Our History

History of the Province

The Early Years - Bavaria to Pennsylvania

1873-1907

Foreword

The following sketch of the first thirty-four years of our Province's history appeared serially during 1907 and 1908 in the pages of the Seraphic Child of Mary, the Province's first English periodical. Much of the material is based on Father Hyacinth Epp's manuscript history of those early years; but the style of presentation by Father Severin Scharl, then editor of the Seraphic Child, has a quaint Victorian quality not unlike the charm of the early chronicles of the Order. We are indebted to the Communications Office for resurrecting the text and preparing it for distribution among our friars during this centennial year.

The centennial of the Province is more than an excuse to indulge in a nostalgia kick. A reading of this account of the first third of our history should renew our personal awareness of the hand of Providence in the growth of the Province and our humble acknowledgment that we are reaping what others sowed. The pioneers of the Pennsylvania Province were certainly a hardy breed. We friars today have much to live up to as we begin another century.

September 1973
Brendan Malloy, O.F.M. CAP. Minister Provincial

THE PROVINCE OF ST. AUGUSTINE

(1) Into Exile
It must be a perpetual source of bitter disappointment and confusion to the enemies of religion to witness the ever certain defeat of their nefarious designs, to experience time and again how God puts to shame those that plot evil against His own, and to see that, as Pius VII has said, the more battles the Church has to fight the more her powers are developed, and the more she is oppressed the higher she rises. As regards the religious orders, in which the enemies of the Church are ever sure to find the most intractable and formidable adversaries to their plans and which, for that reason, are always among the first to be attacked by them, it is safe to say that no persecution has ever seriously and lastingly impaired them where, in the hour of battle, they were found loyal and true to their Institute and mission. On the contrary, persecution seems only to widen their field of labor and to strengthen their influence, and they have frequently been rewarded with a greater measure of growth and prosperity in the land of their exile than would have been probable or, perhaps, even possible in the land of their origin.

This may become true in the near future of the religious communities that have lately been expelled from France and her colonies and warmly welcomed in certain Protestant countries, where they have little to fear for themselves and where they will doubtless do a great deal of good and effectually promote the growth of the Church. Such, at least, was the experience of the German orders which were the victims of the infamous religious war waged against them by Bismarck in the seventies of last century. To mention only one instance, is not the Church in the United States indebted to the so-called Kulturkampf for quite a number of religious communities, whose hardy pioneers came hither to avail themselves of the hospitality offered by the New World when the "fatherland" was too shortsighted to appreciate the good they were doing in the Old? Many of our now flourishing religious congregations owe their first feeble beginnings to the tireless energy of these intrepid exiles of 30 years ago.

One of these is the Capuchin Province of Pennsylvania, the history of which we now shall briefly review.

Prussia, intoxicated with her victories over her political foes in the war of 1870-1871, had, like the tyrants of old, set up her banners against the Church of Christ, in which the "iron chancellor" wrongly saw an obstacle to German ambitions. Catholic bishops were treated like so many felons and sent to prison, priests were expelled from their parishes, Catholic seminaries and colleges suspended, monasteries and convents secularized and their blameless inmates disbanded and sent in exile. Bismarck found willing minions ready to carry on his war against the Church in other German states. In Catholic Bavaria, ruled by a phantastic king (Ludwig II) , or rather by his Prime Minister Lutz, who betrayed the Church by espousing and promoting with every available means the cause of Doellinger and his now-defunct sect, the religious outlook was far from promising. The Jesuits and with them the four "kindred" societies, the Redemptorists, Lazarists, Holy Ghost Fathers, and Ladies of the Sacred Heart, had been banished from German territory, and Louis II seemed ready to yield to the demand of his Ministers for the secularization of all religious houses within the Bavarian boundaries.

