Br. Honoratus of the Cross

Anthony Smolla, the son of Joseph and Veronica Maschek Smolla was born on January 19, 1846, at Stich, Bohemia. At age twenty-two he and his brother emigrated to the United States. In this same year, 1868, he entered the Brothers' New York Novitiate. His first assignment was at St. Nicolas School in Westchester, New York. From 1873 to 1875 he taught at Saint Peter's School in Philadelphia and from 1875 to 1879 he served as head master of Our Lady of Seven Dolors. In 1879 he began teaching a commercial class at Assumption School in St. Paul and three years later in 1882 became Sub-Director of the Novitiate at Carondelet. In 1883 we find him as Sub-Director at the orphanage of Bridgeport in Chicago and from 1885 to 1894 he taught classes at St. Patrick's High School in Chicago, Illinois. In 1894 he was assigned to Christian Brothers College in St. Louis, Missouri, to teach German. He remained in St. Louis until 1903 during which time he taught classes at St. Vincent's school for several months. He died on February 11, 1903 and he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. On January 24, 1934, his remains were transferred to the Brothers' Calvary Cemetery in Glencoe, Missouri. At the time of his death he was in his thirty-fifth year as a De La Salle Christian Brother.