Chapter Seven
FATHER JOHN C. GRUDEN
(1937- 1955)

John Capistran Gruden was born in Idria in the province of Krain (Carniola), October 21, 1884. He studied the classics in Laibach and philosophy and theology at the Saint Paul Seminary. One of many Slovenian students who were attracted to service in Minnesota, he had a gift for languages, being proficient in the Slavic tongues as well as German and Latin. He was ordained on June 12, 1907, in the chapel of the seminary by Bishop McGolrick of Duluth, and sang his first solemn Mass at the Church of Saint Francis de Sales where Father F. X. Bajec, who helped him come to the United States, was pastor. The Archbishop appointed him assistant at Saint Agnes until September, 1908, when he went to Washington, D.C., to do graduate studies at the Catholic University of America. In June, 1910, he returned to Saint Paul and was appointed assistant at Saint Matthew's until September when he became professor of theology at the Saint Paul Seminary, a position he held until he was named pastor of Saint Agnes, December 1, 1937. He published a definitive book on ecclesiology, entitled The Mystical Christ, in 1936. Father John Buchanan, who as a student at the Saint Paul Seminary worked very closely with Father Gruden in the publication of The Mystical Christ, has written about him:
 

The Catholic Church, the mystical Christ, like every living reality, has its external and its internal side, a visible hierarchical framework and an invisible organic structure and life. Both alike belong to the very essence of the social organism which was eternally predestined to be the medium of man's union with God. It was on this conviction that Father Gruden built the exercise of his priesthood. It was this Catholic concept of the Church that moved him in his pastoral work. These were the teachings that he instilled in the students at the Saint Paul Seminary for twenty-seven years, and which he now brought to Saint Agnes to put into practical application. The parish for him was the basic unit of the Mystical Christ, and Saint Agnes was his parish.

Father Gruden was no stranger to Saint Agnes when he was appointed to succeed Father Rant who died unexpectedly in November 1937. He had been assistant at Saint Agnes when he was first ordained, and he was a close friend of many of the Slovenian priests who served in the parish. He came to the parish knowing what he wanted to accomplish. He had his program clearly in mind and he set out to implement it. Two areas were uppermost in his plan: the liturgy and the school. He was both priest and teacher.

One of the first innovations that Father Gruden began at Saint Agnes was the weekly parish bulletin. The first one, mimeographed on white paper, is dated December 19, 1937. It is said that this was the first parish bulletin issued weekly in Saint Paul. It became an important means not only for spreading information about parish events, but it was for many people in those days of the Depression the only piece of Catholic literature that they would have in their homes. Father Gruden used it to teach about the liturgy, to explain the position of the Church in social matters and to urge people to use the Catholic schools for their children, especially in times when the faith was under attack so violently. The bulletin records all parish events and most of the activities of the archdiocese in which Saint Agnes people took part. It forms a chronicle of parish life for a half-century.

A new school was clearly demanded. Almost from the beginning, the structure erected in 1888 was inadequate. Additions were constructed and small wooden buildings were pressed into service to hold the ever-increasing number of students. Extra space was found by moving the Sisters to a new convent on the north side of Lafond Street. Further, by 1937, the original brick building was already fifty years old and was ready for replacement. Father Gruden arrived at Saint Agnes as pastor on December 1, 1937. By May, 1938, plans were ready for the new school to be erected on Lafond east of the old building. Edmund J. Prondzinski of Minneapolis was chosen as architect, and Fishbein and Jones, engineers. The cost was not to exceed $300,000, not a small sum for the depression years.

An historic event occurred at the meeting of the board of trustees and consultors on November 17, 1938, when it was agreed to petition the Archbishop for permission to open a high school as part of the new school project. Since 1911, Saint Agnes had maintained a two-year commercial department, which in 1934 had been converted into a two-year high school program with some eighty-nine students enrolled. Father Gruden's plan, with the cooperation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, was to establish a fully accredited four-year high school.

At the meeting on April 24, 1939, Father Gruden reported that the Archbishop had been satisfied with the plans for the school which have his whole-hearted approval with his permission to proceed. McGough Brothers were selected as general contractors, and financing of the project was arranged through Keenan and Clarey of Minneapolis. Father Gruden broke ground for the new structure on May 2, and on June 11, 1938, an auction was held for the houses east of the old school to make way for the new building. The laying of the cornerstone took place on Sunday, June 11, 1939, with Archbishop John G. Murray presiding. The order of events included a great bingo game on Saturday evening, a solemn Mass on Sunday morning, an ice cream social in the early afternoon, the laying and blessing of the cornerstone at four o'clock, followed by dinner and an entertainment in the evening.

