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Show l Diocese of 'e"km. i ' J Progress of the Church and Doings of the Catholic X j People in xIontana. t . . i 1 BY BESSIE M. LAWLOR. ' LEWTSTON. Great Pi ogress of the Catholic Church in Lewiston The Untiring and Energetic Work of Their Zealous Paster, Rev. Father Vermaat Ver-maat A Successful Mission Just Closed, Which Was Preached By Rev. Father Therien, Superior St. Paul's, Alberta, Canada. (Corn .f.M indence 1 nt iTmounliiin Cat hoi ie.) Lcwistown, Mont., Aug. 23. Rev. . ; Father 'J'li. -l ien of Alberta, ranada, re- cently preached ami closed one of the most successful missions i:i the Northwest. North-west. The mission was given for the half-breed Indians in and around the vicinity of Lewistown. Lew istow n is the seat and principal center of Fergus county, Jldiitana, a new county formed in ..". It i.s a prosjuTous and promis.- J ing place, tributary to it being a large di.-M ri'-t rich in mineral wealth, fertile lands, and the best pastures, perhaps, Mid stock range in the stale. This portion of Montana was opened to the whites only a short time ago, and il is in consequence but sparsely settled. It is over Kiii miles from the nearest railroad rail-road point. Jile long, however, it is like iv to contain a very populous, community. com-munity. Among the first settlers of Le iMow n and its immediate vicinity are a number nf Creeks and Ked River Indians, who previously had their li-'ires for many years in the Judith I'.asin and in the vicinity of the Little Rucl.it s Tiny moved later on to this! s;.-ct;oii. They art.' ail Catholics, and, j lor half-br"eds, active and in lustri- . ous. it was lV.j- these half-breeds particularly par-ticularly this mission was given, and was devoutly and faithfully attended. Rev. Father Vermaat was much i. lease. 1 tu see devotions so largely at-ti at-ti tided; half-breeds received holy communion and were renewed in the faith. Father Therien preached his I .'.erinoiis in the free language. The white population ol Lewistown tr.d suri-.'uadmg country is also largely large-ly ('ath'.lic. At the (lose of the special mission given Lit- the Indians a Solemn Tri-duiiin Tri-duiiin opened -on Sunday. Aug. 12 which was conduct d by Rev. Father Murphy o'' Sal: L;ke City. Kev. Father Ver-le.iat Ver-le.iat e; .. i,ed the Tridumn with high n.as. Afu-r the gospel Kev. Father Murphy .-r ached, on how Catholics should estimate the divine gift of their holy faith, expressing in his able and eloquent manner the many beauties attached at-tached to this divine gift. Immediately Immediate-ly preceding the sermon Father Murphy Mur-phy delivered ii short address in French to those who had followed Father The-rien's The-rien's mission, urging th'-m to assist fsi.hfully at the exeivhes cf the Tri-uuum Tri-uuum and thus merit an increase to the spiritual favors lately received. i Sunday evening Father Murphy preached a fine sermon on "Salvation"; Mondav evening on "The Mission of the I Holy (ihosi." and Tuesday evening. "Why Catholics Honor the Sacred Heart, of Jesus." Amidst ail the beautiful ceremonies of the mission and Tridtmm the most impressive was the Fw-L of the As- j sumption w her. the first Communion j c'itss received. At 7:50 a. m. the pro- j cession entered the church, led by 1 :. j Father Yen-pant, the choir sinking MajjailM a i. fmiowed iv the altar boys 1. a; ma the ,-r.r. and lighted oandles; j th n e.inie twenty snvtll boys audi t-. TV v of tlie HTi-all girls of ihe pari:-h. : diessed in white, strewing flowers in I the path of the communicants. Fol- I lowing in the rear of Mi" pro pr-i-hi I was Father Murph.v. eel, -brant of tie j I llich Mttrf, robed in his sacred vest- j mollis. After Mie gospel Father Yormaat r reached ;i very eloU"nt and touching sermon tu (he ;irsi com m u n lean1 s, and ft i'pt commtmion Father Murphy ' : i aelieij tn them on being over true to M,e l'ivin- Savior' who came for the t'o-.-i lime to be their heavenly guest. He to,,k M,is occasion to congratulate the people upon their devotodncss t i trnf chin ch and pas-tor, and further said, what was most edifying and dear to :ho heart of a priest was that no )";!;' : v.' !..- iaruuage is spoken to us, lhai !.! alike are animated wiMi ih. sa.'i.e love for their jutstor. and all zealous- workers of the CaMmMo church. After Mass 1m akfast was sei-Ved to the first communion clas by th,' ladies of the Altar Society at the pastor's resi-l.-nco. T lie - i i i iv was one of beauty beau-ty and grandeur all Ihe way through, fi-ei'o the entrance into the church until un-til :!;e end of the service. Many beau-li'Yi! beau-li'Yi! mommies of a dear, devoted ptis- i v will in vea rs 1o come mingle with ii e il o-mh!-- of such a Iv.p- and ha.py reen"ee)j.i! of a H t'St 1'OtU'lHlt'P'Ml wor- tlioy re.-, ivoii. Th.' first rcc-ntiin of 'i:v !i:r'- l.;vrd leaves a m.-i'-lr c.i the '. ! s: ii-i inh-.d of th rhil 1 ihat all th" ::r:,.y and glory of tin? world (vcmot '" ace. T!v names of those who received are j j s e' -wr: Alice Clancy. Mary Kick- j tte. P!:i i ei-m'M'a ii, A'lii'" D'.'-nnbrait, '"!;, -e: a F:v;s. M..V- Weils. Madaline Cii.-e . :,;i.i.gie ! y-r. Han Crowley, '"ravi- MaeOovan, Charles Fabian, t Arch'" ""m-ard'can. I V. T"-i 'ie evening services at the church consisP-d o a sermon by ib-v. Father Murphy on the glories of the Virgin M:ry from ::' y; at f-;tst of the As-sumi.tio;;. As-sumi.tio;;. dia( ly after the sermon ser-mon Father Murphy . em-Hied a large number in il,e a piisMeship of prayer, the scapular, of Mount Carmel and the fi rst communion cl.--:ss renewed their baptismal vows. The Triduum was !o.--cl with so'.emn bi-nedietion. After the service al the church a reception re-ception was tendered Father Murphy at Hie residence of Father Vcimaat. where lie met all the members of the congregation. congre-gation. Several addresses of appreciation apprecia-tion to Father Murphy were delivered by prominent nv-mbers, renresentins the different nati onslities, the one in French on behalf of the 'French members mem-bers of the congregation by Mr. Kert-randt. Kert-randt. On behalf of 'the German members mem-bers by Mr. Pick; on behalf of the Kr.glish-speaking members, Mr. Mc-Ciowan. Mc-Ciowan. Father Murphy responded, telling tell-ing of the happiness and pleasure it afforded af-forded him to be p resent on this grand occasion, congratulating them on the Catholic spirit so manifested, thanking them for the many kind words of appreciation ap-preciation spoken in different tongues, and for heir generous hospitality. He assured them that .wherever he went at the call of his superiors he would always al-ways retain deeply in his heart pleasing pleas-ing souvenirs of Father Vermaat and the people of Lewiston. The prizes awarded for catechism were honorably divided between Misses Clancy and Duranbeau, both Viein? equal: for church and Kible history. Miss Clancy; for punctuality and attendance, at-tendance, Miss Theresa Hrass. BESSIE M. L.AWLOR. |