"Cardinal O'Connell officiated at the ordination.

"The special dispensation granted by Pope Benedict XV, and which, it was stated, must not be taken as a precedent arrived only a few days ago. Father Wessling was then at the Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Sixteenth Street, New York. He was born here and his mother, his sisters, and his brothers live here. He wanted to be ordained by the Cardinal Archbishop of the See of Boston, his native city, and where his father, now dead, did much effective work for the Catholic Church. The date was set for yesterday, and the ceremony began with a Mass celebrated by the Cardinal at 10 o'clock.

"The setting was perfect and the scene was a remarkable one. Nearly 3,000 people crowded into the church. Long before the doors were opened the crowd gathered. The interior of the church was decorated for the Christmas season. The crimson silk ornamented with golden stars draped the altar base. The altar itself was surmounted by a great electric inscription reading, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo." Festoons of evergreens reached from the ceiling and around the sides of the sanctuary. Red roses formed the only floral decoration of the altar. Branches of holly, fir trees, and evergreens were placed about the sanctuary, and high above the altar rails was a large electric star, representing the Star of Bethlehem.

"When the time came for the Mass to begin about 25 priests from various parts of the diocese, many of them members of religious orders, headed a procession of altar boys, wearing cream colored cassocks, trimmed with red sashes, and white lace surplices; the assisting priests; the blind priest and Father Tivnan of New York; the Rev. Richard J. Haberlin, D.D., the secretary to the Cardinal; and the Cardinal himself. The procession came from the sacristy to the sanctuary.

"Then the Cardinal began the Mass of Ordination. He was assisted by the Rev. Dr. Haberlin and Rev. Charles E. Lane, S.J. The Rev. Thomas F. White, S.J., rector of the St. Francis Xavier Church, New York City, was the assisting priest. The Rev. Charles W. Lyons, S.J., rector of the church and president of Boston College, had a place of honor in the sanctuary. Father Wessling with Father Tivnan, who was assigned to lead him, knelt at a place in the sanctuary on the gospel side of the altar.

"The ceremony of ordination is always very impressive. It was made more so, perhaps on this occasion on account of the circumstances. At various times during the Mass the blind priest was led to the altar steps where the ordination prayers were read. At the end of the Mass the Cardinal addressed the newly ordained priest. He paid a high tribute to his father, who, he said, "During his life he always spent himself in the service of the Holy Mother Church. I doubt not he is in your mind, and surely Almighty God, in his divine Providence, is also with him, participating in this function today.

"'To you my dear father, I offer my heartfelt congratulations.', he continued. 'I congratulate you, I congratulate your dear mother and your dear sisters and brothers. For years have they prayed and wept that this favor be given you. May almighty God be with you and may the powers of the priesthood stimulate you.'

"After the exercises the immediate family of the priest went into the sanctuary, where they received his first blessing.

"The priest's mother was the first to kneel at the feet of her son. He smiled, raised his sightless eyes, placed his hands first over his mother's head, then pressed them to her cheeks and imparted his blessing. The other members of the family followed, and then the priests. Then Father Wessling was led out to the altar rails, where he imparted his first blessing to the great congregation."

ORDINATION OF A BLIND JESUIT

"His Eminence the Cardinal officiated on Wednesday morning in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at a very rare event in the Church - the ordination of a blind man to the priesthood, It was probably the first ceremony of the kind in the United States.

"The recipient of Holy Orders, under such pathetic conditions, was Rev. Henry J. Wessling, S.J., a former Boston man, the son of the late Henry Wessling, for many years prominent in Catholic circles.

"His Eminence was assisted by Very Rev. Thomas F. White, S.J. of St. Francis Xavier Church, New York City, where the now Father Wessling had been for several years, and by Rev. Richard J. Haberlin, D.D., who was Master of Ceremonies.

"At the conclusion of the ordination his Eminence, the Cardinal, congratulated Father Wessling on his ordination to the Holy Priesthood, commenting warmly on the courage and perseverance in working for the fulfillment of his vocation in spite of many difficulties which at one time seemed insuperable. He also took the occasion to praise the sterling Catholicity of the newly ordained priest's father and mother, who for many years had given an example to all by their faith and good works. He mentioned particularly the father of Father Wessling, who was the first president of the local Council of Federation and was for many years foremost in many movements for the promotion of religion and charity.

