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

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Q? Alton. Later, Father Schulze was made chaplain of St. John,s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. In 1886, responding to a special call, the young priest came to St. Francis Seminary where he took up the duties of professor until his death. Father Schulze, a man of little worldly popularity but of much spiritual inHuence, was the author of man books, among which is the iiManual of Pastoral Theology , the standard text book in many seminaries. The deceased professor was known to almost all priests in the Middle West, and his passing means a loss to all and especially to the Seminary which he so faith- fully served. 1930-1931 With the coming of the year 1931, St. Francis Seminary entered upon its seventy-fifth anniversary. The patron feast day was observed in the usual solemn manner. At the Solemn Mass the Right Rev. Monsignor Joseph Selinger, D. D., of Jefferson City, Missouri, preached the sermon. Msgr. Selinger had participated in the Silver Jubilee of the Salesianum as a student in the classical department, and in the course of his sermon that occasion was Httingly com- pared with the present Jubilee. In the afternoon the usual conferring of the Master and Bachelor degrees took place. Up to the present time the Degree of Bachelor of Sacred Theology had been conferred upon five, Master of Arts upon seventy-three, and Bachelor of Arts upon one hundred and ninety-one students. During the next four months the items of interest that took place may be summed up as follows: the SAINT FRANCIS SEMINARY ordination on February 25, of four theologians for the Diocese of Green Bay, the 25th anniversary of the Douglas-Egan Otatorical and Elocution contests presented under the direction of Father Eilers and Father Koudelka respectively, the first broadcast on March 29, of the Seminary Choir over station WTMJ, the Tre Ore services on Good Friday at which eight deacons preached, and the staging of Shakespeareis ilJulius Caesarh by the St. Thomas Literary Society under the direction of Dr. Johnson, Moderator. This concludes the present history of St. Francis Seminary, one of the oldest and most serviceable institutions of its kind in the United States. Her beginnings were humble and her trials many, yet from her doors thousands carrying the banners of truth and scholarship, of righteousness and spirituality, were sent to spread the faith. Her alumni are found in almost every state in the Union, while many of her sons have governed and still do govern successfully the destinies of many a diocese. The name of the Sales- ianum has become widespread, and her fame well known even in the center of Christendom. As the first semester of the year 1931 ends, the historic old Seminary, humbly standing in her new atmosphere, is preparing to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. She is to call her children back in the month of May so that they might rejoice with her and give thanks to God for the great mercy and goodness He has shown throughout the long years of her illustrious career. VICTOR E. SLEVA, B. A.

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DIAMOND his many assertions that the institution was neat and dear to his heart. One of the outstanding events while he was head of the Archdiocese was the United Catholic Charities Campaign, in 1920, which had for its object the enlargement and development of St. Francis Seminary and the aid of the charitable insti- tutions of the Archdiocese. The new scholastic year began in September with an enrollment of 325 students. The Reverend Walter Belda, ordained in 1927, was appointed to succeed the late Reverend Thomas Schmitz as professor of Natural Sciences. Dr. John GaHney, however, con- tinued to teach Biology. All students were surprised to observe the changes wrought on the grounds during the sum- mer months. Chief among the improvements was a new macadam road leading over the bridge to the front lawn of the building, encircling the lawn on either side and then passing in front of the building, and extending also to the garages in the rear of the ubrother houseil and between the inHrmary and the main building to the engine house. Park lamps were erected to illuminate the grounds at night. The road passing in front of the Library and Miller Gym- nasium had been closed and seeded. A later improve- ment consisted of a new approach to the Seminary in the form of two parallel sidewalks extending from wide cement stairs at the forward end of the lawn to the main entrance. Modern landscape gardening of the entire lawn to improve the beauty of the grounds was a later improvement. On November 12, the new handball court, which was built partially by the students themselves, was dedicated and blessed by the Moderator of the Semi- nary Athletic Association, Father Felsecker. The structure, a double court, was erected at the expense of the society at an estimated cost of $600.00. Word had been received of the promotion of Bishop Samuel A. Stritch of Toledo to the Mil- waukee Archdiocese, and weeks of painstaking pre- parations were concluded by the enthronization ceremonies at St. Johnls Cathedral on November 19. The Seminary choir under the direction of the Rev. F. T. Walter assisted at the solemn services. Certainly God takes special care of his Hock, the Catholic Church. Here, a thousand miles from the center of Christendom, the Holy Fatheris choice of Bishop Stritch was hailed unanimously as an inspired selec- tion. On the clay of his installation Milwaukee was in gala attire to welcome him; at the Seminary both the faculty and students worked days beforehand to give him the most cordial greeting of welcome. The wisdom, piety, and sympathetic and fatherly manner of the late Archbishop Messmer had greatly I801 JUBILEE aEE? endeared him to his religious children, and the newly vested Archbishop showed himself the reincarnation, as it were, of just those qualities of his predecessor. Archbishop Stritch,s meteoric rise in Church circles can best be seen in a brief review of the high lights of his life. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, Au- gust 17, 1887. He studied at the American College at Rome and was ordained priest in 1910. From 1910 to 1917 he held pastorates at Nashville and Memphis, and from 1917 to 1921 was chancellor of Nashville diocese. Monsignor Stritch was consecrated Bishop of Toledo in 1921, the same year in which he was made a Domestic Ptelate, and nine years later he was installed in the See of Milwaukee. 1930 The Archbishop chose the Seminary as the place of his first official visit in his new capacity. On the afternoon on November 20, a very unassuming car drove up between the files of students who stood on either side of the road leading to the Seminary entrance. The students watched intently as the gray headed man of rather slight build stepped briskly to the sidewalk and good-naturedly posed for the cameramen. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacra- ment was given by His Excellency in the Chapel after which all repaired to the Seminary Hall to greet their new Spiritual Father. The Very Reverend Rector introduced the student body to the Archbishop. In the response which followed the students found a man who was vitally interested in each of them. 7I donit want to know you in general; I want to know you individually? The desire was mutual; the stu- dents too wished to know him intimately. A leader who makes himself so approachable thereby admits two great qualities; he is human with the human in sympathy; and he is fatherly to his followers in Christ-like simplicity. The students rejoiced in having such a Superior not only over them but with them. Their pride in their new-come leader was unmistake- able and gave token of cooperative obedience that would redound to the welfare of the Church of the Northwest. On November 26, the mournful toll of the funeral bell echoed through the corridors of the Seminary for the second time this year when the Reverend Frederick Schulze, D. D., professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, passed away. Father Schulze, for 44 years a member of the Seminary faculty, was born on February 9, 1855, at Paderborn, Westphalia, Germany. His elementary education was received in the Dome-school. In 1864 his classical training was begun at the Gymnasium of his native city. From here he went to the Universities of Mun- ster and Louvain where he studied philosophy and theology respectively. In 1877, he was ordained to the priesthood, was sent to America, and was stationed at Taylorville in the Diocese of

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