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CHAPTER 3
Testing the Waters: Monterey
Continued
As commissary general, Fr. Vilarrasa proceeded to establish the convent, with church
attached, and Fr. Ramirez de Arellano signed the document of foundation as secretary. In
his Chronicle, Vilarrasa notes the events of the day:
On February 4, 1852, by a letter dated at Monterey, I erected in that same city a
convent with a novitiate under the title of our holy Father, Dominic. On this same day, I
clothed six young men from Spain with the habit of the clerics of the Order. Among them
were Brothers Vincent Vinyes and Dominic Costa. The same day, in the evening, we all
gathered in choir, where certain regulations made by me for the orderly administration of
the convent and for the regular observance were made public by Father Ignatius Ramirez de
Arellano of the Mexican Province. All of these regulations the Most Reverend Vicar General
of the Order [Jandel] later confirmed, adding certain corrections. Then Compline was sung
with the Salve and O Lumen. Bishop Alemany was present at all these
ceremonies as one who always, when he is in the city, assiduously assists at all the
activities of the community.
During the clothing ceremony the novices received their religious names and so became
Brothers Vincent Vinyes, Thomas Fossas, Dominic Costa, Raymond Cervera, Louis Berenguer,
and Hyacinth Soler.
Prior to these events, in a letter to Fr. Jandel dated January 15, 1852, Vilarrasa
explained that Bishop Alemany had written twice to the Pope for permission to establish
the house, but no answer had as yet been received; so he was going ahead with its
foundation, as canonists were of the opinion that such a permission was not needed. On
February 29, 1852, a document granting the requested permission (with retroactive force)
was issued by the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, under whose jurisdiction
the whole of the United States, as missionary territory, lay. Vilarrasa had also written
in his letter of January 15 that the six candidates had not brought testimonial letters
from their respective diocese, since they had not known they were required. He requested a
dispensation for them to receive the habit privately, and, as postulants, to live the
Dominican life required for novices. He asked that when the necessary papers arrived the
brothers might then receive the habit solemnly and complete their novitiate and, at the
completion of the year thus spent, make their profession. All requests were granted by the
Sacred Congregation of Religious on May 7, 1852, and so, on August 15 of this year, half
way through their novitiate, Fr. Vilarrasa solemnly invested the novices with the habit of
the Order.
But strict religious observance had begun with the private clothing on February 4. In a
letter to his family dated May 2, 1852, Vilarrasa described the new Dominican life in and
about the convent:
Thus a little more than a year after our arrival in this city with Bishop Alemany,
there had been established a convent for nuns and another for friars, both Dominican,
giving public instruction to men and women, a most urgent need today when it is necessary
to check the Protestants who do not neglect to propagate their errors. The convent has
five sisters, and the monastery for men has eight religious. When we have sufficient means
(I do not know when that will be), we shall build a new monastery and church, because the
house that serves for a monastery is very narrow... Nevertheless the place is most
delightful. From a height overlooking the city, near a grove of pines, we have a view of
the whole bay without leaving the convent. That is to say, it is as if we were in the
city, yet remaining in solitude. We go through the city wearing our habit without
astonishing anyone. The bells are rung at three in the morning, and no one complains. We
celebrate according to the rite of our Order and, in fine, do all that a missionary can
and ought to do. We do not have to give an account to anyone but our General who is in
Rome.
In our convent, through observance, we do not know the taste of meat, but we have good
fish and eggs. Everyday at three in the morning we say Matins; at six we have meditation,
Prime, Conventual Mass, and at seven we take coffee and then have recreation for half
hour. At eleven thirty we say the Rosary, then Terce and Sext. If it is a fast day we say
None. Dinner follows. At two in the afternoon we have Vespers, and at six fifteen
Compline, Salve, meditation, spiritual reading, supper and recreation. This is the
life we lead from the first of January until the feast of Saint Sylvester. The intervening
hours are devoted to the schools, studies, etc. Today I am the only Dominican priest in
this Province. This climate agrees with all the religious, men and women, and all are very
happy. Since I left, I have not been ill one day, thank God!
In addition to the routine mentioned in this letter, Vilarrasa, in his more formal
letter to Jandel, January 15, 1852, notes, among other conventual regulations, the closing
exercises of the day: "night prayers and silence at eight fifteen." In a letter
dated May 18, 1852, Jandel approved the regulations and schedule sent him, adding simply
that spiritual reading for fifteen minutes should be in private, except, perhaps, for the
novices and students. One wonders what Vilarrasa's reaction was to such a petty amendment,
especially since he was the only non-novice and student around, and likely to be for some
time to come!
