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&t. lube's apostolate

UNE 1, 1935, witnessed the official yet inauspicious inception of The City of St. Jude, on Holt Street in Montgomery, Alabama. The Most Reverend Thomas J. Toolen, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Mobile, dedicated and blessed a rented dwelling in a poor Negro section of Montgomery. He officially placed this new born work, the care and the advancement of the Negro, under the patronage of St. Jude, Apostle and Helper in cases de- spaired of.

More than a year prior to this dedication, several lay pioneers settled in Montgomery to initiate an appeal for prayers and funds in order to locate living quarters and to establish a dispensary for the care of the sick. Father Harold Purcell, missionary, orator, and writer "founder of Sign Magazine" who gave birth to this idea, resigned his editorship of "Sign" and came to Montgomery in the Spring of 1935.

By appealing to his host of friends throughout this country and Canada, Father Harold was able to open a dispensary attached to this dwelling on Holt Street. Through this dispensary literally thousands of Colored people were cared for, very many of whom had never seen a doctor or nurse in their lives and who were suffer- ing from all forms of disease, some curable, other in- curable.

A small chapel was connected with the Holt Street House where the priests were able to offer the Holy Sacrifice and where the Negro folks came for instruc- tion in the saving truths of our Holy Religion. There was never any great rush of converts as in some northern cities, but the priests were able to baptize a substantial nucleus of Colored folks and Father Purcell began to think of building a Church for them.

In 1936, a fine tract of land on Fairview Avenue, con- sisting of about forty acres, was purchased by Father Purcell for literally a song. It was just farm land but convenient to the Negro residential section of the city By 1938, a very beautiful Church was erected on this site which is still in use today. This is our beautiful Shrine of St. Jude where so many thousands of Holy Masses and prayers have been and still are being offered for our benefactors both living and dead. Our bene- factors are the ones who have built The City of St. Jude St. Jude's Church and Shrine was dedicated on October 28, 1938, by The Most Reverend T. J. Toolen. The sermon on the occasion was preached by Reverend Cornelius Ahearn, a priest from the Newark Archdiocese and a life long friend of Father Harold's.

The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth from Chicago volunteered their services to teach the Negro children and thus began their arduous task in the fall of 1938. Part of the Church basement was used as a convent and the front portion was given over to school rooms. The school is the great work of all our Negro missions. The parents are contacted by means of the younger generation and many good converts are made in this way. After a number of years in school under the good Sisters, many of our children have become good Catholics and many have gone into higher education to prepare themselves to become leaders among our south- ern Colored people.

After the erection of the Church, Father Purcell erect- ed the present Convent and Social Center. The school Sisters have comfortable quarters upstairs and down- stairs was given over to a dispensary. One of the Sisters of Nazareth, a registered nurse, operated the dispensary and others of these good nuns, when not teaching, dis- tributed used clothing and nourishing meals to the poor children.

After the nuns moved into their Convent, Father Harold lived in the basement of the Church for many years. He had a very simple room and allowed himself no luxuries. It was not until the erection of St. Jude's Hospital in 1951, only a year before he died, that Father

Harold had any of the comforts of life. He gave al to his beloved Negro people and was satisfied to live 01 j the crumbs that remained.

The number of children in the school increased yea by year and became so large that even tho Worlc War II was in progress, Father Harold went ahead anc built St. Jude's Educational Institute. In this large build- ing, the gift of the ever faithful benefactors, six hundred children are being educated and prepared to become good useful children of Holy Church and of our beloved country.