Warned by well-informed friends in high places that the decree of secularization was drawn up and ready for the signature of the king, the Provincial and Definitors of the Capuchin Province of Bavaria began to look abroad for a suitable home for the members of the threatened Province, and their choice fell upon the United States. This choice was acceded to all the more readily as it had long been the wish of the Fathers to enter the foreign mission field, this being one of the principal objects of the Order. The United States seemed to hold out the most promising opportunities for a successful accomplishment of this desire owing to the great number of German emigrants that continually sought the American shores.

Father Francis Xavier of IImuenster, Provincial of the Bavarian Province at the time, had exchanged letters with Rt. Rev. Abbot, Wimmer of St. Vincent's, Pennsylvania, on the subject and received the assurance that the bishop of the diocese of Pittsburg, Rt. Rev. Michael Domenec, a Spaniard by birth, was willing to give the Order an opening in his episcopal city. The men chosen for the new foundation were Father Hyacinth Epp of Durach, Definitor of the Province; Father Matthew Hau of Almishofen, and Br. Eleutherius Guggenbichler of Reichenhall. On September 19, 1873, they left the friary at Immenstadt and proceeded to the famous Shrine of Our Lady of the Hermitage in Switzerland to obtain Mary's blessing for their difficult undertaking. At the Hermitage, or Einsiedeln as the Shrine is called in Germany, they were, by agreement, joined by Father Bonaventure Frey, of the Swiss-American Commissariate of the Capuchin Order at Mt. Calvary, Wis., who was in Europe at the time to restore his shattered health, which had broken down under the stress of his arduous pioneer work in the New World. Together they proceeded to Paris, where they were delayed for some time owing to a misunderstanding on the part of the French Transatlantic Company, which had failed to reserve passage for them on the outgoing steamer. They finally decided to proceed to Liverpool, whence they embarked on the "Parthia" and were soon on their way to the unknown shores of the New World, arriving in New York on October 12. Their voyage would have been a pleasant one but for a protracted and severe attack of "mal de mer" - a sickness decidedly more unpleasant than dangerous. The day of their arrival was memorable for its being the 381st anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, a son of St. Francis, and at the same time the feast of a Capuchin saint, St. Seraphin of Montegranaro.

The travelers were heartily welcomed by their brethren of the Capuchin Commissariate (since 1882 Province) of Mt. Calvary, which had two friaries in New York City. Father Matthew and Brother Eleutherius remained at St. John's Monastery on West 30th Street, whilst Father Hyacinth, after a few days' rest, continued his journey westward in search of a suitable place for his proposed new foundation. His first visit was to St. Vincent's, where he unfolded his plans to Abbot Wimmer and also expressed his preference for a more western location. However, Abbot Wimmer strongly urged Father Hyacinth to accept Bishop Domenec's offer of a parish in Pittsburg and gave his reasons for the advisability of not jeopardizing the success of the project by a step into the dark.

Fortified with the Abbot's letter of recommendation to the superior of St. Mary's Priory in Allegheny, Father Hyacinth went to Pittsburg, where Father Ferdinand, O.S.B., Prior of St. Mary's, accompanied him to the Bishop's residence. The Bishop was absent and not expected to return before two weeks. This untoward circumstance prompted Father Hyacinth to fall back on his original plan, the more so since the "Smoky City," as Pittsburg is not inappropriately called, could not have made a very cheerful impression on a son of the Bavarian Alps, so unused to the din and soot of an American manufacturing city. Though he was advised to follow up the Bishop on his mission tour, or to remain as a welcome guest at St. Mary's priory, Father Hyacinth chose to do neither, but to go West.

He had brought to America a novice of the Rheno-Westphalian Capuchin Province, whom the Kulturkampf had forced to leave his quiet retreat at Dieburg, and who was bound for Mt. Calvary. Father Hyacinth decided to accompany the young novice, Frater, now Father Lawrence Henn (who has recently been chosen Definitor of the Mt. Calvary Province) to his destination. They were cordially received by Father Francis Haas, Commissary General of the Swiss-American establishment. The Commissary accompanied Father Hyacinth to the episcopal city of a neighboring Bishop, to whom the latter had been warmly recommended by the late Bishop Pancras von Dinkel of Augsburg. However, monks were not wanted there, and Father Francis returned to Mt. Calvary, and Father Hyacinth determined to try elsewhere.

