 |
|
| Several freshmen pictured at the temporary Milwaukee site of Holy Name Seminary in 1963 with Msgr. George O. Wirz, seminary rector, and Bishop William P. O’Connor are, from left: John Udelhofen, Cuba City; Alec Henning, Beloit; Robert Welter, Watertown; and Mike Mistele, Madison. (Catholic Herald file photo) |
Tenth in a series on the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Madison
While Holy Name Seminary was being built, 80 young men from 40 different parishes were accepted for the freshman year of the new Diocese of Madison minor seminary.
They actually studied in Milwaukee at a temporary location at the former De Sales Preparatory Seminary. Classes began on September 5, 1963.
Five priests accompanied the seminarians. They included Msgr. George Wirz, Holy Name Seminary rector, and Frs. Thomas Doheny, Delbert Klink, Donald Lins, and Ronald Rank.
Holy Name Seminary opens
Sophomores and juniors were added in 1964 at the new seminary in Madison. Holy Name Seminary was ready for occupancy in August of 1964.
In the fall of 1964, even though construction was not complete, 205 seminarians in the first three years of school arrived to begin their studies in new surroundings.
They were greeted by a red brick building which would feature a commanding steeple added during the school year with a cross 169 feet high, proclaiming the mission of the seminary and the Church to the community.
The seminary when completed would include 15 classrooms, theater-auditorium, medical dispensary, library, gymnasium, swimming pool, dining hall, 23 faculty suites, and a chapel.
In all, there were 800 rooms occupying 235,488 square feet.
Chapel features huge mosaic
As visitors entered the seminary through the front entrance, they saw the chapel ahead. Through the chapel doors, they could see a huge mosaic of the Resurrected Christ, 24 by 30 feet, reaching from floor to ceiling behind the altar.
Designed by Conrad Schmitt Studios of Milwaukee, the mosaic was assembled in Berlin, Germany. It contains 360,000 Venetian, German, and gold antique tesserae, combined with spottings of natural-cut marble.
More on Holy Name Seminary will be included in the next article in this series.
Sources: Building Our Future in Faith: Commemorative History of the Catholic Diocese of Madison (1996); archives of the Catholic Herald newspaper.
Mary C. Uhler served on the staff of the Catholic Herald-Diocese of Madison for almost 47 years, the last 34 years as editor. She retired in July of 2020.