Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/692

 BOIANO

622

BOIARDO

The first and oldest, the Bohemian Benedictine Order of Chicago was founded in 18S7 by the Right Rev. Boniface \Vimmer.O. S. B,. first Abbot of St. Vincent's, Bea'tty, Pennsylvania. Tliis apostolic man. perceiv- ing the great dearth of priests among tlic Bohemians in the United States, in\-ited Boliemian young men to his abbey, educated them free of cliarge. and fitted them for exercising the ministry amongst their omi countrymen. At his request the pope granted per- mission for the estabhshnient of an independent or canonical Bohemian priory, in St. Procopius Priory of Chicago, which in 1S94 was raised by His Holi- ness Leo Xni to the dignity of an abbey; the Right Rev. John Xepomuk Jaeger, O. S. B., was elected the first abbot. The Bohemian Benedictine Fathers have charae of tliree Bohemian and two Slovak eonereea-

St. Procopius College, liiSLE, Illinois

tions in the city of Chicago, amongst them the con- gregation of St. Procopius, the largest Bohemian parish in the United States, with a membership of about 10,000. They have likewise a large modern printing plant in which four leading Bohemian Cath- olic newspapers are printed. The order has 13 priests, 3 clerics. 3 novices, and 10 lay-brothers. The second purely Bohemian religious community is that of the Bohemian Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart at Chicago, estabUshed in 1894. These sisters are also in cliarge of St. Joseph's Orphanage at Lisle, Illinois. A second Bohemian orphanage is to be established at St. Louis, in connexion T\-it5i St. Jolm's church, the oldest Bohemian parish in the United States. The Bohemian Benedictine Sisters have at present 27 sisters, 7 novices, and 1 candidate, and teach in several Bohemian schools. Besides these two exclusively Bohemian religious communities we have the Bohemian Redemptorist Fathers of New York and Baltimore, who do not, however, form in- dependent communities, but are directly under the provincial who is at the head of all Redemptorist communities belonging to the Eastern province. They are in charge of the church of Mary Help, Xew York City, which has four Bohemian priests, and of St. Wenceslaus Church, Baltimore, which has three.

There are in the United States 138 Bohemian Cath- oUc churches with resident pastors and about 129 missions; many of the missions, however, are attended from churches of different nationalities. The num- ber of Bohemian priests in the United States is 208; 35 minister to non-Bohemian parishes, 30 of them to Slovak congregations.

Distinguished Representatives. — The name of the ^'e^J• Rev. Monsignor Joseph Hessoun (b. 1S30; d. 4 July, 1906), late pastor of the church of St. Jolm Nepomuk, St. Louis, is held in grateful re- membrance by the Bohemian Catholic people of the United States. Born at ^'rco^^c, Bohemia, he came to the United States in 1865. eleven years after his ordination, and up to his death worked with untiring zeal among his people. The fruits of his labours were felt by Bohemians throughout the country. He

not only encouraged them to perseverance by his editorials in the "Hlas", but he often sacrificed his last cent to assist in the building of Catholic churches. Furthermore, he did everything that lay in his power to procure priests for his people. \Vhene\er neces- sity demanded he visited the Bohemian parishes with- out Bohemian priests. In his old age he was uni- versally called nds taticek (our little father). Among other Bohemian priests who have laboured with un- tiring zeal for the salvation of the Bohemians in this comitry must be mentioned the Very Rev. William Coka, Vicar-General of Omaha, b. at fernoWr, Mo- ra\-ia; d. 1902; the Rev. Father Sulak,S. J., of Chicago, the oldest Bohemian missionary: the Right Rev. Jonn Nepomuk Jaeger, Abbot of the" Bohemian Benedictine Order of Chicago; the Rev. Wenceslaus Kocdrnik, O. S. B., of Chicago; the Rev. John Vranek of Omaha, a Bohemian poet of great ability and merit. Above all there is the noble pioneer "of Bohemian priests on the soil of the new world, the saintly John Ne- pomuk Xeuman. fourth Bishop of Pluladelpliia, b. at Prachatitz, Bohemia, 1811; d. 1860.

The Boliemians all over the world are renowned for their musical gifts. In Bohemian churches of this country church music has attained a high degree of excellence, especially noticeable by the congrega- tional singing in the larger churches. K'ot a few Bohe- mian priests are finished musicians. The feasts of the national patrons, those of St. John Nepomuk and of St. Wenceslaus. the first Cliristian Prince of Bo- hemia, are celebrated with special pomp, according to the usages of Bohemia. Good Friday is hkewise observed with a solemnitj- unusual in this country. The Resurrection of Our Lord is celebrated with great pomp in the evening of Holy- Saturday, wherever possible in the open air.

Bureau of Stalistics: Immigration into the U. S., 1S20-190S (Washington. 1903); Annual Reports of the Commitnoner- General of Immiffration (Waj^hington); Balch, Slav Immigra- tion at Its Source in Charities (New York, '1906); HocW, KrdtJci ePtjiny ee&k^katol. osad ve Spoj. Stdtech (St. Louia, 1890); W.\GSER, CeSti osadntci r Americe (Prague. 1887); Habekicht. Dijiny Cechu Americkich (St,v Louis, 1906); BoslcKf, Jak je v Amerieef (Omaha, 1906); Capek, Pamatky Ceskych emigrantii v Ameriee (Omaha, 1907). «

Jos. SlNKM.\JER.

Boiano, Diocese or. in the province of Bene- vento, Italy, suffragan to the Archbishopric of Bene- vento. The city, situated at the foot of Monte Matese, occupies the site of the ancient Roman colony of Bovianum, or Bobianum. Cappelletti has demonstrated the error of Ughelli (Italia Sacra, VIII, 241) wlio thought he recognized a bishop of tliis see in a certain Laurentius at the beginning of the sixth century. The see, however, is decidedly ancient. Its first recorded bishop is Adalberto (1071), Others worthy of note are: Poliziano (1215) who conse- crated the cathedral; Giovanni (1226), who decorated the faijade at his owti expense, as recorded in an in- scription; Silvio Pandoni (14S9), who restored the work of Giovanni; Cardinals Franciotto Orsini (1519) and Carlo Carafa (1572), who adorned the cathedral with costly furnishings; Celestino Bruni (1653), a distinguished theologian and preacher. After the death of Bishop Nicolo Rosetti (elected in 1774), differences between the Holy See and the court of Naples prevented the appointment of a successor until 1836, when Giuseppe Riccardi was appointed. The most notable sacred edifice is the cathedral, dedicated to St. Bartholomew the Apostle. The diocese has a population of 90,300, with 33 parishes, 134 churches and chapels, 173 secular priests, 19 regulars, and 62 seminarians.

C.vppELLETri. Le chiese d'ltalia (Venice, 1844), XIX, 191; Battaxdier, Ann. poni, cath. (Paris, 1907).

U. Benigni.

Boiardo, M.itteo Maria, an ItaUan poet, b. about 1434, at, or near, Scandiano (Reggio-Emilia); d, at Reggio, 20 December, 1494. The son of Gio-