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CHAPTER 3
Testing the Waters: Monterey [1]
California's new bishop lost no time in getting down to work. He and his party spent
eight days in San Francisco, meeting its citizens, being feted by them, exploring and
admiring the city and its environs. It was a happy week except for the one mournful note,
as Alemany recorded in his diary for December 7: "All are happy until sad news of
Father Anderson's death is announced." Fr. Vilarrasa, in his letter home of Dec. 14,
adds his note of sorrow: "On our arrival here we received the sad news that Father
Augustine Anderson of our Convent of St. Joseph of the United States died fifteen days
before in Sacramento. He was only thirty-two years of age and was one of the most active
missionaries of the United States. He had only arrived in California five months
previously and had already begun to build a church in Sacramento, and was to begin to
build one here in this city." It may be imagined how much Alemany and Vilarrasa were
counting on their precursor for counsel and for future work in the diocese, as also for
the setting up of the fledgling Western Dominican Province, then known as "The
Congregation of the Holy Name of Jesus."[2] Now they
would have to go it alone, and from scratch, in a strange and unfamiliar land.
During this time Alemany also wrote necessary letters to Europe. One was to Fr. John
Henry Newman whom he had befriended in his recent stopover in England and who he hoped
would send his diocese "some of your English Fathers, as we were arranging." He
also, as noted above, wrote to the Master General of the Dominicans asking for specific
directions as to the erection of the new province. Then on December 14 he set sail for
Santa Barbara, primarily to present his credentials to Fr. Gonzales Rubio, O.F.M.,
"Governor of the Mitre," i.e. administrator of the diocese since the death of
Bishop Garcia Diego in 1846. But he also wanted to visitate some of the southern portion
of his diocese. He bypassed Santa Barbara, since it had no port, stopped briefly at San
Pedro, and then turned north and disembarked at the "Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de los
Angeles," as he calls that city in his diary. He notes that the population there was
about 5,000, and that "Father Jose Jimeno and Francisco Sanchez, both Franciscans,
are the good priests here." On December 20, he traveled to San Fernando, remaining
there two days before going on to San Buenaventura. His first Mass on Christmas Day was
offered at the mission in the early morning. He then left, by horse and foot, for Santa
Barbara, arriving at eleven o'clock, to be greeted by a large number of people. After
offering the two other Masses of Christmas, he showed his credentials to Fr. Gonzales
Rubio, and notes this modest but important and solemn event in his diary:
I show my bulls to the Vicar Capitular who, with Father Jose Jimeno and Father
Francisco Sanchez, recognize them as genuine and acknowledge me the long expected Bishop
of Monterey, and as such, I take possession of the diocese, formerly called the Diocese of
Both Californias -- and preach to the assembled people at the Old Mission.
It was now finalized. Alemany was officially recognized as "Bishop of
Monterey," which meant a great deal more than the title suggests today. At this time
the Monterey diocese included the whole of both Lower and Upper California, and embraced
Nevada, most of Utah, and the southernmost part of Arizona. It was only in April of 1853
that the Church recognized the impropriety of a U.S. bishop ruling in Mexican territory,
and thus it separated Baja from the Alta California diocese.
Alemany stayed on in Santa Barbara for several weeks, talking over diocesan matters
with Fr. Rubio, officiating at various liturgical and secular events, and visiting nearby
communities. He got his first glimpse of the California Indians on December 27 when at the
rancho called San Francisco Xavier, located several miles from Santa Barbara, he was
greeted by some 200 Indians who had gathered to receive their Bishop's blessing. New
Year's Day, 1851, he celebrated his first pontifical Mass before a large congregation of
the mission church. He spent much of the remainder of his time studying the matter of the
confiscation of diocesan Church property which, largely because of his efforts, was soon
to be resolved in favor of the Church. At the end of his visit to southern California he
blessed, under the invocation of St. Francis Xavier, a small chapel for the Indians at a
place called "Sieneguita" near Santa Barbara. Soon afterwards he made his
farewells, formal and informal, and left for Monterey, his titular city, where he arrived
January 28, 1851. For this date his notation in the Liber Visitationis Episcopalis
reads: "I arrive in Monterey where the Catholics show great joy at my coming. I start
a visitation here and in Carmel Mission and administer Confirmation in both places."
