A copy of a promotional booklet for St. Francis Seminary in Flintridge, California. The booklet is illustrated with images of various Irish Capuchin foundations across the United States. This promotional or informational publication was designed for prospective students considering the Capuchin Franciscan seminary.
Financial statement, signed by Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, providing a summary of the funds generated by the Irish Capuchin missions in America and how they were spent between December 1921 and September 1922. A significant portion (£138. 10s.) was spent on ‘Tickets’ for friars traveling between Ireland and the U.S. This included Frs. Sylvester Mulligan OFM Cap., Fr. Joseph Fenelon OFM Cap., and Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.
Photographs of the exterior of St. Thomas’s Church, Redmond, Oregon. Manuscript annotations read ‘St. Thomas’s Church, Redmond, Oregon’. On reverse: ‘Preached my first sermon in this Church, 28 Dec. 1919, Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.’
Circular letter from Our Lady of Angels Parish in Hermiston, Oregon, announcing the upcoming Silver Jubilee of Episcopate and Golden Jubilee of Priesthood for Bishop Joseph F. McGrath. The document is by Father Urban Riordan OFM Cap. and Father Cornelius Hyland OFM Cap. The notice asks parishioners to contribute to a ‘Spiritual Bouquet’ by pledging various prayers and good works, and to provide a financial ‘Jubilee Offering’ using an enclosed envelope. The document emphasizes the bishop’s decades of selfless service to the Diocese of Baker City and sets a deadline of February 10 for all submissions.
Register of masses at the Capuchin Church of St. Mary of the Angels. The title page is annotated by Fr. Virgilus Murtagh OFM Cap., Guardian: ‘A requiem mass is to be said each year on or about Nov. 9th for repose of the soul of Rev. Fr. Benvenutus Guy, RIP’. The book was closed by Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap. on 10 Jan. 1959.
A Christmas pastoral letter and fundraising appeal issued by Fr. Raphael Quinn OFM Cap. and Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap. from the Catholic Rectory in Ukiah, California. Writing on behalf of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the priests extend Christmas blessings to parishioners and request generous financial offerings to alleviate the church’s heavy building debt and meet its large current operating expenses. Includes a schedule of Masses on Christmas Day for the local region, including Midnight and morning services at the Ukiah parish church and the Convent Chapel. It also lists morning Low Masses at neighbouring regional missions: St. Brigid’s Church in Calpella and St. Joseph’s Church in Talmage.
The title page is annotated: ‘Registry of Masses received at the Capuchin Convent, Church Street, Dublin. … Mass Ledger’. The register records monthly income totals received from masses which were also recorded in the Day Book. The entries are periodically by the Provincial Minister at visitations. The final page is annotated: ‘This account book was closed on Sept. 17. Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.’. The next volume in this sequence is at CA CS/1/1/2/7.
Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, addressing various financial remittances, personnel issues, and a specific loan for a school project in Oregon. He highlights the physical toll of the missions in Oregon and Western California, stating they require ‘zealous, strong young men’. Father Murtagh notes that several friars (including Conleth and Urban) have asked to return home to Ireland for holidays. Reference is made to property in Wilmington, Delaware. Fr. Stephen is firm that they should not give up the site and is preparing arguments to keep the school/seminary there.
Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, addressing the ‘dearth of men’, internal conflict regarding leadership roles, and financial negotiations for a new school. He highlights a severe shortage of personnel. Father Stephen suggests that unless a man is sent from Ireland, they may need a special dispensation from Rome to allow Fr. Cyprian to hold both offices, despite the difficulties. He explicitly states they cannot recommend Fr. Urban Riordan for re-appointment due to his ‘frank and foolish administration of funds’. He also refers to a meeting with Bishop William David O’Brien in Chicago regarding a loan for the purchase of property for a Seraphic School.
Letter from Fr. Joseph Fenelon OFM Cap. to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, discussing the activities of Capuchin friars in California and in Oregon and their interactions with local church leadership. He also refers to the recent visit of the Minister General to the American mission houses. He writes ‘From Ukiah we came to Los Angeles where he stayed the night and next day we proceeded to Roseburg thence to Bend where Fr. Casimir and Vincent came to meet the General. He did not go to Lincoln or Abbottstown, but the Fathers met him on the way. I had to part with him at Bend as I was due for a Retreat here which started at Cathedral Chapel last night. The Father General expressed himself in very happy terms about the condition of our American Houses, but I am sure you will get a detailed account from him later on. He was very amiable and nice in every way, and by my fluency in the Latin tongue helped by the Secretary who speaks English pretty well. I spent a pleasant yet strenuous two weeks with him’. Reference is also made to the possibility of the Capuchins acquiring Santa Inés mission.