Address of Mr. Thomas M. Mulry, president of the Particular Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of New York, delivered before the faculty and students of Saint Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, N.Y., on the evening of April 7, 1899


w^:

uJf'^

t





AttC'SliO

ADDRESS

OF

MR. THOMAS M. MULRY,

Pi'eside7it of the Pa7'ticular Council of

the Society of St, Vi7ice7it de

Paul of New Yo7'k,

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

FACULTY AND STUDENTS

OF

SAINT yOSEPH'S SEMINARY,
Dunwoodie, N. Y.,

ON THE EVENING OF APRIL 7, 1899.

PRESS OP THE
MISSION OF THE IMMACULATE VIRGIN,

Mount Loretto, Staten Island, N. Y.



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/addressofmrthomaOOmulr



ADDRESS.

Rev. Fathers and Gentlemen :

When first invited to address you, I was
strongly tempted to decline. I hesitated for

many reasons, but, upon second thought, I

gladly accepted your invitation, knowing that

my listeners were earnest men, having at
heart the best interests of the Church, and

anxious to make Her future a glorious one

in American history.

This hesitancy does not make me appreciate

any the less the privilege of addressing those

who are to be the future shepherds of the flock,

and I hope that what I say this evening will

create a desire within you to learn more of the

great Society of St. Vincent de Paul, so that,

when you go forth upon your grand mission,

each one of you will become an earnest

advocate of its advancement, wherever his duty

will call him.

I doubt if there ever was a time in the

history of the Church in this country when it

was more incumbent on us, as Catholics, to

stand together, work together, and use every

talent and every advantage given us by our



4

Creator in order that we may take no step

backward in the wonderful progress, which has

so far marked our pathway. In this great

battle, every force will be needed, every energy

required, every man will have his work.

There is a spirit of unrest abroad. Discon-

tent is increasing. The lines between the

classes are becoming more marked, and, if

nothing is done to check this growing evil, the

result will be most disastrous to the future of

this country. It is not a battle of sect against

sect which is to be waged, but of order against

anarchy, of religion against infidelity.

The Catholic Church will be the one to

whom the country must look for protection

against these ills. She alone has the power to

control these contending forces. She alone by

Her God-given right can subdue the spirit of

pride, of rebellion, of envy, and mould the

people into one God-fearing, contented people.

Let us not deceive ourselves with the

thought that we are unscathed in this struggle.

No priest need be told that material

prosperity is dangerous to the growth ol the

Church. No student of Catholic history, no

close observer of passing events can fail to note



5

the fact that the Church is suffering from

“ leakages.”

This loss is noticeable in the two extremes

—

the wealthy and the very poor. The craze for

social life, the intermarriage with those of other

sects, and the spirit of worldliness pervading

what is called “ society” soon poison the

springs of religion, and draw away from the

Church many whose means and opportunities

could be of such great service in advancing Her

interests. On the other hand, humanitarianism
or philanthropy, or whatever you please to term

it, is rampant. This modern product seeks to

benefit the poor by devising means to abolish

poverty. It makes destitution a crime, a

disgrace, and, while pointing out all the evils of

poverty, it engenders discontent and bitterness

in the hearts of the poor, because it leaves out

of the question the only factor that can make

the poor man contented with his lot—the hope
of a hereafter, the existence of God.

P'ar be it from my mind to belittle the

great work being done by so many noble men

and women of all denominations, who are

working intelligently and earnestly to better

the condition of their feliowmen. Frequently



6

it makes me blush to find them taking up the

work neglected by us. They are working with

us, and, strange as it may appear, often

appreciate and admire the Society of St.

Vincent de Paul much more than many of our

Catholic people.

I have often thought that if the Catholic

laymen were more familiar with the workings

of our Society, it would be the means of

increasing our sphere of usefulness, and that,

possibly, while it is commendable to retain that

spirit of humility and retirement, which is so

necessary to the permanency of our work, there

are times when it is well, in the interests of

charity, to make knowm the purposes and

works of our Society, in order that others may

be privileged to partake of the spiritual and

temporal advantages which it offers.

