History: "Jesuits in Oregon", St. Mary's Parish - Pendleton ********************************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE: ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ********************************************************************************* Transcribed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: W. David Samuelsen - April 2002 ************************************************************************ Chronological List of Jesuits in Oregon "Jesuits in Oregon" 1844-1959, Rev. Wilfred P. Schoenberg, S.J., published June 1959 by the The Oregon-Jesuit to commemorate the Centennial Year in Oregon. No copyright, not registered. St. Mary s Parish Pendleton 1897 In 1862, an act of the Oregon State Legislature created the new county of Umatilla. Six years later, a certain commissioner, appointed for the task, selected the site of Goodwin s ranch for the county seat; and the following year a new town was laid out. It was named Pendleton to honor Ohio s senator of that name. The plans for the town did not include a Catholic church nor, for that matter, other churches - though there was a jail, a courthouse, and many saloons. The few Catholics resident there were attended missionwise by the father from St. Ann s Mission on the reservation. The first notice to appear in the St. Ann Mission records for Pendleton is the burial of a 14-year-old boy, Joseph Nigrae, who had come all the way from Naples by the sea to die in the grassy hills of eastern Oregon. Father Adolph Vermeersch blessed his grave. When Father Conrardy took over St. Ann s, he made occasional pious forays into Pendleton and said Mass at some private home, usually Tom Milarkey s on West Court St. or at Mrs. John Murphy s on East Webb St. In the early 1880 s, the Catholic population, made up mostly of the Irish (God bless them!) had become too numerous for the Milarkeys or the Murphys front parlor. Arrangements were made to hold services in the courthouse, where Father Conrardy said Mass on the first Sunday of each month. In 1884, Pendleton, perhaps imagining itself a booming metropolis, extended its city limits, and the Catholic residents used the opportunity to purchase a rocky piece of land on the east end where Court and Alta Streets converged. With the aid of the Milarkeys, Murphys, O'Daniels, Grogans, and Reiths, Father Conrardy built a frame church and bell tower facing east. On June 11, 1886, His Grace, Most Reverend William Gross, administered the Sacrament of Confirmation here. Greatly impressed by developments in Pendleton, this prelate gave orders that a larger piece of property be acquired for the church. This was done, and the church was moved to the new site. In September of that year, the first resident pastor was appointed. This was Father DeRoo, who distinguished himself later by writing learned books on Aborigines in pre-Columbian America. For the thirteen years following Fr. DeRoo's arrival, there was a succession of 9 pastors, two of whom died in Pendleton; one abandoned it because "the climate was too rigorous"; and another returned to Canada to nurse his failing health. This was not a beginning to recommend Pendleton to sick or elderly priests, and, to be honest, that s about all the Archbishop could spare for the struggling little parish, since he was very shorthanded everywhere. In 1896, harassed on all sides by demands for more priests, the Archbishop secured the loan of a Benedictine Father from Mt. Angel for a few months. This was Fr. Kramer, O.S.B., who had the pleasure of meeting the Milarkeys and the Murphys. When he was recalled for other work, the Archbishop literally begged the Jesuits at St. Andrew s to take St. Mary s parish and the rest of Umatilla County also, as he had no one to spare for any part of it. On Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1897, the first Jesuit pastor arrived at St. Mary s. His name was Fr. Victor Garrand, S.J., and he had come to Pendleton from France via Syria and Egypt, where he had been a missionary for many years. Fr. Garrand made a dramatic entrance. After he had unpacked his bags and introduced himself to his flock, he hired a buggy and persuaded Fr. Cataldo from the mission to share a ride with him while he examined his new parish. While the two were enjoying themselves in the buggy, their horse, a most treacherous rascal, ran away with them and finally dumped them into the ditch in a very undignified manner. Besides their dignity, their bones were injured, and both had to be taken to the nearest hospital at Walla Walla. Church Is Moved When Fr. Garrand was released some weeks later, he arranged to have the church moved again. Now if this sounds familiar to you, you are perfectly right, for St. Mary s Church, like St. Andrew s, had been moved so often its builders would have been more clever to have put it on rollers. That is one advantage nowadays when concrete and stone is used: the church cannot be moved. Fr. Garrand apparently was not to be blamed because he actually had found two Catholic churches in different parts of Pendleton. He moved one of them next to the other and converted it into a rectory, and - that settled its days of moving for as often happens with rectories it burned to the ground in January, 1899. Though a very devoted Frenchman, Fr. Garrand had an eye for things Irish (and also for raising money), so he arranged the first St. Patrick s Day program in Pendleton history. It was said to be a roaring ~ success, as it