The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-03-29

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
UNsURPAssED-WLL EVENTU-
ALLY FORM PART OF THE
MoTHER-HoUsE OF THE PROV
INcE.
The st. Joseph Novitiate, whose
formal opening took place on March
26th, is the latest addition to the
material equipment of the Sisters of
ST. Joseph of Carondelet in the
Province of st. Paul. 1t is situated
of tract of land on Randolph Street
near the intersection of Fairview
Avenue. and adjacent to the College
of st. Catherine. The building is
three stories high in addition to the
ground floor and is built of buff-col-
ored pressed brick with Bedford stone
trimmings and slate-covered roof. The
plan of the structure is shaped like
the letter L reversed. The main
building which faces Randolph Street
is one hundred and forty-five feet in
length and forty-f1ve in width, and the
wing extends backward distance of
one hundred and thirty feet. The
height from the ground line to the
top of the roof is fifty-eight feet. The
front entrance is reached by flight
of steps leading to portico flanked
by massive grey pillars which give a
colonial appearance to the building.
Modern in Design and Equipment.
The ground floor is occupied prin-
cipally as a service floor, while the
main floor is given over to reception
rooms, library, community rooms and
other administrative apartments. On
this floor, also, are located the apart
ments of the resident Chaplain, Right
Reverend Mgr. William Riordan. The
two upper stories contain the chapel,
class rooms and sleeping apartments.
The interior is finished throughout
in birch with tile and terrazzo floors
and decorative iron staircases. The
building is heated by steam and
lighted by electricity, both being sup.
lplied through underground mains and
conduits from the power house at the
: College of st. Catherine. The build
ing is also supplied with gas for
cooking and lighting purposes. In
designing the structure, completeness
and convenience of arrangement, as
we'll as the permanence of the work
were kept in mind.
nh =
since the first of August, 1912. On that
day the Most Reverend Archbishop
celebrated the first Mass in it and
blessed the building in presence oi
the Novices and postulants who, few
days previously, had been transferred
from st. Joseph's Academy, which, fol
forty-nine years, had served as the
Motherhouse and Novitiate of The
!. Sisters of ST. Joseph.
Owing to the late opening last fal
it was impossible to do anything
towards improving the surrounding
which lend themselves admirably tt
artistic landscape gardening. In the
course of time the grounds in from
of the building will be transformed
into a beautiful lawn with driveway
walks and flower beds. Behind anC
at both sides is a woodland affordins
ample recreation grounds for the
members of the community.
/ A Nursery of Science and Religion
! The st. Joseph Novitiate is nov
|, the training school of the Sisters O
st. Joseph of the Province of ST. Pau
: one of the four provinces subject tt
: the Motherhouse of the Order a
Carondelet, st. Louis. It is a grea
. boon to the Order as it relieves thu
congestion at st. Joseph's Academy
: and affords more ample accommoda
! tions for the pupils who attend tha
: institution, as we'll as for the parochia
school Sisters who make it theil
headquarters. Not only that, but i
provides sufficient room for the larger
number of postulants which the ever
g expanding work of the Sisters of st
/. Joseph renders necessary to meet the
t demands made upon them by the var
f ious lines of work to which they de
. vote their energies. It's location i:
{ admirably suited to the purpose fol
: which it is intended 1t is far enough
: removed from the buster parts of the
: city to insure the necessary seclusior
: coupled with delightful surrounding:
; affording every facility for healthfu
: recreation and exercise.
The st. Joseph Novitiate is the
| nursery of the Order, the norma
school, as it were, in which the Sis
ters are trained for their life duties
! and, therefore, it is fitting that i
r should be in close proximity to the
! foremost Catholic educational institu
, tions, not only of the Archdiocese, bu
/ of the Northwest, namely, the st. Pau
! Seminary and the Colleges of st
4 Thomas and st. Catherine. This make:
> / it possible to give the novices such {
I training in the latest and most ap
proved pedagogical methods as viii
equip them for their Iife-work al
teachers. And while this scholastic
training is not neglected it is by M
means the most important part o
J, their education. The primary objec
of the Novitiate is to make the younl