History: "Jesuits in Oregon", St. Francis Xavier's Novitiate, Sheridan 1930 ************************************************************************ ********************************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE: ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ********************************************************************************* Transcribed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: W. David Samuelsen - April 2002 ************************************************************************ "Jesuits in Oregon" 1844-1959, Rev. Wilfred P. Schoenberg, S.J., published June 1959 by the The Oregon-Jesuit to commemorate the Centennial Year in Oregon. No copyright, not registered. St. Francis Xavier's Novitiate, Sheridan 1930 The beginning of the long process of Jesuit formation is called noviceship, and the building where this beginning is made is called the novitiate. No province is complete without a novitiate, because no province can provide Jesuits for itself without training them through noviceship, which is the most important of all stages of formation. First Novitiate Fr. DeSmet realized this when he established St. Francis Xavier s on the Willamette. This, according to his plans, was to be more than a mission or storehouse for supplies to be used in the mountain missions. It was to be a novitiate where generous young Americans could be transformed into Jesuit missionaries. Theoretically, Fr. DeSmet s 15-room loghouse on the Willamette was the first Jesuit novitiate in the west. If this was a great distinction, it turned out to be a great disappoint- ment. The loghouse novitiate did not have any novices, so there was no need of a novice master. Eventually, there was not even a loghouse. The gold rush to California depopulated Oregon. St. Francis Xavier s, Fr. DeSmet s glorious dream, was dispelled in the madness of men seeking gold. In these circumstances, it was perhaps ironic that the first actual novitiate in the west, with real flesh-and-blood novices unlike Fr. DeSmet s hoped-for ones should be founded in California whither the Willamette Jesuits had gone to take over Santa Clara. John W. Poulnais was a flesh-and- blood novice. He was accepted at Santa Clara on Nov. 13, 1852. By 1856, four more young men had joined him. This novitiate at Santa Clara flourished though the average number of novices at one time did not exceed 8. The west coast was still a mission country; that is, it was dependent upon Europe for additional manpower to maintain its operations. In 1888, the California Jesuits moved their novitiate from Santa Clara to Los Gates ("The Cats"), where it has been ever since. They assembled a 3- story building there which looked like a huge square wedding cake white frosting and frills on an eminence overlooking the prune orchards of Santa Clara Valley. To support it, they planted grape vines in the sun-swept hills surrounding it and built a winery with huge, cool vats for the making of Mass wine. Novitiate at DeSmet Not to be outdone, the northern Jesuits established a novitiate at Sacred Heart Mission, DeSmet, Idaho on holy ground, you may be sure, for it had been blessed with the footsteps of the countless missionaries Fr. DeSmet had recruited from Europe. This novitiate was officially and cannibally established for candidates to the Jesuit brothers life on Nov. 11,1888, and for scholastic novices on March 30, 1891. Here, in the valley which the Indians called "Hole in the Woods," Jesuit novices attended the same daily chores that novices attended all over the world: Rome and Cheiri, Italy; Florissant, Missouri, where Fr. DeSmet was already buried; or Los Gates, in the "wedding-cake house." As an added chore, peculiar to the locale, they catechized Indians and set up galleys for the printing press, which produced books in the various Indian dialects. Two young men who made their novitiate at DeSmet later figured prominently in the foundation at Sheridan. They were Patrick O Reilly, a recent arrival from Ireland, and Thomas Meagher from Philadelphia, who supervised his companions in their work at the press. DeSmet Novitiate Closed As an Indian mission, DeSmet has had few rivals; as a novitiate, it was a failure. It was a failure precisely because it was so excellent a mission. In 1897, the novitiate here was closed and another, for coadjutor brothers only, established at the old Cataldo Mission. The scholastic novices were, henceforth, sent to Los Gates, where they were transformed into Jesuits by study, prayer, and picking grapes. In 1909, when the California Mission and Rocky Mountain Mission were combined to form one province with headquarters at Portland, Los Gates was the only Jesuit novitiate for the entire area. To accommodate the always increasing number of candidates for the Order, many wings had to be added to the "wedding cake" until the building no longer looked like that. Indeed, it became quite handsome and symmetrical. New problems arose, however. Chief among these was too many novices for one novitiate. In 1929, with Fr. Thomas Meagher, as novice, master, there were 86 novices at Los Gates considerably more than 50, which was the ideal number for the space available. New Developments Other developments within the province pointed to its approaching division into 2 new ones, following the geographical pattern of the 2 historic missions. Foreseeing