HomeMy WebLinkAboutSt. Mary's Catholic 091103History of St. Mary's
By Michael D. Miesch III'
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Introduction
St. Mary's Catholic Church in College Sta-
tion stands unique as parish composed al-
most entirely of the students of 'Texas
ARCM University. Of the nearly I 0,0(H)
Catholic students who attend 'Texas A &M,
a university of 36,001) undergraduate stu-
dents, 6,00(1 are currently registered with
St. Mary's. Although a chapel and a priest
have been provided to serve the Catholic
students of 'Texas A&M since 1927, the
story of St. Mary's growth began much
earlier in 1904I.
The early Years
When the Rev. John Glcissner came to
Bryan in March, 190.1, he noticed six
young men assisting at Mass at St. Joseph's
Church.
In his memoirs he wrote, "From the
uniforms they wore, I recognized them as
students of the Agriculturaland Mechani-
cal College of 'Texas. What. a source of edi-
fication they were to me and the congrega-
tion. No matter how the weather, they
came."
'I'lhe Rev. John Glcissner
Talking to the young men, he was told
that they walked six miles into Bryan from
College Station each Sunday to attend
Mass.
Impressed by their devotion, Glcissner
said, "Something had to be done to give
them help to remain loyal to the faith."
Glcissner asked the Most Rev. N.A. Gal-
lagher, bishop of Galveston, for permis-
sion to offer Mass as often as possible at
Texas A &M. Permission was granted and
in 1905, (ilcissner made arrangements to
say Mass in one of the classrooms on cam-
pus.
"Occasionally, as often as I possibly
could, I said Mass for them in a classroom
in the Civil Engineering building," he said.
"A desk was the altar. A crucifix and two
candlesticks were all we had."
'I'lle bishop was informed of the work at
Texas A &M by Msgr. Kirwin, a priest who
at times helped by saying Mass for the stu-
dents, Glcissner said.
"On my next visit to Galveston, the
bishop gave me vestments and a chalice to
use while attending the A &M students,"
he said. "Good old Sgt. Hayland, a Span-
ish War veteran, took care of the vest-
ments and had the altar prepared for the
priest."
The First Chapel
Of the 300 students who were attending
Texas A &l'Vl in 19(4, six were Catholic,
Gleissner said. But with each year the
number of students increased and more
Catholics came to 'Texas A &M.
As the number of Catholic students in-
creased so died the need for a chapel,
Gleissner said. For 23 years, he celebrated
Mass in first one classroom and then an-
other, always moving to a larger rooutas
the numbers grew.
For several years, Gleissner made pleas
for help to anyone who would listen. One
of the groups he voiced his flea to was the
Knights of Columbus, a fraternal Catholic
organization known for giving support to
needy causes. The minutes for the 1923
Knights of Columbus convention describe
his elfin
"It was at. the Austin Convention of 1923
that Delegate 1.W. Warren, of the Bryan
Council, took the floor to explain die
plight of the Catholic boys attending the
A &M College at. College Station. I n order
to explain the situation more fully he
asked the privilege of the floor in behalf of
Father Gleissner, a priest already known
throughout Texas for his great apostolic
labors in the diocese of Galveston. If it
seemed just one more speech to the dele-
gates, who were perhaps looking for an
early adjournment before re lunch, they
were not correct in their conclusion. No
sooner had Father Gleissner begun to
speak, first very quietly and calmly, then
more spirited and eloquently, his listeners
became aware that his was no humdrum
speech dealing in generalities.
"Father Gleissner explained that for
many years there had been a definite and
even an urgent need of a chapel fi die
Catholic students at the Agricultural and
Mechanical College at College Station,
known familiarly as the A&M College. l Ie
pointed out the fact that it was with much
sacrifice that the students had to walk six
miles over had roads, especially in rainy
weather, to hear Mass at St. Joseph's
Church in Bryan. The cadets at the insti-
tution had no transportation, and to make
it easier to attend Mass there should be a
chapel more conveniently located. With-
out any hesitant words, Father Gleissner
therefore sincerely asked the Texas
Knights of' Columbus to build a chapel for
the Aggies at A &M.
"The proposal met with the unanimous
approval of all the delegates present if one
were to judge by the applause given Fa-
ther Gleissner as he retired from the
speaker's rostrum."
But, according to the minutes, because
nothing definite was planned other than a
verbal agreement by some of' the delegates
to each procure a donation of'$100, no im-
mediate results were realized.
