John Murdoch

(Lowland District) Born at Wellheads, Enzie, 11th November 1796, the son of John Murdoch and Helen Simpson (and baptised by George Mathison, no. 5); arrived in Valladolid from Aquhorties; ordained a priest by Bishop of Segovia, 19th March 1821, and left for Scotland, 8th May 1821; consecrated titular Bishop of Castabala and coadjutor of Bp. Scott, V.A. of the Western District, in St. Andrew’s, Glasgow, by Bp. Kyle, 20th October 1833; became Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, 4th December 1846; died in Glasgow, 15th December 1865. (MT)

The following report on John Murdoch is taken from the Scottish Catholic Directory of 1836.

John Murdoch was born at Wellheads, in the Enzie, on the 11th October in 1796. He was received into the Seminary of Aquhorties in 1809, and was sent to the Scottish College of Valladolid in 1816. Having been there ordained Priest, he returned to Scotland in 1821, and was placed in the Glasgow mission. In spring 1833, Bishop Scott applied to the Holy See to have Mr Murdoch named his coadjutor. He was in consequence appointed to that office, under the title of Bishop of Castabala, and was consecrated at Glasgow on the 20th October 1833.

Obituary of John Murdoch from the Scottish Catholic Directory of 1867.

Pray for the soul of the Right Rev. John Murdoch, Bishop of Castabala, and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, who died at Glasgow on the 15th December 1865, in the 70th year of his age, and 33d of his episcopacy.

The district of country known as the Enzie, and lying in the lower and more northern part of Banffshire, has been pre-eminent, even in the most difficult times, for its stern adherence to the Catholic faith. It was also for many years, in a great measure, the nursery of the Catholic Priesthood. Of the seventeen Vicars Apostolic who since 1695 have presided over the Lowland District, or over the three Districts since 1828, no less than nine were born in the Enzie, which also gave birth to a very considerable proportion of Priests, who have been, in the hands of God, the means of preserving and spreading the light of the Gospel in Scotland. It was in this country that this venerable and distinguished Prelate, who governed the Western District for so many years, first saw the light.

Bishop Murdoch was born at Wallheads on the 11th November 1796. This place was attached to the Congregation of Tynett, which was then, and for many years subsequent, under the charge of the Rev. George Mathison. He, observing the happy dispositions and the signs of talent which the youth evinced, recommended him as a fit subject for the Church to the notice of Bishop Cameron, who sent him to the College of Aquhorties, which he entered on the 24th of January 1809, and soon showed by his piety, application, and progress, that the good opinion entertained of him was well founded. Having completed his classical studies in that seminary, he was sent, along with other six students from it, and four from Lismore, to the Scots College of Valladolid. They left Aquhorties on the 2d November 1816, proceeded by sea, and arrived at their destination in January following. During the partial occupation of Spain by the French for some years previous, it had been found necessary to interrupt the succession of students in that establishment, and it was at this period that it was restored. While Mr Murdoch was an inmate of that bouse, he gave unmistakable proofs of the eminence which he attained in after life. He was at the head of his class in almost every department, while for deep and solid virtue, he was second to none.

He was promoted to the Priesthood on the 19th of March 1821, and soon after set out on his return to Scotland. He arrived in Edinburgh while the memorable jury-trial, at the instance of the Rev. Andrew Scott, then Missionary in Glasgow, and afterwards Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, against the editor of the Protestant, for defamation, was pending, in which Mr Scott, after the able speeches of Messrs Jeffrey and Cockburn in his defence, obtained a verdict with considerable damages, in his favour, which vindicated, in the eyes of the world, the character and sterling uprightness of the Catholic Priest. It was question at that time of sending Mr Murdoch to Ayr, which had been without a pastor since the decease of a French emigrant Clergyman, who had discharged the clerical functions in that town for several years; but that arrangement did not take place, and he was appointed by Bishop Cameron as assistant to Mr Scott, whom he accompanied to Glasgow, which city was destined by Providence to be the field of his future labours, and which was the only charge he ever held as a Missionary. During the twelve years that he performed the duties of a simple Priest—duties particularly onerous in such a place as Glasgow, where the Catholic population was even then very numerous, and only two clergymen to do the work, nothing more requires to be recorded of him, than that he laboured with the zeal and energy of an apostle. Deeply impressed with the necessity of enlightening the minds of the ignorant, and of imbuing the hearts of the rising generation with principles of solid virtue, he was most assiduous in instructing the young; he was also indefatigable in the pulpit. As a preacher, he was remarkable for clearness, power, and impressiveness, and excelled in bringing home to the consciences of his audience the great truths of revelation. Such was the reputation which he had acquired in a few years for pulpit oratory, that when there was any particular solemnity in any part of the Scottish Mission, he was generally called upon to preach; and he was, on various occasions, invited for the same purpose to England. For the duties of the pulpit he prepared himself with the greatest care. He very seldom trusted himself to extemporaneous speaking, but his discourses were all studied and meditated upon, and he strongly recommended the same method to the junior Missionaries. His delivery was, to a degree, solemn and impressive; his utterance unusually clear and distinct, and the imposing tone of his voice added a singular dignity to the manliness of his figure.