Again, I maintain that the clergy are

absolutely necessary to secure the advancement

of this great work
;
and, if the Church is to

advance, the closer the union between the

priest and the layman, the more glorious will be

its future, and one of the most effective

agencies to carry out this object is the Society

of St Vincent de Paul.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, dear



7

friends, first saw its existence in the backroom

of a dingy newspaper office in the City of

Paris, in the month of May, 1833.

There was gathered one evening a small

band of young men, with M. Bailey, an elderly

man, and the editor of the Tribune Catholique.

These young men were students, but, unlike

the majority of their class in Paris, they were

devout Catholics, filled with a deep love for

their Faith, and indignant at the many attacks

made upon it by their comrades.

The soul of the gathering was Frederic

Ozanam (then but 18 years of age), a law

student of brilliant talents, which were only

equalled by his intense devotion to his Church.

These young men had frequently defended

Christianity before their infidel companions,

and Ozanam, by his eloquence and learning,

had compelled even his professors to be more

careful in their attacks on teachings which had

such brave and able advocates.

Living at that time when to be practical in

religion was looked upon as a sign of weakness,

it required great moral courage to openly live

up to the teachings of the Catholic religion.

But, they felt that something more than the



8

profession and practice of their religion was

necessary to silence their adversaries. They

were told that Christianity was dead, a thing of

the past, its mission ended. The infidel

student cried :

Show us your works and we will believe

you have some reason for your faith.”

It was to refute this charge, to prove that

the Church was still a live, active force, that this

meeting was held, and the first Conference ot

the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was started.

Frederic Ozanam and his followers, inspired

with the one all absorbing idea of proving the

faith that was in them by their charity to God’s

poor, never realized that from that small room

would go forth a message to Catholic laymen

the world over, a call to be up and doing, a

forcible reminder that they were neglecting the

opportunities placed in their way for advancing

the interests of Catholicity. To-day we are

amazed at the courage and faith of those men

in overcoming such apparently insurmountable

obstacles, and placing the Society, in a few years,

on such a permanent and prosperous basis.

To-day, advanced students in philanthropy hail

as new discoveries, ideas which were the very



u

foundation-stones of the work of the Society of

St. Vincent de Paul.

M. Bailly, in a few words, gives the best

mode of dealing with the poor. He says : “ If

you intend the work to be really efficacious, if

you are in earnest about serving the poor as

well as yourselves, you must not let it be a

mere doling out of alms, bringing each your

pittance of money or food
;
you must make it a

medium of moral assistance, you must give

them the alms of good advice.”

And, to those who consider the giving of

relief degrading, we would point to the eloquent

words of Ozanam : “ Help is humiliating

when it appeals to men from below, taking

heed of their material wants only, paying

attention but to those of the flesh, to the cry

of hunger and cold, to what excites pity, to

what one succors even in the beast. It

humiliates when there is no reciprocity, when

you give the poor man nothing but bread

or clothes or a blundle of straw
;
what, in fact,

there is no likelihood of his ever giving you in

return. But it honors, when it appeals to him

from above, when it occupies itself with his soul,

with his religious, moral and political education,



10

with all that emancipates him from his passions

and from a portion of his wants, with those

things that make him free and make him great.

Help honors when, to the bread that nourishes,

it adds the visit that consoles, the advice that

enlightens, the friendly shake of the hand that

lifts up the sinking courage
;
when it treats the

poor man with respect, not only as an equal

but a superior, since he is suffering what we,

perhaps, are incapable of suffering, since he is

the messenger of God to us, sent to prove our

justice and our charity, and to save us by our

works. Help, then, becomes honorable,

because it may become mutual, because every

man who gives a kind word, a good advice, a

consolation to-day may, to-morrow, stand

himself in need of a kind word, advice and

consolation
;
because the hand that you clasp,

clasps yours in return, because that indigent

family you love, loves you in return, and will

have largely acquitted themselves toward you

when the old men, the mothers and the little

children shall have prayed for you.

“ Do you suppose you pay the priest to
whom the State gives a hundred crowns a year

to be the father, the schoolmaster, the



11

comforter of the poor village lost in the

mountain, or the soldier who gets five sous a

year to die under the flag?

“Why, the soldier gives the alms of his

blood to his country, and the priest of his

words, his thoughts, his heart ! Don’t tell me,

then, that I humiliate the poor man when I

treat him as I treat the priest who blesses and

the soldier who dies for me ! Alms are the

retribution of services that have no salary.