"State Deputy J.1. Driscoll at the Laredo
Convention in 1924 in his report re-
minded the delegates that the Bryan
Council had made an appeal for the estab-
lishment of facilities for Catholic students
attending A &M, and that thus far their
plea had gone unheeded," the minutes re-
ported.
"The consideration given this chapel
project at the Laredo Convention created
new interest, and the Councils which had
agreed to send Father Gleissner a dona-
tion of $100 in response to the appeal
made at. Austin, now sent the money. Fa-
ther Gleissner with these donations and a
few extra sums which came into his hands,
did not let the money lie idle but immedi-
ately purchased two lots, suitably located
north of the college campus for the sum of
$1,000. A good beginning had been ma-
de."
In November 1925 State Deputy Dris-
coll went personally to inspect the site of
the proposed chapel in College Station
and to confer with Father- Gleissner, who
had been given full authority by the Most
Rev. Christopher Byrne, bishop of Galves-
ton, to act for him in die construction of
the chapel.
I)riscoll's report states, "1 found the se-
lection of the site made by Father
Gleissner a most pleasant one, facing the
campus and on the main road which
bounds one side of the grounds of the in-
stitution. A prolongations of another road
which divides the grounds of the institu-
tion proper, is contemplated, and if con-
structed, will bound our site on another
side giving us a corner location in the lot."
The Knights of Columbus at the annual
meeting held in El Paso in 1925 decided
the best way to raise funds was to levy a
special per Capita assessment. of $1 on each
member of the Councils. More than
$3,000 was raised by the tax. In 1926,
when all arrangements had been com-
pleted for the building of the chapel, State
Deputy Driscoll sent the following tele-
gram to Gleissner: "The Texas State
Council of the Knights of Columbus will
build a chapel and a recreation center at
College."
On October 7, 1926, the Catholic Feast
of the holy Rosary, ground was broken
for St.. Mary's Chapel. The chapel was fi-
nally completed in April 1927.
According to an article in the Long-
horn, 110 Catholic students were regis-
tered at Texas ARCM during the 1926-
1927 school year.
One of those students, Col. Walter Par-
sons, Class of 1930, who remembers the
construction of the chapel, said, "When 1
cause here in `26, they were starting to
build the new chapel. For the first semes-
ter I was here, they had Mass in the class-
room.
"The new chapel looked like a mission.
It set. up off the ground about. eight or 10
feet and had a basement with a 12- to 14-
foot ceiling."
In his report. to the convention at Tay-
lor in May 1927, Driscoll delivered a more
elaborate description of the chapel.
"The chapel," he staled "constructed af-
ter the Spanish Renaissance style; is 62.5
feet long by 3 feet wide, with a seating
capacity of 250 persons, with ample aisles,
with the auditoriums of the chapel proper
commodious and light; the basement has
been fitted out as a recreational center and
will serve a very great need for social
meetings, conferences, entertainments
and other gatherings. The construction is
of brick and concrete, the basement. being
Bishop C.E. Byrne and Msgr. J.B. Gleissner
cemented, while the floor of' the chapel is
of hard wood."
The interior of the chapel was fur-
nished through contributions, which in-
chided an altar and a Communion railing
made of Kale stone.
Gleissner wrote, "Everything in the cha-
pel is finished in old ivory and gold."
When the college chapel was finished
and all the bills had been accounted for, it
was found that the cost of' the project to-
taled $20,913.61, Driscoll reported.
On April 24, 1927, the new chapel was
dedicated and blessed by Bishop Byrne.
Reminiscing in his memoirs, Gleissner
wrote, "Bishop Byrne, God bless his soul,
came to bless the chapel. A special train
brought. the I louston Council fin- the festi-
vities which were attended by at least
2,500 to 3,00( people. Msgr. J.S. Murphy,
then state Chaplain, celebrated the Sol-
emn I -sigh Mass. The bishop gave an elo-
quent sermon on the occasion. It is still re-
membered by many. After the ceremony,
a barbecue dinner was enjoyed by all. The
old chaplain (Msgr. Gleissner) was as
happy as a child on Christmas Day after
Santa Claus' arrival."
The Need fora Second Chapel
For the next twenty years, the Catholic
student population continued to grow. In
May of 1933, Rev. Tim . 1. Valenta, a newly
ordained priest was sent. by Bishop Byrne
to assist Gleissner, who had been given the
honorary title of Monsignor.
A short history of St. Mary's describes
the growing seating problem in the cha-
pel.
