Holy Cross kicks off yearlong centennial celebration

When you have saint in your DNA, it is something to celebrate.

Parishioners at Holy Cross Parish in Corpus Christi kicked off a yearlong celebration to commemorate their upcoming centennial and St. Katherine Drexel will play an important role as she did 100 years ago when the parish got its start.

In 1914, the new Diocese of Corpus Christi’s first bishop began to look for ways to serve the city’s black population. Following the lead of U.S. bishops who—after Emancipation—had decreed in 1869 that the church provide missions and schools for all black Americans in their dioceses, Bishop Paul Nussbaum, CP saw education as a critical need in the black community.

Bishop Nussbaum believed that a school to serve the area’s children would be a good way to get the community to come to the church. He exchanged several letters in 1914 with an individual from South Dakota who expressed interest in the project, but nothing came of this exchange.

Bishop Nussbaum appealed to the Saint Joseph Society of the Sacred Heart, widely known as the Josephites, to come to Corpus Christi. In 1871, the Josephites had formed a mission society devoted to serving the “freedmen.”

A Josephite, Father S. J. Kelly, SSJ, came to Corpus Christ and began making contact in the black community. Unfortunately, his order reassigned him to New Orleans where a much larger parish needed his services.

Father Mark Moeslein, CP, a Passionist priest like the bishop, volunteered to help his brother Passionist with this missionary work. His efforts soon bore fruit. On Aug. 12, 1915, Maria Josephina Little and her parents Willis John and Maria Hattie Little were baptized at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and entered into the Sacramental records of Holy Cross.

The community had begun to respond, but Holy Cross still did not have a church to call home and Mass was celebrated at people’s homes. Enter Sister Katherine Drexel, SBS.

Sister Katherine was heiress to a banking fortune and had been taught by her parents from a very young age to share with those less fortunate. In 1891, she founded a religious order called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and “Colored” People. She used her wealth and her order to spread God’s word among America’s less fortunate.

On March 9, 1915 Sister Katherine—through the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament—donated $1,000 “to aid in the erection of a church to be used for education of Mexican, Indians or colored people” in Corpus Christi. In early December 1916—while on tour of the south—she visited Corpus Christi. The following January, she donated $5,000 to build a “two-story building with church on first floor and second floor for school.” Finally, on April 12, 1917 she donated $2,500 to build a residence for sisters.

Sister Katherine’s generosity made Bishop Nussbaum’s dream a reality. On Sept. 20, 1917 Bishop Nussbaum blessed a new two-story structure at the intersection of Black and Lobo that was to serve as Holy Cross Church and School. The chapel was on the first floor and school on second floor. The campus also included a rectory and a convent for the Ursuline Sisters from Laredo who were to serve as teachers.

Several religious orders, in addition to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, contributed to the project. These included the Good Shepherd Sisters, Franciscan Sisters, Passionist nuns, Sisters of St. Joseph, the Notre Dame Tabernacle Society, Passionist fathers and five Passionist parishes in the east coast.

While Sister Katherine’s generosity served as the catalyst for the project, it was the Passionists who provided sustenance over the early years. Beginning with Bishop Nussbaum, Father Moeslein and Father Fidelis Stone, CP they provided the day-to-day presence to keep the parish growing. For 10 years, Father Moeslein built up the parish by “walking from house to house seeking souls.”

In addition to their labor, the Passionists contributed more than $13,000 to the development of Holy Cross. Other generous donors included the Indian & Negro Bureau, the Catholic Education Board Among Colored People and the Diocese of Corpus Christi, itself.

Holy Cross School, which had served as the spearhead for the parish, closed in 1965. Three years later, the diocese designated the parish as a territorial parish and it no longer would serve as a national parish exclusively for the black community. Today, the parish community includes about 120 families composed of African Americans, Anglo Americans, Hispanic Americans and people of mixed race.
“Everyone is welcome,” Pastor Father Eulalio P. Ibay, STD said.

“Our parishes are different then what they were 100 years ago. Looking at this community; the diversity we express now, as a church, is our strength,” Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey said in his homily for the Mass opening the yearlong centennial observance.

“Pray together, sing together, work together, witness to Christ together, be catechists together and never ever seal your lips. Let them be open to proclaim the love of God, the mercy of God, that God showed to us first and wants to show to every human being,” Bishop Mulvey said.

The parish committee organized to oversee the centennial celebration has three public events planned. The first was the “kick off” Mass celebrated by Bishop Mulvey. They are also planning a closing Mass with the bishop. A second event is “something to showcase all pictures people have.” This will be done at the parish hall with the jazz band providing entertainment.

Finally, a closing banquet is being planned off campus. The committee hopes to attract “famous alumni” from the school to attend, which may include many non-Catholics that attended Holy Cross School. A website for the centennial is being built but is not yet Online. The committee also plans to make use of social media to contact people.

“The Lord has passed the torch of faith to us,” Bishop Mulvey said. “It is for us to preserve and build the faith for the next generation.”