HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-06-28, Page 37WEDDING
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Post Publishing House
Brussels Ontario
Callander
Nursing Home Limited
We say thanks for the co-operation the com-
, munity has extended in our work at Callander
and invite the people of the Brusse3s area to
continue to share their friendship with our
guests not only during this special week but
throughout the year. Only through your visits
can our patients gain an involvement'with
events and people of the community and thus
be helped in finding anew sense of purpose
in life.
(BETTY & DOUG. CALLANDER)
(MARG. KRAUTER)
Early priests faced hardships
serving Brussels area pioneers
The Rey. John Wiriath, • an
Alsatian was the first mission-
ary priest who came to this
district as early as 1833 '34
or '35 and fotind many scattered
colonies of Catholics and he
ministered to those .of his faith
from Berlin (Kitchener'
Waterloo) as far west as Goderich,
in what is known as the Huron.
Tract.
• A picture of this self-sacri-
ficing and zealous priest:can be
had from the history of the County
of Perth by William Johnston,
He says:. !`the missionary
travelled alone on foot with his
belongings on, his back, through
muskegs and swamps to visit
the settlers of his block from
Guelph to Goderich and down to
Lake Erie and• Niagara. On one
of his trips he came to , Downie
Township, now Stratford,
and from there to Irishtown
(St. Columban) and Goderich. He
was poorly clad, and never had
his clothes off during the Whole
I trip. • At the Widow Cassins in
what-is now Stratford, he stetched
hlinielf out on the floor before the.
, fire in his clothes to thaw out
While resting, for the weather had
,." been bitter cold and the snow
deep."
• Father Wiriath returned to his
beloved Alsace, • but before his
departure he sent a letter to
Bishop MacDonell. ThiS letter
was dated Albany, New York,
'June 3rd, 1837 and was a census
report of 26 widely scattered
townships giving them a populat-
ion of 412 families, with 1727
souls. The following are a few
examples: what is known as
Stratford: 43 faMilies, 187 souls; ,
Irishtown: 19 faniilies, 67 souls;
Logan: 2 families, 5 souls:
Goderich: 45 families,143 souls;
Father Wiriath died in Alsace
. in 1844.
Irishtown was the centre of
Catholicity in 'this district at
thiS 'time and Father Peter
•Schneider, after a period in which
there was no priest, became the
first resident prieSt about 1849.
He preached in the settlers homes
until their first church - a small •
log building was built oh the Mc-
Killop side road about 1858, on
lot 9, Conc. 1, on land donated
• by Mr, Downey. The first ChurCh
records kept by Rev. Schneider
were dated January 21, 1849.
Rev. Peter Schneider had,
previouslY been a doctor, so he
often ministered to the, physical
as well as the spiritual needs of
the people, and was known as the
•4 IApostle of the Huron Tract".
After administering to the needs
of the faithful. in the district
for eleven years, he departed to
take up residence at Goderich.
In 1864 a priest of extra
ordinary administrative ability
• • was ' appointed ' pastor of ,
Irishtown. From the date Father
James Murphy,we find a period
'of ehurch extension and building.
The years 1847 to 1857 brought.
• an influx of about 250;000 Irish
'Catholic 'families to Canada and
'manysettled inthe Huron Tract.
Fattier' Murphy, confident , in'
God's Providence, began a
' program of church building, Some •
'of which ,'are;' •Seaforth, Clinton,
Blyth, Brussels:, Wingham.
In the year 1867 Dean Murphy
assured that there was a suffic-
ient number of Catholics in the
district determined • to build a
church in Wingham under the
patronage of 'the Sacred Heart.
Dean Murphy contracted with the
then famous Pat Kelly of Blyth
who, had Just been elected member
'of Parliament.- The 'work was
completed in June, 1877. It was
a -very irnportant, milestone in,
the growth of Catholicity in this
part of the. Old Huron Tract:
Dean Murphy assumed charge of
Sacred Heart parish until. 1880.
After • that it became a mission
church of •St. AugUstine.
The deed of land shows, that
on July 20, 1876 about one and
one half acres of land waSpur-
chased from Hugh. Cooper and
Charles A. Cooper in the,Village
of BrusselS in the County of
Huron, ,'by the • Roman Catholic
Episcopl Corpciration of the'
Diocese of London in the Pro-
vince of Ontario. Cemetery pro-
perty was purchased Nov.' 10,,
1914 from Isabella Rapds of Grey
Township. The first burial •was
Annie Cooper; daughter of Mr.
• and' Mrs. Dan Cooper. The, bodies
of Ed. Armstrong, Mrs. Tom
Gayndr, and Mr. Strath were
transferred from 'Blyth C emetery
to Brussels.
