{"id":173,"date":"2011-03-28T09:43:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T09:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2011\/03\/%e2%80%9can-artist-in-burnt-cork%e2%80%9d-brother-martin-whelan-s-j-1837-1903\/"},"modified":"2011-03-28T09:43:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-28T09:43:00","slug":"%e2%80%9can-artist-in-burnt-cork%e2%80%9d-brother-martin-whelan-s-j-1837-1903","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2011\/03\/%e2%80%9can-artist-in-burnt-cork%e2%80%9d-brother-martin-whelan-s-j-1837-1903.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAn Artist in Burnt Cork\u201d: Brother Martin Whelan, S.J. (1837-1903)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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The Jesuit Brother\u2019s vocation is one with a rich history of service and scholarship. But Brother Pat Douglas, a Jesuit ministering in the Midwest, notes that it\u2019s a \u201ckind of forgotten\u201d vocation. There are many, he says, who have a strong call to religious life, but not necessarily to the priesthood. In keeping with this blog\u2019s policy of honoring Catholic America\u2019s unsung heroes, today\u2019s entry focuses on the life and career of Brother Martin Whelan, S.J. (1837-1903). <\/p>\n

Described as \u201ca picturesque figure,\u201d Martin Whelan was born and grew up in Boston\u2019s North End. While he was young the Jesuits took charge of his home parish, St. Mary\u2019s. There he came in contact with some of the most significant Jesuits of his time, including Fathers John McElroy, pioneer military chaplain and founder of Boston College, and Bernardine Wiget, a prominent author and preacher. It was Wiget in particular who helped the young man\u00a0discern his vocation. <\/p>\n

Martin attended the Eliot Grammar School (at the time, Boston had no Catholic schools). He went on to study painting and drawing at the Lowell Institute. One of his hobbies was sketching the prominent actors of his day.\u00a0His family assumed he would go into business with his older brother, a Boston merchant, but in 1858 he joined the Jesuits as a brother. While they supported his decision, they assumed he would\u00a0eventually\u00a0 come back home. <\/p>\n

He began his novitiate (a sort of Jesuit basic training period) in\u00a0Frederick, Maryland. From there he was assigned as a teacher to\u00a0Holy Trinity Parochial School in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. The parish, founded in 1789, is the oldest Catholic church in the nation\u2019s capitol. With the exception of a Bostob\u00a0interval, he was taught at the school and served as principal during the years 1860-1892.\u00a0He also worked as a sacristan, a position that involved taking care of the church itself. <\/p>\n

In Holy Trinity\u2019s parish history, he was remembered as an expert at putting on school plays, both for the parochial school and the Sunday school. From the start, theater has always\u00a0been an important part of the Jesuit educational tradition. Brother Martin wrote operettas and plays, and was \u201ca master of decoration and scenery painting.\u201d It was said of him: <\/p>\n

He was an authority on wigs, buckskins and togas; an artist in burnt cork and paint. How he delighted to transform an innocent fresh-lipped cherub of a boy into a truculent stage villain with fierce mustachios; to pad a lanky youth into Falstaffian girth and proportions; to develop slender shanks with dropsical piano legs; and to regulate the stride and pace of \u2018Warriors\u2019 and \u2018Senators.\u2019 His ability in the histrionic art won the respect and admiration of his scholars; his skill as a teacher and his kindly interest in the boys won their gratitude and enthusiasm. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1892, Brother Martin was assigned to St. John\u2019s Literary Institute, a Jesuit school \u00a0in Frederick, Maryland. As poor health caught up with him, he returned to Georgetown. At this funeral Mass in November 1903,\u00a0hundreds of former students and parishioners paid homage to his life and ministry. A peer said of him:<\/p>\n

Such a life hidden away for so many years in an humble classroom, is inconspicuous in itself, but most meritorious, fruitful and far-reaching in its results, and lasting in its power for good. Who can estimate its effects? A large number of men in Frederick and Georgetown, now fathers of families and staunch Catholics, owe much to him, and hold his name in benediction. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One author\u00a0aptly states that the\u00a0Jesuit Brother\u2019s \u201cvocation is to be apostolic.\u201d Nobody embodied that ideal better than\u00a0Martin Whelan, both inside and outside the classroom. In his devotion to\u00a0his ministry,\u00a0he\u00a0lived the Jesuit model of \u201cmen for others.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Jesuit Brother\u2019s vocation is one with a rich history of service and scholarship. But Brother Pat Douglas, a Jesuit ministering in the Midwest, notes that it\u2019s a \u201ckind of forgotten\u201d vocation. There are many, he says, who have a strong call to religious life, but not necessarily to the priesthood. In keeping with this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1042,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cAn Artist in Burnt Cork\u201d: Brother Martin Whelan, S.J. (1837-1903)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Jesuit Brother's vocation is one with a rich history of service and scholarship. 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