LeDuc,” show-
ing that this was considered a distinctive privilege and that a special unction was imparted by his ministrations. His cause may never be submitted to Rome, but he has long since enjoyed domestic canonization at the hands of his people.
Third Pastor at the Bay
The third pastor of Our Lady of the Gulf church was Very Rev. Florimond J. Blanc, January 1, 1898, to June 14, 1903. Father Blanc was born in the Diocese of Le Puy..in France April 4, 1842. At the completion of his classical courje he entered St. Mary’s Seminary at Baltimore. He was or-dajnsd for the Dioccse of Natchez, and in the fall of 1870 began his missionary work in Mississippi. Only a man with the zeal of an apostle could stand the difficult misions of Aberdeen and Columbus back in the 70s, but zeal he had in abundance and for 10'long years lived,the life of a pioneer missionary. From 1880 to 1890, he was pastor of Pass Christian- where his record shows that he was a great builder and an able financier. As pastor of Biloxi from 1890 to 1898, he kept up this excellent work and for. this reason Father LeDuc requested that good Father Blanc succeed him as pastor of Bay St. Louis. Bishop Heslin acceded to the wishes of Father LeDuc, and Father Blanc became pastor of the Bay about January 1, 1898.
During his short tenure of office Father Blanc'lived up to all expectations. He repaired the church, bought the property where the present rectory stands, put electric lights in the church and made other important improvements. As pastor he endeared himself to all the people and they loved him as a father.
Father Blanc fell ill about June 1, 1903. His condition failed to improve and he went to Hotel
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llev. Patrick Moran, born, Cloone, County Leitrim, Ireland; studied at St. Patrick’s college, Carlow, Ireland; ordained, June 11, 1933, at St. Patrick's college, Carlow, Ireland; came to the diocese, October 7, 1933. successive appointment, October 7, 1933, Church of Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis, assistant.
Dieu for treatment. On Sunday, June 1, he died. On Tuesday, June 16, 1903, he was buried in the vault beneath the Calvary in St. Mary’s cemetery.
Father AVaesberghe Comes Father Blanc’s successor was Very Rev. Aloise Van Waesberghe, who served from July 1, 1903, to April 6, 1906. He was born in Eccloo, Belgium, on April 17, 1856. He was ordained in Malines on May 22, 1880, after having completed his theological course at the American college at Louvain. He came to the diocese in December of the same year and it is interesting to note that his first, as well as his last, Mass in the diocese was celebrated in Bay St. Louis. He spent nine years on the missions of Hancock and Harrison counties, in addition to his work in other parts of the state. He was pastor of Pass Christian from 1896 to 1903. On July 1, 1903, he became pastor of Bay St. Louis. '	;
Father Aloise, as he was affectionately called, was loved by the people of the Bay. His excellent work in the diocese in general, and in this parish in "particular, drew the attention of Bishop Heslin, and Father Aloise was made honorary canon and dean of the Mississippi coast—honors which were enjoyed.by his illustrious predecessors, Father LeDuc 'and Father Blanc.
His untimely death on Friday, April 6, 1906, caused universal sorrow. Father Aloise was buried beside his predecessor in the vault reserved for priests in St. Mary’s cemetery.
Very Rev. John M. Prcndergast Rev. John M. Prendergast was born in Natchez on January 30, 1870. He began classical studies under Rev. C. A. Oliver, D. D., at Jackson. Later he continued at St. Charles college, Maryland, and Jefferson college, Louisiana. His philosophical and theological studies were made in Belgium and at the University of Freiburg. Bishop Heslin ordained him to the priesthood in the Cathedral at Natchez on October 24, 1894. After his ordination he was appointed assistant at the Cathedral, where he remained until 1896. Then he was appointed assistant at St. Paul’s church in Vicksburg. His heroic work in the stricken
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THE MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS
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CITY OF BAY SAINT LOUIS
THE DIOCESE OF NATCHEZ
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town of Edwards will ever remain one of the most brilliant chapters in the history of’ the plague Of 1897.
In December, 1897, he was transferred to Bay St. Louis. On August 18, 1898, he left for Santiago, Cuba, to serve as chaplain during the Spanish-American war. He spent some time in non-Cath-olic mission work, then became pastor of Gulfport. On June 23, 1906, he was appointed pastor of Bay St. Louis, a post which he held until January 17, 1918.
Lay Cornerstone
On Saturday morning? November 16, 1907, a great catastrophe occurred. The parochial school for girls, St. Joseph’s academy, the Church of Our Lady of the Gulf and the Catholic rectory were destroyed by fire. The church was one of the oldest landmarks; its associations and memories made Ihe loss irreparable. Father Pren-dergast, however, was not disheartened. He formulated plans for a new and greater church. On October 4, 1908, the cornerstone of the new church was laid 'by Rt. Rev. Thomas- ^leslin. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated by Father Prendergast on Sunday, December 13, 1908; it was likewise the day of the first initiation of the Knights of Columbus in Bay St. Louis. The architecture of the church is Romanesque; the proportions are 65 feet front by 149 feet in depth. Even to this day it is one of the finest churches in the Diocese of Natchez.
