Basic Histories of Select Religious Orders in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee

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1 Basic Histories of Select Religious Orders in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee The following questions were posed to select archivists of religious communities in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee: Why did your order come to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee? Where were you first located when you arrived in the Archdiocese? What work did you engage in when you arrived? How has your ministry/mission changed over the years? Below are the responses received: Priests of the Sacred Heart Provincial Offices in Hales Corners. The Congregation of the Priests of the Heart of Jesus (Sacrdotes Corde Jesu or Dehonians) came to Milwaukee to establish a formation house. We bought the property for this purpose from the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary in Hales Corners. At the beginning we were involved in formation for our community. Sacred Heart Monastery became Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. We also staffed Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish in Franklin. This became St. Martin of Tours Parish. At this parish, we also minister to the Vietnamese community from the Archdiocese. Sisters of the Divine Savior Our order, The Sisters of the Divine Savior*, came to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee at the request of Archbishop Katzer who visited Rome in 1895 seeking sisters to do home nursing, particularly to the German immigrants in Milwaukee. This was a need in Milwaukee because the city did not have sufficient hospital beds and the people lacked money for a hospital stay. Three Sisters, Raphaela Bonheim, Walburga Sieghart and Agnes Weber arrived in Milwaukee on July 4, The School Sisters of St. Francis opened their convent on Greenfield Avenue to the Sisters. Our sisters stayed with the Franciscans for three months before renting a home on what was then Second Avenue, in Milwaukee. In 1900, the sisters built a motherhouse, St. Mary s Convent, on the corner of 35 th and Center Streets in Milwaukee and the sisters continued to do home nursing. In 1902, the sisters began taking women into St. Mary s, which became St. Mary s Nursing Home and functioned for nearly 100 years. Over the years, the sisters ministries grew to encompass 4 hospitals in Wisconsin as well as providing teaching staff for Mother of Good Counsel (Milwaukee) and St. Pius X (Wauwatosa) grade Schools. The sisters also began Divine Savior High School for girls, first in St. Mary s Convent and then on 100 th Street in Milwaukee. Divine Savior High School affiliated with Holy

2 Angels Academy in 1970 and is now known as Divine Savior Holy Angels High School (DSHA). Today, in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, the Sisters of the Divine Savior continue to maintain their provincial headquarters on North 100 th Street and sponsor St. Anne s Salvatorian Campus (92 nd and Lisbon), Divine Savior Holy Angels High School and Hadley Terrace Apartments (on the grounds of the original motherhouse) in Milwaukee as well as Divine Savior Healthcare (Madison Diocese) in Portage, WI. *Also known as Salvatorians: We are one branch of the Salvatorian family which also includes the Society of the Divine Savior (priests and brothers) and committed Lay men and women. School Sisters of Notre Dame Why did your order come to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee? The Bavarian Mother Theresa Gerhardinger, aware of the increasing religious and political instability in Europe, responded to a request from King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Archbishop Reiach of Munich-Freising to accept a mission school in Pennsylvania. There were several reasons for her acceptance. Although serious interference with her mission to open schools for the education of girls in Bavaria did not occur until the Revolutions of 1848, she was concerned about the foundation of new sites as recent royal ordinances restricted religious activity. In addition, thousands of her fellow Bavarians and other German-speaking people were migrating to the United States. In the meantime Bishop Henni of Milwaukee needed teachers for the German-speaking immigrant children flooding his diocese. Through an acquaintance at the Ludwigs-Missionverein he learned of the school sisters who were leaving for Pennsylvania to start a motherhouse. On his fundraising trip through Europe in 1848 he arranged to meet Mother Theresa and she agreed to research starting a Motherhouse in Milwaukee. After a great deal of discussion amongst the sisters, and King Ludwig s promise to fund their first convent in Milwaukee, they decided that they would establish their motherhouse in Milwaukee. A small group left Baltimore on November 26, 1850, stopped in Pittsburg early in December, and after a short stop in Detroit, traveled to Chicago where they eventually boarded a stagecoach for Milwaukee. It was a difficult trip; from Chicago to Milwaukee it required two days and three nights travel. On the way, the stagecoach broke down and the passengers had to seek cover in a nearby hut until a sleigh large enough to accommodate the group was procured. The sisters finally arrived in Milwaukee on Dec 15, Where were you first located when you arrived in the Archdiocese? Bishop Henni used money provided by King Louis I of Bavaria to purchased a two story, brick building, located on the corner of Milwaukee and Knapp Streets. The rooms on the first floor served as a chapel, a kitchen, a reception room and a room for music lessons and other instruction. The second floor provided living quarters. The SSND grew rapidly in Milwaukee and the motherhouse underwent many expansions until it became a very large compound that included a school, convent, novitiate, gardens, etc. (I will send a photo of this tomorrow).

