Crawford County WI Archives Church Records.....St. Gabriel's Parish
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 27, 2007, 9:33 pm

ST. GABRIEL'S PRIORY—THE BENEDICTINES

   Meanwhile, before the return of the Jesuits, a much older order of the
Catholic Church, the Benedictines, honored Prairie du Chien by its presence and
contributed to its growth, not by educational means, it is true, but by the more
effectual instrument of spiritual ministrations.

   The Benedictines of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota (then St. Louis
on the Lake), came to Prairie du Chien, New Year's Day, 1877, at the invitation
of Bishop Heiss of LaCrosse. Though the Benedictine Community of St. Gabriel
never numbered more than three members, and hence could not be regarded a
'priory' in the canonical sense, nevertheless, it continued to be known as St.
Gabriel's Priory for the three short years it remained in existence. The priors,
who served as pastors, were appointed and removed at the discretion of the Abbot
of the abbey at St. Louis on the Lake. During the three years of its existence,
four Benedictine priors were named as pastors of St. Gabriel's parish: the
Beverends Anthony Casper, Meinulph Stukenkenper, Ignatius Wesseling, and William
Eversmann.

   In addition to their service at St. Gabriel's proper, the priests of the
Priory attended to the spiritual needs of St. John's College with its thirteen
Brothers and 180 students. They also had under their spiritual care the eighteen
Sisters and fifty students of St. Mary's Institute. It is worthy of remark, that
the surprisingly large enrollment at both these institutions, so soon after
their establishment, may serve as an indication of the marked advance which
higher education had already made at Prairie du Chien, while at the same time it
points to the extended spiritual influence of the devoted Benedictines. The
singular fact that four daughters of one family of the parish (that of Jeremiah
Cannon) entered religious life as a result of that influence, is a striking
instance of their devotedness.

   The fact that the Benedictines were mostly German-born and had but a slight
acquaintance with the French tongue made their ministrations to the
distinctively French congregation of St. Gabriel unusually difficult. Besides,
unaccustomed as they were to the climate of the river country about Prairie du
Chien, sickness was frequent among them, a circumstance that ultimately proved
the deciding factor in their withdrawal. They left the parish and Prairie du
Chien in the beginning of July, 1879. Of the four Priors, who served as pastors
at St. Gabriel's parish, only one is alive today, the Very Rev. William
Eversmann—the last superior at St. Gabriel's Priory. He is nearly ninety years
of age.

   The coming of the Benedictines in 1877 had brought to a close the pastoral
labors of Father Abbelen. During the earlier years of his pastorate he was
assisted successively by the Reverends A. Hampschroer, John Meurs, John T.
Durward, and J. Barry. But already in 1876, owing to ill health, he had asked
for removal from his duties as pastor, and during the later years of his
incumbency the care of the parish was entrusted temporarily to the Reverends
George Keller and C. Von Droste. Before coming to Wisconsin, Father Keller had
successfully organized French and German parishes in the diocese of St. Paul.
Naturally, his knowledge of French was put to good service during his brief term
as acting-pastor at Prairie du Chien.

  Meanwhile, Bishop Heiss, no doubt because of lack of priests in his growing
diocese, had been planning to secure the services of some religious order to
take care of St. Gabriel's parish, and, incidentally, to replace the Christian
Brothers at St. John's College, inasmuch as they had expressed a desire to
withdraw their services. The second part of the plan, the Bishop disclosed in a
letter^ written a month before the Benedictines had taken up the pastoral charge
of St. Gabriel's parish. But, while the Abbot of the Benedictines had graciously
consented to accept the parish at Prairie du Chien, he declined to assume the
additional burden of the local college. Three years later, however, (1880) on
the departure of the Benedictines, both college and parish were made over to the
Fathers of the Society of Jesus.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

Centennial History of St. Gabriel's Parish
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN WISCONSIN
1836       1936
DR. P. L. SCANLAN, M. D.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/crawford/churches/stgabrie24gbb.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/

File size: 4.9 Kb