On Easter Sunday, 1940, the new building was open for inspection, and after the Easter recess, the students moved into their new home. The day of the solemn dedication and blessing was June 2, 1940. An account in The Wanderer recalls the event:
 

A most effective way of helping finance the building program was the installation of bowling alleys in the new building, a program already in operation at other parishes in the Twin Cities, including Sacred Heart. They were ready for use, under the direction of an athletic committee, by August 1940. Mathias Geretschlaeger, Charles Pohl and Michael Schneider constituted the committee. The grand opening took place on August 17, with Leo J. Tibesar as manager. That the alleys were a real source of income is seen in the report for the first quarter of 1941, when the receipts were $19,665, before expenses. Generally, over the years the alleys made about S6,000 a year for the parish. In 1947, they were given over to the Men's Club for operation, and continued as a center of social life until they were closed in 1954 in order to use the space for school purposes.

The new school was hardly opened when its fine new auditorium was put to use by the dramatic club called the St. Agnes Little Theater. Under the guidance of Father Walter H. Peters, the group presented Murdered Alive, on April 14 and 15, 1940. In the cast were Dolores Ettel, Carmella Wolkerstorfer, Marcella Schneider, Genevieve Geyer, John Twomey, Angeline and Frances Dominguez, Edward Jungwirth, Robert Reif, Herb Lentsch, Celestine McGlynn and Lorry Klein.

Always of interest, especially to the school children, was the publication of the honor roll. The bulletin for June 19, 1938, had these names. For the tenth grade: Lucille Augustine, Phyllis Gardner, June Hensel, Marcella Pitzl, Dolores Rachner and Ester Thommes. For the ninth grade: Louise Achartz, Mary Catty, Margaret Congdon, Frances Gaery, Florence Hafner, Dorothy Kirchhammer, Mary Ann Kiegler, Robert Kunesch, William Merth, Lucille Tschida and Mary Meko. For the eighth grade: Catherine Janssen, Dorothy Koubik, Virginia Stevens, Charles Young, James Kneissel, Lorraine Adam, Mary Alice Brunner, Cecilia Gerlach, Jeanne Wolkerstorfer, Mariorie Kight, Lillian Seiler and Jacqueline Studiner.

The various societies active in the parish all did their part to promote the new school building. Among those listed regularly in the bulletin for their activities and events were the St. Rose Sodality, the Young Ladies Sodality, the Catholic Order of Foresters, the St. Anthony Benevolent Society, Maria Hilf, the St. Aloysius Sodality, the Committee for Decent Literature, the St. Agnes Credit Union, the Holy Name Society, the Promoters of the Sacred Heart, the Boy Scouts, the St. Vincent de Paul Conference and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. There was also the St. Agnes Choral Club which was directed by Father Francis A. Missia, and the German choir which sang at the seven o'clock Mass as well as the "big" choir. For such annual celebrations as Saint Agnes Day, the patronal feast of the parish, all cooperated. Often there was a special preacher for the solemn Mass of the day, as in 1940, when Father Joseph Ettel gave the sermon, or in 1941 when Father Albert Heer preached, or in 1943 when Father Missia was invited.

A new rectory to occupy the area on which the old school formerly stood was begun in 1940 while construction of the school was still underway. It was completed in the summer of 1941, McGough Brothers being contractors. It was designed to house a compliment of priests who would not only serve the parish but staff the high school. The question of a new convent was discussed early in 1944, but the war made immediate action impossible. Ground along Thomas Street was purchased and when materials again became available after the war, construction of a building to house fifty Sisters would be started. By 1947, it was voted to spend $200,000 on a new convent, but conditions for construction were not favorable for some time. It was thought to put it on Lafond, and additional lots were purchased to the east of the Maria Hilf Kloster, but by 1950 it was agreed to use the Thomas Avenue property adjacent to the school for a convent and an addition to the school. With the economical expansion of the country in the years following the war, the cost of building also increased, so that the price of the convent and the school addition by 1951 had risen to $700,000. A loan for $400,000 from Commercial State Bank at 3 1/2% interest was needed for the work which finally got underway in the Fall of 1951.