3 What work did you engage in when you arrived? The SSND's mission after they arrived in Milwaukee was to educate woman. Initially they were only allowed to teach girls, but those rules quickly changed and they were allowed to teach grade school boys. Their first school in Milwaukee was Old St. Mary's. How has your ministry/mission changed over the years? The SSND charism is still education, especially educating woman and the poor. However, their ministries have changed according to the needs of the times, primarily from education in schools to education in a broader sense, including social programs, parish ministry, missionary work abroad, chaplaincy and of course, many SSND continue to work in schools. Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes The Sisters of St. Agnes was founded in Barton, Wisconsin, in 1858 by Father Caspar Rehrl, a missionary priest from Austria. He had a special devotion to St. Agnes and wanted to create a religious order to staff the schools being built for the waves of German immigrants settling the area north of Milwaukee between Lake Winnebago and Lake Michigan. As the congregation grew, the general superior, Mother Agnes Hazotte, moved the motherhouse to Fond du Lac in Despite being a teaching congregation, city leaders requested the sisters open a hospital in town. A small group of sisters were sent to learn nursing skills and hospital administration and St. Agnes Hospital opened in From this point on, the Sisters of St. Agnes were known for both teaching and hospital work. In the early 1970s, the sisters began moving out the schools and hospitals to focus more on pastoral care and social services. In addition to teachers and health care workers, today sisters are employed as social workers, administrators, religious education ministers, chaplains, counselors, and a variety of other professions which serve to carry out the Agnesian mission of promoting economic and gender equality, systematic change for the quality of life, and mutuality, inclusivity, and collaboration. Dominican Sisters of Racine The Sisters of Saint Dominic, often called Racine Dominicans, have had a vibrant presence in Southeastern Wisconsin for 155 years. They live by the mission statement committed to truth, compelled to justice. In the late summer of 1858 Sister Maria Benedicta Bauer and Sister Thomasina Ginker, two Bavarian Dominican nuns from Heilig Kreuz Convent, Ratisbon (now Regensburg), Germany, sailed for America to minister both spiritually and educationally to the German immigrants and their children. After failed efforts at settlement in Williamsburg (New York), Nashville, and Green Bay they finally invested their resources and their energies in Racine in May of Mother Benedicta s determination was to found a motherhouse that would carry on the traditions of her beloved Heilig Kreuz, and to attract both American and Bavarian young women to form a new community and to teach the children of the working class. She, however, would see only the

4 beginning of five parish schools and St. Catharina s Female Academy (later known as St. Catherine s High School) before her death in Her young successor, Mother Thomasina would appoint sisters to two more parishes before she contracted typhoid from a novice and died less than a year later. The community that numbered eleven (half of them seriously ill) at Mother Thomasina s death grew over the years. While a few Racine Dominicans had from the beginning ministered in areas other than teaching, prime attention was on the schools and the care of elderly women. By 1915 the community had staffed sixty-nine schools in six states. A self-study begun in 1965 laid the groundwork for far-reaching renewal. New insights reshaped the vision of Mother Benedicta Bauer. The Racine Dominicans became involved in various ministries such as education (elementary, secondary, college), adult education, religious education, parish and pastoral ministry, social justice, social services, health services, work in diocesan offices, writing and research, as well as retreats and prayer programs. Presently Racine Dominicans have six sponsored ministries: St. Catherine s High School; Bethany Apartments (co-sponsored with the Wheaton Franciscans); Siena Retreat Center; Senior Companion Program; Eco-Justice Center and HOPES Center of Racine. The Associate Program started in Racine Dominican Associates are women and men who join with the sisters in experiencing and extending the presence of God in the world while continuing to live independent lives. Racine Dominicans together with those who have gone before, continue to be committed to truth and compelled to justice. Camillian Fathers and Brothers 1. Why did your order come to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee? The Camillian Order s charism is to take care of the sick and infirm. In 1919, Rev. James Durward (Diocese of St. Paul) sent a letter to the German Province of the Order of St. Camillus. Father Durward offered to donate land in Wisconsin to the Order if they agreed to build a hospital on the site. Camillian Father Michael Mueller was sent to Wisconsin to inspect the land. The area, near Baraboo, was not suitable for the Community s needs. However, there was a great need for the Camillians services in Milwaukee, and Archbishop Sebastian Messmer invited the Order to establish itself in Milwaukee. 2. Where were you first located when you arrived in the Archdiocese? In 1923 Fr. Mueller purchased a house on South 21 st Street (now S. 26 th St). Archbishop Messmer gave the Order permission to open a monastery at that location. Next the Community bought a house next to their monastery which was converted into a hospital for old men with incurable diseases. That small facility was filled within a year. In 1932