Father Harold's aproach to the Negro mind anc heart was along the lines followed by Our Blessed Lord Himself. Our Lord was chiefly concerned about souls but we must never forget that He was also concerned about bodies. He made His approach to men and women by a systematic understanding of their difficulties, worries, and troubles. The good He went about doing was primarily directed to the alleviation of human misery. It seems, in fact, that His method was to heal the body before saving the soul. So the establishment of a modern, up-to-date hospital for the Negro was ever para- mount in the mind of Father Harold. Calling once more upon his noble band of benefactors, he collected enough money to begin St. Jude's Catholic Hospital. This fine building, most modern in design, has 172 beds and all the other facilities which go to make up the modern hos- pital. The Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Perrysville, Pennsylvania, staff the hospital. Since June 1, 1951, many thousands of our poor people have been admitted and most of them, but of course, not all, have been dis- charged as cured. For probably the first time in this part of the South, Negro and white physicians work together and aid one another in St. Jude's Hospital. Only God knows the good, both spiritual and temporal that has been done within its walls since 1951.

Father Purcell was invalided and in a wheel chair for about a year but he was around and about, his mind acute and sharp. F..ially, on the morning of October 22, 1952, he was stricken by a heart attack. He re- ceived the last sacraments with edifying piety and on

the afternoon of the same day was taken to his eternal reward.

Father Purcell's successor, Father John Raleigh, a vete- ran of many years among the Negro people in Pensa- cola, Florida, and a former assistant to Father Harold at the old Holt Street beginning, came to St. Jude in November, 1952. His one object had been to carry on according to the mind of Father Harold. The last project that Father Harold had given his attention to was the founding of a crippled children's hospital. We now have the new Father Harold Purcell Memorial Hospital for Crippled Children which was solemnly dedicated by Archbishop Toolen on January 12, 1958. It is a very beautiful and modern building with rooms for 75 children and the latest in Physiotherapy equipment. We ask the aid of our kind benefactors to help us support this great charity.

Father John Raleigh recognizing the axiomatic truth — a sound mind in a healthy body — planned on the erec- tion of a gymnasium, so sorely needed today where the only play space appears to be in the streets.

Before he could see this venture materialize, Father Raleigh was struck with cancer. For seven months he wasted away until October 1, 1961, our Blessed Lord called him to his eternal reward. Surrounded by his good Sisters in the hospital, his priests and parishoners, Father Raleigh died a beautiful death amidst the recita- tion of the rosary and litany for the dying.

His successor as Director of The City of St. Jude is Father Paul Mullaney, who was an assistant at St. Jude's under Monsignor Raleigh from 1952 to 1958. It is his intention to carry on the minds of both Father Harold and Father Raleigh in the spiritual, educational, and physical betterment of the Negro people.

I ask our good benefactors in the name of St. Jude, in the name of the pioneer laity, sisters, and priests, who have labored here, to please continue your assistance so that in this field white for the harvest at The City of St. Jude, we will be pleased to present our Divine Lord with a most generous crop.

(But OTorfe

We all know that the Negro is very often the victim of race prejudice. He is handicapped by his color in trying to get even a decent living. There are some bad Negroes and there are some bad whites. But the vast majority of Negroes are good, simple and sincere persons. They are worthy of all the help we can give them. To allow ourselves to be prejudiced against them just because they are Negroes is to be untrue to our Catholic Faith, which teaches us that we are all children of God and members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Let us work together in carrying on a great Negro Apostolate among the 15 millions of our Colored here in the United States, who are a real foreign mission right at our very door.

To carry on this Apostolate here in Alabama where the proportion of Colored to white is about 50-50 is the work of the five priests, 22 Vincentian Sisters of Charity and about 100 nurses and lay workers here at The City of St. Jude — Montgomery, Alabama.

May we commend our work to the prayers of every reader of these lines. May we ask them to reinforce their prayers by making some financial sacrifice, even tho small, to help these "poorest of God's poor" the neglected black brothers and sisters of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who live in our midst in our own United States of America.

Sntroiiucmg ftt $vtot

Saint of the Impossible: Helper in Desperate Cases T. JUDE THADDEUS is one of the Twelve Apostles. In his Catholic Epistle he styles himself "Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James." As "serv- ant of Jesus Christ" he meant that he is an "apostolic minister or laborer." As brother of James, he was a blood relative of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

It is not known when and by what means St. Jude became a follower of our Lord. The Holy Gospels are

silent about him until we find him mentioned as one of the Twelve Apostles. At the Last Supper, when Christ promised to reveal Himself to His hearers, St. Jude asked Him why He did not manifest Himself to the rest of the world. Christ answered that He would visit all those who love Him and admit them to intimate communica- tions of Divine grace.