On February 8, 1851, Alemany went to San Francisco for confirmations there and in
outlying areas such as San Jose and Santa Clara. He visited Sacramento also, and Fr. Peter
Augustine Anderson must certainly have been in his mind and heart as he dedicated a little
church and noted in his Book of Visitations: "I bless a small church there as 'St.
Rose of Lima.'"
While the bishop was engaged in his visitations both north and south, Fr. Vilarrasa had
occupations of his own. During these first two months we find him in San Francisco itself,
but also east of the city, mainly in Stockton. As there was no church in this small town,
an obliging Irishman donated one of his houses for use as a chapel, and while Alemany was
offering his masses in Santa Barbara on Christmas Day, his confrere was celebrating what
was probably the first Mass ever offered in Stockton. For some four weeks Stockton was the
center of Vilarrasa's ministry, but only that. He wandered far and wide, as distances were
reckoned in those days. He visited the gold fields of the Mother Lode, spent some time in
Sacramento, and, as he mentions in one of his letters home, once while in Stockton he was
called to Mariposa to hear the confession of a man sentenced to death.
Bishop Alemany, Fr. Vilarrasa, and Sister Goemaere regrouped in San Francisco at the
beginning of March. They left the city by steamer on March 5, 1851 and arrived in Monterey
the following morning. The day after their arrival, March 7, the feast of St. Thomas
Aquinas, the bishop sang the High Mass in the presidio chapel which, on his first visit,
he had designated his cathedral. The Mass was in celebration of what turned out to be one
of the more significant events in the history of the western Dominicans and of the whole
western U.S. Church. On March 6, immediately upon their arrival, Mr. William Hartnell
deeded to the Dominican sisters the use of his home, La Casa Arnel, for a period of
twelve months. "Patents were made out and distributed," and the March 7 Mass
"signaled opening of the convent under the title of Saint Catherine," which,
Vilarrasa claims, "without doubt is the first convent that ever existed in
California." Thus, just as at the beginning of the Order St. Dominic established a
convent of nuns before organizing and housing his friars, so at the beginning of
the Western Dominican Province it was the women who came first. However, the occasion must
have been a very modest affair since there was but the one sister present at the moment,
Sister M. Goemaere. It would be another month before there would be a second and a third
sister, novices newly received to the habit, and three months beyond that -- July, 1851 --
before the two recently professed sisters, Francis Stafford and Aloysia O'Neil, would
arrive in Monterey from Somerset.[3] But, however modest,
it was an historic event, and was recognized as such at the time. On March 13 Bishop
Alemany formally incorporated the sisters' convent into "the Province of the Holy
Name of Jesus of Upper and Lower California." Formal opening of the convent took
place on April 1, 1851, this time Fr. Vilarrasa did the honors, since by now Alemany had
received Fr. Jandel's letter of February 15, 1851, forbidding him, as bishop, to have
"any jurisdiction in the Order," and Vilarrasa had received his appointment
dated February 25 as "Commissary General" of the new province "with all the
authority usually joined to the office of Prior Provincial." On April 11, Vilarrasa
received the two novices for the convent, one of whom was the Concepcion Arguello of
literary fame, who was given the religious name "Sister Dominica."
The sisters opened their school on April 28, "in which are enrolled twelve interns
or boarders and sixty externs of day pupils; among these are three Protestants." At
first classes were exclusively in Spanish, and both Bishop Alemany and Fr. Vilarrasa
regularly taught in the school. On August 4, the feast of St. Dominic, there was a solemn
Mass with a sermon in the convent chapel -- with all five sisters present -- and on August
8 Vilarrasa was appointed the sisters' spiritual director. Since there was not yet a
convent for men, Vilarrasa probably lived in quarters set aside for him in that of the
sisters.
On October 2, 1851, Vilarrasa wrote another of his informative letters to his family in
which he details the beginnings just noted:
The Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph (in the state of Ohio, U.S.A.) sent us two
religious from the convent of Somerset. They arrived here on the sixth of July. Since the
opening of the convent I gave the habit to two ladies, natives of California. I trust that
they will make their profession when they have completed the year. So, then, the community
of Dominican sisters of Monterey consists today of the Prioress [Mother Goemaere], who
came with us from Paris, two professed religious of the United States, and two novices of
California; which number I hope will increase before long. As you see, the religious are
not more than five and speak three different languages, namely English, Spanish and
French. At first it was like the Tower of Babel, not being able to understand one another.
