Memoir of Zi Prete—Bishop Edmund Dunne 1914 of his time at Holy Guardian Angel Italian Parish ca 1900 —below is a link to the full text. Beneath that link is the foreword and table of contents imperfectly scanned of one of the best accounts by a priest of the conditions among Chicago Italian Catholics circa 1900.
Bishop of Peoria 1909-1929
Edward M. Dunne, the second bishop of Peoria, was born into an Irish family that traced its history back to the 12th century.
From his early boyhood in Chicago, and all through his student years at Holy Name Parish, St. Ignatius College, Niagara University, and later in Belgium and in Rome, his training was always directed toward the priesthood.
And when, in September 1909, he was consecrated bishop of Peoria, succeeding Archbishop John Lancaster Spalding, there were those who said, “I could have told you so.”
His life, it has recorded, was a lesson in persistent endeavor. He worked in Chicago parishes and in the ethnic neighborhoods where his knowledge of Latin, English, Italian, Polish, modern Greek and French were valuable, and where his gift for music was recognized.
He gained many distinctions and a reputation for hard work, all of which served to influence Archbishop James E. Quigley of Chicago who chose him be chancellor of his diocese, a post he held until his appointment to Peoria.
Click for Full Text of Edmund M. Dunne”s Memoir of his time at Holy Guardian Angel Italian Church in Chicago
MEMOIRS OF ZI PRETE
EDMUND M. DUNNE, D.D.
Bishop of Peoria
Copyright, 1914
FOREWORD
The present booklet treats o£ a few doctrinal
points unavoidably omitted in a former tract
bearing the titíe of " Polemic Chat." When
these Memoirs began to appear seríally in the
.Peoria Cathedral Calendar, a friendly critic
remarked : " The Bishop is utilizing his paro-
chial experiences among the Italians ' to point a
moral and adom a tale.'" Precisely. Our
chief aim in the present chronology of events is
>^ to instruct the people, "to preach the word in
0> season and out of season, reproving, entreating,
rebuking in all patience and doctrine."
Several anachronisms as well as changes in
the names and occupations of the characters háve
been purposely introduced, so that the ingenuity
of even a Sherlock Holmes might be baffled
should he attempt to identify them with certain
individuals of the Italian colony.
Some may deem Pasqualino too clever for his
tender age. Unusquisque abundat sensu suo.
Please consider, friendly or hostile reader, as
the čase may be, that our youthful polemist had
completed three years of classics with unusual
success before encountering his adversary. The
FOREWORD
children of sunny Italy develop múch earlier
than those of northern climes. Youthf ul prodi-
gies bud f orth occasíonally in the realm of litera-
túre, poetry, painting, music and mathematics.
Why should they not blossom also in the field of
polemics? Besides, were Pasqualino a youth of
mediocre talent, his utterances would not be
worth recording. At any rate it is úpon them
and not úpon his personality that we wish to
f ocus your attention.
Pasqualino's father represents indeed no par-
ticular individual, but rather the composite em-
bodiment of reprehensible traits which Zi Pre'
had ample occasion to reprove among the malé
members of his flock. The exemplary Christian
virtues of the mother háve not been overdrawn.
The most elaboráte portrayal of maternal solici-
tude and self-sacrifice falls, as a generál rule,
immeasurably below the reality.
The tactics of Evangelical zealots to wrest
Italian children from the One True Fold, are
melancholy facts familiar to the hundred or
more Sunday School teachers of Guardian Angel
Mission. The conversion of the proselytizer,
his subsequent public reparation and edifying
death are true in every detail.
The Author.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I Italian Quarter I
II Italian Customs 13
III Proselytizers 19
IV Pasquaulino 28
V Early Training 39
VI MlSNOMER FOR A SCHOOL 49
VII CONFIRMATION 6o
VIII ScHooL Days 72
IX At THE Zoo 82
X PSEUDO REFORMERS ........ 92
XI UnITY 102
XII Sanctity 109
XIII Catholicity 118
XIV ArosTouaTY 125
XV ViSIBLE HeAD OP THE ChURCH .... I33
XVI Infalubility 143
XVII Veneration of Sacred I maces . . . .152
XVIII Veneration of Relics and Invocation of
Saints 162
XIX Extréme Unction 171
XX Indulgences 178
XXI PURGATORY l8s
XXII Immaculate Conception 194
XXIII The. Rosary 205
XXIV Fasting and Abstinence 212
XXV Christian Ethics 220
XXVI The Awakening 231
MEMOIRS OF ZI PRETE
CHAPTER I
ITALIAN QUARTER
ON the south side of Forquer Street, Chi-
cago, and nearly midway between Des-
plaines and Halsted, there stands an unpreten-
tious brick structure with a Romanesque faQade
surmounted by a Roman cross. It is the Chiesa
delľAngelo Custode. The mellow tints of sea
and sky in the decoration of the interior f rom
vestibule to sanctuary are unmistakably Italian.
The stained-glass windows of St. Michael, St.
Raphaely and of the Guardian Angel, carry the
thoughts of the onlooker back to the basilicas
of Rome and Florence and cause him to murmur
the names of Italian masters. The statues of
San Vito, Rocco, Lucia, and Sebastiano, recall
vividly to mind those Christian martyrs espe-
cially dear to the Italian heart, while Raphaeľs
Madonna delia Sedia tenderly clasping her Di-
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