PASSIONISTS
524
PASSIONISTS
time is the Anplo-Hibprniiin Province of St. Joseph.
The Piissionists were introduced into England by
Father Dominic of the Mother of (iod (Harberi) who
arrived at Oscott College, HiriMinghiiin, for this pur-
pose with onlv one conipaiiion, I'ather Aina<leus (7
Oct., 1S41 ). They came in the .spirit of .\poslles with-
out gold or .silver, without scrip or staff or shoes or
two coats. They had. however, three ecclesiastical
friends who receive<l them kindly and encouraged
them in their enterpri.se by advice and patronage.
Thc.sewere: Dr. Walsh, Bi.shopof theMidland District ;
Dr. Wiseman, then his coadjutor bishop; and Father
Ignatius Spencer, who joined the congregation in 1847
and laboured as one of its most saintly and devoted
sons until his death in 18().5. Father Dominic and his
coinpani<in took possession of Aston Hall, near Stone,
StatTordshircoM 17 Feb., 1842, and there established
the fii-st community of I'a.ssionists in England. At the
time of the arrival of the Passionists there were only
otiO priests in England and the distressful state of the
Church there may be learned from the Catholic
Director}' of 1840.
The Pas.sionists with Father Dominic at their head soon revived without commotion several Catholic i-ustoins and practices which had died out since the Reformation. Thej' were the first to adopt strict community life, to wear their habit in public, to give missions and retreats to the people, and to hold public religious processions. "They gloried in the disgrace of the Cross, were laughed at by Protestants, warned by timid Catholics, but encouraged always by Cardi- nal Wiseman. Their courage became infectious, so that in a short time almost every order now in England followed their example. There were two or three Fathers of Charity then in England, but they were engaged teaching in colleges until they might become proficient in the language. Father Dominic, after he had given his first mission, wrote to Dr. Gentili and begged him and his companions to start a missionary career. They did so and the memory of their labours is not yet dead" (MS. by P"ather Pius Devine, 1882). Father Dominic laboured only for seven years in England, during which he founded three houses of the congregation. He died in 1849. For fourteen years after its introduction into England, the progress of the congregation had been slow. In the beginning of 18.56 there were only nine native priests and three laj'-brothers; the rest, to the number of sixteen or sev- enteen, were foreigners.
Foundation in Ireland. — It was during this year they secured their first foundation in Ireland, which was the beginning of a new era of progress for the Passionists at home and beyond the seas. Father Vincent Grotti, then acting-provincial, invited and encouraged by Cardinal CuUcn, in 18.56 purchased the house and property called Mount .\rgus, near Dublin, where their grand monastery and church now stand. A community was soon formed there. Father Paul Mary (Hon. Reginald Pakenham, son of the Earl of Longford) was the first rector of the retreat, and died there 1 March, 18.57. This remarkable scion of a noble house, first an officer in the army, received into the Catholic Church by Cardinal Wiseman at the age of twenty-nine, entered the Congregation of the Pas- sion in 1851, lived for six years an austere and peni- tential life according to its Rule, and died in the odour of sanctity.
In course of time other houses were founded in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In 1887 four priests. Fathers Alphonsus O'Xeill, Marcellus Wright, Patrick Fagan, Colman Nunan, and Brother Law- rence Carr, at the invitation of Cardinal Moran, went from this province to establish the congregation in Australia. Soon three houses of the institute were founded at Sydney, Cioulborn, and Adelaide re- spectively. All three remain united to the home province. In 1862 a house was founded in Paris
(which became afterwards known as St. Joseph's
(■hur<li in the .V venue Hoche) for the benefit of Eng-
li.sh-spcaking ( 'al holies, and it has remained the cen-
tre of spiritual ministrations for the purpo.se far which
it was fduncled lo the present time, though .secularized
in li)():i by the Republican Government.
This province of St. .lo.seph, including Australia, l)OS.ses.ses twelve houses or retreats. It numbers 106 l)riests, :Ui i)rofes.sed students (24 of whom are reading theology), 12 novices, and 27 professed lay-brothers; in all isi members.
//( Ihi I 'nilnl Sl(iles.~ln 1852 Dr. O'Connor, Bishop of Pittsburg, obtained from the general of the Pas- sionists three fathers and a lay-brother to start a branch of the congregation in his diocese. The mis- sionaries were Fathers Anthony, Albimis, and Stanis- laus. They were totally ignorant of the I'liiglish language and, humanly speaking, most unlikely men to succeed in Apostolic labours in .America. They were at first housed in the bishojj's palace, but a re- treat was soon built for them, and these three Passion- i.sts soon attracted others to be their companions and, in the space of twenty years, were able to build up a flourishing province. In that period as Father Pius writes; "Five splendid houses of our Congregation graced and beautified the States: a basilica has arisen in Hoboken; Cincinnati, Dunkirk, Baltimore, and Louisville can testify how these poor men increased and midtiplied, and how their poor beginnings came to have such splendid results. They have built two e.\tra churches in Pittsburg, and two more in New Jersey. Recently a foundation has been made in the Diocese of Brooklyn at Shelter Island. It will be used as a house of studies for novices and as a summer retreat for the priests. The American Province is more numerous and flourishing than any other in the order at present. Not only have they supplied their own wants, but they have sent offshoots to Mexico, Buenos Ayres, and Chile to be seeds of future provinces which may one day vie with their own" (1882, MS.).
The number of the religious and of the houses of the congregation increased gradually until the prov- ince became so extended that the superiors deemed it advisable to form a new province in the States. Accordingly, as a branch from the old and first ijrov- ince, a second was founded, under the title of the Holy Cross, by the authority of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, in 1906. There are there- fore at present two Passionist provinces in the United States, namely, the Province of St. Paul of the Cross and that of the Holy Cross. The former comprises 6 retreats, 113 professed priests and students, and 26 lay-brothers; the latter has 5 retreats, 76 priests and students, and 19 lay-brothers.
According to the general catalogue issued in 1905, the whole congregation includes 12 provinces, 94 re- treats, and V.SH7 religious. A retreat of the congrega- tion, dedicated to St. Martha, was founded at Beth- any, near Jerusalem, in 1903.
The Congregation of the Passion has never had a regular cardinal protector, as is the case with other religious orders. The sovereign pontiffs have always retained it under their own immediate protection, an<l have always been ready, according to the spirit and the words of Clement XIV, to assist it by their authority, protection, and favour (letter to the founder, 21 April, 1770), and Pius VII by a special Rescript in 1801 declared the congregation to be under the immediate protection of the pope.
IlElMBUCHEB. Ordeii u. Kongregationen, 8. v. Pnssiojnuten: Pics a Spibitu Sancto, The Life of SI. Paul of the Croat (Dublin, 1868) ; H#,I.YOT-MlONE, Did. des ordres religieuT, IV (Paris, 1859). supplement, 1044 sq.
Passionist Nuns. — In the "Life of St. Paul of the Cross" by Venerable Strambi, we have evidence of his design from the beginning of the Congregation of the Passion to found an institute in which women, conse-