"Fr. Wessling's affliction was caused by a chemical explosion in a college laboratory at Buffalo, where he was a teacher while pursuing his studies for the priesthood. Notwithstanding his great handicap, and the realization that almost surely he would not be ordained a priest, the brave Jesuit scholastic continued with his studies.

"He entered the Society of Jesus in 1899 from Boston College High School. After completing his course in philosophy at Woodstock College, he was sent for his period of teaching to Holy Cross College, where he taught chemistry for three years. In 1909 he was transferred to Canisius College, Buffalo, N. Y., to teach analytical and organic chemistry. In his final year of teaching, 1911, he met with the accident that rendered him blind."

"Numberless Catholics who have long been taking a prolonged interest in the case of Henry J. Wessling, the Jesuit chemist who was stricken totally blind more than seven years ago by a laboratory accident at Canisius College, Buffalo, were rejoiced to hear that he is now a priest and celebrated his first Mass at Boston College on December 20. In a rescript which arrived in the middle of December, ... , the Holy Father granted Father Wessling leave to be ordained, so he received the subdiaconite and the diaconite from Bishop Collins of Kingston, Jamaica at Saint Francis Xavier's Church, New York, and on December 19 was ordained a priest at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Boston, by Cardinal O'Connell. ..."

Priesterweihe des hochw. P. Heinrich Weßling, S.J.

Der 19, Dezember 1917 ist ein unvergeßliches Tag in des Geschichte des Allerheiligen Dreifaltigkeits Gemeinde in Boston. An diese Tage wurde der Scholastiker des Gesellschaft Jesu, Heinrich J. Weßling, von seines Eminenz, dem Herrn Cardinal William O'Connell, in der Kirche Unbefleckten Empfangnis zum Priester geweiht. H. Weßling ist vor einigen Jahren in Folge einer Explosion erblindet. Trotzdem festete er mit großen Eifer seine Studien fort, immer hoffend, der Heilige Vater werde die Erlaubnis zu seiner Priesterweihe erteilen. Diese ganz außerordentliche, wenn nicht in ihrer Art einzig dastehende Erlaubnis, traf wirklich nach langen Beten und Hoffen endlich ein. Bei der Weihe, wobei viele Priester zeigen waren, assistierte der hoch. P. White, Obere des St Francis Xavier Kollegiums in New York und somit der Obere der Neuzuweihenden und der hoch. Doktor Haberlin, Sekretär seiner Eminenz. Der Herr Cardinal wünschte den neugeweihten Priester Glück und lobte ihn wegen seines Mutter und seiner Ausdauer, um sich für seinen Beruf auszubilden trotz so vieler Schwerigkeiten, die fast unüberwendlich schienen; er benutzte auch die Gelegenheit lobend über die Eltern den neuen Priesten zu sprechen die für so viele Jahre ein so erbauliches Beispiel echt katholischen Geistes gegehen hatten. Seiner Eminenz preite auch nach im Besonderen den Vater des neuen Priestern, der erste Präsident der Catholic Federation der Erzdiözese und für viele Jahre unaufhörlich thätig war, wann und wo immer es sich um das Wahl der Kirche und um Werke der Nächtsenliebe handelte.

P. Weßling brachte noch eine Woche in Boston zu und das jeden Tag die heilige Messe in der Kapelle unserer Schwestern; am heil Weihnachtsfeste feierte er sogar dreimal das heilige Meßopfe und erteilte in der Home Kirche den heiligen Segen. Seine Verwandeten hatten wiederholt den Trost aus seiner Hand die Heilige Kommunion zu empfangen. Die Priester der Gemeinde, ja die ganze Gemeinde nimmt Theil am Glücke der neuen Priestern und wünscht and betet, daß er lange lebe und recht viel zur Ehre Götter und zum Hale unsterblicher Seelen thun möge.

The above quoted accounts of Fr. Wessling's ordination contain a number of inconsistencies. But when read in conjunction with the obituary, these discrepancies are of a minor significance.

The first article, which included a photograph, was taken from the December 22, 1917 edition of "The Boston Post."

The second was found in the December 22, 1917 edition of the "Boston Pilot."

The third article can be seen in the 1918 edition of the "Woodstock Letters".

The final article originated in the February, 1918 edition of the "Monatsbote", the monthly bulletin of Holy Trinity parish.