The Rt. Rev. Bishop Rosecrans of Cincinnati laid the cornerstones of two Catholic Churches in Union Township, this county, last Sunday, July 1st. It was the pleasure of the editor of this paper to be present at one of them.
The first was near the old church on the Watertown road, about seven miles from Marietta - the church of "St. John the Baptist." The ceremonies began at 3 P.M., Mr. Mayrose of Cincinnati being the Master. The procession was preceded by two acolytes (lads) dressed in white, trimmed with red, bearing the cross, followed by Father Ryan of Marietta, Father Curley of Parkersburg, and Father Eppink of the church now honored in Union, each in cassock and surplice, also Mr. Egan of Cincinnati, a student for the priesthood; and the Bishop in a blue cassock, white lace crochet, the pectoral cross (gold suspended from a gold chain) upon his neck, the stole, embroidered and trimmed with gold, hanging from his shoulders, the mitre upon his head and bearing in his hands the crosier.
The national flag floated over the stand from which the Bishop addressed the congregation for thirty-five minutes. He spoke in a full and clear voice, in deliberate and sincere tones, without the slightest affectation. The point of his entire discourse was that the bread and the wine of the mass (Protestant communion) during the administering by the proper officers of the church becomes "the living body and blood of Christ," that at the consecration, the change is made from "bread" and "wine" to "the actual presence of Jesus." To prove it, he rested on the words of Christ in the Gospel of St. John, chapter VI. That man cannot "understand" this is nothing, for he cannot understand how the grass grows, nor why the plant springs from the rotting seed - yet all know the facts. The practical words by the Bishop were that the church makes men better, is the salvation of society; destroy the faith, all would be ruin. Protestants should rejoice at the buildings of Catholic churches, which exercise a good influence over a large class of our citizens.
After the conclusion of the discourse came certain ceremonies at the cross; the laying of the cornerstone; the sprinkling and blessing of the foundation of the building by the Bishop, and singing the "Miserere" - all in Latin.
This church edifice is to be brick, 44 feet front by 78 deep.
A very large number of people were in attendance, and the order preserved was most excellent.
Subsequently, the same evening, the Bishop laid the cornerstone of a new church called "Ave Maria" on Rainbow Creek in the northern part of Union Township, an offshoot from the parish of St. John the Baptist, the congregation of the latter having become overflowing and the distance inconvenient for those who will attend at the new church. Father Curley preached a sermon after the cornerstone was laid.
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