He was unremitting in the Confessional. Almost every night in the week it was there he was to be found; and this important and onerous duty he discharged, both as Priest and Bishop, to the very last, and devoted to it all the time he could spare from his other laborious functions. He was also unwearied in his care of the sick and the dying. He well knew that it was in the last moments the demons exert their deadliest power to secure as their victim the Christian soul, and hence were aroused all the energies of his affectionate zeal. By day and by night he was ready at the call of the dying. The more loathsome the disease, the more wretched the abode, the more abandoned the sufferers were, the dearer they became to his paternal heart. In a word, he was looked upon in the punctual discharge of his duties as the model of all the younger Priests. He was also intimately associated with his venerable predecessor in all his truly apostolical exertions for the progress of religion, both in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. In 1828 Bishop Paterson, then Vicar-Apostolic of the Eastern District, proposed to take him to Edinburgh. To this change he himself was averse, and the influence of Mr Scott, who wished to retain his services, finally prevailed.

Such was the eminence which he had now attained, that his name and his fame had travelled beyond the kingdom, and had reached even Rome. Early in 1833, when it was question of selecting a Coadjutor for Dr Macdonell, Bishop of Kingston, in Upper Canada, he was, without his knowledge, pointed out to the Holy See as the fittest person to he raised to that dignity, and the Bulls for his appointment were actually in course of preparation. On being informed of this, he at once respectfully, but peremptorily, declined the honour, and said that he would rather live and die a Priest among the poor in his own country, where Providence had cast his lot, than be Bishop in any other quarter. On the strong remonstrances of the Scottish Vicars Apostolic io Propaganda, that appointment was cancelled, and Dr Scott, who had been consecrated Bishop in September 1828, immediately postulated for him as his Coadjutor. This postulation having been favourably received, new Bulls were issued, nominating him Bishop of Castabala in partibus infidelium—the title held by the late venerable Dr Milner, and Coadjutor of the Western District, with right of succession. The Bulls were expedited early in July 1833, and the consecration took place with great solemnity in St Andrew’s Church, Glasgow, on the 20th of the following October, on which occasion the Right Rev. Dr Kyle, V. A. of the Northern District, was the consecrating Bishop, assisted by the Right Rev. Dr Scott and the Right Rev. Dr Carruthers, V.A. of the Eastern District.

The elevation of Dr Murdoch to the Episcopal dignity made not in him the slightest alteration, except to add to his burdens. For years upon years he performed all Missionary functions the same as the youngest of his Priests; but now the time had arrived when something more was to be done. Since the year 1805 Bishop Scott had laboured almost single-handed in the west of Scotland, but the weight of these labours, and advancing years, had already undermined his hitherto robust constitution. Towards the close of 1834 he retired to Greenock, and resigned to his Coadjutor the whole charge of Glasgow, reserving to himself merely the general superintendence of the District; and it was at this period that Bishop Murdoch set about what was the great work of his life— viz., the extension of the benefits of religion, the establishing of Missions, and the erection of Churches, Chapels, and Schools.

When he arrived in Glasgow as Priest, there was in that city but one Chapel, one also in Paisley, and another in Greenock. There were then only three Priests in the Lowland portion of the West. When he was consecrated Bishop, there were only six Chapels and ten Priests. Meanwhile the number of Catholics, owing to emigration from Ireland, was multiplying in a remarkable degree, and it was found necessary to make extraordinary exertions for providing means of public worship and religious instruction for so great an increase. To accomplish this vast undertaking with prudence, he deemed it expedient to commence by liquidating the heavy debt with which St Andrew’s Church was burdened. In pursuance of this object, he called early in 1835 a meeting of the whole congregation, laid before them the state of the debt, and explained the measures which he had devised for its speedy extinction. The proposal was received with the greatest unanimity and enthusiasm; the zealous co-operation of all was promised; weekly contributions were set on foot; collectors were appointed, and the result was, that in five years not only was the debt paid off, but it is believed that some funds were provided to aid in the erection of other chapels. St Mary’s Church and Presbyterium were completed in 1842. New Missions were opened, and new chapels raised in various places in rapid succession. Thus, during his Episcopacy, no less than fifty-six churches and chapels were erected. Of these, some few in the Highlands were superintended more immediately by Bishop Scott. About five were raised chiefly by the munificence of private individuals. The rest were reared directly by him and by the Clergymen within his jurisdiction, all of whom most zealously co-operated with him, and exerted themselves to procure contributions from their people, and many by personal application in other quarters. Attached to these Chapels, houses for the Clergymen, and, generally speaking, Schools were also erected. These latter the Bishop was most eager to encourage; and in most of the congregations there are now Day and Sunday Schools carried on in a very efficient manner.