During the years of the war which began in Europe in 1939 the people of Saint Agnes continued their regular parish routine, celebrating the great feasts of the Church along with larger events that took place on a city-wide or archdiocesan basis. On April 12, 1942, Archbishop Murray administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 222 children and adults in Saint Agnes Church. Two new statues were blessed for the corridors of the new school, one of Saint Agnes which was dedicated on January 26, 1941, and one of Christ the King, which was blessed on October 19, 1941. Saint Agnes people went to the Holy Name rallies at the Fair Grounds, the rally in the auditorium against the Nazi government in Germany at which Archbishop Murray and Joseph Matt spoke on January 16, 1937, and not least the Ninth National Eucharistic Congress held in Saint Paul, June 22-26, 1941, on the very eve of the American entry into the war.

Preparations for the congress began early when Archbishop Murray asked for prayers for its success in every parish with perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Sale of congress medallions and arm bands, efforts to provide hospitality to visitors to the city, the Masses and meetings at which Saint Agnes parishioners took part in the singing and the discussions culminated in the great procession on the final day, an event that lives in the memory of everyone who got caught in the great downpour of rain.

The Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, spoke over radio to the thousands assembled at the Fair Grounds for the congress, alluding to the forces of evil unleashed in Europe, comparing them to the mighty flood of the Mississippi River. Archbishop Murray said that "war is at our very door, and nothing but divine intervention can avert it."

And the war came in December 1941 with Pearl Harbor. It changed the life of every American. More than six hundred young men and women from the parish were enlisted in the American armed forces. The first to die in the service of his country was Joseph Paul Szenay, and thirteen more followed him before the end of the tragic conflict. Each week the bulletin listed new names of those inducted, and a book of their names was prepared and placed on the altar in the shrine of Maria Hilf at the rear of the church. Among those who left for war was Father Harold Hesse on August 23, 1942. The safety of those at war and the deep yearning for peace was in every prayer said in Saint Agnes for all those years until August 1945 when the war in Asia was finally over.

With the end of the war thoughts turned to helping the refugees and victims, especially in Europe, and great efforts were made to send food and clothing to relatives, friends and others. In 1946, Conrad Cardinal von Preysing, Bishop of Berlin, toured the United States to thank the American people for their charity toward the German people in their sorrow and want. He spoke at the Saint Paul Auditorium as the guest of Archbishop Murray, and many Saint Agnes people attended. Shortly after the close of the war displaced persons from eastern Europe began to arrive in the United States and many settled in Saint Paul and in Saint Agnes parish, some with relatives and others quite alone, victims of the Communist takeover of their homelands. Help for them was forthcoming, especially from Archbishop Murray who was very concerned for these people who had lost everything in the scourage of war and the subsequent spread of Communism.

In January 1946, Father Gruden outlined his plan to remodel the church basement so that a chapel for 250 persons, a parish hall, several meeting rooms and a kitchen might be made available. The need for such a chapel was clear, especially for the older people who found the great number of steps into the church to be excessive. The cost would be $75,000, plus an equal amount to reenforce the superstructure. On June 6, 1948, the first Mass was celebrated in the new chapel, beautifully decorated and adorned with carved wood statues of Saint Agnes and Saint Peter, the gift of Mrs. Michael Schneider, and a crucifix also carved in wood. Stained glass and a marble altar, confessionals and stations made the new facility worthy of divine worship and most convenient for those who found the stairs too difficult.

The Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, declared 1950 to be a Holy Year. The School Sisters of Notre Dame observed it as a special year, the centenary of their coming to the United States, when Mother Caroline established a convent in Milwaukee. The Holy Year was extended to the entire world for 1951, and Saint Agnes people visited the churches assigned by the Archbishop to gain the indulgences. During Holy Week, Father Robert Merth trained the high school boys to sing Tenebrae, reviving an old tradition for Holy Thursday evening.

On September 16, 1951, Father Gruden turned the first shovel of earth to begin the construction of the school addition and the new convent. The excavation hit peat and so had to go far deeper than was anticipated. A shortage of steel caused by the Korean War delayed progress and it was not until the summer of 1952 that construction began. Some criticism had been directed toward Father Gruden for having built a new rectory in 1940 before arranging for a new residence for the Sisters. He explained that the canon law of the Church requires certain specifications that the old family home used as a rectory did not meet. He said also that the old rectory on Thomas Avenue served as a temporary dwelling for the high school Sisters, and as soon as conditions following the Second World War allowed, the convent was first on the list of priorities.