5 they bought land in Wauwatosa which is the present site of the St. Camillus Health Center. 3. What work did you engage in when you arrived? Camillians are dedicated to caring for the sick, both in the United States and abroad. 4. How has your ministry/mission changed over the years? Initially Camillians in the Unites States provided nursing care for old and infirm men. As time has passed they have expanded their activities to include nursing, clinical pastoral education, and the administration of a full spectrum of health care facilities for senior citizens. Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi Why did your order come to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee! Ettenbeuren, located in the Bavarian province of Swabia in southern Germany, rests on the east bank of the Kammlach River, a branch of the Danube River. This village of 475 inhabitants (in 1849) is located twenty-five miles east of Augsburg. Unrest in Europe French Revolution, Italian revolts, and German uprisings fed into the fear that Ettenbeuren would experience destruction, ruined lands and homeless people. Reverend Francis Anthony Keppeler, pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Church, urged his 1,442 parishioners to Go to America. Build a new and better Ettenbeuren, an Enttenbeuren of saints. Also, at this time, Bishop John Martin Henni, Milwaukee s first bishop, was traveling in Europe. His diocese was the entire Wisconsin territory. Bishop Henni s mission was to seek out individuals who would come and serve the many German immigrants who have settled in the vicinity of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Father Keppeler was ever zealous in recruiting missionaries for America. Rev. Mathias Steiger, his assistant, was the first recruit. These two priests, along with seven women and five men, became members of the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi. This band of Tertiary Brothers and Sisters organized themselves on December 8, 1848, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Since they did not know the specific location and work they would assume, the Tertiaries developed and signed an economic conventual contract. The group of Tertiaries comprised of: Fathers Keppeler and Steiger spiritual guides Mrs. Ottilia Duerr Zahler, Miss Anna Ritter, Miss Crescentia Eberle, Miss Teresa Moser, Miss Margaret Saumweber, Miss Maria Eisenschmied

6 Anton Joseph Zahler, Leo Bernard, Joseph Suess, William Reder, John Spitzelberger They took leave of Ettenbeuren on March 13, 1849, arriving in New York on April 19, When they arrived in Milwaukee on May 18, 1849, Bishop Henni had not yet returned from the Seventh Provincial Council of Baltimore. Two days after the bishop returned to Milwaukee, the thirteen Tertiaries presented themselves to Bishop Henni. May 28, 1849, became foundation day for the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi that would develop from these pioneers. Where were you first located when you arrived in Milwaukee? The Tertiaries were directed to a site four miles south of Milwaukee, known as Nojoshing. Fr. Keppeler purchased acres from Heinrich and Eva Gross for $1000 on June 22, Another four acres, adjacent to existing property, were bought for $100 from James S. and Elizabeth McFadden. At first they lived in the log houses found on the property. A convent with an adjoining chapel for the sisters and a brother house were built on this property, along the banks of Deer Creek. Today s Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi is located just across a field from the original site. So, the initial plot of land bought in 1849 is the location of our order today! What work did you engage in when you arrived? At first the Sisters helped by carrying building material, tacking on brushwood used in lieu of laths, and rooting out stumps for the completed buildings a convent for the women with an adjacent chapel, and a brotherhouse. They basically were doing what needed to be done to survive they were, after all, pioneers coming to a land not yet moderately populated. With the money primarily used for purchasing land and building materials, other avenues for income were needed. When St. Aemilian s Orphanage was moved to Nojoshing, the Sisters took charge of the boys and all the responsibilities of maintaining the orphanage. When the Seminary was completed, the Sisters became the major labor force laundering, mending, growing and preparing food, tending to the farm animals When pastors requested, Sisters were sent to teach. How has your ministry / mission changed over the years? MINISTRY Those early ministries St. Aemilian s, Seminary, teaching in parish schools, nursing continued for many years. As time passed, Obedience Cards gave way to Sisters seeking their own employment (1970s). One example follows -- OUR parish schools with all the teachers, principals, music teachers, organists being Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi transitioned to staffs of lay people. So the ministries became quite varied Religious Education Coordinators / Directors, hospital chaplains, CEOs of our Corporate Ministries, United Farm Workers of America, college professors, secretarial work, nurse practitioners, spiritual directors, retreat

