Church Freed of Debt.—The congregation of St. Ann's Church, Gloucester, Mass., was informed by the priest in charge, the Rev. J. J. Healy, that the church is now free of all indebtedness. The building was completed in 1876 with the exception of the spire, which was added during the summer of 1884. The church is built of granite, with a seating capacity of about one thousand, and is valued at $100,000. The church will be consecrated in July.
St. Patrick's Day in Boston.—The Irish societies of Boston held a meeting to decide the manner in which St. Patrick's Day should be celebrated in this city. Fourteen societies, represented by sixty-two delegates, were in attendance. President Edward Riley presided. The motion made at a previous meeting to invite Dr. Croke, Archbishop of Cashel, to lecture, in preference to having a street parade, was adopted by a vote of thirty-eight to six, and the convention adjoined, subject to the call of officers. Most Rev. Dr. Croke sent a despatch saying it was impossible for him to accept the invitation.
Home.—The annual meeting of the directors of the Home for Destitute Catholic Children on Harrison Av., was held on the evening of the 14th of January. During the past year 414 children were admitted into the Home. Three died, two absconded, 401 were placed in families, and 186 boys and girls remain in the Home. Since the Home was organized it has received and provided for the large number of 6,364 poor children. The officers of the corporation elected for the present year are: John B. O'Brien, President; Charles F. Donnelly, Vice-President; P. F. Sullivan, Treasurer; James Havey, Secretary; James W. Dunphy, John W. McDonald, and John Miller, Executive Committee.
Advice to Young Women.—A writer in a household periodical recommends washing dishes as the best thing to put the hands in the soft and pliable condition most favorable to piano practice. Mothers should give this recipe a good long trial on their girls who assault the keyboard, but shun the dish pan.
Lake Shore Visitor: Ambition, as it is now understood, is not made of very stern stuff. There are men regarded as ambitious, who are puffed up with vanity, and who look upon themselves as very important. Death would make such men an irreparable loss to themselves, but not much of a loss to any one or anything else.
A Year of Jubilee.—We give elsewhere the Encyclical of Our Holy Father the Pope, proclaiming an Extraordinary Jubilee. The translation is made by Rev. Dr. Mahar, for the Catholic Universe, Cleveland, O.
March is the month of St. Patrick. On the 17th, the children of Ireland, wherever located, celebrate the day. Their hearts revert back to the dear old land of their birth and the happy days of their childhood.
"The lilies and roses abandon the plain;
Tho' the summer's gone by, yet the shamrock remains,
Like a friend in misfortune, it blooms o'er the snow;
Oh, my heart's in old Ireland wherever I go."
Hon. John Finnerty in a recent utterance said, after he had read the Queen's speech, "The Irish people must make up their minds to meet the English with a courage displayed by the American colonists in dealing with the Queen's grandfather, George the Third. The Queen of England has a personal grudge against Ireland because Dublin refused a site for the statue of her husband, who once said of the Irish that they ought to live on grass."
The first Hungarian Catholic church erected in America was recently dedicated at Hazleton, Pa., by the Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Hara, of Scranton, same State.