Notwithstanding the cares and anxieties inseparable from so many and such extensive undertakings, he never relaxed from the discharge of his Episcopal duties, as well as the ordinary duties of a Missionary. He generally preached every Sunday, and often twice on the same day, attended regularly the Confessional, and took his share in the duty of assisting the sick and the dying. When he observed that any of his Priests was overtasked with labour, he was always ready to relieve him, or at least to aid him, if he possibly could. These almost superhuman exertions, and, perhaps, not less the vexations and disappointments which he occasionally met with, acting on a sensitive temperament, had already begun to make serious inroads on a constitution that was never robust, insomuch that in 1846 some alarming symptoms had manifested themselves, and fears were entertained that his health would yield at length to such incessant toils. He was, in consequence, compelled to relax to some extent from his labours; and soon after Bishop Scott’s death in December 1846, to think of obtaining assistance. At various periods of his life he had thoughts of resigning his high office; and on one occasion he had gone so far to supplicate the Holy See to relieve him of the burden. This request not being acceded to, he obtained a Coadjutor in the person of the Rev. Alex. Smith, who was consecrated on the 3d October 1847. After the example of his venerable predecessor, he had resolved to give up to his Coadjutor the direct and immediate charge of the Glasgow congregations, and to confine himself to the general management of the District; but the execution of this design he was obliged to postpone till after the return from America of Bishop Smith, who had undertaken a journey thither, accompanied by the Rev. Mr Gray, with the object of collecting funds to aid in the liquidation of the debt on the property of Dalbeth, which had been purchased in 1846 with the view of founding there an Ecclesiastical College for the Western District. The latter returned in January 1849, and soon after Bishop Murdoch removed from St Andrew ’s, Glasgow, to St Mary’s.

The increasing duties of his Vicariate now so widely extended, and the infirm state of health of his Coadjutor, combined with other circumstances, did not however allow him that repose which he so much required. The visitation of his numerous Missions to administer Confirmation, to preside at the opening of chapels and perform other functions, and his periodical journeys to the Highlands and Islands on the west coast, as well as a multitude of other transactions, in which he was necessarily engaged, engrossed all his time, and he continued to labour as formerly. At this period so straitened was he for want of priests that he was obliged to remove from St Mary’s to St John’s in the Gorbals, in order to supply personally the necessities of that numerous congregation.

Though Religion continued to extend rapidly and new Missions to be founded in the District, still no Religious Order had as yet been introduced to minister to the poor and to superintend the education and virtuous training of the younger members of the flock. To meet this deficiency, in the autumn of 1849 he established a Convent of the Sisters of our Lady of Mercy to take charge of the Female Orphanage, to manage the Girls’ Poor Schools, and to give Religious instruction, in the Sunday Schools and otherwise, to the immense multitude of females spread over the city. This great work was at length achieved under almost insurmountable difficulties. These Nuns have now the charge of several of the Female Schools in the various Catholic parishes of Glasgow. About this time the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception was founded in Charlotte Street under the immediate management of Bishop Smith. In 1851 the Convent of the Good Shepherd for the Reformation of Females was opened at Dalbeth. The intention of establishing a College there having, in the meantime, been given up, the mansion-house with part of the grounds was made over by purchase to these Religious, who have added to their other good works the superintendence of a Reformatory for Girls. Of tills community Bishop Murdoch continued to be the Spiritual Director till his death. In I860 the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent of Paul were settled at Lanark. These Religious take charge of the Schools, and have the care of an Hospital there. They also conduct a large Orphanage at Smyllum Park, in the immediate vicinity of Lanark. In 1862 the Little Sisters of the Poor established themselves in Glasgow. These receive into their House the aged and infirm whom they tend with motherly care and affection. But it did not satisfy the zeal of Bishop Murdoch to have thus provided, so far as he could, for the spiritual and corporal necessities of the female portion of his people; he also introduced into his Vicariate some of the Orders of the Regular Clergy. Thus, in 1859, the Fathers of the Congregation of the Mission took possession of Lanark; in which year also the Fathers of the Society of Jesus received the charge of the Parish of St Joseph, and established a College for the education of the youths in Glasgow, and the Parish of St Mungo was handed over, in 1865, to the Fathers of the Order of the Passion; while some of the Boys’ Schools were put under the direction of the Marist Brothers, who also set on foot an Academy to provide a suitable education for boys of the Middle Classes.

