A Man of Profound Faith

 By Bert Riggs/The Evening Telegram

Fr Antonio Fyme  During the 17th century, England and Holland were in continual conflict over trade, especially the spice trade in the East Indies. Several of these conflicts led to open warfare. The fighting was not limited to Europe or the Indies, but also spread to English and Dutch possessions in the new world.

On June 6, 1665, the Dutch Admiral De Ruyter captured St. John's and destroyed fishing rooms at Bay Bulls and Petty Harbour. Almost two decades later, in 1673, the Dutch fleet captured and burned Ferryland but was prevented from taking St. John's a second time.

In 1903, a young Dutch-born seminarian settled in Newfoundland and dedicated the remainder of his life to the spiritual and physical well-being of the people of this land. His generosity and devotion to duty more than made up for any grief caused to Newfoundlanders by the Dutch naval fleet more than two and a half centuries before.

Antonio Johannes Gerardus Fyme was born in Warnink, Holland, Aug. 29, 1879, the son of Elisabeth Bernardina Maria and Gerardus Cornelius Jacobus Fyme. He appears to have been destined for a life in the church for, at the age of six, he began attending the Apolostic School at Udenin, a seminary run by the Crozier Fathers.

After graduation in 1895, he enrolled in a seminary in Roulers, Belgium. There he studied philosophy in preparation for ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood, but ill health forced him to leave there in 1897.  He soon made a complete recovery and later that year travelled to England where he resumed his theological studies at a seminary in Leeds.  It was there that he met Michael F. Howley, Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John's, who was in England recruiting priests for his diocese.

Howley was impressed with the young seminarian and accepted his offer to serve the church in Newfoundland. Following completion of his studies in 1903, Fyme sailed for St. John's where, in the chapel of the Order of the Blessed Presentation of the Virgin Mary at Cathedral Square, he was ordained as a subdeacon on Sept. 25 and as a deacon on Sept. 27. Two days later, he was raised to the priesthood.

Fyme's first posting in his new diocese was at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John's. In addition to his clerical duties in administering the sacraments and officiating at mass, he served as chaplain to the Presentation Convent school, Mercy College, the Christian Brothers at Mount St. Francis, the Catholic Cadet Corps and the penitentiary, and taught classes in Bible study on Sunday mornings.

He demonstrated a deep concern for the young school-age boys, many of whom were orphans, who were forced to roam the waterfront of St. John's seeking odd jobs to support themselves and their families. When the Christian Brothers established a night school for these boys, Fyme readily agreed to Archbishop Howley's request that he assume responsibility for their introduction to Christian doctrine.

In order to assist them in understanding the teachings of the church, he developed a catechism that these lads could easily comprehend. He also made a point of going to the waterfront several times each year and personally shepherding the boys to the cathedral to receive the sacraments.

He quickly earned their respect and trust and before long they would gather themselves together at the appointed time and parade to the cathedral for confession.

While at the cathedral, he established the Anti-Treating League, a society so named because its members made a solemn vow to refrain treating themselves or others to alcoholic drink. He also founded a recreation centre for fishermen on Adelaide Street.

After seven years at the cathedral, in 1910, Fyme was transferred to Sacred Heart Parish, St. Bride's, on the southwestern corner of the Avalon Peninsula, in Placentia Bay.  While there he was responsible for the construction of a handsome Romanesque-style church at Branch, then a mission of the St. Bride's parish. Plans for this structure were designed by his brother, a draughtsman in Holland.

This brother was not the only member of his family to take a direct interest in Fyme's labours in Newfoundland. During his tenure at St. Bride's, his mother and a sister made the long journey from Holland to assist him. His mother served as his parish housekeeper for a number of years; his sister eventually married a man from St. Leonard's and gave birth to a number of children of Dutch‑Irish-Newfoundland ancestry.

