The Juniorate Discipline
Once the day school opened, the Juniorate boys attended the same classes as the other boys, just as they had in St. Francis Prep, but at St. Anthony’s, they were on the same teams as well. There is some discrepancy between accounts given by day students and those given by Juniorate boys. The former stress that the school was so small that participation in sports was almost mandatory, while the Brothers say they were discouraged from participation because it interfered with the prayer schedule. Knowing religious life and knowing boys, one suspects that they were discouraged, but did participate.
Receiving the Cassock of a Franciscan Postulant
A highlight in the life of a Juniorate boy occurred on February 1 of his Senior year, when he received the cassock of a Franciscan postulant and was given his religious name. From that time forward, he was “Brother”; even to his classmates and to the lay staff.
The practice of giving the cassock at that time began in February, 1936. Boys who had not attended the Juniorate were also being accepted into the order and would be Novitiate classmates of the Juniorate boys But seniority was an important issue in all religious orders at that time, and Brother Celestine ensured that his boys would be the seniors in their Novitiate class.
Participation in the War Effort
During the war years they could participate in the war effort as high school students everywhere were doing. Brothers Louis Cunningham and Henry Cuddy, Juniorate graduates who had returned as faculty members, organized the boys to work on a very successful Victory Garden. As Civil Defense leaders, the Brothers taught courses in air raid procedures and self-protection during gas attacks. In 1945, the war ended and a more normal atmosphere prevailed, but other great changes were ahead.
The Day School
1958. Smithtown was becoming less rural. Though cornfields and orchards still predominated a few more houses had risen along St. Johnland Road and Landing Avenue. Travel was easier. In 1934, well-paved roads were a rarity on eastern Long Island, and a trip from Brooklyn to Smithtown required careful planning. The automobile itself was a chancey vehicle, for flats were common and, with service stations as rare as good roads, the driver had to be his own mechanic. By 1958, however, townships were meeting the challenge of their growing populations, providing well-paved secondary roads to link with the state’s expanding highway system.
For Catholics in particular, there had been startling changes. Whereas in 1932 there were new parishes (out east,) and a head count was taken in the attempt to persuade Bishop Molloy to establish a new parish in the Smithtown area, by 1958 the Catholic population had increased enormously. Beyond that, however, the recent death of Pope Pius XII had marked the close of a conservative era, and the interim Pope, John XXIII, was setting aside age-old conventions. None could yet know that the Church was on the threshold of Vatican II, but change was in the air.
For the Church on Long Island, there were more immediate developments. In 1956, Thomas E. Molloy, archbishop of Brooklyn ? which then meant of Long Island had died only a month after the death of his auxiliary, Raymond A. Kearney. The population explosion following World War II and the use of veterans’ benefits to move far from the city had resulted in a building boom in Suffolk County. The creation of a new diocese was inevitable. On April 16, 1957, Walter P. Kellenberg, Bishop of Ogdensburg, was named to the see which became known as Rockville Centre.