Letter from Fr. Joseph Fenelon

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St. Laurence's Church Compton Ave. and Palm Drive P. O. Box 38 Watts, California June 5th. 1923. ===== My dear Fr. Provincial, I received your welcome and kind letter with all documents enclosed. Many thanks. I have spent the greater part of the morning in reading them as well as in typing some copies of your very interesting and paternal letter to the Province. Your instructions now and at all times shall be conscientiously carried out by me as far as I am able. In my last letter to you I spoke about not making any formal Report of my stewardship this year as the M. R. Fr. General has visited our Houses in the States. Your letter and appointment of today definitely settles that matter. I shall have the Visitations made and the Report forwarded to you in due course. Since my return from my last Retreat to the Queensdaughters of Los Angeles, I am alone here, as I sent Fr. Gabriel on his holidays. He had a cold hanging over him for some time and I thought it best for him to have a change and rest. I expected some of the big team from San Francisco, but I understand they are gone on a trip to Yosemite Valley. Besides the Church work here I have been busy since I came back in putting the place in order, as Fr. Gabriel has not much thought in this direction. A school is the first consideration here. I have seen two Architects already about the matter, and I have received a conditional promise of a very substantial bequest towards the School, &. The people though not exceptionally well-to-do, are very kind, most appreciative, and ever thank God for the blessing of a Religious Order in the Parish. At present the Mexican portion of the Parish is very hard to define, they do not come very numerously to Mass or the Sacraments, with of course some exceptions; but as for Baptisms and sick-calls, they keep us on the constant go. We have not many Italians in the Parish, and I am not sorry for that, as they are no good wherever they are found; but to these also there some good exceptions, v. g. in Ukiah Fr. Raph. has a few splendid families who are doing nearly all the working of the new Church for him. I should say that there are about 190 pretty good families here, who help well by the Duplex-envelope-collection system on the Sundays. Our receipts all told on the Sundays, including collection, seat collection of ten ten cents each, Baptisms, Shrines, Papers, are about $100. Funerals go to the House account. They dont amount to much. Since we came I put in a Shrine to St. Anthony, and got some Catholic Papers, & and the doing away of Pew-rent, and substituting the 10¢ seat our collections have gone up considerably. All disbursements are made out of the Church collections, and we only provide ourselves with clothes. The Pastor's sallary is $1000, per annum, and the Assistant's is $500. We dont take this. I think I have given you a detailed account of the Capuchin Parish of Watts. Glad you are very well, and with best greetings, I am my dear Fr. Provincial, Resp…