The Catholic bulletin., 1920-11-06

built. The Sisters of the school, who
| until then had occupied part of the
school building, now moved to the old
parsonage. s,
In 1905 the three beautiful affairs
were purchased for the church. One
of the side affairs was donated by the
st. Johns Society. A new pipe organ,
built by J. Schaefer, Schlesingerville,
Wis, was purchased in 1907. 1t was
dedicated by Abbot Peter Engel, of st.
Johns Abbey.
| In this manner the sacrificing spirit
of the members of the congregation
was shown in very marked degree,
Still they did not relent in their zeal.
| The necessity of a new school build
| ing was felt very keenly as time wore
on And even then, while money was
being collected and plans were made
| for the new school, the work of deco
| rating the interior of the church was
begun in 1911.
On account of his special services in
the vineyard of the Lord, Father Stulz,
in 1918, was made papal prelate, with
the title of Monsignor. The cere-
| mony of investiture was conducted by
| the Most Rev. Archbishop on March
80, 1913. 1t was a red-letter day and
a day of great. rejoicing for the con
gregation. In the same year building
operations, under the guiding care of
Mgr. Stulz, were begun on the new.
| school. Some time previously seven
acres of land had been acquired as a
building site. Mr.. Donohue, of ST..
Paul, had made the plans. With the
beginning of the building season in
| 1914 the work was to be pushed to it's
completion, when, on February 81, the
sad news spread of the demise of
Mgr. Stulz, who had gone to his re-
| ward.
| The plans for the school building
| had been prepared in all details, so
that the Rev. John Wagner was en-.
abled to continue the work without in
terruption. Father Wagner acted as
supply till July Is, 1914, when Rev
James Klein was appointed by the
Most Rev. Archbishop as priest of the
parish. Work on the school building
progressed very favorably, and after
Christmas vacation in January, 1915,
Sisters and school children could
move to the new school, much to the
delight of all concerned. The school
affords room for about 500 to 600 chill
dren, has a spacious assembly room,
meeting places for the societies, etc.
A high school course is also offered.
May 80, 1915. the building was dedi-
Gated by the Most Rev. Archbishop.
The congregation has approximately
325 families; of these ITS live in the
country, the rest in the city. Since
| 1901 the country congregation of
Leayenworth Township, nine and one
| half miles southwest of Sleepy Eye, lis
being supplied as branch of St.
| Mary's Church. This branch has
about fifty families Church services
are conducted there twice a month.
| Since 1901 ST. Mary's Church con-
tinuously has had an assistant to the
priest. In this capacity the following
priests have served the congregation,
in the order designated: Rev. j. Kna-
fels, Francis Rant, Peter Schirmers,
Gustav Plank. Alfred Kern, W., B.
Bender, Joseph Fleck, Joseph Soda,
/ C. A. Jungwirth
The establishing of various societies
was actively promoted by Mgr. Stulz.
At the present time the following
i purely religious societies are to be
/ found in the congregation: The So
ciety of Christian Mothers, German
\ and English section; the Young La a.
dies Sodality, two sections; the Young
Mems Sodality, two sections; for the
school children, the Society Of the
Childhood of Jesus; the Society of the
Name of Jesus; the Brotherhood Of
the Holy and Immaculate Heart Of
Mary for the, Conversion Of Sinners;
the st. Johns Society; st. Margereta
Protective Society for Women; Order
of Foresters for Men; Order of For
esters for Women. Many Of the men
also belong to the Knights Of Colunl-
bus.
The school is under the eficient
management of the franciscan Sis
ters. Eight Sisters. besides special
teacher Of vocal and instrumental mll-
sic, are active in the classroom. At
present Sister Florentina is Superior
and Principal.
In September, 1915, st. Mary's Home
was opened in the old school. It is
Il