Annals of St. Ann's Hermitage: 1911
Division of the Provinces of Canada and the United States. Provincial House.
March. In the month of March of this year there took place the split in two of the then Province of North America. For some time already this split had been desired and expected.
Bro. Ptolomeus remains in charge of our United States Province.
As for personnel, each Province is in a proportion of 1 to 2. We keep all our establishments in the United States, plus St-Michel in Montreal and our establishments in the Canadian West. [These schools in Canada were English-speaking.]
St. Ann's Hermitage becomes de facto the Provincial House. Bro. Provincial comes to live there and takes up residence in the Juniorate; a double room has been prepared for this. Two other rooms nearby are set up for the Father Preacher of Retreats and a room for travelers.
Holy Week.
The Holy Week services are celebrated with all possible solemnity. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings the Office of Tenebrae is held at 5: 15 p.m.
The other daily Services, according to the customs of the House.
April. During this month Brothers Legontianus and Aloysius M. install a private telephone system which links all the houses on the property.
Communication between one residence and another thus becomes easy.
The town telephone which had been first installed in the Novitiate was moved in 1911 to Central where Brother Director was; he served also as local Economone and Provincial.
May. Death of Joe Hanley. May 1 was a day of sorrow. Joe Hanley from New York, a fine Postulant who had spent a year in the Juniorate and 8 months in the Novitiate, leaving everywhere a sweet odor of gentleness, piety, obedience and regularity, was taken from us by death after a short illness of five days. During these few days of sickness he was a model of patience and resignation. His pure arid fresh soul returned to its Creator.
We would have been happy to lay his mortal remains in our cemetery next to those of good Brother Charles-Camille, but his parents insisted that he be placed in the family plot. We had to accede to their request.
His gentle souvenir will remain among those who knew him.
June. Confirmation. On the 13th of this month 17 Juniors receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Church of the Nativity in town, conferred by Bishop Cusack, Auxiliary Bishop of New York.
July. Summer Courses. About 70 Brothers arrived on July 1 to take summer courses. All our buildings were bursting at the seams. On days off the Brothers were divided into groups under the direction of the Professors and kept busy cleaning and embellishing the property. A lot of work got done.
Novitiate Retreat.
The annual Novitiate retreat took place from July 19 to the 26, also followed by a few Brothers from the establishments. It was preached by Rev. Father Williams, S.J.
11 Postulants took the Holy Habit and 12 Novices took their First Vows.
August. General Retreat. The general retreat took place from August 18-25. It was preached by Rev. Father Brousseau[?], S.J.
Vow of Stability.
At the end of this retreat Brothers Pierre-Raphael, Louis-Raphael and Namase took their Vow of Stability.
Founding of St. Norbert, Manitoba, Canada.
That year we founded the establishment of St. Norbert, Manitoba, Canada, a. short distance from St. Boniface, where the preceding year 4 Brothers had been sent at the request of the Reverend Jesuit Fathers to teach commercial courses in their school.
September. On the 4th of this month eleven Juniors, well disposed, went on to the Novitiate.
On the 26th Rev. Father Dillon, S.J., minister at St. Andrew, tells us he has been designated to be our Chaplain. The devotedness and interest he seemed to have towards us from the beginning make him a benefactor and friend.
Various Projects.
As soon as Spring came that year extensive work was undertaken to drain the Juniorate lake. To be able to empty it completely in order to clean it, we put in 12-inch stoneware tubes. This conduit starts at the lake, crosses the neighboring field and the aqueduct road, extends into the Novitiate property and empties at the end into the southwest part of the city water basin. The wall encircling the lake is also rebuilt new and covered with large flat stones having belonged to the wall along the main road. This wall, half-cemented, enabled us to raise the water level.
Repairs made on the wall along the road.
In January 1911 the wall running on the property along the road was falling down in many places and was repaired in its entire length on the 2 properties. The exceptionally good weather that winter allowed us to begin this work in January and to continue it in February. At the same time the same workers dug the well in the field to the left, going to the Novitiate. The intention was to provide water to the houses by means of a hot-air pump sent by St. Ann's Academy. This plan was replaced by the present power system, much more practical.
Construction of the 2 Bungalows.
In the month of May our carpenters, helped by the Scholastics, built 2 bungalows to lodge the Brothers corning for summer courses. We had noticed that the tents put up for this purpose until now were not practical.
These bungalows measured 72 feet long by 27 feet wide and 15 feet high at the peak. They served as dormitories during courses and retreats.
Construction of a chicken coop.
From one chimney in Central and another at the base to the carpenter shop.
In October & November 1911 a chicken coop, 90 feet long and 16 feet wide, was built on the south side of the hill where the vegetable caveau [cellar] is and which was there when we bought the property.
The following year the Brothers taking summer courses helped Bro. Titien make a small attractive cement pool for the ducks. The water comes from the hot-air pump which was placed on the well in the field.
The small chicken coop, with a slate roof, which was already there and which is along the path going from the carpenter shop to the laundry, is moved by workers from its original spot to its present spot to the southeast of the big chicken coop. It will be used initially for pigeons and chicks.
Other projects.
By this time the large rock near the Juniorate has completely disappeared; nearby we make the little cemented yard with its retaining wall. The picturesque look has also disappeared with the rock, but at least we enjoy light and convenience.
Early in August and continuing in the Fall the Juniorate house undergoes welcome changes in the dormitories, classes, stairway, etc, making the different sections more suitable to present and future needs. This important work was done by our two Brother carpenters, who then, during the winter, also made improvements to the Novitiate, either in the dormitories by eliminating the brick wall partitions which created rooms, or in relocating and rebuilding the stairs going from the ground floor to the first floor, making them wide and straight; then enlarging the classrooms.by adding extra windows, etc.
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