The End of an Era

this article originally appeared in the parish bulletin on the weekends of January 26 and February 2, 2020

On Thursday, December 8, 1898, having served as a priest for over seventy years, having lived eighty-nine years, sixty-seven of them as a priest and forty-one of them in Milford alone, Fr. Patrick Cuddihy passed from this world at 2:40 pm.  His death was truly the end of an era at Saint Mary Parish in Milford.  He built the larger and grander church on Winter Street, invited religious sisters and built a Catholic school, enlarged the cemetery and built an Irish Round Tower, the only one outside of Ireland, he had fought openly with secret organizations and secular institutions, he had survived two fires in the parish house where he lived and traveled extensively to Europe.  No other priest has or can have the same impact and influence that this one dedicated servant has been able to confer on the people and the legacy of the parish for its spiritual life and legacy. 

That Sunday afternoon, the remains were escorted from the parish house to the church with formal ceremonies.  It was evidence of the affection of the parish and its organizations for their beloved pastor.  Beside the hundreds in the procession there were many more hundred who gathered and filled the church.  Joseph Gallagher, Jr., carrying in the cross led the procession, followed by the casket of Fr. Cuddihy with Patrick Morgan, Wm Sheehan, James Bradley, Michael Gallen, Michael Finnegan, James Murphy, William Hilferty, Patrick Lynch, John Edwards, Peter Hickey, George McDermott and Michael Ahern as pallbearers.  Then came the clergy led by Fr. James Canavan of the parish who together chanted the prayers for the dead.  Then came the Sisters of Notre Dame, led by their superior and in the order of their taking residence in Milford.  They were followed by the employees of the parish.  Then came members of the Married Women’s Sodality, the Young Ladies’ and the Children of Mary. They were followed the other parish societies with full ranks:  Division 7, AOH, the Emmet Associates, CL & DA, CTA, Certus Club, Division 15, AOH, all dressed with appropriate mourning badges.

Upon arrival at the church, the remains were placed tenderly on the catafalque erected in the front of the high altar, to the body of the church.  The funeral service was held, the choir assisting, after which all present were given an opportunity to view the remains and “all availed themselves of the privilege.”  The body of the beloved priest was laid out in a simple casket of black English walnut which was open for people to see respectfully their dear departed pastor.  Throngs passed during the day and a guard of eight men from the parish societies stood guard continuously until the funeral Mass that Tuesday.

On Tuesday, December 13^th, Milford seemed to shut down in order to pay its respects this long serving citizen whose life work had made such a profound impact on the life of every Catholic in town.  Stores closed, classes in local schools were cancelled, machinery at local factories went silent so that every soul interested could be present to pay their respects and bid farewell to this worthy and faith-filled pastor.  Since there was no concelebration in the nineteenth century, Requiem Masses were celebrated in December 13^th at 7:15 am and again at 8:00 am by Fathers James Canavan and Luke Purcell, associate priests to Fr. Cuddihy.  Following the 8 am Mass, the church was cleared of worshippers and the doors were locked until 9:30 am.  Then the doors opened again, and the church filled within five minutes with parishioners lined along the aisles, the back wall and peering through the doorways.
 

At 10 am, 75 priests, seated in the sanctuary said the Office of the Dead which was followed by the Solemn High Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas Beavan of Springfield.  At the conclusion of the Mass, Fr. Thomas D. Sculley mounted the pulpit to provide the eulogy.  He spoke with eloquence of the life and influence of Fr. Cuddihy from a young priest in Ireland to his accomplishments in Milford.  Toward the end of his presentation, a valve on one of the radiators loosened and worked itself off.  At the same time, thick snow on the roof slid down with a thud to the ground below.  Unfortunately, those assembled rose in panic, fearing that the floor was collapsing from the weight of all the worshippers.  They rushed for the doors while others jumped up on the pews creating a state of confusion and fear.  The priests, seated in the sanctuary restored calm and reassured the faithful.  The Milford Journal reported that, “Nobody was severely injured in the stampede, but many were thrown down, squashed and several women fainted.”[i]

Once Fr. Sculley finished, Monsignor Thomas Griffin led the benediction of the dead, the casket was closed as parishioners had their final look at their revered pastor and his body was carried to the sepulcher prepared in the floor of the bell tower.  “As the procession wended its slow, sad and solemn way through the compact files of people, not a few realized for the first time that the heroic, militant, distinguished priest, who made St. Mary’s parish among the foremost in the state, was passing from the scene of his earthly labors to the silent grave.  …  The burial was witnessed only by a few priests and after the casket had been lowered into the granite sarcophagus the lid was placed over it and all who wished were given an opportunity to view it.”[ii]  A parishioner relates the detail told by her grandfather who served as one of the pallbearers, that as the casket was lowered into place, one of the ropes broke and it landed with a loud noise to the floor of the sarcophagus.  His comment was that “in death, as in life, whatever Fr. Cuddihy did, he did it with a bang!”

The next month, in January of 1899, Fr. Cuddihy's will which was dated June 7, 1893, was probated at court in Worcester with Fr. James Canavan and John O’Neill (Fr. Cuddihy's nephew) as executors.  All of the property of Saint Mary’s Parish was left to Bishop Beavan of Springfield and his successors.  He owned land on Davenport Street in Boston that he directed to be sold and the proceeds used for a school to educate the children of Saint Mary’s Parish.  His granite quarry was to be sold and its proceeds to benefit his grandnephew Arthur O’Neill.  The remainder of his estate was to be converted to cash and given to John O’Neill.  A codicil, dated May 29, 1890, made additional bequests to Bishop Beavan for his charities, to Catholic University in Washington, DC, and to a chapel in Clonmel, Ireland.  There was a parcel of land in Wellesley Hills to be sold and donated for the parish school and the provision for the quarry was revoked and given to the bishop as part of the parish cemetery.  There were other monetary bequests in smaller amounts to Fr. Canavan and to Fr. Cuddihy's family members.  There was “no approximate value of the estate” listed.