And let no one say that in treating poverty as

a priesthood, we aim at perpetuating it. The

same authority that tells us we shall always

have the poor with us, is also the authority

that tells us to do all we can that there may

cease to be any .... When you dread so
much to lay an obligation on him who accepts

your alms, I fear it is because you have never

experienced the obligation it confers on him

who gives.”

I hope you will pardon this long quotation,

but the language is so truly Christian, so full

of charity that it is refreshing to compare it

with the pagan spirit which permeates so much

of modern philanthropy.

Is it any wonder, then, that with such a



12

man at the helm, we find eighteen years after

the first meeting, 2,000 members in Paris,

caring for 5,000 families, while in other parts

of France were also 500 Conferences, not to

speak'of those being formed in Belgium, Spain,

England, and America ?

The last census taken, something more than

a year ago, placed the estimated number of

Conferences, in all parts of the world, at 5,500,

with about 100,000 members. To-day, the

Vincentian will find comrades in almost every

land. The soldier disciple of Ozanam who went

to Cuba, found fellow members carrying on

the good work there. In Mexico the Society

flourishes, in Hong Kong, in Egypt, New South

Wales, or Africa, in South America, or Australia

will be found Conferences living under the

same rules, and reporting to the same head

in Paris, as do the Conferences of the United

States, or France, or Ireland. In Canada,

Belgium, France, and, in fact, all parts of the

world, are to be found working-boys’ homes,

night schools, offices for medical or legal advice,

in short every conceivable form of charitable

work, fostered, inaugurated, and supported by

the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul.



13

Nor need we fear comparisons with our work

in this country. In the United States, where

the priests and people have so many calls upon

them, there has been found time to organize

and build up the Society, and the Report of last

year shows, at present, about 9,500 active

members. In this country, as in all the other

parts of the world, where the Society exists, it

does not confine itself to visiting the poor at

their homes. In New Orleans they have
established a working -boys’ Home, as they have

also done in Brooklyn. Washington has a

Home for the temporary care of unemployed
men, while in Boston, Providence and Spring-

field, and all through the Eastern States, thous-

ands of dollars are paid, annually, for the board-

ing of children in families, who otherwise would

be certainly lost to the Church.

Regarding our own great Archdiocese, I

think it is safe to assert, that in no part of the

United States has the Society a better record
;

and, if I appear to be rather certain in its'praise

to-night, it is because I believe it is well for

Catholics, and especially Catholic priests, to

realize the almost unlimited possibilities of such

an organization, when it has the active support



14

and encouragement of the Catholic people.

Perhaps because ot that great cardinal principle

of the Society, which forbids publicity of our

works, even the members do not realize the

splendid record of the last half century. Yet,

encouraging as it is, I must confess that the

Vincentian, who comes in contact with the

needs of the hour, must feel sad when he

reflects' on all the work left undone, because of

the paucity of the laborers in the field.

The first Conference organized in New York

City was that of St. Patrick. In the year 1848,

it was affiliated to the Society in Paris. *In 1856,

the Conferences of the city were organized into

a Particular Council.

Scarcely had this Council commenced its

work, when the members, realizing the great

loss to the Church from children picked up by

the Children’s Aid Society, and placed in non-

Catholic homes, appealed to the ecclesiastical

authorities for permission to establish a “House

of Protection for Destitute Catholic Children.”

Mr. Jamme, for many years the zealous

secretary of the Superior Council, writes on the

subject :

“The time did not seem to have arrived for



15

carrying out this project, and for five years more,

our children were, more or less, at the mercy of

the proselytizing societies. It was not until

1863, when the evil having become intolerable,

that the president and vice-president of the

Council were successful, and the active co-

operation of his Grace, the Archbishop,

culminated in the establishment of the House of

Protection in 86th. Street, which grew to the

Catholic Protectory of the present day at

Westchester.”

About the time the Council was formed,

(1858), the traffic among the Catholic children

sent to Randall’s Island was carried to the

greatest extreme. They were sent West and

East, North and South, and placed, invariably, in

Protestant homes.

A priest was allowed on the Island. He
was just tolerated, and enjoyed no privileges.

