Portable Mass Kits and American Catholics in WWI
Figure 1: “Magazine Page,” The Washington Times (Oct. 16, 1917)
The October 16, 1917, “Magazine Page” of The Washington Times featured its typical contents, mostly intended for a female audience: thrilling serials, authenticated Good Housekeeping™ recipes, an illustration about courtship, and various advice columns (Figure 1). Seemingly out of place is the tiny rectangle in the top right corner announcing the gift of a portable altar to a U.S. Army chaplain. The altar, “fully equipped with the objects required to enable him to conduct religious services in the field in accordance with the ritual of his church,” was personalized to the chaplain’s division, the artillery, with two crossed cannons inscribed on the stone.
The placement of such a notice in a national paper, and the increasing prevalence of Catholic portable altars and Mass kits, point to the way in which traditionally civilian, religious, or feminine domains were subsumed by the war effort. National and local newspapers, Catholic magazines, and army bulletins advertised stories about chaplains receiving devotional items, which allowed the American public to connect with Christians abroad and grounded devotion in universal terms. Through organizations such as the Chaplains’ Aid Association, Catholic civilians, especially women, contributed to the war effort.
The mass mobilization of soldiers for the United States’ entry into World War I necessitated spiritual and moral guidance among the troops. In April 1917, the U.S. Congress authorized one chaplain for each military regiment and, as David I. Goldman has shown, religious leaders from many faiths responded to the call. According to Susan Fitzpatrick-Behrens, American Catholic citizens, who constituted nearly 15% of the United States population during World War I, also took action. In August 1917, American Catholic bishops founded the National Catholic War Council (NCWC), which intended “not to control, but to direct; not to hinder or curtail, but to coordinate and to promote” Catholic involvement in WWI. The same year, the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, John J. Burke, established the Chaplains’ Aid Association (CAA). Burke desired that the CAA “meet the needs of the Catholic chaplains” who then cared for the spiritual welfare of U.S. troops. Sustained by private donations until 1918, the CAA was then placed under the direction of the NCWC.
U.S. military chaplains received a variety of support through the CAA, but the organization’s primary concern was “to supply their many chaplains with all that was necessary to conduct divine service. This meant, in the first place, an altar, altar equipment, vestments, chalice, etc. All these go to make up what is called a chaplain’s ‘kit.’” According to the “Chaplains’ Aid Association” in The Catholic Bulletin (August 11, 1917), the CAA’s headquarters in New York City sent the full kit, which cost around $100, to chaplains abroad. In just a few months after its founding, the CAA had supplied twenty-two complete chaplains’ kits, as well as rosaries, candles, and prayer books, to priests serving in France.
To expand its impact, the CAA encouraged the establishment of local branches, which provided a way for non-combatants to participate in the war effort through religious material culture. A report on the CAA’s activities in America noted that, shortly after the CAA’s establishment, “spontaneous was the response of the Chapters to all appeals emanating from the central office. Altar linens, vestments, religious articles of all sorts flowed in a constant stream to headquarters.” The amount of devotional items collected by the CAA from its branches demonstrated the effectiveness of collective Catholic action. In 1919, S.M. Murphy stated “the number of altar linens provided was about 35,000, which gives some idea of the labor accomplished by the Chapters.” Murphy credited the accomplishment to the patriotism and enthusiasm of the CAA members.
Catholic women, in particular, found purpose and comradery in their local CAA chapters. Within a week of the Newark chapter’s foundation in late 1917, the honorary committee comprised eighty local Catholic women and nine portable Mass kits were sent to chaplains through the CAA’s headquarters. Blanche Mary Dillon, the Newark chapter secretary, noted in her report to America readers, “we feel that the success of our work has been due mainly to its appeal to the faith and patriotism of our women.” Articles and notices, such as Dillon’s, about the portable Mass kits and supply efforts abroad inspired patriotism and activism on behalf of home-front readers, as well as assured them that the priests at the front had the correct tools for soldiers’ salvation.
The need for devotional objects by Catholic military chaplains rallied Catholic citizens and enfolded them into the war effort. A brief notice in the July 20, 1918 America urged that “no Catholic anxious to do real war work should fail to get in touch with the office of the Chaplains’ Aid.” Similarly, another article insisted that “[Catholics] must see to it that the thousands of our young men who will be in camp or trench do not starve spiritually.” Through the organization of the CAA and the enthusiasm of U.S. Catholics across the nation, portable altars and Mass kits allowed Catholics to participate in the war. As John Burke, the CAA’s founder, said, “From this outline it will be seen that the entire Catholic Church of the country from the lowest to the highest of its members have put themselves at the service of the government.”
Through the efforts of the CAA, the collection and dissemination of Catholic material culture allowed for a shared devotion across geographic boundaries during World War I. Announcements about portable Mass kits and altars reassured home-front Catholics that their soldiers were spiritually taken care of and fostered a universal Catholic sentiment. The collective patriotism and religious piety felt by U.S. Catholics during WWI through efforts to supply devotional objects abroad paved the way for the solidification of American Catholic identity during the Great Depression and World War II.
Dr. Sarah Luginbill is an adjunct professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Her research into the Chaplains' Aid Association and twentieth-century portable altars will continue as a 2022–2023 Public Humanities Faculty Fellow, supported by the Trinity Humanities Collective.