France to Vincennes to ND

 

France to Vincennes to Notre Dame
(A PowerPoint Presentation)

(Slide 1) The Congregation of Holy Cross arrived from France in September, 1841. This is the story of their first year, 175 years ago, and their eventual settlement along the St. Joseph River in Northern Indiana and the founding of the University of Notre Dame. It is a chronological look with photos, diagrams, and captions to explain the route and experiences of the “Seven Founders.”                    [Prepared by Brother Larry Stewart, CSC, Midwest Province Archivist]

 

To download the Power Point, click on the the following link:

https://brothersofholycross.com/wp-content/uploads/F-to-V-to-ND.pptx

Note: You need to have PowerPoint Software on your computer in order to run the program.

 

 

The France to Vincennes to Notre Dame Project

A few weeks ago, Ken Haders asked me if I could help on a project. In his role of Vicar, one of his responsibilities is being the contact person with our Midwest Province’s educational institutions. He envisaged a special celebration in arrival in the United States. Maybe a ‘poster display’ he suggested. I thought a Power Point program would be easier since each slide could be converted into a poster.

I agreed to help and began finding pertinent references to build the story of when Father Moreau was contacted and how he eventually selected Holy Cross people to be sent to the United States. Pertinent authors were: the Cotta Brothers, Br Garnier Morin, Fr Arthur Hope, Br Kilian Beirne, Marvin O’Connell, Br. George Klawitter, whose works helped build the story and the sequence of events which began in August 1839 when Bishop Celestine Hailandiere visited Father Moreau in Le Mans, France to request “teaching brothers” to come to his diocese of Vincennes, Indiana, until Sept 13, 1841 when the seven Holy Cross men Father Moreau had sent arrived in the United States after 35 days of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from Le Havre.

Bishop Halandiere had originally asked Father Moreau for 3 teaching Brothers but Father Moreau sent seven Holy Cross men. Besides the teachers, he sent 3 more Brothers, a tailor/cook, a carpenter, and a farmer. According to the constitutions or rules which Father Moreau had designed for the Congregation, a Holy Cross priest would accompany any group of Brothers. Thus Father Edward Sorin was chosen as the chaplain and superior for the six Brothers.

The Power Point show [“France to Vincennes to Notre Dame”] will illustrate the sequence of events along the route and experiences the Holy Cross missionaries faced on their journey to Indiana and eventually reaching Notre Dame.

Brother Lawrence Stewart