this, the Provincial, Fr. Joseph Piet, S.J., went land- hunting in earnest during the summer of 1930. His objective was a suitable site for a northern novitiate within convenient distance of a city providing facilities like doctors, bus lines, etc. It was first proposed that this novitiate be located on property Jesuits already owned, the recently vacated St. Francis Regis Mission north of Colville, about 90 miles from Spokane. Since superiors preferred a location somewhere on the coast, the land-hunt centered around Portland. Finally, in October of that year, Fr. Piet found the place he wanted. It was a tract comprising 891 acres, called "Paradise Farm," about 52 miles southwest of Portland, near Sheridan. Its owner, a retired Portland brewer by the name of Mr. G. J. Magenhiemer, who had moved to Los Angeles, was willing to sell it. On Oct. 30, 1930, the property was purchased for approximately $36,000. Thus, it came about that Fr. DeSmet s dream was being realized after 86 years. The Jesuits would have a "Motherhouse" in Oregon. just 40 miles from the first "Motherhouse" and within sight of Mount Hood - like the first one. The name given it was (of course!) St. Francis Xavier s. On Christmas Day of that same bountiful year, the Rocky Mountain Vice Province was cannibally erected, and Fr. Walter Fitzgerald, was appointed its first Vice Provincial by the Jesuit General in Rome. Fr. Fitzgerald now had the responsibility of preparing the necessary buildings on the Sheridan site so that some of the northern novices at Los Gates could be transferred and accommodations provided for new candidates to the Order. He assigned Fr. Nathaniel Purcell, S.J., who had some experience in architectural work, to direct the new foundation until a Father Rector could be appointed by Fr. General. Fr. Purcell arrived on Wednesday night, Nov. 12. He said the first Mass on the new property in a temporary chapel on the second floor of the old farmhouse on Nov. 13, the Feast of St. Stanislaus, Patron of Novices. The first problem to be solved was water. Though there were several springs on the property, estimates for need ran considerably more than these could furnish. The estimated need for domestic use was 15,000 gallons daily, a total of 60,000 cubic feet per month. Allowing for storage, the springs could furnish only a fraction of this. Negotiations were begun with the Sheridan Water Department for permission to connect a novitiate pipeline onto the city supply. After months of discussion, in which Sheridan s pastor, Fr. Derouin played a most noble part, the City Council, by a vote of 5 to 1, agreed to allow the novitiate to tap the city line. The conditions imposed were so rigorous that, in effect, the novitiate was left to its own resources. A Portland engineer was then commissioned to make a Water survey, and, after his decision was rendered, favoring an adequate supply, the matter was considered settled. On April 16, Fr. Fitzgerald and his 4 consultants held a meeting on the novitiate property to determine the method of procedure for providing buildings. Various plans were proposed, but the final decision was put off for further advisement. On June 18; the decision to build a temporary novitiate was announced, and, on the following day, Fr. Purcell visited Portland Architects Dougan and Reverman, to arrange for this building. The estimated cost was $9,000. Ten days later construction was begun on a frame, bungalow- like building, 212 feet long, with 4 wings. In exactly 22 days, this was thrown together in the middle of an oak grove on the crest of a hill, 400 feet above the Yamhill Valley. On Wednesday, July 29, six novices arrived from Los Gates, the first contingent of 12 novices, whimsically referred to as the "12 apostles" in the annals of the province. On the following 2 days, other novices from Los Gates arrived and, with them, Fr. Thomas Meagher, S.J., their novice master. St. Francis Xavier Novitiate was formally opened on July 31, Feast of St. Ignatius, in the presence of Archbishop Howard of Portland, two Frs. Provincial, many of Oregon s clergy, and a generous representation of newspaper reporters, who were just a little bewildered by all the talk about "the Ignatian spirit," religious vows, and second-year novices. After the laughter of the after-dinner speech-making had subsided, the "12 apostles" rolled up their sleeves and, with characteristic Jesuit vigor, transformed their bungalow into a religious house to welcome 25 new novices. The new novices arrived 4 days later, on August 4. Not only was Fr. DeSmet s "Motherhouse" a reality; it was now full of flesh and blood Jesuits, twice as many as even the zealous Fr. DeSmet ever dreamed about. Plans for a permanent building were already underway. A concrete structure, designed by Messrs. Dougan and Reverman, was erected, 469 x43 , 3 stories high, with an additional story in the middle section. On April 11, 1932, Mr. Reverman arrived to stake out the lines. Two days later, April 13, Fr. Meagher turned over a shovelful of reddish clay, the native soil of Paradise Farm, and read a number of prayers from the ritual while novices sang a hymn to St. Joseph, "Bleak sands are all around us, no home can we see." When they had finished, workmen, who had been standing curiously by. reached for their tools, and the project was underway. The first Mass in the new building was celebrated