In his Chronicle Vilarrasa laments that because of the lack of funds and insufficiency
of alms and other offerings a real convent could not be built. The structures they had
been given had to make do till better times. These he thus describes:
Two small and very humble houses about 200 yards apart had been obtained. In the better
house a rectangular room was selected for a church and choir, another room for study and
recreation, another for a common dormitory, and a fourth for a parlor for seculars; in the
other house the refectory and kitchen were found. When saying "grace" after
dinner in procession as is customary in the Order it was necessary to pass out into the
open.
In his report to the Propagation of the Faith in Paris, December 6, 1852, Vilarrasa
further delineates the physical limitations of the convent and the need for something
better if the work begun was to continue:
We have at present six novices of which one is professed and the other five will make
profession in the beginning of next year, and we could have many more if we should have
the means to pay the expenses of their voyage, because we have no hopes to have any of the
country for the present time.
We are in great need of a Church, a larger house to be able to receive more, and a
school. Our house or convent, which we divide with our Bishop, is hardly sufficient for
the number that we have at present; the school cannot contain more than 25 boys and our
church is only 26 feet long, 12 wide and 8 high.
It was the intention of our Rt. Rev. Bishop to give us a garden near the church of
Carmelo about four miles from here; but an American took possession of it without more
right than force. The people of this place are neither able nor used to contribute for
such things. Hence the only recourse that remains for us is to apply to the generosity of
your Association...
Bishop Alemany adds to the letter, in his own hand, corroboration of Vilarrasa's
statements and his own petition for help.
In the meantime, the sisters were faring much better in their housing than the friars.
As early as December of 1851, writes Vilarrasa, "the Dominican nuns had bought the
best house in the city. The building was worth eighteen thousand dollars, but the owner,
realizing the praiseworthy object for which it would be used, gave it for five thousand
dollars payable in five years." And Vilarrasa adds what was certainly one of the
reasons prompting the benefactor to such generosity: "The Sisters continue teaching
with the greatest success both interns and externs [boarders and day students]."
Both Vilarrasa and Alemany persisted in petitioning for clergy and religious. Alemany,
naturally, wanted good clergy, secular or regular, for the diocese at large, and sisters
for teaching and hospital ministry, and long into his administration he continued to write
his needs to bishops and seminaries throughout Europe. Vilarrasa's petitions were for
Dominicans. On August 15, 1852, he wrote to Jandel pleading that he send him two or three
good priests, especially someone who could hear confessions and preach in English, and one
who was lector to teach the novices when they made profession and began their studies. He
was alone, he said, and there was none to take his place if he became ill or were away.
"When Bishop Alemany is away from Monterey the sisters do not have Mass."
Nothing came of his request. Again on July 25, 1853, he asked Jandel for English or
French-speaking priests and for Fr. Claudio Ibarz, a classmate and former provincial of
Sardinia. In his answer of September 30, Jandel said he would ask Fr. Ibarz, but had no
one else to send. Ibarz did not accept the invitation.
During the novitiate year 1852-53 two brothers left: Br. Thomas Fossas and Br. Hyacinth
Soler. The others -- Brothers Vincent Vinyes, Raymond Cervera, Dominic Costa, and Louis
Berenguer -- made their solemn profession on March 7, 1853, about 9 a.m. The novitiate,
however, was not left barren for long, for in the afternoon of August 28, 1853, Father
Antoine Langlois, age forty-five, received the habit. He was given the religious name of
Augustine, whose feast it was that day. It was Fr. Langlois who, as vicar general for
Northern California, had welcomed the three pioneer Dominicans to San Francisco in
December of 1850. He was born in the village of St. Pierre de la Riviere du Sud, Montmagny
County, Province of Quebec, Canada, on March 9, 1812, of Jean-Baptiste Langlois and
Marie-Francois Dallaire. He was ordained priest in the Basilica Cathedral of Notre Dame in
Quebec on May 1, 1838. In 1841, he went to the Oregon Territory for missionary work. His
contact there with the Jesuits tempted him to return to Quebec and enter the Society of
Jesus, but on a visit to San Francisco, Fr. Jean-Baptiste Broullet, with whom Langlois had
worked in Oregon, persuaded him to stay on in San Francisco to work among the Forty-niners
populating and over-populating the city and its environs. With Fr. Broullet he founded St.
Francis church, which soon became Bishop Alemany's pro-cathedral. Now it was the
Dominicans -- perhaps mainly Fr. Peter Anderson at whose side Langlois was when that
pioneer Dominican died -- who inspired Langlois, and so he gave himself whole-heartedly to
them.
