page_title: Joseph J. Himmel
section_title: Missionary and retreat master
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph J. Himmel / Missionary and retreat master
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the Manresa House, the main building at the Manresa Institute near South Norwalk, Connecticut, which was a Jesuit retreat center on Keyser Island that was established in 1899
context_page_description: Joseph J. Himmel was an American Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus. For much of his early life, he was a missionary throughout the northeast United States and retreat master. Later in life, he was president of Gonzaga College and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
  Born in Annapolis, Maryland, to German-immigrant parents, Himmel was educated at private schools in Maryland, before entering the Redemptorist Order, of which his father had been especially fond. Early in his training, he was involved in some incident of mischief, and was expelled from the Redemptorist school he was attending, prompting him to immediately pursue admittance to the Society of Jesus, despite having no prior familiarity with the order. Upon being accepted, he began his formation in Frederick, Maryland, eventually being sent to Woodstock College. There, he began experiencing his first illnesses, which would plague him through life. During his studies, he also taught intermittently at Georgetown University and the College of the Holy Cross.
  Following his ordination in 1885, Himmel became a missionary in New England and Philadelphia.
context_section_description: Immediately after his ordination, Himmel was sent for a year as a missionary to the outskirts of Frederick, due to his poor health. Once deemed strong enough, he was sent for three years as a member of the missionary band to New England, where his mission was stationed out of St. Mary's Church in Boston. The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia was in need of priests, and Himmel was sent there at the request of the mission superior, despite the provincial superior's doubts about his health. There, he garnered a reputation as a capable preacher, being especially popular with the children. During his time on the mission band, he was very successful in soliciting donations; over the course of his eventual twenty years as a missionary, he secured more than $400,000.
  In 1889, he returned to Frederick, where he completed the tertianship stage of his Jesuit formation the following year. The following year year, he was appointed superior of the Jesuit home missions, holding this position until 1907. His health once again weakened in May 1898, prompting him to spend three months at St. Thomas Manor in Port Tobacco, Maryland.
caption: Manresa House on Keyser Island, circa 1896
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