For many years Bishop Murdoch had a longing desire to visit the “Eternal City”, and to pray before the Shrines of the Apostles. This longing of his, owing to the multiplicity of his labours, he had never the opportunity of satisfying, till, at last, in 1857, his Coadjutor being then in tolerable health, and able, so far, to relieve him, he determined upon undertaking the journey. Accordingly he set out on the 19th November, accompanied by the Rev. J. Macpherson, then Rector of Blairs College. He proceeded first to Ratisbon, where he remained a month in the vain endeavour to render that ancient establishment available for the interests of Religion in Scotland. He then continued his journey to Rome, here he arrived on the 20th January 1858. During his sojourn there, though far from being in good health, he visited all the principal churches and monuments of antiquity, had frequent interviews on the affairs of his Vicariate with the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda and other Cardinals, and also special audiences of the Holy Father, who received him always with marked kindness and affection. He left Rome on the 24th May, and travelled home through Tuscany, Lombardy, Switzerland, and France. In May 1859, he undertook a journey to Spain, accompanied by the Rev. W. Gordon of Greenock, to settle some matters relating to the Scots College of Valladolid, and returned in August following.

In 1861, the health of Bishop Smith, which had been declining for several years, at length gave way completely, and that estimable Prelate expired in June of that year. This was a severe stroke for Bishop Murdoch, who had thus again the whole weight of the Vicariate thrown on his shoulders. With this burden he was no longer able to cope single-handed. He therefore had recourse a second time to the Holy See, and the Very Rev. John Gray, who had for sometime been Vicar-General, was appointed Coadjutor, and received episcopal consecration on the 19th October 1862. Nothwithstanding the powerful aid thus afforded him the good Bishop continued to labour on to the end. For the two last years of his life he had many severe trials and afflictions to endure, and these came from a quarter from which a different return might have been expected. Yet all this he bore with extraordinary forbearance and resignation, choosing rather to suffer on than to afflict others. He well knew that, like his Divine Master, he had to carry his cross. His last days were days of sorrow and of bitterness, and thus was he purified and perfected for a better world. While stretched on the bed of death, he suffered much and never complained. Many came even from a distance to obtain his last blessing. Among others, some who had caused him sorrow came acknowledging their fault and asking forgiveness, and these he blessed from the fulness of his heart. Strengthened with all the aids of Religion, surrounded with all the consolations that respect and affection could suggest, or piety administer, “He died the death of the just, and his last end was like unto theirs.” With regard to his character and personal virtues little need be said, they are pourtrayed in his acts and his life, which was a life of singular devotedness to duty and to the good of his fellow-men. His unaffected humility, his sacred conscientiousness, his fervent piety, his guileless candour and patient forbearance, his love for his clergy, his sincere attachment to his friends, his charity to the poor, and personal disinterestedness, (for he died leaving nothing,) his wonderful singleness of purpose, and, above all, his boundless zeal for the salvation of souls, mark him as the holy Bishop, as the good and faithful Pastor, who has gone to his reward.

The funeral obsequies, which were most solemn and imposing, took place on the 21st December. All the Clergy of the Western District who were within reach, and several from the Eastern District, attended to pay the last mark of their respect to the departed Prelate, while many personal friends from a distance were also present. Long before the hour of service, the Church of St Andrew’s was filled with a densely crowded and mourning Congregation. The Requiem Mass was sung by the Right Rev. Bishop Strain, V.A. of the Eastern District, attended by the Rev. Dr Macpherson of Perth as Assistant-Priest, the Rev. J. Vasall of St Andrew’s, Glasgow, as Deacon, and the Rev. J. Maclachlan of Kilmarnock as Subdeacon. The sermon was preached by the Rev. P. Forbes of St Mary’s, Glasgow. After the customary Absolutions the funeral cortege was formed, consisting of a hearse drawn by six horses, and upwards of a hundred mourning coaches and private carriages. This long and magnificent procession wended its way amidst dense crowds to St Mary’s, Calton, where after the concluding prayers were chanted, the mortal remains of the good Bishop were lowered into the vault prepared to receive them alongside those of his predecessor, the late Bishop Scott.