It was during the year 1853 that Vilarrasa began contemplating a change of locale for
his little community. Monterey was beautiful and serene, but uncooperative with regard to
religion and religious support. Besides, the population and the energy and prospects for
future development were in the north, in and around San Francisco. Since the First Plenary
Council of the American Hierarchy met at Baltimore on May 9, 1852 when the matter was
discussed at length, it was in the air that the California diocese would soon be divided
into that of Monterey, probably stretching south to the Mexican border and east to the
Colorado River, and San Francisco embracing all north of the "Pueblo of San
Jose" to the Oregon border and east to the northern waters of the Colorado. Alemany
was sure to become Archbishop and Ordinary of the northern diocese. Such rumor together
with his mounting discontent with Monterey was no doubt in Vilarrasa's mind as he wrote to
Jandel on April 1 of 1853:
It seems to me that if we wish to propagate the order in California it is absolutely
indispensable to transfer this convent to another city in northern California where there
is more wealth and energy, where almost all the immigrants who come from other cities
settle, and where the Catholics are without parallel in their interest in those things
which pertain to religion. There is no doubt that in time Monterey will be one of the
principal cities in California, but it is certain that eight or ten years will pass before
Monterey begins to seize a little of the good.
Already more than a year has passed since we have established ourselves here and we
have not advanced one pace nor do we have any hope of being further advanced in another
year. The little that we receive is sufficient for the more necessary expenses. Hence it
is impossible to think of building a church or a convent or to invite other young men of
the many who desire to receive the habit, since for some years there is no hope for growth
for the town. Now is the time in which we must endeavor to establish ourselves well, since
afterwards it will be more difficult to do so. At present we can easily find good
locations where we can settle, but this will not be so easy in a few years when the
principal spots will be already occupied.
In view of all this I petition Your Paternity to grant me the faculty of transferring
the convent of St. Dominic of Monterey, to another city of California, together with the
affiliation of the four novices who made their profession for Monterey. The Monsignor
[Bishop Alemany] will leave in a few days for a visit of the diocese, and this will give
him an opportunity to see which is the place best suited for a good novitiate, and we will
be prepared to inform you immediately upon receipt of your answer.
Mindful of his prior enthusiasm for Monterey which he had manifested to Jandel, and
which the Vicar General might now recall, he added to the above the following paragraph:
It was not possible to foresee all this last year. Then we hoped to obtain the church
of San Carlos in Carmel with its possessions, which would have been more than sufficient
for all the necessities. But these were usurped by an American and there is no means to
bring about a just settlement.
Fr. Jandel was late in answering the letter, as he was in Sicily for six months. But in
a letter dated July 10, 1853, he accorded Fr. Vilarrasa "all the necessary
authorizations to transfer your convent from Monterey to any other part of California
that, with the agreement of Bishop Alemany, you judge the most favorable for the
development of our Order."
Just nine days later, on July 19, 1853, a decree issued by the Sacred Congregation of
the Propagation of the Faith, signed by its prefect, Cardinal Franzoni, and, on June 26,
approved by Pope Pius IX, made the anticipated division of the diocese of California a
fact. Bishop Alemany was now archbishop of the metropolitan see of San Francisco and Fr.
Thaddeus Amat, a Vincentian who had been in charge of the Philadelphia diocesan seminary,
became bishop of the diocese of Monterey.
Until early January, 1854, Fr. Vilarrasa was still in a quandary as to where to move
the novitiate, for we find Archbishop Alemany writing to him on the thirteenth of the
month:
I have not learned yet whether you prefer going to Martinez and Benicia or to settle at
Oakland. In either case it would be well, I think, if you would send five hundred dollars
to which I would add another five hundred and by these means we could have a home for you
to commence at once.
In this same letter, the archbishop said that he had
...received just now a letter from Lacordaire, offering us with the authority of Fr.
Jandel, a French professed novice of twenty-seven years of age with a little English and
some moral theology... The reasonings of the scholastic studies do not suit him, and the
life of the missionary country would it is supposed be beneficial to him, and make him
beneficial to others.
The brother, however, never arrived.
Vilarrasa finally made up his mind. Benicia was his choice, and so Alemany gave the
Dominicans the parishes of Benicia and Martinez with their churches. The small community
moved to Benicia on March 16, 1854, and, with Fr. Vilarrasa as celebrant, offered its
first Mass the next day, St. Patrick's Day, in the modest, still incomplete and
unfurnished church on the corner of the future 4th and J Streets. Archbishop Alemany
issued the document of transfer on March 30, which Vilarrasa formally accepted the
following day.
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