Pierre Yves Kéralum
Pierre Yves Kéralum | |
|---|---|
Catholic priest, architect |
Pierre Yves Kéralum OMI (1817–1872) was a French-born Catholic missionary and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He served in South Texas from 1853 to 1872, traveling long distances on horseback to minister to Catholics living on isolated ranches along the Rio Grande. He was also an architect who designed many buildings in the area, including the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville, Texas.
Early life and education
Pierre Yves Kéralum was born in the Brittany region of France on March 2, 1817, the youngest of ten children of Marc Yves Kéralum, a carpenter, and Jeanne Colcanap. As an apprentice carpenter and cabinetmaker, he was making his traditional
Priesthood
Kéralum spent nine months in Galveston, where he helped establish the city's first Catholic college-seminary.[1] Originally named Immaculate Conception College and Seminary, it was chartered in 1856 as St. Mary's University of Galveston.[2] In 1853, he was transferred to Brownsville, Texas, where he began serving as a circuit rider for the Lower Rio Grande Valley.[1]
Architectural work
In addition to carpentry, Kéralum was skilled in masonry and could lay brick as well as building church pews, coffins, and whatever else was needed.[3] In 1854, he was briefly transferred to the mission center in Roma, Texas, where he designed and helped build the parish church.[1] Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church is still in use and is part of the Roma Historic District.[4]
In 1856, the priest originally in charge of building the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville, Father Verdet, was returning from a trip to France when he was drowned in a shipwreck off the Louisiana coast. Father Kéralum was assigned to take over for him. The
In 1872, he helped the priests in Laredo, Texas, finish building the Cathedral of San Agustin.[1] He designed Our Lady of Visitation Church in Santa Maria, another Gothic Revival edifice,[3] and St. Joseph's chapel at the Toluca Ranch in Progreso.[3] He may also have designed La Lomita Chapel in Mission, Texas.[6]
Cavalry of Christ
The Oblate fathers who ministered to the Rio Grande area in the 19th century were known as the
Stories about Kéralum illustrate his consideration for others. Once when he arrived at the Brownsville rectory late at night, he camped out in the graveyard rather than wake anyone. He preferred to wear second-hand clothes rather than spend money on new ones. A neighbor once saw him carrying lumber and tools into a shack on the outskirts of town; on investigation, it turned out that Kéralum was building a coffin for the impoverished woman who had died there.[3]
While in his fifties, Kéralum's health began to fail and he became nearly blind. Nevertheless he insisted on continuing his rounds, and on several occasions lost his way. Once he returned covered with mesquite scratches after having become lost in the brush and survived for three days on mesquite beans and prickly pear.[3]
On November 12, 1872, Kéralum left the Cano family ranch, northwest of Mercedes, Texas, and never returned. His horse turned up a few days later without its saddle.[3] The Oblates formed a search party and scoured the area for days, but found no trace of him. For a time it was rumored that he had been murdered. In 1882 some cowhands found his remains in the brush, identifiable by his belongings: a rosary fragment, a chalice and other ceremonial items, and an old saddle hanging from a tree limb. Apparently he had died of snakebite or become hopelessly lost in the desert and starved to death.[7]
Memorials
Kéralum's memory is still honored by area Catholics. A life-size crucifixion scene, erected in 1920, marks the spot in Mercedes where his remains were originally interred before being transferred to
In 2003, Vatican officials visited the area and were impressed with the respect for Kéralum that had been passed down from the original ranching families. Rev. Roy Snipes of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in
Author Paul Horgan wrote a fictionalized account of Kéralum's last days titled The Devil in the Desert (1952).[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Kéralum, Pierre Yves". Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ^ "Catholic Education". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Missionary's horse came back, but he didn't". Daily Herald. April 2, 2005. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "Roma Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "Brownsville, Texas, United States, (1849-present)". Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- JSTOR 25765691.
- ^ Parisot, P.F. (1899). The Reminiscences of a Texas Missionary. Johnson Bros. pp. 30-31.
- ^ "Cathedral square named after Father Keralum". The Brownsville Herald. September 6, 1995. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ^ "Keralum's history impresses Vatican priest". Brownsville Herald. November 4, 2003. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "Keralum, Pierre, Yves". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
Further reading
- Cleary, Richard (2007). "Texas Gothic, French Accent: The Architecture of the Roman Catholic Church in Antebellum Texas". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 66 (1): 60–83. .
- Doyon, Bernard (1956). The Cavalry of Christ on the Rio Grande, 1849-1883. Bruce Press.
- Horgan, Paul (1952). The Devil in the Desert. New York: Longmans, Green.
- Pierre Yves Kéralum in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
