History of the Catholic Church in Paterson, N.J. / with an Account of the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Establishment of St. John's Church

by Charles A. Shriner

"DEUS,

"Cui sit honor, laus et gloria in Sempiternum.

"The Bishop, and attending clergy, then traversed the foundations of the edifice, the Bishop blessing them and sprinkling them with holy water. Then returning to the corner-stone the Bishop proceeded to deliver the following address:—'It is the custom of the Bishop in laying the corner-stone of a new church to say something upon the occasion, and it is always a source of great pleasure for me to lay and bless the corner-stone of a new church. The circumstances, it is true, are not always the most agreeable, the ceremony being performed in the open air, and it is sometimes too hot, and sometimes too cold, or it may rain, although to-day the sun has shone out most opportunely. But these, after all, are slight inconveniences. As I officiate upon these occasions, it is impossible for me to separate them from the source of the blessings to follow to the individual and to society. The thought that is always uppermost in my mind when I lay the corner-stone of a church is of those wells in the desert spoken of so beautifully in the old Scriptures; those fountains in the dry and sandy deserts of the East, made by the old patriarchs, which still spread beauty and fertility around them, and still refresh the weary traveller. The wild Arab ranging the desert as he sees and drinks of those living waters, blesses the names of those old patriarchs who made them flow. So it is with the Church of Christ. That Church is, indeed, a fountain of living waters in the desert, spreading fertility and blessings around it and refreshing and blessing the weary traveller on his journey through life. It is indeed a great and a good work we are engaged in. It is a work for the glory and honor of the Good and Supreme Ruler of all things, and it cannot fail to bring down blessings on ourselves and all who come after us. The erection of a church is a noble and substantial act of faith; not expressed in words but built up in enduring brick and stone, and thus stronger and more complete than mere words. It shows that you honor God and love your religion; that you are anxious for the glory of the House of God, and wish its rites to be fitly celebrated. It shows, too, that you are anxious that those who come after you shall bow at the same altars, and be guided by the same precepts that you are guided by. Some would say, looking at the foundations I have blessed to-day, Why an expense that seems disproportionate to the means! It is, perhaps, a natural question, and yet it is one that always sounds badly to the Catholic ear. We should not speak of cost in connection with the house and glory of Almighty God. The question I allude to was first asked by Judas, concerning an act of charity and love done for our Divine Master. Let us recognize by our generosity, by the size, cost and magnificence of the temples we erect to Him, that God is ruler not only over the world, but in our hearts. If you will visit Catholic cities you will find the most beautiful buildings erected, not to purposes of science and art, but to the glory of God, and for works of charity done in His name. The Catholic Church has always been a church builder. She began with the Catacombs, which you will find in many parts of Europe and particularly at Rome. To those places the faithful were wont to flee from the light of day to offer their rites and worship God in their own way. As you pass along those corridors, cut from the solid rock and lined on either side with the bodies of the dead, you find in places they expand into chambers where church rites were held. I recall one near Naples, a church called after St. Agnes, near the scene of her martyrdom, where there is a beautiful church, with an altar and a seat for the Bishop. In some of these churches where the light of day does not shine the walls are decorated with frescoes, from subjects of the Old Testament. I need not say that when the Church came up to worship God in the light of day she continued to erect noble edifices to the glory of God, hence those noble basilicas, churches and cathedrals we see in the old countries. Those noble structures have been stigmatized as creations of the Dark Ages. Some of you may have seen them. Those who have not can form no idea of their beauty and grandeur, which impress even those of other faiths who enter them. They are truly noble poems, built in stone under the light of Heaven. It would be quite as easy for an ordinary person to compose a stanza of Paradise Lost, or Dante's Divina Comedia, as to construct even the slightest portion of one of those beautiful works. It has been the theory of a certain school, now I am happy to say fast passing away, that these noble buildings were the result of superstition; that they were built by men of habits of great violence and crime, who compounded with God, as it were, to keep a portion of their stolen goods, while with the remainder they erected those noble churches and monasteries. This theory was entirely false. These were men like unto ourselves, as regards human nature: when they did wrong they might offer reparation, but it was no superstition that found means to build these churches. In our days men are recognizing a better theory; that it was faith, piety and love for God that prompted these works. Those men in erecting their churches gave expression to their faith, and showed their love to God as you are showing it now.'