"St. Mary's Chapel was slowly becoming
inadequate as more and more Catholic sl n-
dents enrolled at A &M. At the time when
St. Mary's was constructed, there were
about 100 young men and it was never vi-
sualized that the approximate 200 seating
capacity would become to small, even wit))
two Masses on Sundays. More and more
students had to stand outside to hear
Mass."
By 1936 a new problem had developed.
The basement of the chapel had become
unusable because of water seepage.
Msgr. Gleissner wrote, "Again the
Knights of Columbus were gcncrous.
They spent $4,000 for repairs. My worry
is now, how to accommodate the Catholic
Aggies in our chapel. At the opening of
our college in September 1940, at least
100 had to stand or kneel on the front or
sacristy steps. But what when the weather
gets had."
Rev. Valenta temporarily eased the
problem by building a 30 by 40 feet bal-
cony at a cost of $350 that accommodated
another 75 students.
But with the beginning of World War
Il, the student population jumped. Msgr.
Glcissncr reported that by 1944 the Cath-
olic students numbered more than Rol)
and another. 1,000 Catholics were with the
training school for Navy, Marines, and Air
Corps. Even with three Masses on Sunday,
the facilities were inadequate, the said.
A history on the Texas A &M Newman
Club details the second drive:
"In 1944, Father Tim Valenta made a trip
to Galveston to tell of these troubles to the
Most Rev. C.L. Byrne, bishop of Galves-
ton. 11is excellency recommended a study
be made of ways and meads to obtain
money for new and adequate facilities at
A &M.
"Since St. Mary's is only a chapel for stu-
dents and has no parishioners — a diffi-
cult problem had to be faced. How could
$250,000 be raised? Students themselves
are not able to give much and neither will
they assume any particular sum of obliga-
tion, as they stay only a while and then go
out into the world where they have their
own responsibilities to their own parishes.
"The answer to the money question had
to be — Aggie Exes, parents and students,
friends of the Aggies, drives, Catholic or-
ganizations and prayers. So with this, work
was begun from scratch. The bank balance
showed 44 cents and no records of former
students existed. So after much prepara-
tion of' making files, etc., in 1944, letters
began to go out to the Aggie-Exes for
help. The response was very discouraging,
as about. one percent answered with very
little help. 'Phis however, did not stop
them from trying harder.
"From the beginning of the drive in
1944 until 1953, the group made every
convention of Catholic organizations, such
as the Knights of Columbus, Czech Catho-
lic Union of Men (K]'1') and Czech Catho-
lic Union of Women (KJXT) and others
speaking and begging for help. Words
cannot express enough gratitude to these
organizations for their contributions. A
request for $60,000 was made in the re-
port to the Knights of Columbus Commit-
tee. This report was accepted and passed
by the delegates of the convention in Aus-
tin on May 14, 1952.
"With the pledge of $60,000 sent to the
Building Fund at $6,000 per year, plans
were being made for a new St. Mary's Stu-
dent Center which was most urgently
needed at College Station. Two blocks of
land were purchased at a cost of $24,500.
The center was dedicated on May 2, 1954.
The cost, fully furnished and landscaped,
was $90,000."
When he wrote his memoirs in 1942,
Msgr. ( ;leissner wrote, "I wonder whether
the 76 years old chaplain will sec before he
closes his eyes in death the realization of
his dream."
Although he lived another I1 years,
Msgr. J.B. Gleissner, who served as Chap-
lain of the Aggies for 45 years, never saw
the work started for which he worked so
hard. He died February 28, 1953.
Construction on the new St. Mary's Cha-
pel started in June 1956 and was built in
memory Of Msgr. Gleissner. The final cost
of the chapel was $3(.)2,500. The building
was dedicated on Oct.. 19, 1958 with a Sol -
emn High Mass.
The Most Rev. L.J. Reicher, bishop of
Austin, officiated at the Mass and was as-
sisted by four former ARCM students.
They were Rev. Earnest Michalka of LaP-
orte, the first Aggic ordained a priest;
'Denver construct ()It he new St. 1f ary's
The Second Chapel
Rev. James Dempsey; Rev. James Nelson
and Rev. James Golanski, all of Houston.
The Rev. Tins Valenta, who came to
Bryan in 1933 as a newly- ordained priest,
was pastor of the new chapel, while the
Rev. Charles Elmer was chaplain to the
students.
The new chapel including the balcony
accommodates 650 people. A small chapel
on the upper floor in the front of the
building will hold about 40 people for da-
ily Mass.
