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

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12851 The First Provincial Council of Milwaukee The OFFICIALs-1886 GNONVICI EIEI'IIEIIIF Rev. OJ Zardetti, DJD. Rev. D. E Thill Rev. C. Becker Very Rev. E. Jacker Very Rev. A. Zeininger Rev Rt. Rev. Msgr. L. Batz, V.G. Rev. J. M. Naughtin Rt. Rev. MJ Marty, D.D. Most Rev. M. Heiss, D.D. . Wm. Neu Rev. J. J Rem J. Rainer Rev. C. F. X. Goldsmith, D.D. Very Rev. F. . Keogh Rev. S. Lebl, D.D. Rev. J. Shanley Katzer Rev. P. M. Abbelen QSQIJ

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$3:b The year 1890 was one of sickness and death in the annals of our beloved Seminary. iiWhen sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions? The year was begun with an epidemic of influenza and la grippe which resulted in a hgrippe vacation? It was not far spent until news was re- ceived of the death of a former Rector and world- renowned liturgist, the Rev. Innocent Wapelhorst, O. F. M. This news was followed shortly by the re- ception of a telegram which caused the institution to halt its labors and enter upon days of deep mourning. The telegram, coming from La Crosse on March, the twenty-sixth, bore the sad report that the beloved Archbishop of Milwaukee and first Rector of the Seminary, the Most Reverend M. Heiss, had de- parted this life. On April the first, after the solemn services at St. Johnis Cathedral, his remains were borne to St. Francis, here to find their final resting place. After a solemn funeral Mass was sung on the following morning, his body was interred beneath the sanctuary in the Seminary chapel. Since that day many, with prayerful respect, have passed the marble slab which marks the crypt wherein his remains repose. 1890-1894 The Archdiocese was without a Pastor until three days before Christmas, when a cablegram from Rome brought the glad tidings that Bishop Katzer of Green Bay, a former professor, was to be elevated to the See of Milwaukee. As Archbishop-elect he sang a Pontifical High Mass on the following Patronal Feast of the Seminary, but it was not until the last day of ' June that he solemnly entered Milwaukee and was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop in St. Johnis Cathedral. On the twentieth of August, His Eminence of Baltimore, James Cardinal Gibbons, as the Holy Fathefs emissary, brought the atchiepiscopal pallium to the new Archbishop. This was a red-Ietter day in the history of the Seminary, because, after the magni- ficent ceremonies, it was host to the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Prelates and the Reverend Clergy who numbered about four hundred. The Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore presided at the banquet which took place in the lower study-hall. The new Archbishop himself acted as toastmaster on this occasion. Three outstanding events have been recorded in the Seminary,s history for 1892. The Salesianum was the scene of a diocesan synod which was con- voked by the Most Reverend Archbishop Katzer. After His Grace had celebrated Pontifical High Mass, the Synod was opened in the Seminary hall. The second day of the convocation opened with a Solemn High Mass of Requiem for the deceased bishops and priests of the province. Adjournment ceremonies followed a Solemn Votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Trinity, on July, the fifteenth. The second major event of the year was the solemn cele- SAINT FRANCIS SEMINARY bration of the Very Rev. Rector,s silver sacer- dotal jubilee. The occasion was graced by the presence of the Bishops Schwebach of La Crosse and Messmer of Green Bay, together with more than two hundred priests. The fourth centenary of AmericaTs discovery was the last of the great events of the year which found response within the Seminary walls. The Vet Rev. Rector most properly started the days celebration with a Solemn High Mass of thanks- giving. In the afternoon, a program was rendered in the hall and was composed of addresses in many languages but the principal feature of the program was the rendition by the choir of a Latin ode, written by the Rector to commemorate the event and set to music by the Rev. C. Becker. The year which follows was, for the greater part, without its illustrious Rector, who had gone to Europe. He returned on October, the fourteenth, and was 'welcomed by the frofessors and students who escorted him from the rai road station with a torch-light pro- cession. It may not be at all impossible that the large torch-Iight, which at this present writing is still stored away in the loft of the sacristy, was used in this to- cession: its very appearance prompts us to conciliide that it is a remnant of bygone days. It is interesting to note that the matters which transpired during the Rectoris absence, as found in the Souvenir of the Golden jubilee, are chronicled without date. This urges us to conclude that the Rector himself was the chronicler. We repeat one of his entries since it is of interest to all who wish to note the various improve- ments which have, from time to time, changed the appearance of the Seminary: TTDuring the summer vacation the new Procurator made some extensive improvements in and about the Seminary. The base- ment of the theological department was thoroughly repaired and the front of the main building received a more pleasant and attractive appearance? Turning from the material to the intellectual endeavors, we are quick to note that, thrice during the period treated in this chapter, intellectual vitality jumped the bounds established by classroom disci- pline and burst forth into theological disputations. One of these disputations occurred on the thirteenth of May, 1893, in the presence of the Most Reverend Archbishop and the Reverend Rector of Marquette College, Father Rogers. Three theses taken from the tract 'Tde incarnation? were defended by the Messrs. C. Stehling, W. Dwyer, and J Boedecker. The second of these disputations, held on the seventeenth of December, 1894, touched upon the interesting question of the validity of Anglican Orders and was discussed in the presence of Bisho Messmer of Green Bay and other notables. The thir disputation was of a historico-theological character. It was held in the Seminary hall on the twenty-second of May, 1896. i371