on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 24, 1933, in a temporary chapel on the 3rd floor. The novices moved in that same day, though the building was little more than a damp concrete shell. Finishing, even furnishing, except for bare necessities, were put off to a later day - a day that was more than 20 years distant. Happily, however, no one knew about it then begun. On the Feast of St. Barbara and on Oct. 6 of each year, special memorial Masses have been offered in St. Barbara s Chapel of the novitiate to commemorate the generosity of Mr. Peter D Arcy. The completion of the chapel did not solve the water problem. Frequent attempts were made to increase the supply by drilling new wells. Every corner of the property was tried without success. In August, 1939, the problem became so crucial that water had to be trucked from the town of Sheridan to the novitiate. In one month s trucking over rough roads, the tires of the truck were rendered useless, and the novitiate still lacked even essential water. Occasionally, during this and the 2 succeeding years, when there were long summer droughts in Oregon, even water for drinking was lacking. On May 16, 1940, a lease was signed with the Portland General Electric Company, giving rights to the novitiate for placing a 5-mile pipeline to a water source in the mountains. This plan also failed. In April, 1942, a bull-dozer was hired to build a dam in one of the novitiate s little valleys. On Nov. 19 of the same year, the dam went out because of unusually heavy rains. It appeared as though all heaven and earth were opposed to the novitiate s having water, and some began to ask if it should not be moved to another site. Joined to this was another difficulty: The concrete of the building, exposed to moisture without brick facing, began to deteriorate. Window sash started to rot, and the little plaster which had been put into the interior started to peel off because of the excessive moisture. To forestall further damage, the Ross Hammond Company was hired to tar the whole building in September, 1944. Tourists passing along the highway below were greatly startled that autumn to look up on the hill above the Yamhill Valley and see a sinister black building, 3 stories high higher in the middle for cannons perhaps like a fortress dominating the main route from Portland to the sea. If the building had looked like a supermarket before, it now looked like a huge bat-roost in 20th century concrete. The Jesuits laughed about it. Now they would have to get some bricks to cover it lest some folk become alarmed. The bricks could not be had for the gossip about them, and there was no point in going into debt to buy them unless the water problem were solved. In other words, the old twin problem of money and water had become a triple problem; bricks were now an added subject for the Provincial s consultations. The question of water was finally answered in October, 1952. A local "water- - witch," who had widespread fame for his success in that uncanny business, firmly announced to the rector, Fr. Joseph Logan, S.J., "Dig here. There s water." The spot was an unlikely one, but Fr. Logan obeyed. On Oct. 7, after a dry autumn, a well which yielded 150 gallons of water per minute was struck. The novitiate celebrated that night with something more than dried prunes. The fact is that the whole province was elated. With this one problem solved and another, money, practically insolvable, logic demanded an all-out offensive against the third and this is precisely what took place. A great plan was fomented by many heads, for the development of the novitiate at Sheridan. Architect John Maloney of Seattle was commissioned to design 3 new wings to complete its facilities: a kitchen and refectory wing to retire the old bungalow, which had been "temporary" for a quarter of a century; additional room to accommodate the constantly increasing number of novices. Veneer bricking was planned for the entire plant. As so often had been the case before, the decision to move forward without resources at hand required great courage. The Provincial, Fr. Henry J. Schultheis, S.J., made that decision. On Nov. 23, 1954, surveyors began their work for the program. On June 13, 1955, at 4 p.m., bids for the new construction were opened at Campion Hall, Portland. Present for the event were Fr. Schultheis, Fr. Joseph Logan, S.J., Fr. Hubert Adams, S.J., and 2 representatives from each firm submitting bids. The Ross Hammond Company offered the lowest bid and was awarded the contract on an estimated construction cost of $700,000. Fifteen days later, at 11 a.m., the historic project was begun. It required more than a year to complete. When all the pots and pans, glasses, dish towels, and garbage pails had been moved into the sparkling new kitchen, the old bungalow was torn down and its lumber put to other use. In its place beneath the old oaks is now a luxuriant growth of rhododendrons, camellias and ferns. They will thrive there like the mortgage on the place. Perhaps someday a "fairy god-mother" will take care of both and solve the third of the novitiate s great problems. When that day comes, Jesuits from California to Alaska, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, will heave a great sigh and say, "At last, our novitiate is really our own." It will have taken 5 generations to produce it, but it is there for at least 10 more.