In 1959 with the help of local Catholic
carpenters, the old St. Mary's Chapel was
remodeled into a rectory for the two
Jn•iests assigned to the chapel. The build-
ing was used as a rectory until May ,1965,
when the one lot of land was sold to Shell
Oil Company for $45,000. In November
of the same year construction was begun
on a new rectory.
Rapid Growth
In the 1960's 'Texas A&M grew rapidly.
Two contributing factors were the allow-
ance Of women into the university in 1963
and civilians in 1965.
Col. Walter Parsons, who was assigned
by the Army to serve at 'Texas A&M twice
bcfirre he retired in Bryan, said, "'I'lte big
growth in student population came in
1962. When I canoe back in 1962, there
were 8,000 students. When I left in 1972,
there were 35,000."
Rev. Leon Streider, the present. pastor
of St. Mary's, said "All (lilting that period,
this parish changed immensely. The first.
resident priest started in 1954. that was
Charles Elmer. ile stayed from 1954 until
1964 living in the student center.
"Various priests covered From 1964 un-
til 1968. In 1968 St. Mary's became a par-
ish in its own right. Father Bernard Maho-
ney was the pastor.
"From 1968 to 1982 this was both a
family parish, for the faculty and staff and
their children, and a student. parish. It was
very crowded. Not so ninth on Sunday
mornings, although that was crowded to,
but it was crowded in the since that we
were running two completely different.
programs — one being family oriented
and the other being student oriented. But
running a dual program doesn't work, one
always suffers.
"In 1982, it was deckled to start a new
parish across town for families and to
make St. Mary's a university parish, whose
mane interest are the students. Faculty
members and staff could still come, but
they would definitely he in a supportive
role not a leadership role.
"We were really expecting that numbers
would level off and that we would be able
to get. by with a little less because we had
shifted 300 families over to the other par-
ish. But that's not what happened. What
happened was not only did we not lose
anything, we began to grow even more. So
when the families moved on, the students
took ownership of the church. Whenever
you take ownership of something, it be-
comes yours. You come back and you take
an interest..
"At. that time we had five weekend
Masses and oftentimes overflow Masses at
the Student Center. We added another
morning and another evening Mass on
Sunday. We also added a Spanish Mass on
Saturday evening because there are 500
Latin American students.
"Because the University has seemingly
leveled off, the student population is
going to stay around 36,000. So I think the
numbers we have now are the numbers
we'll have, which is 36,000 students of
which maybe 10,000 are Catholic. In the
spring when we are on a more regular
schedule, we have about 4,000 people
come to Mass on any given weekend.
Maybe about 400 would be non - students.
So there are about 3,500 students, which is
many more than we had before."
Stricder, when talking about the future of
St. Mary's, said "We have renovated every-
thing except the church. We first reno-
vated the Student Center and prepared it
for a three- priest plus counselor structure
and computer room. We renovated the
rectory to make it a three - priest rectory.
We should be back up to three priests in
January. The last major building is the
church. We're seriously looking at dou-
bling the balcony by extending it to the
middle of the next window. By taking out
the Cry Room, we can get 200 seats up-
stairs. The church also needs new carpet-
ing and repainting.
"We have prof gct.ed the renovations for
this summer starting the clay after gradua-
tion. Hopefully, it will be finished Sept. 1.
"I think being a three-priest, counselor,
computer operation Student Center, that
we're finally up to where we are supposed
to be. So my key word, for the next years
that I hope to be here, is quality not quanti-
ty.
Catholic students of St. Mary's
by county in 1949
Streider, offering his own theory, said "It's
plainly because A &M is such a traditional
and tradition filled school. That sits well
with the mind set of the middle class /up-
per middle class Catholic families. Both
the ethnic Catholic families that live in the
small towns and the Catholics from the big
metropolitan area — I louston, Dallas and
San Antonio.
"A &M is the closest thing to what would
be considered a school with high values
and traditional values that Catholic par-
ents would be looking for for their chil-
dren.
rew!ler.!
�o1nI ' L.,ILLI.. 1- . 00+40 , . nt
n reel ! 7 = 14 ,( 1 `1;
Catholic students students of St. Mary's
by county in 1986
Why So Many Catholics at A &M?
"Because A&M is big and a state school,
it's not as expensive as some Catholic uni-
versities. Plus it's an engineering school,
business school, education school, medical
and veterinary school.
"Another major reason is that we have a
church church. Many campuses have a
student center church, which is a building
that looks like a building and not like a
church. "I'lley use a room which is used for
other things during the week.
"I think young people in general and
Aggies in particular are attracted to a
church church."