7 work, prison ministry, team member of a Dominican preaching team. As one can see, our ministries became quite diverse. MISSION The Gospels, the Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis and Call and Response, provide a framework for our way of life. We express our mission by striving to realize the goals of the Congregation, which are: To bring the healing, teaching, reconciling and liberating power of Jesus into the human situations in which we live and minister; To be in solidarity with the poor through the work of justice and peace; To appreciate and affirm and to encourage the development of each community member and each community apostolate for the sake of full effectiveness in the ministry of the Church; and To work effectively toward implementing co-responsibility subsidiarity and accountability at all levels within the Congregation. taken from Call and Response, the official document of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi (1984), paragraph 20 Society of the Divine Savior The priests and brothers of the Society of the Divine Savior, the sisters of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Savior, and Lay Salvatorians - committed single or married men and women who participate in the mission of the religious Salvatorians - are all part of the Salvatorian Family. We are all known as Salvatorians. The Salvatorian Sisters came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in The Salvatorian priests and brothers came a year later, in 1896, through Milwaukee to St. Nazianz, Wisconsin, which in that year was part of the Milwaukee Archdiocese. In 1905, when a realignment of boundaries happened, St. Nazianz was then in the Diocese of Green Bay. Fr. Ludwig Barth, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, had studied at the German Seminary in St. Nazianz, which was operated by Fr. Ambrose Oschwald, an immigrant from Germany in 1854 who came here with nearly his entire parish, to escape the oppression of the Catholic Church in Germany following the 1848 German States Wars. Fr. Barth came to know the Salvatorian Sisters in 1895 when he was pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in Milwaukee. Aware that the village of St. Nazianz and the secular institute there which had been founded by Oschwald (known as the Oschwald Association) was in need of German-speaking priests. Oschwald's successor, Fr. Peter Mutz, was nearing retirement. Fr. Barth asked Salvatorian Sister Raphaela Bonheim if the Salvatorian priests and brothers (who had first come to the United States in 1892 and were working in Washington and Oregon) would be interested in pastoring the people of the village of St. Nazianz. Sr. Raphaela wrote to Fr. Francis Jordan, founder of the Salvatorians in Rome, and he stated that he was indeed interested. Fr. Barth arranged contact between Fr. Jordan and

