Religiot<,S Communities of Men in Texas
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occasionally. Arrangements were accordingly made to turn over to the Missionaries of La Salette the mission at Lufkin, "a neat little church, with a couple of rooms attached," said the Bishop, "with a small building cf five or six rooms belonging to the parish. 1173 Father Rosset gladly accepted the offer and sent Reverend Eugene Veillard to take charge of the parish of St. Patrick at Lufkin, Texas, where he arrived on February 26, 1928. As Superior of the new founda- tion, Father Veillard immediately began to work and his labors and those cf his fellow workers have extended to include missions and parishes in many places. From Lufkin they established missions at Crockett, Jasper, Kirbyville, Camden, Livingston and Woodville; from Nacogdoches, mis- sions at Chireno, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Moral and Fern Lake; and from Gladewater, missions at Mount Pleasant and Red Hill. They have parishes in Houston, Henderson and Kilgore. St. Patrick's Church in Lufkin was destroyed by fire on October 30, 1933. Through the courtesy of the city, which permitted the temporary use of the Lufkin Public Library until the erection of a new church, !:>ervices were not interrupted. On April 22, 1934, Bishop Byrne was able to dedicate the new church. The principal work of the Missionari~s of Our Lady of La Salette is the apostolate of devotion to Our Blessed Mother. The number of parishes under their care and the missions already enumerated amply testify to the success of their labors. 74 Ategustinian Fatl,ers, O.S.A., 1930. Spanish Augustinians from the distant Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines, came to Texas in 1930 at the invitation of Bishop Rudolph Aloysius Gerken, of Amarillo, later Archbishop of Santa Fe. They were given two missions, one in San Angelo, which was placed under the direction of the Reverend Eleuterio Blanco, O.S.A., and the other, in El Dorado. placed under the Reverend Nicholas Salgado, O.S.A. For five years the Augustinians labored diligently among the Spanish-speaking placed under their care, before they were forced by circumstances to give up the work. Other Spanish Augustinians came in t93 I at the invitation of Bishop C. E. Byrne of Galveston from the Province of Castile. In response to his invitation, the Provincial of Castile ordered the Reverend Fathers Fernando Salterain and Juan de Arana, in Puerto Rico at the time, to take 11 Bishop C. E. Byrne to Reverend Albert S. Rosset, January I 6, x 928. C. A. T. 74 The facts here summarized are taken from a statement sent to the author bv Reverend Patrick J. Durkin, M.S., the Provincial Secretary. C. A. T. ·
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