St Francis Minor Seminary - Via Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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es 1887-1889 SAINT FRANCIS SBMINARY The Monsignor Rainer Period HIS CHAPTER in the history of the Seminary should be very inter- esting, indeed, to all who have been privileged to be students here during the making of the period of which it treats. This chapter of memoirs proposes to recount the outstanding events . which transpired between 1887 . and 1906 and add in its own i way to a complete picture of the ' epoch. The Very Reverend Joseph Rainer, whose desire through all the long years that succeeded was to oHer his lifeis work for the en- couragement of hundreds to priestly zeal, rose to the highest honor in the institution at the beginning of the scholastic year in 1887. Thus it is that this chapter begins with his accession to the Rectorship and concludes with the Golden Jubilee of the Semi- nary. Without doubt, his name, after those of Heiss and Salzmann, is the one most frequently recalled by the lovers of the Salesianum. He has won this admiration through years of tireless service, and truly deserves to be the chief figure of the present chapter. From the outset, we see him carrying high the banner of the institution. He, in the vast majority of instances, represented the institution on great solemnities. In his first year as Rector we find him present at the consecration of the Right Reverend Thomas Bonacum as Bishop of Lincoln. Exactly one year later he represented our Alma Mater at the consecration of the Right Reverend J Hennessy as Bishop of Wichita. Both were former students of the Seminary, were consecrated on the same day of the year, November, the thirtieth, and in the same place, St. Louis. This first year of his Rectorship seemed to presage great things: it was a cardinal one in his long ser- vice. Hardly had the school year begun when a most signal honor was conferred upon the Seminary. It was on September, the twenty-eighth, that His Emi- nence, James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Balti- more, accompanied by Archbishop Heiss of Milwau- kee and others, visited this hallowed institution and spoke to the students. The eminent Cardinal and great Statesman sealed the students, respect by con- ceding the following day as 8free8. Though the dignity of Church and State were nobly represented in this scholarly Cardinal, yet the kindly solicitous Rector was not at peace until he had obtained the privilege of paying honor to the Pres- ident, Grover Cleveland. Eight days following the visit of Cardinal Gibbons the train bearing President Cleveland halted at St. Francis station to give the students the coveted opportunity of seeing and hear- ing His Excellency. President and Mrs. Cleveland appeared on the rear platform and received the en- thusiastic greetings of the students. The student body had one other like privilege in the closing months of the century when it gathered at the station again. Pres- ident McKinley it was this time who appeared on the rear platform of his special train to receive the spirited greetings of the seminarists. Pope Leo XIII, who by his high statecraft and Christian leadership had ever attracted the whole worldis esteem and respect was signally honored throughout the world in the year 1887 and especially in the year 1893. On December 15, 1887, the Semi- nary celebrated the golden jubilee of the priesthood of His Holiness and on February 19, 1893, solemn- ized the golden jubilee of his episcopal consecration. The Patron Feast in 1889 is well worth recording, for it marked the blessing of the new altar picture by Archbishop Katzer. This picture, which represents the episcopal consecration of St. Francis de Sales, was ever a central point of love and just pride for the Rector. In after years, he enjoyed repeating its story, thus making vivid for those of later years what he had watched with his own eyes from begin- ning to completion. The picture was painted by Mr. J. Schmitt of Covington, Kentucky, and was begun on the ninth of the previous August. The last day of April following, marked the first century since the inauguration of George Washing- ton as President of the United States. The thought of this historic event brought from the pen of the Rector that poem which is familiar to many of his Latin students, his Carmen Saeculareii. The day was begun with a Solemn Votive Mass in honor of the Immaculate Conce tion, celebrated by the Rector. The afternoon broug t forth a rogram of seven speeches, which Fittingly representeniD the character and make-up of our nation; for, as the speeches were seven-fold in number, so they were likewise seven-fold in language. It is noteworthy that, within this same year, fell also the first centenary of the establishment of the Catholic Hierarchy in the United States. The Very Reverend Rector attended this latter celebration, which was made memorable by the opening of the new Catholic University. The close of the year brought the welcome news of the consecration of an Alumnus, the Right Rev. James B. Cotter, as Bishop of Winona, Minn. 1351

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z:K356 JUBILEE 6Dedicated 1 861 f341 INTERIOR OF SEMINARY CHAPEL DIAMOND

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i951 The First Provincial Council of Milwaukee The ORDINARIEs-1886 mp Rt. Rev. M. Marty, D D. Rt. Rev. John Vertin, D.D. Rt. Rev. Kilian C Flasch, D.D. Rt. Rev. John Ireland, D.D. Most Rev. M. Heiss, D.D. Rt. Rev. R. Seidenbush, D.D. GNOIAIVICI EIEI'IIHIIF 999?