With the other Apostles, St. Jude received all the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pente- cost, but after that day we have very little information of his life and work. There are well founded traditions that he preached the Faith in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea and Mesopotamia. According to the traditions of the Western Church, on the completion of his apostolate in Mesopotamia, St. Jude was joined by another Apostle, St. Simon, and the two spent some years together as missionaries in Persia, where they were both martyred in a place called Suanir. In the Church calendar their feast is kept jointly on October 28.

St. Jude is usually represented as holding a club and a book. The club is indicative of his martyrdom, as he was clubbed to death for his fidelity to Jesus Christ. The book represents the Epistle he wrote to the early Chris- tians and is now part of the New Testament.

From time immemorial St. Jude has been invoked as the "Saint of the Impossible" and "Helper in Cases Despaired Of." To his powerful intercession with God have been attributed countless miracles of material blessings and spiritual graces. It was for this reason we chose St. Jude as our special helper when we started our work for the poor Colored and put it under his patronage. The Saint has aided us beyond our wildest dream. He has brought us many friends and benefac- tors. And he has blessed these same friends and bene- factors in giving them tangible and immediate help. Hardly a day goes by that we do not receive at least one letter thanking us for having "introduced the writer to the good and great St. Jude." We most sincerely urge all readers of these lines to pray earnestly to St. Jude for their various needs in the firm hope that he will hear their prayers and grant their requests.

ERE in the City of St. Jude we are operating a spiritual powerhouse of Mass, Communion and Prayer for the special benefit of our good friends and benefactors. To be listed among these, please send us your names and intentions to be placed on St. Jude's altar.

jSobena to &t Jube

g NOVENA is a devotion performed for nine con- secutive days or nine other consecutive periods. To make a novena properly one should go to Confession and receive Holy Communion. One should also have great confidence in God and in the intercession of the Saint in whose honor the novena is made.

x ©

N THE Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

LESSED be the Holy and undivided Trinity now and forever. Am^n.

^T^E FLY to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God. vl/ Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever Glorious and Blessed Virgin.

T. JUDE, pray for us and for all who trust in thee and invoke thy aid.

O GLORIOUS APOSTLE, ST. JUDE THADDEUS, true relative of Jesus and Mary, I salute thee through the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus! Through this Heart I praise and thank God for all the graces He has bestowed upon thee. Humbly prostrate before thee, I implore thee through this Heart to look down upon me with com- passion. Oh, despise not my poor prayer; let not my trust be confounded! To thee God has granted the privilege of aiding mankind in the most desperate cases. Oh, come to my aid, that I may praise the mercies of

God! All my life I will be grateful to thee and will be thy faithful client until I can thank thee in Heaven. Amen.

©LESSED Apostle, with confidence we invoke thee!

Blessed Apostle, with confidence we invoke thee! Blessed Apostle, with confidence we invoke thee! ST. JUDE, help of the hopeless, aid me in my distress! ST. JUDE, help of the hopeless, aid me in my distress! ST. JUDE, help of the hopeless, aid me in my distress!

QRAY for us that, before death, we may expiate all our sins by sincere repentance and the worthy reception of the holy sacraments.

Pray for us that we may appease the Divine Justice and

obtain a favorable judgement. Pray for us, that we may be admitted into the company

of the Blessed to rejoice in the presence of our

God forever.

Y7*AMB OF God, Who takest away the sins of the

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,

graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us, O Lord.