He goes on to say that in addition to being the chaplain of the sisters he is also
chaplain for the church of Carmel, "four miles distant from here. I go there to say
Mass and to preach every two weeks." His descriptions of both Monterey and Carmel are
worth quoting in full, and will surprise no one who has ever visited that lovely land of
Eden:
Monterey is one of the most delightful places that I have ever seen. A bay lies to one
side and on the other beautiful oaks and pines, the leaves of which are evergreen, cover
the surrounding hills. The country is very healthful and the doctors gain little. It would
be like an earthly paradise were it not for the frequent fogs. There is only one church
which was erected by the Spaniards. As it was built for the troops of the presidio, it is
not very large, and therefore cannot accommodate the present population. The Spanish
fortification that surrounded the church is now in ruins. The population of Monterey
consists of natives and of Mexicans. Nevertheless, there are people of nearly every nation
here, particularly North Americans. The Spanish language predominates. We use it
continually in our preaching.
Carmel is four miles from Monterey. A few ruins of the Mission buildings of the same
name are left. Not many years ago more than five hundred Indians lived at the Mission. The
church is very well preserved... When I say Mass many people attend. The Carmel
River empties into the sea there. Its waters are the best. There are many bears in that
part. I have seen their tracks many times on the highway. There are a great number of
sea-wolves [sea lions, seals?]. The mission of Carmel or San Carlos was founded by Father
Junipero Serra, a Franciscan from Mallorca in 1790, who died in the odor of sanctity. His
body is buried there, but at the present time his place of burial is not known.
He speaks of "two awful fires in San Francisco" which caused enormous damage.
Fires there, he says, are of frequent occurrence, "to which the people seem
accustomed. Any other place would have been left in ruins, but the Americans, while the
ashes of the buildings are still smoking, build new houses upon them. Thus we may
calculate that the city of San Francisco has been rebuilt at least three times; and who
knows how many more times it will be rebuilt." In the midst of all is his Bishop, and
he must pause to speak a kind and admiring word about him: "Bishop Alemany... is
found everywhere and is truly loved in his diocese."
Establishing a house of Dominican friars in Monterey at last became possible with the
arrival of six young men from Catalonia on December 26, 1851. They had departed from La
Havre de Gracia on July 12. What they did, where they stayed along so lengthy a journey --
almost six months on land and sea -- is unrecorded. Also unknown is the manner of their
recruitment. Both Alemany and Vilarrasa had been vocal since their arrival in San
Francisco as to the need for priests, and specifically for Dominicans. On December 15,
1850, just eight days after their arrival, Alemany wrote to the Generalate in Rome for
assistance in establishing the Order in California. He spoke glowingly of the possibility
of the flourishing of the Order there, and predicted that five houses could be raised in
ten years with the assistance of a few "good" religious who could help establish
the Order "well." He also asked that novices be educated for California at La
Quercia, at least until a home novitiate could be established. The two concerned
Dominicans, conjointly this time, wrote again on February 14 of the following year. They
repeated their request for "good Dominicans and lovers of Regular Observance,"
but those who were not faithful to their calling should not be sent. The efforts of the
Master General to help seem to have come to naught, until, that is, our six Catalonians
quite suddenly, and mysteriously, appeared on the scene. Did the families of Alemany and
Vilarrasa have anything to do with the recruitment? All the candidates were from Alemany's
native Vich, either born and/or in residence there. And it is from Vilarrasa's family, in
a letter to their son, that we first learn of them. They wrote that "five [sic]
young men left Vich on May 1," and would have left earlier if there had not been some
delay.
The first of the postulants, in the order in which they received the habit, was
Francisco Macario Juan Vinas, or Vinyes, who some years down the line would succeed
Vilarrasa as head of the province. He was the son of Don Jose Vinas and Dona Antonia
Buscalla, born in Vich on February 27, 1833, and baptized the same day in the Cathedral.
He was confirmed on June 19, 1833, in the church of Santa Clara, and lived his early years
in that city. He followed the cursos literarios at Vich's Seminario Conciliar.