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be The topic of the occasion was the Oriental Schism and was ably defended by the Messrs. J McCarthy, J. Pietrasik, J. Siebert, P. Lippert, B. Celichowski, and F. Freckmann in the presence of the Most Rev. Archbishop, his Vicar-General, and others. From time to time throughout the history of the Salesianum, it has been visited by fire, which in the earlier days was ever terrorizing to institutions which had been built at the great sacrifice of so many. During February of 1894, a fire which broke out in a room of the new building threatened destruction. On the eleventh of December in 1895, the building was again endangered by a fire which broke out in the orphan house and raged for about six hours. 1895-1904 9 The scholastic year which began in September, 1895, was delayed a whole week by the extensive improvements which were made. Most progressive among the improvements was the installation of elec- tric lights. This happened on September, the seven- teenth. Less than a month later, the Most Reverend Archbishop, who had been in Europe, returned and received the enthusiastic welcome of the student body who seemed, in those days, to re ard a torch-light welcome as the highest note of tri ute. The Seminary chapel was newly frescoed during the summer vacation of 1897. Its freshness lent beauty, though it may not have been decorated pre- cisely for the occasion, to the celebration of Septem- ber, the thirtieth, which marked the fiftieth anniver- sary of the arrival of the Seminaryis founder in America. After the High Mass, Dr. Salzmann was remembered in prayer at his tomb. The occasion was closed with the blessing of the new heroic statue of St. Francis de Sales which was donated by the class of ,76 and stilli stands high up on the front of the building. A feature of the occasion was the Latin hymn, composed by the Rector in honor of St. Fran- cis and set to music by Sir John Singenberger. The last two years of the century were rather uneventful, except perhaps for the celebration of the silver jubilee of the societies of the Blessed Albertus Magnus and of St. Caecilia. This was an event which occupied June 21 and 22. A Pontifical Mass was offered on each morning. In the afternoon of the former day, the Albertus Society creditably rendered Calderon,s drama 11Die Morgenroethe von Copaca- bana? There were about eighty-iive members presen on this occasion. ' No more fitting manner of ushering in the new century could be thought of than the celebration of midnight Mass in accordance with the indult granted by His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII. This privilege was renewed for the following year and was again used. The brand new century ushered in a brand new rule which we can readily imagine met with general favor SAINT FRANCIS SEMINARY ethe supper hour was changed from seven to six. 1901 was a year of divine supplication. On Jan- uary the sixteenth, fear of a greater spread of the prevalent inHuenza epidemic caused a Solemn Votive Mass 9pm Vitanda mortalitateii to be sung. In ac- cordance with the requirements for the gaining of the indulgence of the jubilee granted by Leo XIII, a jubilee procession was had on fifteen consecutive days beginning with April 29. These processions were alternately made to the chapel in the orphan house and convent. On September 19 a Solemn Votive Mass Zora paceii was celebrated by order of the Archbishop on the occasion of the funeral of President McKinley. The year 1902 would have been rather uneventful, had not a smallpox epidemic broken out on the day preceding the Patron Feast. It spoiled the cele- bration and sent most of the students to their homes, where they remained until February 29. This no doubt sped up the building of the new infirmary which was completed on November 18. The twentieth of July, 1903, was indeed a sad day for the whole world, for it marks the passing of a holy and learned Pope, Leo XIII, a man of God who spent untold eHott in an attempt to teach the things of God and to emphasize the moral and social relationship which should exist among the various classes of people. The day was, however, of two-fold sorrow for our Seminary and the Province of Milwaukee; for, as if awaiting the preparation of a place for him in heaven, Archbishop Katzet sur- vived the saintly Pontiff by but five hours, departing this life at about nine oiclock in the evening. After the solemn obsequies held in St. John,s Cathedral, his mortal remains were brought to our cemetery in the woods and found repose between his parents. Bishop Eis of Marquette pronounced the absolution. It was August, the fourth, when the joyful news reached the Seminary, that a new Pontiff had been chosen. The choice was of great interest, for the new- ly elected Pontiff was to be the one who would choose a new Archbishop for Milwaukee. All who were present in the Seminary on this occasion gath- ered in the chapel and the Rector announced the choice of the College of Cardinals as that of Cardinal Sarto who took the name of Pius X, and the as- sembled students and faculty offered prayers for His Holiness. Not four months elapsed until the new Pontiff had designated the Bishop of Green Bay, the Most Reverend Sebastian G. Messmer as the future guide and shepherd of our Archdiocese. This new Arch- bishop, who was destined to rule the Archdiocese for more than a quarter of a century and who, in his very appearance, was apostolic, solemnly entered his metropolitan city on February, the tenth, following. i391