The children were compelled to attend the

Protestant services, after having finished their

catechism classes. A committee of members
of the Society was formed, which visited

Randall’s Island every Sunday, taught the

children, formed the choir, and did everything

possible to assist and encourage the good priest.



u

Through the persistent work of this committee,

backed by the influence of the Council, the

priest was allowed to celebrate Mass, to visit the

Island at his pleasure, and, finally, was retained

as chaplain.

Through the good o<ffices of Hon. John T.

Hoffman, Governor of New York at the time,

the outrage of forcing Catholic children to

attend Protestant services was forbidden and,

from that time on, there was easy work for

the committee. ' •

Some of those who worked on that

committee are alive to-day, and the old Nativity

Conference always furnished the men who led

in this field of labor. The little boat made its

trip every Sunday despite cold or storm,

bearing its living freight of ardent young

Vincentians, each eager to do his share of the

labor, all full of the spirit which distinguished

the little band which started out in France.

It may also be stated here that the first to

notice the sad condition of the aged destitute

poor, and to suggest a remedy were the

members of the Society, who waited on that

great friend of the Conferences, Archbishop

Hughes, and begged him to introduce the



17

Little Sisters of the Poor into his diocese. So

strongly was he impressed with the appeal that,

in a short time, the request was cheerfully^

granted and, to-day, we have the magnificent

homes, which they have built, to prove the

wisdom of the suggestion.

In looking over Mr. Jamme’s sketch of the

Society, we find this very interesting paragraph.
“ In the year 1869, the Conference of New

York noticed the good results obtained by the

Children’s Aid Society, in its endeavors to

provide for a class of children well known to all

of us, the newsboys and bootblacks, whose

moral training needs to be looked after to

prevent them from going to ruin totally.

Besides, in this class our Catholic children

predominate. The Particular Council, after

carefully considering the matter, appointed a

committee to gather reliable data, upon which it

would decide, if it were practicable, for the

Conferences of New York to undertake the

establishment of one or more lodging houses for

boys, in which could be accommodated

newsboys, bootblacks, and poor errand boys,

who should be removed from the bad influences

of depraved parents. The result was the



18

establishment, in the summer of 1870, of the

St. Vincent de Paul Lodging House on War-

ren Street. After having been in successful

operation for a couple of years, demonstrating

fully its possibility for good, and after consulta-

tion with its spiritual advisers, this, like most

of the works of the Society, was turned over to

the management of a most zealous priest, and

the St. Vincent de Paul Lodging House has

since grown to be the Mission of the Immaculate

Virgin, so ably managed by that indefatigable

priest. Rev. Father Drumgoole, fully justifying

the action of the Society.”

Perhaps this last is the offspring of the

Society, which has wormed itself most

completely into the hearts of its members and,

whether under the Saintly Father Drumgoole,

or his whole-souled and zealous successor, the

Rev. James J. Dougherty, LL.D., the gratitude

of the child for the parent has been always

manifest, and no request made by the Society

has ever been refused, no child sent by a

Vincentian has ever been turned from its door.

This recalls another work just organized,

the necessity for which has been very clearly

enunciated in a pastoral by our Most Rev.



19

Archbishop. I refer to the establishment of

boys’ clubs, under the direction of the Catholic

Boys’ Association.

In a city, dotted with clubs for boys, none

were found under Catholic auspices. On the

other hand, the membership of the various

clubs was found to number a very large

proportion of Catholic boys. Again, the

members of the Society came^to the front, and,

by the advice of our Right Rev. Spiritual

Director, and the encouragement of the Most

Reverend Archbishop, the work has been begun.

There are difficulties to be overcome.

Constant effort and continual activity are

required. But, perseverance and self-sacrifice,

on the part of the zealous young men engaged

in the work, will meet with success.

The work is so clearly connected with the

Mission of the Immaculate Virgin and is, after

all, on such similar lines, that we may be

permitted to look forward to the day when

dubs for Catholic boys will be found in all

parts of the city, where religion will be made

attractive to them, and the mental and

physical requirements of the boys in the

crowded tenement districts be carefully looked



20

after, under the combined care of St. Joseph’s

Union, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

I will not dwell on the work of the Island

committees. You are familiar with it, and

there has been more than one occasion when

the loss of a member on our committee meant

another added to the ranks of the seminarians.