raised $1 3~, which was a fantastic sum in those times when the Sunday collection was $5. This great fortune in the parish s bank, not to mention the Irish ballads and jigs, assured Fr. Garrand of immortality in Pendleton. It was a pity he did not remain to enjoy it. Apparently, the sphinxes of Egypt beckoned him, for he returned to this romantic land of the Pharaohs and later died in Algeria. New Rectory In 1899, Fr. Van der Velden succeeded him at St. Mary s. It was Fr. Van der Velden s good pleasure to move from a rented rectory into a new one, begun by Fr. Garrand before his departure. This was the 2-story frame house which served as St. Mary s rectory for 50 years, surviving during all that time all the natural enemies of houses like it (including termites) in addition to the many fervent hopes it would burn down. The fact is that it lasted too long. Fr. Van der Velden s appointment as pastor was the beginning of a quiet period of St. Mary s history, which could boast of nothing more exciting than frequent changes - of pastors and assistants. The period came to an end with the coming of Fr. Cataldo. Wherever Fr. Cataldo might be, there was action. When he came to St. Mary s he did not move the church; he built a new one, and it was made of hewn granite blocks as large as tombstones. You may be sure they are there to stay. A certain Mr. M. P. White, who designed the Cathedral at Baker, was commissioned to make plans for the new church in native stone and with a seating capacity for 400. Mr. White produced sketches of an adapted Romanesque Church, typical of American churches erected in the early 1900 s. It was 167 feet long and 67 feet wide with 2 towers 29 x 29 and 68 feet high. It was precisely what Fr. Cataldo and his committee wanted. On April 12, 1911, the contract for the erection of the church was signed by Fr. Cataldo and 2 builders, Messrs. Monterastelli and Perfetti, who should have been Italians if they were not. The next day, which was Holy Thursday for that year, ground was broken for the new church. The assistant pastor, Fr. John Durgan, S.J., performed the ceremony in Fr. Cataldo s absence. The foundations were completed, and the cornerstone laid on Sept. 8, 1912, by Bishop O Reilly of Baker. The event coincided with the Golden Jubilee of Fr. Cataldo s ordination to the priesthood, so the Catholics of Pendleton had more than Marian devotions to go with their Mass on that Feast of Mary s Nativity. Their mayor appeared long enough to congratulate them on their enterprise, and Governor West, of Oregon, sent a message which echoed the same sentiments. After the Bishop addressed the crowd, the hat was passed around, and the cornerstone laying was considered complete and official. The collection netted $250. Church Dedicated The church was finally dedicated by Bishop O Reilly on Sunday, Dec. 17, 1916. A number of Jesuit priests who had served the parish in one capacity or another were present for the ceremony, but Fr. Cataldo, author of the construction program, was absent. He had been transferred to the Indian mission at Slickpoo, Idaho. Despite this cause for regret, the dedication was a piously gala one, with an overflow crowd and lots of fine oratory. After the hat was again passed around "for the building fund," all proceeded to examine what they had dedicated. They found a remarkably solid and roomy building with furnishings very properly provided "in dark Cathedral oak." The fact that their money had run out before the towers were completed or new pews installed did not greatly upset them. These, too, would be provided in time. The pews came in 1927, after a generation had sat on the old. They were worth waiting for because, as Fr. McKenna, S.J., who purchased them would tell you, they are among the most beautiful in Oregon. Old Church Sold Meanwhile, the old church was sold for scrap. Its buyer paid $275 for it, which was not bad at all, considering the fact it was so decrepit that Pendleton s policemen had condemned it for public use. With the completion of the new church, a new era began for Pendleton Catholics. It could truly be said their parish life revolved around their stone church, of which they were very obviously proud. They boasted it was the finest in eastern Oregon, and it is very probable they were right. In 1948, when Fr. John O Hara, was pastor, the church was redecorated. Mr. Braash, an artist from Bavaria, was commissioned in that year to design and paint murals in the sanctuary. These, too, are elegant in the best Pendleton tradition. Another project which Fr. O Hara undertook was the construction of a rectory, which was desperately needed to replace the old one that had defied termites and lightning from the time of Fr. Van der Velden. In August, 1955, the rectory was begun. It was completed the following year and dedicated with appropriate blessings and speeches. Perhaps its builder would have been glad to spend the rest of his days there, but, like his predecessors, he was transferred shortly after its occupation. With 2 Jesuits now in residence, St. Mary s has the appearance of an average city parish. It is a city parish and a very active one, but it differs from most city parishes in this respect: Its influence covers an area that is as large as some dioceses. If the Milarkeys and the Murphys could see it today, they would swell with pride and tell all within hearing that this vast and holy business had begun with Mass in their own front parlors. They would be perfectly right.