8 Archbishop Frederick Katzer of Milwaukee. Fr. Jordan himself, along with two Salvatorian priests and two brothers, came to the United States in August 1896 to meet with Archbishop Katzer and arrange for the Salvatorians to be in ministry there. 1924, the Salvatorian priests and brothers moved their Province headquarters to Milwaukee from St. Nazianz. It was located on Burleigh Street, across from Holy Cross Cemetery. Simultaneously, Mother of Good Counsel Parish was begun, behind the Provincial House property on Lisbon Avenue. The Provincial Offices moved a few more times in later years (to Menominee, Michigan, back to St. Nazianz, and then finally to its present location in Milwaukee on N Hi Mount Boulevard in A Salvatorian priest - Fr. William Nern - was nephew to Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Trecker. Mr. Trecker was co-founder and co-partner in the Kearney-Trecker Corporation, a local tooland-die cast company. As the Treckers were approaching their 90's, the sold their house - known as the Trecker Mansion - to the Salvatorian priests and brothers for their new provincial headquarters. Besides Mother of Good Counsel Parish (mentioned earlier) the Salvatorian priests and brothers also ministered at one of its daughter parish - St. Pius X in Wauwatosa, which began in In 1959, the Salvatorians open Francis Jordan High School on N 68th and Burleigh Streets. It shared some of its facilities with Mother of Good Counsel Parish. The school closed in The Salvatorians have as their mission: "To proclaim the goodness and kindness of Jesus Christ, the Divine Savior, by all ways and means the love of God inspires." As such, we are not limited to a specific apostolate or work. We are pastors, teachers, justice workers, campus ministers, chaplains in hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and military facitlities. Wherever there is a need, we hope to be able to answer that need. School Sisters of St. Francis In 1873, three young women Emma Franziska Hoell (Mother Alexia), Paulina Schmid (Mother Alfons), and Helena Seiter (Sister Clara) decided to leave their ten-member religious community in Schwarzach, Germany. They left during the Kulturkampf ( ), a period of intense conflict between the German government and the Roman Catholic Church. During this time, the German imperial government enacted anti-catholic legislation to curb the influence and political power of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. After Kulturkampf began, Bishop Lothar von Kuebel gave the sisters at Schwarzach three choices due to the tumultuous times: leave the convent and return home, remain in Schwarzach to continue their convent s missions as laywomen, or leave to join or establish another community elsewhere. Of the ten sisters at Schwarzach, Sisters Alexia, Alfons, and Clara felt called by God to sail to America to establish a Franciscan religious community to care for people in need.

9 These three sisters arrived in New York City on September 12, 1873, with only $70. They travelled to Philadelphia and then to Chicago to stay with family and sewed vestments to support themselves. While in Chicago, Father Gerard Piltz helped the sisters try to find a permanent home for their convent. He sent letters of requests to bishops in the Midwest with German congregations who needed women religious. After three weeks without any responses, Father Gerard resolved to try to get the sisters admitted to an established congregation instead of locating a place for them to start their own community. However, that evening he had a vision from St. Joseph, who told Father Gerard the three sisters needed to go to Wisconsin. The next morning a letter arrived from Bishop Michael Heiss in La Crosse, who had agreed to meet with the sisters. The sisters resolved Wisconsin was the place for their convent. On their journey to La Crosse, the sisters made connections in Milwaukee. Mother Caroline of the School Sisters of Notre Dame introduced them to Father Anthony Michels, the pastor of St. Matthew s Church in New Cassel (now Campbellsport), Wisconsin. Father Michels needed German sisters to teach at a school he wanted to start in New Cassel. With Milwaukee Archbishop John Henni s permission, the three sisters decided to start a convent and teach in the school Father Michels recently purchased. After one year of prayer and determination, the Sisters finally had a home in Wisconsin as part of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee! They built their convent, led by Mother Alexia, and opened St. Matthew s parish school to teach religious instruction, German, grammar, English, and arithmetic in The next year, the sisters also opened St. Joseph Convent Academy in New Cassel to educate and house young women from Chicago and Milwaukee. The School Sisters of St. Francis grew quickly over the next decade. Many women joined the community and the sisters staffed schools in five states. The sisters ran out of room at New Cassel and decided to move their Motherhouse to its present location in Milwaukee on Layton Blvd. They built their community in Milwaukee, St. Joseph Convent, in The School Sisters of St. Francis staffed schools across the region, established St. Joseph s Normal School (Alverno College) to educate their sisters, and expanded their missions to include health care. In 1893, Sacred Heart Sanitarium opened next to St. Joseph s Convent to care for the sick. The sisters eventually built several hospitals in Wisconsin and Germany. Throughout the 20 th and 21 st centuries, the School Sisters of St. Francis have become increasingly global and intercultural by continuing their missions in education, as well as caring for orphans, the poor, the sick, and the elderly in other parts of the world. The School Sisters of St. Francis established missions in Germany in 1895, and in Honduras and India in the 1930s. Today, sisters live and minister in Costa Rica, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Switzerland, and Tanzania, in addition to the United States.