Remsen St. Mary's celebrates 100 years

September 2, 2004

REMSEN - St. Mary's Parish of Remsen will hold a double celebration Sept. 12 on the grounds of the parish. The parish will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of St. Mary's Church. The Sept. 12 event will also be the culmination of the eight-day "Octave of the Blessed Virgin Mary," a new parish tradition to be held annually in honor of the parish patroness.

The events of Sept. 12 at St. Mary's will begin with a Mass at 10:30 a.m. celebrated by native priest Msgr. Nick Ruba, with a homily by Msgr. Roger Augustine, administrator of the Diocese of Sioux City, and a former St. Mary's student. Several native sons and daughters now in the priesthood and religious life, along with past teachers, administrators, and pastors, will be present.

The Mass will feature languages used during the history of the parish and town of Remsen; Luxembourgish, Latin, German, and English. The Mass will also pay tribute to the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque, who have served continuously in the parish since 1889.

St. Mary's Church is a remarkable example of the neo-Gothic form and the work of Dubuque architect Guido Beck and renowned church contractor Henry Tappendorf of Rock Island, Illinois. St. Mary's was built beginning in the spring of 1902 when the previous church was moved across the street and parish volunteers excavated the immense basement. The foundation was completed that year.

The cornerstone dedication took place on April 21, 1903, and the superstructure was completed and the roof closed in before the end of the year. A coal boiler was installed and work on the interior proceeded through the winter of 1903-4. The first stained glass window was placed in February of 1904 and the pipe organ was transferred into the new church in March. The first Mass in the new building was celebrated on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 24, 1904.

St. Mary's Church was formally dedicated on September 9, 1904, the day after the dedication of the completed Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City. Bishop Jakob Schwebach of La Crosse, the only Luxembourg-born bishop in American history, blessed the new building. Three immense altars were added in 1906, gas lighting in 1907, beautiful Stations of the Cross in 1911, a Nativity set and partial electric lighting in 1913, and side pews, pulpit, and tower clocks in 1914.

The interior of the church was redecorated in 1936, 1967 and 1992. A statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg, Consolation of the Afflicted, was unveiled in 1939 and has stood in the south transept for 65 years. Statues of Mary under this title, which stand in nearly every Catholic church in Luxembourg, can be found in only 14 known locations in the United States. The William Schuelke pipe organ was the first tubular-pneumatic organ installed in Iowa and is one of the relatively few organs in the United States still functioning as a tubular-pneumatic. It was restored as extensively as was financially possible in 2001.

St. Mary's Stations of the Cross, carved in the famed village of St. Ulrich in the Alps, are considered among the most valuable collections of art in the Sioux City Diocese. The stained glass windows, the work of the RT Giles Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, are also considered invaluable. St. Mary's Church contains a rare and stunning statue of Jesus in the tomb. The statue lies behind the front base panel of the altar of St. Joseph and is typically revealed only during Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Immediately following Mass on Sept. 12, St. Mary's statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg will be carried in an outdoor procession around the outer perimeter of the church block, with various prayers and songs being offered. After the procession (approximately noon) there will be a parish picnic and celebration featuring:

* 40' by 80' tent for eating and socializing.

* Roast hog.

* Beer garden.

* Kid's games.

* Zing zu (3-pin bowling).

* Volleyball.

* Historical displays.

* Church history video.

* Collectibles.

* Church tours.

* New parish history book.

A cornerstone ceremony will occur at 2:30 p.m., at which time the items found in the cornerstone box in July will be revealed. Participants will be encouraged to visit St. Mary's Cemetery, where the Founding Families of the parish will be recognized with markers and short biographies.

The Octave devotion of St. Mary's Parish, modeled after the Octave held annually in Luxembourg for nearly 350 years, will be kicked off with weekend Masses Sept. 4 and 5. Parishioners and any interested guests and groups will be invited to make a pilgrimage during the week to the parish patroness, St. Mary, as represented by Our Lady of Luxembourg, which will be placed in the church sanctuary.

Various devotional events are planned throughout the week in the church building. Daily Masses will include invitations each day to parishes in the area with a Luxembourger heritage: Monday, Alton; Tuesday, Hospers; Wednesday, Granville; Thursday, Oyens/Marcus; and Friday, Le Mars.

A bicycle pilgrimage will be made on the morning of Sept. 11 from St. Mary's Church to the memorial "St. Donatus" site southeast of Alton, where the first colony of Luxembourger farmers homesteaded in 1870 (about a 23-mile ride total). Those interested can contact Norine Harvey at St. Mary's High School, 786-1433.

The Octave devotion is actually a revival of a parish tradition from years past. For the first half of the 1900s St. Mary's Parish held a procession to the church in honor of Mary. The celebration was known as the "Maifest" and was headed by the Luxembourg Brotherhood of Remsen. Beginning in 2005 the annual Octave of the Blessed Virgin will be held in St. Mary's Parish during the month of May.

Extensive background information on the events at St. Mary's can be accessed at www.smparishinfo.org. Questions can be directed to Rick Roder, the event chairman, at 786-2015.

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