After a fruitless search in several dioceses of the West, which, save much valuable experience about persons and things, brought no satisfactory results, the weary traveler retraced his steps to Pittsburg - a move which practically assured the success of the new foundation and thus proved the wisdom of Abbot Wimmer's advice.

(2) In Charge of St. Augustine's
In Pittsburg Father Hyacinth at last met Bishop Domenec, an affable and saintly prelate, who gave him a hearty welcome and proposed that Father Hyacinth and his companion take over St. Augustine's Church in Lawrenceville, Pittsburg. This was in the early part of November, 1873. Father Hyacinth and Father Matthew were, for the present, to act as assistants to Father Restitutus Tamchina, then Rector of St. Augustine's, who had decided to resign his charge by Easter, 1874. This arrangement gave the new missionaries a welcome opportunity to acquire the experience necessary for the successful administration of an American parish and to acquaint themselves with the mysteries of the Anglo-Saxon tongue.

Rev. Fr. Tamchina, the rector of St. Augustine's, was an Austrian by birth and originally belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Province of the Capuchin Order. He was twice pastor of St. Augustine's; the first time from November, 1863, till October, 1868; the second time from September, 1871, till April 19, 1874.

On November 7, 1873, Fr. Hyacinth took up his residence with Fr. Tamchina, and hastened to inform his companions, who were still in New York, of the turn their affairs had taken, asking them to proceed to Pittsburg as early as possible. During the six months following the two Fathers acted as assistants to Father Tamchina, at the same time attending St. Francis Hospital on 44th Street, in charge of the Sisters of St. Francis. Brother Eleutherius became sacristan, and having much time to spare he set himself to carve a handsome prie-dieu of mahogany, which was intended as a gift to Rt. Rev. Bishop Domenec in token of the gratitude of the pioneers for the benevolent reception his Lordship had accorded them. Brother Eleutherius being very skillful in this kind of work the faldstool proved quite a masterpiece of art, was graciously accepted, and is doing duty in the Cathedral of Pittsburg to this very day.

The relations between the pastor and his new assistants were pleasant and highly satisfactory, and it was almost with reluctance that Father Tamchina finally made ready to retire from his charge. On April 19, 1874, he withdrew to his little hermitage near Glenfield, Pa., where he spent his remaining days until his death, which occurred on April 6, 1882.

After the withdrawal of Father Tamchina from St. Augustine's Fr. Hyacinth and Fr. Matthew took full charge of the parish, retaining also the chaplaincy of St. Francis Hospital. Brother EIeutherius was installed as master of the household. Their days were busy ones at first, each of the Fathers having to say two Masses every Sunday, besides attending to the afternoon services, which consisted in Sunday School, Vespers and Conferences for the Christian Mothers, which latter, however, were but poorly attended in the beginning. One of their first steps taken toward the further upbuilding of the parish was the introduction of the Third Order. There had been a small contingent of Tertiaries, scattered throughout the various parishes of the city, but as they lacked organization their number had increased but slowly. On learning that the sons of St. Francis had taken charge of St. Augustine's and were holding monthly meetings of the Third Order at their church these Tertiaries readily and gladly gathered around their first Director, Fr. Hyacinth, on the third Sunday of every month. At the end of the year 1874 the Third Order of St. Augustine's had forty members. Today there are two Divisions, one for German-speaking Tertiaries and another for English speaking members, the former having a membership of 1,100, the latter numbering 550.