Pedro Juan Francisco Fosas, or Fossas, the second young man, was born on August 17, 1827,
in Reus, in the Archdiocese of Tarragona, of Jose Fosas and Antonia Anguera. He was
baptized in the parochial church on the same day. He lived for fourteen years in Vich,
where he pursued the same course of studies as did Vinyes and at the same seminario. The
third was Ramon Antonio Domingo Costa, son of Martin Costa and Magdelena Masferrer, born
in Vich on June 12, 1821, and baptized on the same day in the cathedral. He was confirmed
in the episcopal chapel on February 17, 1822. During the civil war, he was in the diocese
of Solsona. He too followed the cursos literarios at the seminario in Vich. La
Villa de la Sellera de Angeles, in the diocese of Gerona, saw the birth of the fourth
young man, Ramon Caietano Cervera, on January 26 or 27, 1828, to Antonio Cervera and Rita
Salva. He was baptized in his parish church of Santa Maria de Sales, and was confirmed
there on October 2, 1828. From the age of sixteen, he lived and attended the seminario in
Vich. Also from Vich was Andres Enrique Jose Berenguer, son of Andres Berenguer and Lucia
Fugurull. He was born December 10, 1823, and was baptized the same day in the cathedral.
He was confirmed in the church of San Filipe Neri on August 1, 1826. During 1841 and 1842,
he was in Oserga, in the diocese of Solsona. Back at Vich he attended the seminario for
the cursos literarios. The last of the candidates was Alberto Ramon Pedro Soler,
who was born in Vich to Antonio Soler and Paula Romeu on February 29, 1828, and baptized
the same day in the cathedral. He followed the same course of studies at the same
seminario as the others.
Now that a Dominican community was present a Dominican convent (priory) could be
established, and so Bishop Alemany provided property and buildings for the first Dominican
house in the western United States which would serve as both novitiate and house of
studies. The property was situated on the west side of Larkin Street between Franklin and
Jefferson, as the streets are now named. On the property were a white house, built by
Thomas Oliver Larkink, and a log house. Bishop Alemany deeded the property with its
buildings to Fr. Vilarrasa on December 8, 1852, but the transaction was never recorded.
>>>
Endnotes
click the endnote number to resume reading
[1] Throughout our study an indispensable
primary source of information has been the annual catalogi of the congregation/province,
beginning with Vilarrasa's hand-written catalogus of the first years in Monterey (Cf.
Vilarrasa's file as in note 1, ch. 1 above). The catalogi may not reflect the exact date
of an assignment or location of a brother, since as the catalogus for a given year is in
the process of being printed a brother may at the same time be reassigned and so actually
be in a different locale than that specified by the newly issued catalogus. But with few
exceptions they accurately state what in general a brother was doing where and when. They
also indicate numerical growth or decline in province personnel and contain notices and,
in later times, obituaries of those who have died in the preceding year.
For Monterey, cf. WDA XI: 119-121 -- in which may be found Fr. C.
Hess's monograph, "The Dominicans in Monterey, 1851-1854."
For Alemany and Vilarrasa, cf. ch. 1, note 1 above. Cf. also Alemany's Liber
Visitationis Episcopalis... in AASF (the Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco)
for the visitations noted in this chapter as well as others mentioned below.
[2] The title " Western Dominican
Province" at this point in our narrative is an anachronism. The first and official
ecclesiastical title given to the new establishment of Dominicans was "The
Congregation of the Holy Name of Jesus," with "Congregation" later changed
to "Province." It was only in the 1960s that the title "Western Dominican
Province" was adopted in addition to the original title, as the province's
legal designation and is the common name by which the province is now known.
[3] Dominicans of San Rafael: First Chapters..., p.
16. The authors here give a different time -- the month of May -- for the arrival of the
Somerset sisters than does Vilarrasa, whose letter home (below in text) giving July 6 as
the arrival date we are following. The information in this chapter concerning the
beginnings of the San Rafael sisters in Monterey is from Dominicans of San Rafael...
as also Sr. Mary Hyacinth Kilgannon's The History of St. Catherine's Academy...,
Fr. Vilarrasa's letters and Chronicle, and other documents contained in the Monterey file
in WDA.
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