This is a pleasant occasion, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the reopening of Old St. Mary's of the Barrens, now called St. Mary's Seminary.

It would be better if there had been chosen a younger and a better man, full of the vigor and ability of the new St. Mary's, who could do justice to the occasion, rather than an old man of days gone by. But perhaps it was the wish to mingle the old with the new that inspired the thought of having here the oldest living student of the old St. Mary's. For I was here before Father McCarthy, Father Smith, or Father Lyden. I was a boy then, I am an old man now; and ye will be old men yet, if ye live long enough.

It is not the intention to praise the past times, to say that there were giants in those days. No! No! they were hard times - times of poverty and privations in every department: in the Study Hall, Dormitory, Chapel, refectory end rooms.

The Study Hall was a stone, cold building with one little stove in the center, which tried to give some heat from green wood, which the boys had to chop and carry in themselves in turn. The desks were long slanting things, and the seats were planks, rather hard on pants. In the evening there were tallow candles, made by Aunt Sibby, a colored woman, One candle, stuck on a hail, did for three boys. Books were scarce and old; the same having served for some generations. There was one Latin dictionary between three boys, who would divide the labor of looking for the meaning of words, and then try to put them into some kind of an English sentence. There was not an English Dictionary in the house, till Nic O'Connor got a Webster from New Orleans.

The dormitory was hot in summer, cold in winter - never a stove. Clumsy frames with rough slats covered a mattress of corn shucks, such the beds The windows were beautifully adorned in winter with hoary fistoons. All rose at 5:00, took a little pan, ran to the well to haul up water in a bucket, to dash it on the face, then fix up the beds, and hasten to the Chapel.

The Chapel was a side room, fixed up with an altar, made of two planks supported by four slats, covered with a cloth in front. The benches, loose, had kneelers just wide enough to catch the top of the knee. Over the Altar was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the infant in her arms. It was painted by Raphael expressly for our chapel. So we heard and then believed. It was a chrome - the sweetest picture you ever saw; and no matter where you knelt, her sweet eyes were always on you. It is here yet. There was one vestment, white on one side, red on the other; it served for all occasions by turning it inside out.

But the big church! That was our glory. None equal to it in the country then, built in full Roman style, with side chapels and a large Sanctuary, where all the rites and ceremonies were carried out with all the exactness and pomp of the Roman ceremonial, from the presentation of the creuts to the grand procession of Corpus Christi. How the boys loved to be on duty, to show off, perhaps, in their dress, which consisted of a piece of white cotton, like a long shirt, having a red border below, and bound at the waist by a sash of pasteboard, covered with a red ribbon. They picked up the ceremonies by eye, so that the Vincentian Fathers and their alumni are known to be the most exact and graceful ministers at the altar wheresoever they officiated.

The Priests' rooms were small and poorly furnished - beds like those of the boys, not a piece of carpet on the floor. And often might be seen little Father Escofier, and big Father Busch chopping wood to carry to their rooms to start a fire to warm them.

The refectory and kitchen were under the dining room - but - let us not refer to the kitchen, dining room, cooks, or Brother Peter's pie. God sent the mean - but ... .

The Priests and Brothers shared cheerfully in all the difficulties And privations of the time. They were animated with the spirit of their vocation. The first members came from Rome with Father De Andreis, of blessed memory, with Roman customs, Roman office, Roman Rules of the novitiate, but with the common rules of the Congregation, men full of the Apostolic spirit of St. Vincent, instructing the country people around, teaching classes at home, minding the church, giving missions, going on distant sick calls to St. Genevieve, Kaskaskia, Praire du Rocher, Cahokia, etc, and after an all night ride on horseback, that wearied priest would be amid the first in the chapel for morning meditation.

All were happy, and heaven supplied what earth denied. There were sodalities, debating societies, and devotions to no end. And Father Lynch often declared that there was not a big sin committed in the place in a whole year.

But disastrous times came on. The civil war broke out. This was a border land. The mother house was transferred to Germantown, Pennsylvania. It was a lucky move. For thereby the Congregation secured the services of many able Eastern young men, who afterwards came West to help build up the home of their fathers and to reestablish St. Mary's Seminary.