Fyme spent only three years at St. Bride's before being assigned priestly duties at St. Kyran's, a community on the western side of Placentia Bay It was an extensive parish that included many of the smaller fishing communities situated on the eastern side of the Burin Peninsula and on the islands in Placentia Bay: St. Leonard’s, Clattice Harbour, Bruley, Presque, Big and Little Bona, Isle Valen, Darby's Harbour, Toslow and Petite Forte.

In order to minister to his parishioners in these communities he was required to travel in all winds and weather in a small, open boat, which he named the Jubilee. Painted in the papal colours — yellow and white — it flew the papal flag when entering a harbour and had a recessed tabernacle in the forecastle to safeguard the sacramental wine and wafers.

Fyme spent 25 years in St. Kyran's parish, from 1913 to 1938, during which time Newfoundland was drawn into the midst of two world tragedies, neither of which of its own making: The First World War and the Great Depression. As parish priest, Fyme had the heartbreaking task of informing men and women of the parish that their sons had been killed or wounded on the battlefields of Europe.

The Great Depression greatly affected the livelihood of the many hundreds of fishermen in Placentia Bay, as the price paid for Newfoundland salted cod in European markets entered a downward spiral. Fyme's resourcefulness engendered a new spirit of co-operation among his flock. He encouraged people to follow his example and bottle fish, meat, vegetables and berries during the summer and fall against the hardship of the coming winter.

When Fyme arrived in St. Kyran's, the parish seat was served by a striking stone church and rectory that had been built during the tenure of Father James Walsh. On June 6,1922, both the church and the rectory were destroyed by fire. He immediately set about rebuilding both structures. In this task he had the full support of his parishioners who freely contributed their talents and their labours in the erection of a new church and rectory.

His church construction did not end there. During his time at St. Kyran's, and later at Merasheen, he arranged for the construction of new churches at Petite Forte and at Great and Little Paradise. Each of these was an "ornate, but simple and devotional" place of worship, beautifully finished in polished wood, with marble altar rails. Each had a bell that could be heard for miles around to summon the faithful to devotions and prayers.

Fyme left St. Kyran's in 1938 but he did not leave Placentia Bay He spent the next 18 years at Merasheen, where, in addition to his priestly duties, he continued to promote self-sufficiency.  One of his innovations there was to procure a loom for the school where the girls were taught weaving.

Ill health forced him to leave Merasheen in 1956. He returned to St. John's where he spent the remainder of his life as chaplain to the Christian Brothers and students at St. Bonaventure's College.

There he rekindled the spirit of trust and admiration that had been the hallmark of his earlier sojourn among the Roman Catholic adherents of the city.

His health continued to decline and he died, after a short stay in hospital, on Sept. 6, 1964. Following a requiem mass at the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, where an honour guard from the Holy Name Society of Merasheen kept a vigil over his coffin, he was interred in Belvedere Cemetery

Fyme, who celebrated his Diamond Jubilee in the priesthood in 1963, was named a Domestic Prelate, with the rank of Monsignor, by Pope Pius XII in 1951. A man of profound faith, he cared deeply about the people of Newfoundland and dedicated his life to serving their needs. In return he was truly loved by his parishioners and held in the highest respect by all who knew him.

Bert Riggs is an archivist with the Centre for Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University.

from an email by his nephew Michael Fyme:

Rev ANTHONY Fyme had a brother and a sister.
Brother:
GERARD Francis Fyme m. Bridget O'Dea
Children:
Gerard Fyme m. Margaret Moran; ch: Mary Francis, Delorus and Margaret Ann (Gerard deceased bef 1999)
Margaret Fyme m. Nat Mott; ch: Particia, Mary and Edward (Margaret deceased before 1999)
Michael Fyme m. Dorothy Connolly; ch: Mary Ann, Dorothy and Kathleen; 2nd wife named Gladys. (Michael living with second wife in Florida as of Sept 1999; first wife Dorothy died in the 70s)
Elizabeth Fyme m. Harry Sheshene; ch: Gerard, Betty Ann, James, John, Henery, Joseph, Paul and Thomas (Elizabeth lives in Long Beach, NY

Sister:

ELLEN or ELIZABETH Fyme m. Fred Leonard; 2 children both deceased.