In the report of the Society in New York
City, which will soon be issued, other fields

will be discovered, but I think I have given

enough to show that a well organized body of

Vincentians must be a most potent factor in

every advance to be made by the Church.

In all that has been said, no mention has

been made of the work done among the poor

in the parishes, and yet, in the City of New

York, with about i,ioo members, 8, too families

were relieved, 48,000 visits made, and over

$60,000 expended during the year 1898.

If the pastors could realize what these

thousands of visits represent, we would have

a Conference in every parish. As has been

stated before, the bread given is but the means

to the great end of winning those poor,

neglected, sorrow-crushed victims of adversity

or of dissipation back to lives of practical



21

religion and self-dependence, for, sad to say,

while we have a large number of pious poor,

the great majority are careless in their religious

practices, and owe their distress, in many cases,

to this very cause.

Therefore, this number of visits means much

in the history of the parishes
;
children baptized,

parents reconciled to the Church and, above all,

homes kept together. This is a most important

work of the Society—the preservation of the
home—and the Vincentian feels that every dollar
expended in keeping a poor family together is

money well placed.

Too often in a desire to dispose speedily of a

family or through a sentiment of sympathy with

a struggling parent, the home is broken up, and

children sent to an institution, when a little ex-

penditure of money, and encouraging, kindly

visits, would keep the family together. The

Society of St. Vincent de Paul believes that

when the home is at all passable, for the sake ot

the parent as well as the child, the same should

be preserved.

To-day, the question of Dependent Children

and their treatment is one which is taxing the

minds of thinking men of all shades of religious

L



22

opinion, and it is very necessary that Catholics

should take a very active part in this discussion,

and reason, intelligently, as to the best means

to be adopted for the development of the child.

To-day there is a closer relationship existing

between the various religious denominations in

charitable work, than ever there has been in the

past. This cordial feeling has been brought

about entirely through the Society of St.

Vincent de Paul, and, it can be truthfully said,

that many advantages has been derived from this

change in the condition of affairs.

Our Holy Father has strongly urged Chris-

tian unity, and again the Society of St. Vincent

de Paul, acting on the Sovereign Pontiff’s in-

structions, has succeeded, through the spirit of

charity, with which it is directed, in opening the

eyes of non-Catholics to the many misconcep-

tions with which their minds were filled, regarding

our Church It may be well to state that through

the co-operation existing between the Society

of St. Vincent de Paul and the other charitable

organizations, many families have been brought

back to the faith, and a large number of children

rescued from non-Catholic institutions.

Personally, I have the greatest respect for a



23

very large number of our non-Catholic friends,

with whom I am brought in close contact,

through the work of the charitable societies. I

find them fair-minded, earnest, and anxious to do

what is right, and I would have more faith in

their good will than in many who make it a point

to stir up the embers of bigotry, and influence

us against them, in order to carry out their

selfish ends. But, let us suppose they are not

sincere, that they are aiming at our destruction !

Is it not equally important for us to ally our-

selves with the organizations, that invite us to

membership, in order that we may the better

guard our interests ?

But, this is a subject which is likely to

stretch out my time, and is, perhaps, a slight

digression. I suppose you think, my dear

friends, that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is

taking unto itself an extraordinary amount of

credit, for what good has been done, and leaving

the clergy out in the cold. But, in speaking

of the Conferences, or of any work, where

success has attended their labors, the members

all recognize the great fact that the inspiration

ol a Conference is its Spiritual Director.

The New York Conferences have always been



24

blessed with the earnest support of the beloved

head of the Archdiocese, and no better friend

of the Society exists than our venerated Arch-

bishop. I am sure, also, that none of his people

have a deeper love and respect for him than

Vincentians. Possibly one of the best acts of

kindness he has ever shown, and he has shown

us many, was to give us our spiritual director.

Right Rev. Bishop Farley.

With his encouragement, under his careful

advice, there has been a great stride forward in

the progress of the Society, and never before

have we had such a promise of a bright future.

The young men are coming into the ranks
;
and

the Society is the place to develop the youth,

and make him feel that, like Ozanam, he must

work as well as pi ay.

