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 ERIUGENA

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ERIUGENA

Pureell, on 23 April, 1834. The outlook at his acces- sion was gloomy. Many of the priests who were atfili- ated with Pittsburg before the division, returned there with Bishop O'Connor. Among those who cast their lot with the new diocese the most noteworthy were the Very Rev. John D. Coady, Revs. Anthony Reck, Joseph Hartman,M. A. De La Roque, John Berbegier, Andrew Skopez, Kieran O'Brannigan, and also Messrs. John Koch and Thomas Lonnergan, at that time studying for the priesthood. There were but two churches in Erie city, St. Patrick's, the pro-cathedral, and St. Mary's, built for a German congregation by Rev. Joseph Hartman. Outside the city there were twenty-eight churches, with eleven secular priests and three Benedictines for a Catholic population of 12,000. The church buildings outside the city of Erie were mostly wooden structures. There was only one Catholic school. The discovery of petroleum on Oil Creek, 28 August, 1859, gave a great impetus to both secular and religious progress throughout the diocese. To accommodate the settlers that located in the valleys of Oil Creek and the Allegheny River, where towns sprang up as by magic, churches were hastily erected, but the number of priests was still inadequate. As there were no railroads Bishop Young's labour.s were in the beginning very heavy. He died suddenly 18 September, 1866. At his death the Catholic popu- lation had more than doubled, and several new churches and schools had sprung into existence.

The vicar-general. Very Rev. John D. Coady, gov- erned the diocese during the interregnum until the third bishop, the Rev. Tobias Mullen, was consecrated, 2 August, 1868. He was born in the County Tyrone, Ireland, 4 March, 1818, and was ordained priest at Pittsburg, 1 Sept., 1844, having gone there with Bishop O'Connor from Maynooth the previous year as a volunteer for the American mission. Under his direction a new e.a began, priests were ordained, new parishes sprang up, churches and schools were built, regular conferences for the clergy were held. Religious orders were introduced and new institutions arose for the maintenance and spread of religion, and for the enlightenment, and comfort, and shelter of suffering humanity. The frame churches gave place to brick and stone structures. The bishop himself was a tireless worker and infused his own spirit into his priests. A ( 'atholic weekly, the " Lake Shore Visitor ' ', was issued, edited mostly by the bishop himself, in the midst of labours that called him to every part of his extensive diocese. The Poles, the Slavs, the Hungarians, and the Italians had churches and priests provided for them, the orphans a large new home, the sick were provided with two large hospitals, and finally his crowning work, St. Peter's Cathedral, was finished, clear of debt, and consecrated in 1893, the twenty-fifth anniversary of his consecration. In the following year he celebrated the golden juliilee of his priesthood. His strong active mind and body began to fail and on 19 May, 1897, he suffered a paralytic stroke and a coadjutur, llio Rev. John E. Fitz Maurice, president of St. Cliarlis's Semi- nary, Overbrook, Philadelphia, was cho.sin by till' lliily See and consecrated titular Bishop of Aniisus with right of succession in Philadelphia, 24 February, 1898. Bishop Mullen resigned, 10 August, 1899, and died, 22 April, 1900. Bishop Fitz Maurice succeeded as fourth bishop of the diocese, on 19 September, 1899, and the good work inaugurated under the late bishop went on quietly and steadily. He was born at New- town-Sandes, County Kerry, Ireland, 9 Jan., 1840, and ordained priest in Philadelphia, 21 Dec, 1862. After officiating in several parishes he was appointed rector of the diocesan seminary in 1886.

The religious orders in the diocese are the Bene- dictines, the Redemptorists, the Brothers of Mary, the Benedictine Nuns, the Sisters of St. Jo.seph, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Felician Sisters. At one time the Franciscans, the Bridgettines, and the Sisters

of the Humility of Mary had houses in the diocese. The Benedictines settled at St. Mary's, Elk county, under Bi.shop O'Connor and in 1858 took charge of St. Mary's, Erie. The Redemptorists in 1875 began their foundation, purchasing a Presbj'terian college — at Northeast — which they made a seminary and college for young men who intended to join their order. They have 142 .students.

The Sisters of St. Joseph entered the diocese in 1860, and liave charge of the orphan asylum, the home foi the aged, the two hospitals, the Academy of Villa Maria, the mother-house in the diocese, and of fifteen parochial schools. The Sisters of Mercy, who entered the diocese 24 September, 1870, besides the academy in Titusville, the mother-house, have charge of eight parochial schools. The Sisters of St. Benedict (St. Marj-'s, Penn.) (22 July, 1852) have St. Benedict's Academy, the mother-house at St. Mary's, and teach seven schools. The (Erie) Sisters of St. Benedict, be- sides the academy and school of St. Mary's Church, teach five parochial schools, and also conduct an academy in Sharon. The Felician Sisters teach St. Stanislaus' Polish school, in the city of Erie.

There are in the diocese 100 churches, with resident priests, 46 missions with churches, and 11 chapels; 160 priests — 135 secular, 25 regular; 45 parochial schools, 3 academies for young ladies, 1 orphan a.sylum with 216 orphans, making a total of young people under the care of the Church, 10,385; two hospitals, and one home for the aged. The Catholic population of the diocese is estimated at 121,108.

Lambing, Hist. Cath. Ch. in Diocese of Pittsburg (New York, ISSO); Bates, Hist, of Cranford County; Small, Legislative Hnnd-Book: Shea, Hist, of Cath. Ch. in U. S. (New York, 1S94); Reuss, Biog. Cyclo. of Cath. Hierarchy of U. S. (Milwau- kee, 1S98).

James J. Dunn.

Eriugena, John Scotus, an Irish teacher, theo- logian, philosopher, and poet, who lived in the ninth century.

Name. — Eriugena's contemporaries invariably refer to him as Joannes Scolius or Joannes ScoUiyena. In the MSS. of the tenth and subsequent centuries the forms Eriugena, lerugena, and Erigena occur. Of these, the oldest and most acceptable, philologically, is Eriugena, which, as it was perhaps sometimes writ- ten Eriijgena, was changed into Erigena. It means "a native of Ireland". The form lerugena is evidently an attempt to connect the first part of the name with the Greek word iep6s, and means "a native of the Island of Saints"; the combination Joannes Scotus Erigena cannot be traced beyond the sixteenth century.

Birthplace. — At one time the birthplace of Eriu- gena was a matter of dispute. Eriuven in Wales and Ayre in Scotland claimed the honour, and each found advocates. Nowadays, however, the claim of Ireland to be considered the birthplace of John is universally admitted. All the evidence points that way, and leads us to conclude that when his contemporaries taunt- ingly referred to his having come to Fnuice from Ire- land they meant not only that he was educated in the Isle of Saints but also that Ireland was his Ijirthplace. Whatever doubt there may have been about the mean- ing of Scotus, there can be none as to the signification of the surname Eriugena.

Life. — What is known of the life of Eriugena is very soon told. About 847 he appeared in France at the court of Charles the Bald, was received with special favour by that prince, appointed head of the palace school, which seems to have had some kind of per- manent location at Paris, and was commissioned by his royal patron to translate the w'orks of Pseudo- Dionysius into Latin. This translation brought him into prominence in the world of letters and was the occasion of his entering into the theological controver- sies of the day, especially into those concerning pre- destination and the Eucharist. His knowledge of