|
CORNERSTONE Insurance Agency David Barsness * 952-448-5028 |
|
Sebenaler Chiropractic Center Chaska * 952-448-9908 |
|
Christ Victorious Lutheran Church Just south of Victoria * 952-443-2993 |
|
The Key |
|
The Key to advertisers in the Victoria Gazette. Located at www.VictoriaGazette.com. |
|
Call for a clinic near you. 952-442-8094 |
|
Headlines and bylines |
|
Front Page Feature Story |
|
From the Editor |
|
Addie’s Drawing |
|
Letters to the Editor |
|
Victoria Moments |
|
Hook Line & Sinker |
|
Calendar of Events |
|
Click here to Advertise |
|
the Gazette |
|
Return to Home Page |
|
Order paper Gazette |
|
Notes and Quotes |
|
The Scoop at City Hall |
|
Bertas Funeral Home Chaska * 952-448-2137 |
|
Home Page |
|
The Victoria GAZETTE |
|
"But I kept getting sick in Minnesota," said Fr. B. "I really didn't know how to take care of myself, so the Province sent me to the hospital in Omaha and the doctors said to them, 'Send him as far south as you can.' I ended up in Texas."
In Texas Father Bernardine first worked four years at St. Joseph's in downtown San Antonio and then at St. Leonard's, also in San Antonio, for five years. That's where he found another building story. "They needed a new church at St. Leonard's and the building committee wanted us to build a little cracker box," said Fr. B., "so I went to Bishop Lucey. He was thunder and lightning! I went up there trembling because I was going against his building committee. The first thing he says to me is, 'We've been having a lot of trouble out there with that Father Hahn,' and I listened for a while and then busted out laughing and said, 'I'm Father Hahn.' Well, he started laughing too and then we got along. I told him what I wanted to do -- build wings onto the church in a cruciform style so it could seat 800 people. He said, 'Go right ahead.' I walked out of there and I couldn't believe it. Then I set to work with a pencil and I was so blessed to have that mechanical drafting class back home. The pencil doesn't lie!" Did the weather in the south agree with Fr. B.? "I should say!" he replied. "For me, San Antone is home. I love the people there. They're mostly Latins." "Do you mean Latinos?" "No," said Fr. B. "We called them Mexicans. That's what they were." y wanted to send me to Springfield, Illinois," said Fr. B., "but I reminded them about my health so they sent me to Little Flower at Monroe, Louisiana. I was there two and a half years and then they moved me over to Bastrop. Father Elstan and I arrived at Bastrop on the very same day. The very same day! Imagine that! Father Elstan was assigned to the white parish and I had the black parish. Elstan was there six years, so counting the seven years together at Victoria and Chaska, that was 13 years we had together. I spent more of my life with Father Elstan than with my own brothers. We became good friends." Father Elstan, also a Franciscan, later served as the priest in Victoria from 1985 to 1996. In those years, Fr. B. occasionally drove to Victoria to visit him and other Victoria friends. Blest be the ties that bind. Fr. B. was at Our Lady Help of Christians in Bastrop, Louisiana, for 15 years. "A kind of scary thing happened there," recalled Fr. B. "The pastor at Bastrop was a marvelous man but not a builder. I was there only two months and they needed a plan to build a church. I was new, we didn't have any money, there were commitments, and so it was scary. The Catholic Extension Society, which provides for poor parishes around the country, had committed $25,000 to build that church. If we didn't build, that grant would be withdrawn and the time was almost up. "We worked day and night and looked at different churches. I came across a metal church, and I saw that it could be done quickly and economically. The whole thing came to about $75,000 to $80,000. The Franciscan Missionary Union helped with the rest. In fact, the Franciscan Missionary Union really built the South for us. Before that, it was a like foreign mission."
In Omaha For the next 11 years, from 1988 to 1999, Father Bernardine was back in Omaha, near the St. Thomas Moore Church, which is about two miles from his birth parish of Immaculate Conception. "I asked if I could go home and help out my brother," said Fr. B. "Joseph had one eye and his wife was paralyzed. He took care of her and I took care of him. I slept at my brother's home and did what I could. I would go to St. Thomas More Church to hear Mass and confessions. When his wife died, my brother needed me more and I stayed on for him. When my brother died, I left." Where were the other brothers? "Well, they were all married and had wives and families of their own to take care of," he exclaimed.
In St. Louis In 1999 Father Bernadine went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he became the chaplain for the Poor Clare Sisters, his joy for nearly 15 years. Until very recently, after waking and prayers, he left the St. Anthony Friary every morning at 5:45 a.m. and drove on freeway and side roads to the Poor Clares to say their 6:15 Mass. "The path and the parking lot here at the Friary aren't always properly cleared of snow and ice that early in the morning," he said, "and so I've fallen a couple of times in the driveway, but I'm not a heavy person and so I didn't get hurt. There are advantages to being light."
|
|
CORNERSTONE Insurance Agency Inc. |
|
David Barsness, CPCU Chaska 952-448-5028 |
|
Lake Auburn Moravian Church Victoria 952-443-2051 |
|
Southwest Christian H.S. 952-556-0040 |
|
March 2013 |