It has been said that the Society is not for

the young. This is not true. I heard a priest, a

most excellent man, say not long ago, that his

idea of a Conference was a body of men who

met once a week to vote some old woman a

pair of shoes, and work of that kind. He never

realized the magnificent purpose of the Society.

And why ? Because he had been an assistant

in a parish where the Conference had the dry

rot, had degenerated into a body of debaters,



25

and the pastor, in sheer desperation, felt called

upon to disband it.

Is it not too bad that a few dark spots

should dim the brightness of such an organiza-

tion? There are many priests to day who will

bear testimony to the efficacy, the zeal, and the

fervor of the Conferences, generally. In the

days of his struggles to form a parish, the right

arm of the pastor has been his Conference,

and I am sure that no matter how hard the

lot of a pastor, how poor his financial support,

the organization of a Conference, far from

adding to his burden, will bring blessings

on his parish and on his labors.

Oh ! how sad it is to find a Conference drift-

ing away from its high ideal, and losing the true

spirit of charity ! How easy it would be for the
pastor, in such a case, to reorganize a Con-

ference of the picked men of his parish, men

who, by their intelligent and earnest work,

would build up a monument to his devotion to

God’s poor

!

No Conference can be a success without

the moral support of the Spiritual Director, and

the best Conferences to-day are those in

which the Spiritual Director, by his tact and



26

diplomacy, gathers around him a body of repre-

sentative men, with one who has the respect

and confidence of the pastor and members as

the president. The very best way to obtain

good men is through the confessional. The

priest can easily form an idea of the material

of the man, and advice and suggestion there to

a good man would be almost equivalent to a

command.

Every man is not calculated to make a

Vincentian. No drones are wanted in the
ranks, and no man should be admitted whose

mind is not broad enough, and his charity deep

enough to look upon every poor- man as

deserving of his greatest care, regardless of

race, color, or creed. This was the motto of

St. Vincent de Paul. This is the motto of

every true follower of Ozanam.

A Protestant friend said to me recently

:

“ How is it you have so few rich in your Society?”
I answered: “the qualities that are necessary

to make a man very rich will keep him out

of the Society, and the man who is not rich,

when he enters, has precious little chance of

acquiring riches, if he lives up to its ideal.”

Of course, the same spirit exists to-day as



was prevalent in Paris. Ozanam was called a

fool because he sacrificed a splendid position to

accept a much poorer one, simply that he might

have a larger field in which to do God’s work.

That the work has been done largely by com-

paratively poor men, and much of it by very

illiterate men, does not detract from its merit,

but sheds additional lustre on a Society that

could make men sacrifice so much. All that is

to be regretted is that of the young men who

graduate from our colleges, so few enter the

ranks of the Society. Sociology is taught in

many of the- universities. Why can not our
colleges give a course in practical Christian

charity, in self-sacrifice ?

In other societies, self-interest, mutual pro-

tection, or social attractions draw men into the

ranks. None of those inducements are held

out for the Vincentian, and yet, I will say that

there is an attraction about the work which

grows with years, and makes a man “ grapple to

it with hooks of steel.”

I believe that the mission of the Society is

but begun. No other organization brings

priests and people so lovingly, so closely to-

gether, and, in the great battle of the future,



which is to be a bloodless one, Charity will be

the most effective weapon, and the victories,

which it will mark upon its shield, will be ones

with which no bitterness will be mingled.

It was the great Dominican, Lacordaire, who

said : “Ah ! Ozanam is an Ancestor : ” and it

was the same great orator who stood bravely

up for the Conferences when they were in

danger of suppression, and appealed to the

Catholic heart of France in behalf of those

young men “ who had placed their chastity

under the guardianship of Charity—the fairest
of virtues under the fairest of guardianships.”

“ What blessings,” he exclaimed, “ will not

this knighthood of youth, purity and fraternity

draw down upon France in behalf of the poor?

Let the gratitude of the country prove at least

the safeguard of its liberty.”

Thank God we have many Lacordaires in

this country, whose voices will be raised in the

behalf of the Society, and when God blesses

you with the realization of your high ambition,

let me ask you in the name of that great priest,

St. Vincent de Paul, the Apostle of the Poor,

to advocate the propagation of this Society of

Charity among the youth of this country.