"(The Bishop said he could not enter into a description of these churches. He would only refer briefly to one, the Cathedral of Chartres, France, of which he found it noted in the chronicle of Haman that it was seventy years in building. One is not surprised that it should have been so, when he looks upon it. It has suffered from the tooth of time, but many of its interior features, and especially its noble old stained windows, are very perfect still. He had been told by an archæologist that it would cost three or four millions of francs to restore it. This noble cathedral was built not by the rich and titled, but by the hands of poor men. There must have been thousands working on it night and day for those seventy years. Thousands of noble persons were busy in supplying provisions to the laborers. Delicate maidens might have been seen carrying stones for the church. The whole population labored, not merely the citizen, but the dweller in the province, to erect that building that should stand until the end of time.)

"'They did not build in vain. Their time was well spent. That church has been a constant sermon telling for over a thousand years the glory of God. Who may tell what force such a church may add to a preacher's words? Such churches have stood bearing witness against heresy and false doctrine and helping Catholics to keep the faith. They have been beacon-lights to warn men who wished to serve the true God from their false philosophy. The spirit shown in the project of the large and costly church here commenced is that which has always animated the Catholic heart. I congratulate you, then; I congratulate your zealous and faithful pastor; I congratulate you all; Catholics of this city, and Protestants too; for this is a matter which concerns the interests of all who believe in and love God, who reverence law, order and public security, because all these are founded upon religion. In the place where people do not believe in God, there must be degradation, violence, insecurity and sometimes anarchy. Here we erect another bulwark against irreligion, indifference and vice, which all must acknowledge are spreading over our fair republic. He did not feel the necessity of spending any more breath in exhorting them to carry on generously and faithfully the great work they had undertaken. The rubric in the Pontifical which I hold in my hand imperfectly translated says that it is the duty of the Bishop before he lays the corner stone of a church to take care that means are provided for its completion, and for the support of its clergy, and the proper celebration of worship. But the times are not as they once were. Now we do not find it necessary to wait until all the means are provided. We depend now upon the wide-spread liberality of our people, many of whom, it is true, are poor. We saw to-day a woman, who from her dress and appearance, was evidently casting her all into the treasury of the Lord's House. I cannot condemn her, since the Lord once blessed such an act as hers. How dear will this spot be henceforth! Here you shall worship God; here receive the holy sacraments; here come to hear the words of eternal truth. May it indeed be to you in the language of the old Patriarch, the House of God and the Gate of Heaven. May you here obtain the grace of a good death and be hence admitted to everlasting glory, to a habitation not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

"While the address was in progress, baskets were passed among the crowd for contributions, a handsome sum being realized. The congregation was dismissed with the Pontifical benediction."

The erection of the walls of the church was at once proceeded with. P. C. Keely, of New York, was the architect, but every day while work was going on Father McNulty was present supervising the erection and attending to the many matters which require attention in the construction of so large a structure as St. John's Church. The building was erected by day's work and is one of the most substantially built churches in the country. Father McNulty was assisted by an advisory building committee consisting of Charles O'Neill, Robert Hamil, William G. Watson and others. The stone used in the construction of the church was brought by canal from Little Falls and dressed on the ground as required. The slate used in the roof was imported from England. The chime of bells, the only one in the city, which had been used in the Oliver street church, was transferred to the new edifice. Before the completion of the main building a neat little chapel was built on the north east corner of the property; this was at once fitted up and is at present used for confessionals and other purposes. The total seating capacity of the new church is 1750. The following brief description of the church is taken from the recently published History of Bergen and Passaic Counties:

"The church is eighty-eight feet front and one hundred and eighty feet deep; twin turrets rise on each side of the front to the height of the peak, ninety feet, but are to be carried thirty feet higher; on the Grand street side there is a square tower, about one hundred feet high at present; it is to be adorned with a spire rising to the height of two hundred and twenty-five feet from the ground. The main entrance is on Main street, through a fine doorway, the arch of which is about thirty feet high. The roof is supported in the interior by graceful stone columns, sixty feet high, from which spring stout arches of wood painted to resemble stone. The ceilings and walls are decorated in the mediæval style by two celebrated artists from Munich, Messrs. Lang and Kinkeln. Symbolic paintings adorn the side walls, depicting the twelve stations upon a background of gold flecked with blue. The windows are of stained glass each contributed by some member of the congregation."

The sanctuary also contains five masterpieces of the painter's art, being representations of the five principal mysteries of the life of Christ, the Annunciation, the Birth, the Institution of the Holy Eucharist, the Resurrection and the Ascension.