Before the church was built •
the people were baptized in Irish-
' town (St. Columban), and buried
in Seaforth }LC.' cemetery or
Blyth. Mass was said in a house
on a sIderoad between Conc. XII
and XIII,.lot '5 of Grey Township:-
land now owned by Emmerson
Mitchell. ' Records show that the
priest by the name of C.Cochrane
came from Seaforth every 3rd
Sunday.
The first child to be baptized
in the new St. Ambrose Church in
the village of Brussels was James
Ryan of Walton, of Seaforth
parish, born August 17, 1879,
the son• of James Ryan. He was
a pupil of the school of the Village •
of 'his birth, and made his
classical course at Assumption
College, SandWich,, and his
Theological course at the Grand
Seminary, Montreal, and Mount
St. Mary's Seminary, Cincinnati,
Ohio. He was ordained in Kansas
City in 1908. The same James
Ryan of Walton, now Reverend
James Ryan celebrated his first
Holy Mass in the church in which
he was baptized, made his first
Holy Communion and was Con-
firmed. A large congregation
was present for this occasion,
whom he, blessed individually. His
first appointment was to be assis-
tant at the Cathedral Church at
Leavenworth. When he got ill he
came back to Canada, and after
two years of illness, he died in
St. Joseph's Hospital inChatham,
Ontario in 1918. •
Through the years, due to the
zeal •of dedicated priests, C athol-
icity experienced sufficient
growth in this area to warrant
the Most Rev. M. F. Fallon,
Bishop of London, to appoint in
1911 Rev. J. J. Blair the first
resident pastor of Sacred. Heart
Church in Wingham with the
THE BRUS
permanent care Of the mission
church of St. Ambrose In
Brussels. From WinghaM he
went by train every second Sunday
to Brussels to care for the faith-
ful.
Fr. Blair was born in. Strat-
ford in 1874. He went to Loretto
Academy, Stratford; the Separate
School and the Stratford Colleg-
iate. He then went into the Post
Office service at Stratford and
later became Assistant
Postmaster at Walkerton. Decid-
ing to become a candidate for
the priesthood, he left the civil
. service in 1901,' and entered
Grand Seminary in. Montreal;
where, he completed his train-
ing for priesthood and was
ordained in 1910. His first
, appointment was as Pastor of
Wingham with care of the mis-
sion of St. Ambrose in Brus-
sels. •
Three years later he was
, replaced by Rev. Joseph Fallon,
in 1914 and in 1923 Rev. A.M,
McHugh became third resident
Pastor of Wingham with duties
, to look after spiritual needs of
' people in Brussels. In his time
Altar • Society was formed which
exists to this day. The duties
of the ladies of the Altar So-
ciety was to wash linens and
keep the church clean.
In May 1933, Father J. F.
Paquette came to Wingham. •
Although the country was, suf-
fering a depression, he immed-
iately undertook a.series of im-
provements - he' redecorated ,
St. Ambrose Church. Father Pa-
quette was an efficient although
unobtrusive financial adminis-
trator, but the spiritual welfare
of his parishioners was dearest
to his heart.' He was highly
respected by the people of
• Wingham and vicinity. ,
In 1946 Rev. F. .1. BriCiclin
was appointed to St. Ambrose
after serving as a padre in the
Armed Services overseas. He
was active in community affairs
and endeared himself beyond the
borders of his own flock.
' In' 1950 Rev. R. J. Durand
was appointed. At this time a
new'heating system was installed
and siding was put on the exterior
of the church. Before the new
heating system was installed
' there were two stoves, one • in
the vestry, and one in the back
of the church, 'where people
gathered around to get warm
before and after M4ss.
In 1960 Rev. G. Freker was
appointed. He was' instrumental
in introducing more active con-
gregational participation in the
liturgy. •
The Sisters of St. Joseph
conducted successful Summer
School courses to provide' relig-
ious education for• the children
from Grades 1 - 8. Excavation
of the basement was done and an
oil 'furance installed. Kitchen
facilities and the parish hall was
completed, providing facilities
for social activities.
In 1964 Rev. J. Mooney was
appointed and he worked zeal-
ously to •renovate and beautify
St. Ambrose Church and grounds.
Father • Mooney and the ceme-
tery board improved the
cemetery; also establishing a
Perpetual Care Fund and up-
dated the cemetery records.
During this period a Roman
Catholic Separate School Board
was formed giving children of
the parish the privilege of attend-
ing a Catholic School.
In 1970 Rev. Mitchell S.
Kaminski, the present pastor,
was appointed.
Rev. Father Kaminski was
born in the eastern part • of
Poland and as a young boy, in
1939 when war broke out and the
Russians marched into that part
of Poland and took the entire
family in cattle cars in February
1940 into Siberia. He' still
remembers the horrors of the
Communist camp where he spent
two terrible years, where he was
made to attend Communist
schools, but they didn't make him
one . . When the amnesty was
announced, the family at their own
, (Continued on Page 18A)
ELS POST, JUNE 28, 1972-13a