Holy Name Entertainment, Brooklyn, 1878

ST. PAUL’S R.C. CHURCH. Entertainment Last Evening Under the Auspices of the Society of the Holy Name.  The Brooklyn Eagle, February 20, 1878, 3.                    

In the Atheneum, last evening, a musical and literary entertainment was given under the auspices of the Holy Name Society of St. Paul’s R.C. Church, for the benefit of the schools. The edifice was crowded, and the proceedings were of a most interesting nature. The stage was profusely ornamented and adorned with flowers, and the arrangements for the accommodation of the audience were complete.

The Society of the Holy Name, of which that of St. Paul’s is a branch, is a very large and influential body. The Society had its origin under Gregory X, in 1274, though at that time it did not assume its present form. Men, women and children were at first enrolled in the Society, and according to the original rules there is no reason why all should not still be invited to become associate members. The first regularly organized branch of the Holy Name Society in these Eastern United States, was established in 1852, In St. Francis Xavier Church, New York, by the Rev. Father Ryan, a zealous priest of the Society of Jesus. Having obtained the necessary power from the General of the Dominicans at Rome, he gathered over 500 men together and formed them into a Society, giving them rules for their guidance. This society was afterward changed into the Soldality of the Blessed Virgin, in which form it still exists.

In 1857 the same Reverend Father established the Holy Name Society in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Fourteenth Street, New York, with a membership of 300 men. Ten years after that the Dominicans commenced their Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, Sixty-sixth Street, New York. The Holy Name was the first society established there, by the Rev. Father Byrne, now Provincial of the order in America. From that day to the present the Society has wonderfully spread through several of the Eastern dioceses. Besides the churches of New York already mentioned, a branch of the Society was already formed in St. Anthony’s, Sullivan Street, and the Transfiguration, Mott Street. In Brooklyn it exists in St, Paul’s, St. Stephen’s, the Visitation, St. Patrick’s, Our Lady of Victory, St. Augustine’s, Holy Cross, Flatbush, and St. Anthony’s, Greenpoint. It also exists in the diocese of Boston, Providence, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Columbus, Louisville, and Nashville. In the places where it exists membership ranges from 100 to 800 men, in many places nearly all young men.

The programme presented last evening was excellent and ably carried out. The applause of the listeners and their frequent desire for a repetition of a song, showed the appreciation in which the performers were held. The programme was as follows:

Overture – “Poet and Peasant.” Suppe Members of Mozart Musical Union of New York

Quartet—“Banish, O Maiden.” Messrs. W. De Lacy, M. Donovan, V. Hogan and C.O. Upton

Duet—“The Sailor Sighs as Sinks His Native Shore.” Balfe. Miss D.E. Barnicle and Mr. Vincent Hogan.

Bass Solo—“The Old Sexton.” Russell. Mr. C.O. Upton.

Soprano Solo—“Ecstasy.”Arditti. Miss M.E. Harrigan.

Waltz—“Sounds from the Vienna Woods.”Strauss. Members of Mozart Musical Union.

Tenor Solo—“We May Be Happy Yet.” Balfe. Mr. W. De Lacy.

Recitation—“The Shaughran.”Boucilcault. Mr. A.P. Burbank.

Baritone Solo. “Scots Wae Hae.”Burns. Mr V. Hogan.

Address. Rev.  C.H. McKenna, O.P.