Father McCarthy had long been preparing the way. Father Barnwell was here, Father Hoover was here. Then came Father Huber, then a Deacon, and with him three young novices, Mr. Hurley, Mr. Gorrell and Mr. William H. Musson. With these few whole souled men Saint Mary's Seminary was reopened on the 8th of December, feast of the Immaculate Conception, 20 years ago.

It was not all smooth sailing, nor was this a land flowing with milk and honey. But the blessing of God was on the spot, sanctified by the labors of Bishops Ryan, Lynch, Timon, Rosati, and many others, and by the remains of Saintly DeAndreis. Good boys came here, some became novices, the novices became students, the students became priests. In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum. They increased in the East and in the West. It was time to divide into two provinces.

To his honor be it known that Father Smith resigns the comforts and stability of the East to help to build up the impoverished West, where the labor was greater, but prospects more expansive.

Under his wise management difficulties began to vanish. Improvements were made in the material, spiritual, and educational departments that have been truly wonderful.

Look around you, circumspecite. Palatial buildings! Gardens Eden like! Shady groves equal to Valambrosa! Walks of Academic splendor, where thoughts philosophic and theologic can find room for entrance! Halls, chapels - splendid. Water - not from and old moss covered bucket, but from pipes below, around, within, spouting spontaneously at your will! Baths! - not at the muddy Saline, far to go, dusty and tired to return, but glassy tanks, with cold and hot water, baths superior to those of Caracalla in imperial Rome!

Halls and rooms and dormitories, bright, ventilated, heated, not by one little sizzling stove, but by radiators, radiating heat through pipes from furnaces far away, and diffusing a genial atmosphere that makes the coldest day feel like pleasant spring.

And all buildings, gardens, halls, rooms, walks, chapel, church, around, within, illuminated, not by tallow candles, stuck on a nail, but by bright light, brought down from heaven on wires that give the flash, obedient to your touch, diffusing a mellow glow on all around. A foreview of the brilliancy of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Oh! what a transformation of the material order!

But what of the Spiritual?

Ye have heard of Thebais in Upper Egypt, and of the calls of Palestine; here ye are as retired from the world an were the Pauls, Anthony's and Jeromes. You have heard of the monasteries of Cassino, of Cluny, and of Clairveaux; here ye have more advantages than the Benedicts, the Hugos, and the Bernards. Ye have heard of the famous schools of Paris, of Padua, of Salamonca, here ye have opportunities for learning and more for virtue, than if ye were listening to the lectures of Peter Lamberdus, of Alexander of Hales, and of the Angelic Doctor, the great St. Thomas Acquinas.

0 surely if there be a spot in the broad land, pretty free from temptations, fostering piety, purity and obedience, blest by the smile of benign Providence, protected by the special care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where ye can practice virtues like those of Aloysious and Perboyre, that spot is St. Mary's Seminary.

The development in Education was on a grander scale, Bright young men became teachers of still more gifted scholars, who in turn became teachers of others better still, and thus did the light of knowledge continue to increase, like that of the rising sun, brighter, better, clearer, till it hath almost reached the zenith-of perfection.

And that nothing might be wanting to attain to the highest degree, Father Smith picked out some of the most qualified young men, and sent them to Rome that here at the center of Catholicity and knowledge they might imbibe, at the fountainhead, the faith, the teaching, the traditions, the spirit of the Roman Church, and equipped laurea insigniti, S.T.D.D. they might return to impart to others the knowledge thus acquired, to enable them to discharge well any duty that may be assigned to them in pulpit, mission, college, or seminary, for the glory of God, the honor of the Church, and the good of the Congregation of the Mission.

0 Gentleman, appreciate the advantages ye have. A grand field is open before you, in which others labored and ye are called to reap the harvest - on missions, in college, and seminaries. There is Chicago, there is New Orleans, there is Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver - other places, and the Kenrick Seminary.

May ye be good boys - good students, good priests. Then the work will be completed which Father Smith, began, which Father Finney continues, helped by Father Musson, Father Lavan, Father Barr, Father Callahan, and others, and by the good brothers.

United in fraternal charity, working together, patient, prudent, obedient to superiors, a grand cause. There are great things that can be done for God, the Church, and the salvation of souls.

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