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convinced that a Seminary in the midst of the people is a constant re- minder of the Lord's call to the priesthood, and that it tends to stim- ulate vocations. Having acquired the property, he called upon the Fathers of St. Basil to take charge of the new Diocesan Seminary. The offer was gladly ac- cepted, and early in the fall of 1901 St. Mary's Seminary opened in La Porte under the direction of the Very Reverend J. T. Player, C.S.B., as Rector. With the assistance of Fathers V. J. Donnelly, C.S.B., M. J. Pickett, C.S.B., J. C. Plummer, C.S.B., and C. J. O'Neill, C.S.B., classes began in October with about a dozen students. The domestic department was placed in charge of the Sisters of St. Dominic from Sacred Heart Convent in Galveston. When Bishop Gallagher visited Rome in June 1902, he proudly reported the establishment of his Seminary to the Holy Father and asked him to bestow a special blessing on St. Mary's. Pope Leo XIII was happy to accede to the request and conferred the blessing desired in these beau- iful words: Benedicti.onem spccialem pro Seminario ttto tibi dono, ut prosperet, ut procedat., et ttt viros fortes et religiosos, prodtteit, an Apos- tolic Blessing which was renewed by Pope Pius XI on February 21, 1931." The number of students steadily increased. In 1903 the Very Reverend E. A. Hurley, C.S.B., succeeded Father Player as Rector. By 1906 it was necessary to add a new wing to the main building. Ground was broken that summer and two years later, on March 25, 1908, it was solemnly dedi- cated by Bishop Gallagher, who celebrated a Pontifical Mass for his seminarians and their friends. Thousands came on special trains from Galveston and the late Monsignor J. M. Kerwin preached the sermon, little dreaming that within three years he would be called to assume its direction. In 1907 the Very Reverend T. F. Gignac, C.S.B., had become Rector and continued as such until 1911, when the Basilian Fathers had to give up the school and withdraw. Bishop Gallagher, whose whole heart was in the Seminary, turned to his recently appointed Vicar General, the Right Reverend J. M. Kerwin. In his wholehearted way Father Kerwin accepted the responsibility and took over the rectorship of St. Mary's at La Porte, as well as that of teaching Moral Theology. He was aided in the work by Father Joseph Pelnar, as vice-rector; Father J. A. Rapp, who became professor of Dogmatic Theology; and Father J. B. O'Leary, who taught Philosophy. An indefatigable worker, Father Kerwin soon took over the "Diocese of Galveston, Centennial, 1847-1947, p. J 47.
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