The last Mass in the old Kloster Maria Hilf on Lafond Street was said by Father Gruden on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 12, 1953. It was sixty-five years since Father Trobec had welcomed the Sisters to Saint Agnes. After Mass the Blessed Sacrament was removed, the altar stripped of its linens and the altar stone taken out. The Sisters moved to 525 Thomas Avenue. Kloster Maria Hilf was razed and the old rectory at 527 Thomas Avenue, used for ten years by the high school Sisters, was also torn down, both areas becoming parking lots as a new era continued its way. Exciting news came to the Sisters about the same time they were moving into the new convent, when Mother Bernardia, superior and principal of the grade school, was elected Mother Provincial of the Mankato Province and left Saint Agnes for her new duties in Mankato. The convent was blessed solemnly by Bishop James J. Byrne on Sunday, October 25, the feast of Christ the King, and on December 8, 1953, the Sisters and the whole parish began the observance of the Marian Year in honor of Our Lady announced by Pope Pius XII.

From the first year that he was at Saint Agnes, Father Gruden regularly invited preachers and lecturers to the parish. Many of his colleagues from the Saint Paul Seminary and the College of Saint Thomas came for the great occasions. Among them were Monsignor William Busch, Father F. T. Burns, Bishop Francis Schenk, Archbishop William O. Brady, Bishop James L. Connolly, Monsignor Rudolph G. Bandas, Monsignor Francis Gilligan, Father Oscar Winzerling and Father Joseph Schabert. Some came for Forty Hours Devotions; others were Lenten preachers; others conducted study and discussion classes.

But the school continued to expand and more space was needed. By 1954, Mr. Prondzinski was called upon to design a cafeteria, two classrooms and a small assembly room in the basement area of the school formerly occupied by the bowling alley. He also planned two additional garages to the south of the rectory. About $80,000 was expended for these improvements, and the debt on the parish stood at $360,000 at the beginning of 1955.

For some years the health of Father Gruden was failing, and the burden of the extensive construction and the resulting tensions of finance and expansion of the obligations of the pastor began to show on him. On October 25, 1955, Father Gruden resigned the position of pastor at Saint Agnes because of ill health. Dr. John Lepak diagnosed his failing condition as diabetes, asthmatic bronchitis, cardiac infarction and resulting hypertension. It was recommended that he seek a warmer climate, and so he moved to Fremont, California, where he lived until 1959, when he went to Orlando, Florida, because he had contracted hay fever. He wanted to return to Minnesota, but doctors at the Mayo Clinic advised against it. In a letter to Archbishop Brady, dated July 29, 1959, he wrote: "Even though I am advanced in years, I find lack of pastoral work rather boring and I cannot help but regret that I resigned as pastor of Saint Agnes. The wish to re-enter the ranks of pastors seems to be uppermost in my mind." He helped the pastor at Saint James Church in Orlando, and in February, 1962, he was given the privilege of offering Mass in his own home. In the summer of that year, Father Walter H. Peters, who had served at Saint Agnes under Father Gruden for four and a half years, visited him in Florida. In a letter to Archbishop Binz, Father Peters gives his observations about Father Gruden:
 

Of all the pastors of Saint Agnes no one made a greater impact on the life and fabric of the parish than did Father Gruden. Many did not understand him, and most of the parishioners never truly knew him, because he was so shy. The exterior was seemingly forbidding and cold, but it masked a heart so warm that he would give and do all for anyone who asked, but he knew he could not. He was truly a learned man, still known in theological circles for his scholarship in the field of ecclesiology, and yet he was practical beyond comparison with his contemporaries in other parishes. Saint Agnes, in this year of its centenary, is what it is because of Father Gruden. He rebuilt it from the bottom. In spite of the great church, the parish was sorely in need of every other facility: school, convent and rectory. He provided all of these in magnificent dimension. It was he who founded the high school and in so doing set the path for the future, making Saint Agnes almost unique among the parishes of the archdiocese in its dedication to Catholic education. A great church only lives and breathes when it is filled with the praise of God. Without the liturgy it is an empty temple, a bare museum. For Father Gruden, the careful and exact presentation of the Roman rite was an imperative. With the beauty and spaciousness of Saint Agnes Church, he insisted always on the precise execution of the rubrics and the full ceremony called for by the Church as he had known it for so many years in the seminary. Had his health permitted, there were many things he intended to do, not last among them, the full decoration of the interior of the church so that in its splendor the sanctity and beauty of the Mass and the other services might be carried out to the edification of the people who are members of the Mystical Christ and who sing the praises of the Holy Trinity in our earthly liturgy which remains only a shadow of the liturgy of heaven.

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