Xaveriall brother recalls Babe Ruth
THE ANCHOR -
Diocese of Fall River -c- Fri., July 28, 1995
What We're About
BALTIMORE (CNS) - "As kids we adored him," said Xaverian Brother John Joseph Sterne of baseball legend Babe Ruth. As the baseball world remembered the Babe on th,e 100th anniversary of his birth, Feb. 6, Brother Sterne recalled memories of three precious weeks in September 1920 when he traveled for a brief time with the Babe Ruth Band. The Babe Ruth Band - actually the St. Mary's Industrial School Band, rechristened in honor of its namesake's suclcess and popularity - was invited to go with the New York Yankees on a tour that took the team to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, SI.. Louis, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. "Those were memorable days," said Brother Sterne, now 85 years old and living in a retirement home in Louisville, Ky. Those were the days men wore straw boaters until September and steamboats plied America's rivers. In 1920,George HC:l'man"Babe" Ruth was 25 and John Sterne was only 10. Both were taught at St. Mary's Industrial, a technical school in BaltimoTi~ run by the Xaverian Brothers. Xaverian Brother Henry Marino, who works at the brothers' provincial office in Ellicott City, Md., said St. Mary's Industrial, which opened in 1866, was, not a reform school, but "the brothers were incredible disciplinarians.',' In interviews with The Catholic Review, newspaper of the Baltimore Archdiocese, both brothers said that in those days people had such large families that they often sent a few of their children to schools such as St. Mary's if they had family difficulties. For instance, Brother Sterne recalled that the Ruth family was "busy with their bar, so St. Mary's raised their son from the age of 7 to 19 when the Orioles got him." As a student Brother Sterne was a non-Catholic who came from Washington, but at age 13 he entered the Xaverian Brothers' aspirancy program. His parents were divorced and he and his brother Louis were sent to St. Mary's. Brother Sterne played the coronet and his brother the clarinet. At the time John Sterne came to St. Mary's, George: Herman was gone, but his reputation remained. Brother Sterne n:called that the
"This is what we are about: We plant seeds that will one day grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and
3
the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own." - Archbishop Oscar Romero
NEED A GOOD PLUMBER? For your home or business.
John C. LINDO & SON Plumbing & Heating Est. 1920 LJc. 10786
(508) 678-5571 "The Experienced Plumbing People" Providing a Full Line oj Plumbing & Heating Services
__~M~~
L.':~::~R_~~~
...
SHRINES OF FRANCE
eNS! Catholic Review photo
A YOUTHFUL BABE RUTH Babe loved the kids at St. Mary's. He said he was like a "big boy always." The brot~er thinks the Babe was popular because "he was himself a kid at heart. The brothers were fathers to him." ' The nickname "Babe" suggests his boyish love for the game of baseball, but according to the memoirs of Xaverian Brother Gilbert Cairns, who worked at St. Mary's Industrial School, the name came from a near accident. The young Ruth was in Fayetteville, N.C., trairiingwith the minor league Orioles and fresh out of St. Mary's. He had only the money the brothers had given him. When a friend offered him the use of his bicycle one day, Ruth rode past the hotel in Fayetteville where the rest of the ball players were staying. As he rode by, showing off the •
I
new wheels, a truck nearly ran him down. A baseball scout named Steinman quipped, "If manager Dunn does not shackle that new babe of his, he'll ... be a Babe Ruth in the cemetery." The next day a Baltimore sports writer picked up the quote and used it in print. Brother Cairns recalled in his memoirs, "The name caught on like a porous plaster and stuck like liquid cement." As a postscript, St. Mary's Industrial School, 'which closed in 1950, is now Cardinal Gibbons High School. It has a case-full of photos of the baseball hero. Last fall, the school held a symposium in honor of the Babe, attended by his granddaughter, Linda Tosetti, and great-granddaughter, Robin Hettrick, both of Connecticut.
LOURDES - SHRJNE d MIRACULOUS BATHS PARIS - CrrYTOUR d MORE USIEUX - FEAST OF ST. THERESE ORLEANS - ST JOAN OF ARC NEVERS - ST. BERNADEITE RUE DE BAC - SHRINE OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
.
9 DAYS - OCTOBER 9 -17 695
$1795.
Diocese of Fall River
OFFICIAL His Excellency, the Most Reverend Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., Bishop of Fall River, has announced the following appointments: Very Rev. Gerald T. Shovelton, Dean of Cape Cod and Islands Deanery. Very Rev. Be:nto R. Fraga, Dean of Taunton Deanery. Rev. Mark R. Hession, Director of Continuing Formation of the Clergy.
Effective August 2, 1995
Office for Lay Ministry Development in the diocese of Orlando. "We've always had lay ministry in the church. Only people didn't call it that," she said. "Today, with an educated laity, we hear people say. 'My ministry is my family,'" she continued. Nonordained ministers are pursuing education and formation and some have strong(:r professional credentials than ordained ministers. Even though laity "make up 99 percent of the church" and "are called to ministry through baptism," Ms. Rooney said "we're still in the transition which began with Vatican II 30 years ago." Many laity are volunteers, she noted, but a growing number are "professional or career ministers who are fulltime and salaried," serving as parish life coordinators, presiding and giving reflections at prayer services, conducting wakes, and ministering to the bereaved, and involved in adult education, counseling and spiritual direction. To help foster proper, training and formation for lay' ministers the National Association for Lay Ministry has developed national standards for pastoral ministers, which have been approved by the U.S. Catholic Conference for use in certifying pastoral ministers, associates, and parish life coordinators.
pp/dbl (ALL INCLUSIVE)
Call For Information
All Star Travel
1200 FALL RIVER AVE. • SEEKONK, MA 02771 In MA 1-800-649-3390 or 508-336-3090
WHITE'S
More lay leaders in today's church ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) - In the U.S. Catholic Church today, women make up' 85 percent of all nonordained ministers and lay people in general are "doing ministries" formerly done only by ordained men and by women religious, according to a lay leader. Linda Perrone Rooney, president of the National Association for Lay Ministry, said this pattern is what a "church in transition" must accept for the future. Ms. Rooney also directs the
(UITLEFLOW£R)
OF WESTPORT
Introducing the Smash Hit:
Lelld IIIIe A Tellllr Thursday August 17, Friday August 18
$2 7 50 •
per persoll, fIII~" dlllller, ~1Df& ~/p
*** Still "ppeoring *** loey & Mario's Wedding Aug 25, Sept 22, Oct 20 $31.50, with Dinner, T & T For Information and Reservations, Call
(5G8J 675-7'85