The first days of May brought glad tidings to the little monastic family at St. Augustine's. A letter from the Very Rev. Fr. Francis Xavier, O.M. Cap., Provincial of the Province of Bavaria, announced the coming of Frs. Joseph Calasance and Maurice and Brother Leovigild. They had taken ship on May 2nd and were in mid-ocean at the time of the arrival of the welcome news. On May 16th they landed in New York, and on May 19th they were received amidst great rejoicings by their brethren at St. Augustine's. Nor had they come empty-handed; they brought alms, books, handsome and costly vestments, and many relics.

The 24th of June brought a Brief of Pius IX, dated April 26, 1874, and authorizing the canonical establishment of a Capuchin monastery at St. Augustine's, and a letter from the Bavarian Provincial stating that the establishment of a Novitiate in Pittsburg had also been granted by the Holy See on May 10, 1874.

Thus a happy start had been made. Within less than seven months after their arrival in the New World the pioneers had found a permanent home and were in possession of a canonical establishment having all the requirements for a successful development of the new foundation. The Superiors of the Province of Bavaria, under whose jurisdiction the foundation remained for the time being, appointed Father Hyacinth Guardian and Master of Novices, whilst Father Calasance was named Vicar of the new monastery.

The material part of their undertaking being now secured and in a satisfactory condition the Fathers soon turned their attention to the inner upbuilding of the young colony. The experience of other Orders established in the United States inspired little hope for the recruiting of new members from the ranks of the adult population of the country. For new accessions, for which the Community must doubtless make timely provision, if it hoped to endure, the new foundation must evidently depend on the younger generation. Hence it was decided at the very start to found a monastic school for boys who felt inclined to the religious and sacerdotal state, that amidst favorable surroundings they might be prepared for a successful career as friars and priests. The need of such schools in our times when religious vocations are lamentably scarce was felt throughout the whole Order, and Pius IX had issued a Decree, dated November 24, 1873, by which the Order was authorized to establish so-called "Seraphic Schools" or colleges, corresponding to the scholasticates of other institutes.

On September 20, 1874, the Fathers began to give their first lessons in Latin to six boys, who for the time being remained under the roof of their parents, until a college might be built. Latin roots must have proved rather indigestible to these pioneer students, for the old chronicles tell us that some of them concluded that life was happier without them and soon bade farewell to the classic fields.

St. Augustine's rectory, though a three-story building and convenient in its appointments, was nevertheless but little adapted to monastic uses. Moreover, the rapid growth of the congregation made an enlargement of the church imperative, and various necessary additions to church and monastery were finally decided upon. The Fathers might have procured better accommodations by razing the existing rectory and erecting a new building better suited to the purposes of a religious community and more in accordance with its constitutions; but they were loath to level a building that had been remodeled at great expense only two years previously, not to speak of the costs such a step would necessarily have entailed and to which the new foundation was by no means equal at the time.

The parishioners decided to enlarge their church by building an addition in the form of a transept, 100 feet in length and 32 feet deep, to which a new sanctuary was to be added. Not counting expenses for altars, pulpit, furniture, etc., which were also renewed, the costs amounted to about $30,000.00. On their part the Fathers built a three-story addition to the rectory, which stood only a few feet from the rear of the church, connecting it with the latter. In this manner both the Fathers and the congregation gained the desired room. Building was begun early in September and progressed so happily that church and monastery were under roof before the severe winter of 1874-1875 set in. In July, 1875, the practically new edifice was dedicated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Domenec.

At the end of the year 1874 the Community of St. Augustine's Monastery consisted of the following members: Rev. Fr. Hyacinth, Commissary General, Guardian, Master of Novices, and Rector; Rev. Fr. Joseph Calasance, Vicar and Director of the Third Order; Rev. Fr. Matthew, Assistant; Rev. Fr. Maurice, Assistant; Ven. Brothers Eleutherius and Leovigild.

Thus passed the first year of the pioneers of the future Province of Pennsylvania. Work was plentiful, and they had neither reason nor time or inclination to indulge in "nostalgic" reveries or complaints of their exile. They felt happy and content, thanking Providence for the visible protection accorded them, and hopefully and trustfully biding the future.