The 1926-1927 Newman (:lulu (next lour pages)
Rsv. J. B. GLEISSNER
A CCORD! to figures given out, there are one hundred and ten Catholic students registered
in the College. At the present time Mass is held every Sunday in a room on the second
floor of the C. l.. Building for these students and the campus people who attend services with
the students, Reverend J. B. (;leissner, l'astor of the Catholic Church in Bryan, is volunteer
chaplain and pastor of the group.
At the present time workmen are busy constructing a new 520,000 Chapel just off the north
end of the campus. which will furnish a meeting place as well as a Chapel for the group. This
Chapel is being built by the Knights of Columbus of the State and is expected to be finished soon.
Seventy -two students of the group are enrolled in the Newman Club, which is the A. and
M. branch of that large organization. Officers of the Club are:
S. J. 1)IELMANN, President
B. E. FIGARI, Vice- President
C. M. FI.ORER, Secretary- Treasurer.
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RE.Y. J. B. GLEISNER
/ ^ DI(LMANN, S. J. •
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4 — KONECNY. •
S RETTIGER, C.
/6 -- BRET, I'. F.
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NEWMAN CLUB
I)IFI.MANN, S. J., President •
2/,-FIGARI, E. E. Vice- President
Secretary- Treasurer
Chaplain
CAPT. A. M. GUIDERA Faculty Advisor
CLASS 1927
1C — FJ.ORER, C. M. •
7 -- FRANR, M. P. •
II --- I !EYE, G. D.
9 - -- MAHER, L. W.
/el — ORTOLAN!, 1.. •
CLASS 1928
/8 DE LA FUENTE, , I. F."
/ IIINOJOSA, J I
2 e , —TAYLOR, L. ..
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2
,21
FI.ORES, D., JR.
/3 --- FRELS, E. B. •
/ IIOWERTON, W. .
/S/ — '�MCMILLAN, T
fit SEIDENGLANZ, E-B •
?/- FIGARI, E. E.
KOSSRIEL, R. C.
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M AKER, MCMILLAN, ORTOLAN!, SEIDENGLANZ
RETTIGER, BRET, FIGARI, GERDES, HINOJOSA, KOSSRIEL, TAYLOR
Pose 342
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23 — Avn.A, J. P.
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•2. 7 PARZ, •A.
2:g _ STEVENS, E. H.
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p.
di- AVILA, E. D., R.
z BUCKLEY, F. A.
13 DE PASQUALE, F. P.
NEWMAN CLUB
CLASS 1929
2f'-- HRAUNIC, E. P.
ESPAR7A, J. (,
CLOVER, C;, 11.
3 2 -- —AC F.LLV,fn4l. •
;_; .— ROTIIF,1k. G.
SULLIVAN, K. A.
CLASS 1930
94 BAUMANN, T. P.
y es _ C ODRINGTON, C. F.
# /6-- DE LA FUENTE, J.
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i /� TANNER, P. O. •
BORnAGES, E. 1.
CRAI,GO, E. J.
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AVILA, BRAIINIG, BIICIIEI., DAUTERIVF, ESPANZA, FEELS, GLOVER
IAEGFLIN, KELLY, STEVENS, SULLIVAN
TANNER, BORDAGES, BUCKLEY, CODRINGTON, CRAIGO, DE PASQUALE, DE LA FUENTE
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Jv - I)OId.INGER, J.
I)RESCHER, E. L.
62 . - IIAI.LARON, K. S.
✓° 3- -- -- - -- KAVANAGH, F. E.
_5 MARTELI.A, R. L.
5. — REVAK, J. A.
S L URBANOVSKY, E. J.
Si- I)ONAHIIE, J. W.
S t? FRANKE, G. F..
51 !IASI.IIAUER, A.
-- KENDALL, E. J.
E / - --• PARSONS, W. H.
L RYAN, R. M.
CLASS 1930-- Continued
CLUB 01 7 ' /S.- ,z R , 7
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- 4 ho1.AN, A. R.
I•ARCIA J. M.
61 _ KALLUS, V. T.
g KuNITz, M. R.
b POLZRR, F. J.
6 p — F,CHARR, F. J.
V` R. G.
6 •
I)ITTMAN, 1)OI LINGER, 1)OSTP.RCTIII.I.P., I)RESCHER, FRANRIE, GARCIA, HALLARAN
HALSHAUER, KAVANAUGH, KENDAL, KUNITZ, KALLUS, MARTRLLA
PARSONS, POLVER, REVAR, RYAN, SCHARR, WINCKLER, GARCIA
Pate 344