QLORIOUS Apostle, Martyr and Relative of Jesus, ST. JUDE THADDEUS, who didst spread the true Faith among the most barbarous and distant nations; who didst win to the obedience of Jesus Christ many tribes and peoples by the power of His holy word, grant, I beseech thee, that from this day I may renounce every sinful habit, that I may be preserved from all evil thoughts, that I may always obtain thy assistance, particularly in every danger and difficulty, and that I may safely reach the heavenly country, with thee, to adore the Most Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, forever and ever, Amen.

(To be said in great affliction, or when one seems to be deprived of all visible help.)

LET US PRAY

draper tn trials

OST holy Apostle, ST. JUDE, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor who de- livered thy beloved Master into the hands of His enemies has caused thee to be forgotten by many, but the Church honors and invokes thee universally as the patron of hopeless cases — of things despaired of. Pray for me who am so miserable; make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolations and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may bless God with thee and all the elect forever.

I promise thee, O blessed ST. JUDE, to be ever mindful of this great favor, and I will never cease to honor thee as my special and powerful patron and to do all in my power to encourage devotion to thee.

draper tn Affliction

OST. JUDE THADDEUS, thou relative of Jesus Christ, thou glorious apostle and martyr, renowned for thy virtues and miracles, faithful and prompt intercessor of all who honor thee and trust in thee! Thou art a powerful patron and helper in grievous afflictions. I come to thee and entreat thee from the depths of my heart; come to my aid with thy powerful intercession, for thou hast received from God the privilege to assist with thy manifest help those who almost despair of all hope. Look down upon me; my life is a life of crosses, my days are days of tribulation, and my heart is an ocean of bitterness. All my paths are strewn with thorns and scarcely one moment passes, but is witness of my tears and sighs. And withal, my soul is enveloped in darkness; disquietude, discouragement, mistrust, yes, sometimes even a kind of despair preys upon my soul. Divine Providence seems lost to my sight, and faith seems to falter in my heart. Overwhelmed by these thoughts, I see myself surrounded by a dark cloud. Thou canst

not forsake me in this sad plight. I will not depart from thee until thou hast heard me. Oh! hasten to my aid. I will be grateful to thee all my life. I will honor thee as my special patron, I will thank God for the graces be- stowed upon thee, and will propogate thy honor according to my power. Amen.

g>t J ube'sf JfWastf Heague

OBJECT: The object of the League is to assist spiritually all those who contribute financial aid to the evangelization of the Colored Race under the direction of the Saint Jude Apostolate in the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama.

©ENEFITS: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered every day at our beautiful Shrine of St. Jude for both the Living and Deceased members of the League. They are remembered in twenty-five Masses offered every day of the year. A solemn Novena of Masses is offered for their intentions during the months of March, October and December and they also share in all the prayers, works and tribulations of the priests, sisters and colored people at the City of St. Jude.

CHE Stipend for Annual Individual Enrollment is $1.00; Perpetual Individual Enrollment is $10.00; Family Enrollment in Perpetuity is $50.00. The offerings for Perpetual Enrollment may be made in installments to suit the convenience of the Donor. A beautiful Diploma of Aggregation will be forwarded immediately upon receipt of final payment.

NOTE: Membership in St. Jude's Mass League is an admirable way of solacing our dear dead. Our own membership in the League insures spiritual aid during life and after death.

YOUR WILL

IT has been well said that it is a poor will which does not contain the name of Our Lord among the heirs. In making your will, please remember St. Jude's Hospital. Our legal title is:

THE CITY OF ST. JUDE, INC.

a corporation created by and existing under the laws of the State of Alabama.

Other copies of this pamphlet will be sent free on request addressed to:

FATHER PAUL MULLANEY THE CITY OF ST. JUDE, MONTGOMERY 8, ALABAMA

TO BE NOTED

HATEVER money you have you owe to God. He gave you health, the talent and the time to earn it. You are unworthy of your money unless you show your gratitude to God for it by giving back some of it to Him in the person of His poor. >^< You have no obligation to give anything to St. Jude's Hos- pital. Whatever you give is given freely and with a good heart. That is why we appreciate it all the more and earnestly pray God to reward your charity abundantly.