How things have changed

     Tomorrow, the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Irwin, our neighbor and mother parish, kicks off their 150th anniversary celebration with a Eucharistic Procession through the streets of downtown Irwin. It will be a great day for the Catholic Faith in this area.

     In inviting our people, I suggested that this might be a "first" for Irwin.  One of our parishioners who is a Sister of Charity of Seton Hill brought in a book "Mother Seton's Sisters of Charity in Western Pennsylvania" by Sister Mary Electa Boyle, which proved that that was not entirely accurate.

     Irwin and the surrounding area in the late 1800's was very Scotch and a stronghold of John Knox Presbyterianism, with a strong contingent of Orangemen who were very anti-catholic and anti-Irish.  Acceptance was hard to find, and persecution and hatred was commonplace.  Even the church was built in the "lower end" of town, near the railroad tracks and the creek, where all of the boarding houses and bars were to be found.

     Father Michael Murphy was the pastor in 1871, and wanted to establish a school.  He invited the Sisters of Charity to staff the school.  When word got out, there were threats and an open boast that "if Father Murphy ever brought nuns to Irwin, he would have to smuggle them in by night".  Father Murphy did one better.

     He arranged that the Sisters (five in number) should arrive by the 6:00 pm train on Saturday night, January 5, 1884.  As was the custom, the town was filled with people, shopping, socializing, checking out what was happening.  He met the Sisters at the train station, along with the church committee, most of the congregation, as well as a Brass Band in uniform.  He then led the procession through the streets of Irwin to the new Convent, with the town looking on and the troublemakers hampered from causing trouble.  In this way he "smuggled" the Sisters into town.  It must have been quite a sight.

     I can assure you that the town is nothing like it might have been in 1884.  Times have changed, and people have changed.  Sunday's procession, while Eucharistic centered rather than "Sisters" centered, will give proof of that reality.  We have come from a minority of immigrants to a majority of established citizens of this small town and its surrounding township.  We process Sunday with pride and to give honor and glory to God, and we are grateful for how things have changed.