Many and great were the dif-fulties to be faced in the parish during these years. The zealous pastor not only met and solved these problems but, like a true missionary, he opened new fields. He built the Church'of St. Henry at Edwardsville, dedicated the church at Lakeshore and built the church at Clermont Harbor.
During his residence here Father Prendergast endeared himself to all the people. They recognized his splendid worth as a citizen and as a priest. The prosperity of the parish during his administration stamped him as an' executive of rare ability; his profound learning was always evident; his eloquence was proverbial; his zeal, self-sacrifice and fatherly affection caused everyone to love Father John. Bay St. Louis sincerely regretted his departure for Vicksburg, where h& became pastor January 17, 1918.
Very Rev. A. J. Gmelch
Rev. Andrew J. Gmelch was born November 30, 1877, at Rohr-bach, Germany. He made his ecclesiastical studies at Cullman, Ala., and in New Orleans, La. He was ordained to the priesthood on J'une 14, 1901, in St. Stephen’s church, New Orleans. The early years of his priesthood were spent in Clarksdale, Vicksburg and Me-, rigold. In the fall of 1905 he became, pastor of Canton, where he remained until his appointment as pastor of Bay St. Louis on January 17, 1918.
Father Gmelclv quickly realized that Waveland And the adjoining missions were about ready for a resident, pastor and he consulted Bishop Gunn on the matter. The plan met with the favor of the Bishop, who had cpme to this conclusion while on' a . visit to the missions, on November 16, 1912. On July 27, ,1918, Bishop, Gunn purchased from the Jesuits a tract of land they had inherited. This acquijition made it possible to build a priest’s house and install a pastor at Waveland. On June 1, 1919, Rev. Michael Costello, assistant at Bay St. Louis, was appointed to take charge of Wave--land and the neighboring missions.
Father Gmelch had long been a friend of the Fathers of the Divine Word., He was the first to welcome them when they came into the diocese in 1905. He likewise welcomed them to Bay St. Louis to establish St. Augustine’s Mis-
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sion House and to care for the Colored of the parish. The cornerstone of St. Augustine’s Mis-' ■$/. sion House was laid November 23; 1922. The Divine Word Fathers took over the Colored school in 1923 and the parish of St. Rose of Lima was definitely separated •. from the parish of Our Lady of the Gulf on August 28, 1926.
Work Carried On
All the while, the good pastor was working hard to pay off the debt of the parish church. The debt was $13,000 when he came into the parish. This he paid off within the space of a few years.
He erected the Stations of the Cross at a cost of $1400, a new school building at $7500 and the beautiful stained glass windows,-amounting to $14,000. In addition he finished the interior of the church at a cost of $30,000.
The schools in the parish are flourishing and the students number 478. Both St. Stanislaus college and St. Joseph's academy are accredited by the state of Mississippi and by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. This is the highest academic rating possible, ^s our schools are second to none in the diocese, so are thb spiritual advantages 'of the parish of Our Lady of the Gulf. Father Gmelch, with his assistants, Father Leo Fahey and Father Patrick Moran, are earnestly striving to carry on the work so nobly begun by the pioneer missionary, Father Bu-teux, 90 years ago.
First Chaplains Allowed Seven Dollars a Month
A report of 1724 in the National ’Archives of Paris, showing the state of the missions in the Louisiana colony, lists Father Chris-tophe de Chaumont as attending . to the Post of the Natchez. With him was Brother Eusebe de Chau-mont. Father Christophe was the ■ ? first Capuchin missionary to labor* *$1 in. Natchez.	41	•	*;*:
The report shows each of them being assigned an allowance of 600 ~ •: francs, or about $7 per month. Ev- 1' idently the early missionaries were ; not overpaid.
The two Capuchins were also allowed or credited with 195 ^ francs to cover wine, flour, can- . dies and soap. In addition, they were allowed 50 francs per year ' for the feeding of a young Negro slave whom the Company of the Indies lent them to act as janitor, sexton, cook and general fac to-tum.	'	’
Included in.this interesting re- . A’ port, is also a schedule of the; plans made by officials of the Company of the Iridies to provide. spiritual ministrations in other v posts of the colony.	‘	".
Biloxi is listed as needing two I priests, one for the Indians on the ;S Pascagoula river, and one for - i Dauphine Island. A request is . ^ made for an annual allowance of 1200 francs for the salaries of the ( ' two missionaries; 390 francs per year to cover the. cost of wine, flour, candles and other items, and 370 francs and 16 sous for the up-, keep of two servants.	'	'
The Yazoo settlement is also listed as a post where a priest is to be established and’ a request is made for permission to allot 980 francs' for the necessary expenses attendant upon the placing of a missionary there.
1 The officials of the Company of the Indies in the colopy made: many such' plans and requests for. .fvi priests and funds, but the council Vjjvi in Paris was not so prompt in giving its permission or authorization’,:? with the result that many posts in '-^'r the colony remained without any;^;% spiritual ministrations. This wafe >, true of Biloxi, which had no priest, stationed there after 1723.	'	•' ':■»
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