Their parents were Elizabeth (LNU) and Gerard Fyme

Excerpts from obituary in Catholic Newspaper in St. John's NFLD Sept 1964 and recollections of J. O'Connor Foster:

Born Warnink in the Netherlands (Holland) in 1879..secondary schooling with Crozier Fathers at Uden in Holland (a minor seminary where the boys did not board but rather lived with local families)...studied philosophy in Roulers, Belgium and theology in Leeds, England. The Archbishop of Newfoundland made a recruiting visit to England to find priests willing to come to Newfoundland and it was to this invitation that Anton Fyme responded. He arrived in Newfoundland as a seminarian and was ordained 29 September 1903 in the chapel of the Presentation Convent School in St. John's. He began his ministry in the Cathedral and schools for 7 years in which time he began the Anti-Treating League. This was a program to stop the fishermen from squandering away their pay slips on alcohol and leaving families destitute. He also taught Christian Doctine in night school, composing his own catechism for use with the underprivileged boys ("wharf rats") he instructed. He was also active in rehabilitation of prisoners and organized clothing drives for the poor. In his spare time he enjoyed photograpy and made his own Christmas Cards (I have some of these and all the photos he took of my Dad [orphaned early] while growing up.)

In 1910 he was appointed as Parish Priest at St. Bride's on the Cape Shore. His sister Elizabeth and his mother had come from Holland and came with him to his first Parish assignment. He was a large man and physically very strong but was required to walk about 10 miles each day through rough terrain to fulfill his obligations and serve his parish. Together with his brother Gerard ( a draftsman in Holland) he built a Romanesque church at Branch in St. Mary's Bay.

In 1913 he was sent to St. Kyran's on the west side of Placentia Bay. His mother and sister accompanied him. A few years later his mother died and his sister married a local man (Fred Leonard) and raised a family there. Both of these woman are buried along side the stone church in St. Leonard's. (The church burned in 1921 and is in rubbles now and the cemetery overgrown and in bad condition).

Within two years he built a new church which would serve St. Kyran's; St. Leonard's; the Clattices; Presque; Big and Little Bona; Isle Valen; Darby's Harbour and a few people from nearby Merasheen Island. (He covered this extensive area alone for over 25 years, traveling by boat along the waterways of each of the communties.) It must be remembered that this time period covered the worst misery of the Depression but somehow he managed to develope a spirit of enterprise in the people. He taught the preservation of meat and vegetables and kept a garden along with cows and goats. He introduced the gas lantern and diesel lights and movies. He taught the girls in Merasheen school how to weave and run a loom and the boys how to use saws and other tools to construct with. He built churches and schools and Halls. (My Dad said he built some 30 buildings and Dad helped make the bricks they used to construct them, each brick formed by hand.)

[In 1928 my Dad left NFLD to live permanently in the States] In 1938, due to poor health, Rev Fyme was transferred to the nearby island of Merasheen. Here a less rigorous schedule was afforded him but as he improved he took on the additonal duties of the parish of Red Island as well. He loved the Mass and instilled in all of his parishoners the same. Resigning in 1956, now 77 and in failing health, he left Merasheen and settled in at St. Bonnaventure's College in St. John's to a slower pace of life. He was Chaplain to the Brothers and students.

In 1964 and in his mid 80s, he was taken to St. Clare's hospital where he died on Sept 6th. He was waked in the chapel of his beloved St. Bonnaventure's (where the students kept vigil over his coffin); then taken to the Basilica for a funeral Mass. It was concelebrated by 4 priests with another 40 priests were in attendance, In additon to many local personages along with a large contingency of nuns and the entire student body of local schools. The Holy Name Society guarded his casket and following the funeral his remains were carried in a prosesssion, followed by all who had attended the services, to nearby Belvedere Cemetery (the priests plot) where he now lies.

 

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