Letting Go of Buildings

Identity can be redefined by letting go of buildings By Dan Heckel, Mount Saint Joseph Staff

In the 1980s, the Ursuline Sisters of Paola, Kan., decided to raze the original Ursuline Academy building and a second building used for classrooms and boarders – both of which were deteriorating. Sister Pat Lynch was a member of the Paola Leadership Council during that time.

“I went to high school there for three years,” she said. “I understand why people cry when buildings come down.”

Sometime in 2022, the former Mount Saint Joseph Academy and later Retreat Center will be deconstructed. The foundation is deteriorating on the building, the oldest of which was built in 1874. Sister Pat – completing her term as assistant congregational leader for the Ursulines of Mount Saint Joseph this summer – is in a unique position to understand the feelings and emotions of her Sisters and the graduates of the Academy.

“It’s important to let go. It’s important to ritualize it,” Sister Pat said. Following the merger with Mount Saint Joseph in 2008, the Paola Sisters said goodbye to their Motherhouse, which is now being repurposed as a drug rehabilitation center.

“In Paola, we had several gatherings where we shared memories,” Sister Pat said. “We blessed the premises. We laughed and cried. If you make it a ritual, it makes it easier to let go. Letting go is hard. It’s important to pay attention to feelings.”

There is encouragement in knowing the Ursuline community isn’t alone in dealing with the emotions involved in saying goodbye to a beloved building, Sister Pat said.

“I know it’s hard, but we aren’t the only ones this is happening to,” she said. “Every religious community is going through this, in one way or another.”

An important message to remember is that buildings are simply the container for the ministry that occurred there. The mission remains.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Anne Munley leads the Discerning Our Emerging Future initiative for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

“The building up of institutions was a big part of their response to the urgent needs of God’s people.”

-Sister Anne Munley

Leadership Conference of Women Religious

This photo shows the back of the original Academy building, with the Academy students dressed in their best. The date is unknown, but it must be before 1882, because the addition of that year has not yet happened. RIGHT: The original Mount Saint Joseph Academy is in the center, with the 1882 addition to the right. The addition provided sleeping quarters for both boarding students and Sisters, as well as an auditoriumrecreation center on the first floor. In the top right, the statue of Saint Joseph is in the niche under the gable. The statue moved to a pedestal in front of the central doorway in 1890.

She said when cherished buildings are razed, there is a sense of loss and a need to deal with the grief.

“In the United States, 19th century apostolic congregations made a huge contribution to the building up of the country by establishing schools, hospitals, colleges and various entities for pastoral and social services,” Sister Anne said.

“With great personal sacrifice, religious communities educated multiple waves of immigrant populations, and provided pathways for upward mobility,” she said. “These same religious communities made education at all levels available to women, and in educating women, they educated families and contributed to changing unjust structures that blocked the full development of God-given gifts and potential.”

Sisters were a labor force for the Church, and met major needs of the Church and society, Sister Anne said.

“The building up of institutions was a big part of their response to the urgent needs of God’s people,” she said. “Institutions became a visible sign of the Sisters’ commitment to the mission of the Gospel. In terms of identity, mission was equated with ‘doing’ and cherished institutions were a sign of the community’s collective identity.”

Removing these buildings can result in the loss of this “visible sign” of the mission, but Sister Anne said it can free religious communities to redefine their identity.

“Religious congregations are growing in deeper awareness that the heart of a call to religious life is the quest for God,” she said. “There is a change of mindset emphasizing the meaning and value of religious life in and of itself and a profound commitment to its future. “Shifting identity is reflected in a

LEFT: The depiction of the original Mount Saint Joseph Academy in 1876, two years after it opened. ABOVE: The former Academy as it appears today.

In 1962, Bloemer Hall was erected as part of the Academy building, housing the post office, Student Shop, students’ infirmary and private rooms. When Bloemer Hall was later incorporated as part of the Retreat Center, the Student Shop became the Gift Shop.

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What Retreat Center guests recognize as the large conference room was at one point a classroom and a Study Hall in the 1904 addition. The chapel in the 1882 wing became the library when the 1929 chapel opened. (See Library at right). When the Academy closed, the room became the museum.

Father Bernard Barnes, the chaplain at Mount Saint Joseph in 1983, blesses the newly established Mount Saint Joseph Retreat Center in August 1983. When Mount Saint Joseph Academy closed in May 1983, the buildings were transformed into the Retreat Center.

Buildings From page 9

Renovation began on the Retreat Center in 1997 with the addition of this façade that connects to the four wings of the building. From left are the 1882 addition, the original 1874, the 1904 addition and the 1962 wing to the right.

perception of oneness in which charisms of different congregations complement one another as gifts of the Spirit freely given for the sake of all,” Sister Anne said. “Identity is not so much about what we ‘do’ as religious but ‘who we are.’ Identity is rooted in being called by a God of Love to be love journeying sideby-side with God’s people.”

Sister Pat joined the Ursuline Sisters in the midst of the changes occurring during the Second Vatican Council. She said her entire religious life has been challenged by the phrase “it will be different,” and what the community is facing now is the next step.

“It’s important to listen to the Holy Spirit. God is running the show, we aren’t,” Sister Pat said. “We need to take steps that honor our past, respect change and look to the future."n

RIGHT: This room has served many purposes through the years in the Academy, from a dining room to a place to welcome guests. Mother Aloysius Willett made a point of buying one painting of Mary each year for this room. When the building operated as the Retreat Center, this “Madonna Room” served as a place of relaxation for guests. The paintings and the woodwork around the doors and windows are being preserved for future use.

The buildings remaining today – from left the 1904 addition, 1874 original Academy, and the 1882 addition – are expected to be deconstructed this year, along with the 1962 addition on the northeast corner. The renovated – and renamed – Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center reopened in January 1998, with this glass-enclosed façade built for the new entrance and to house the elevator. The Retreat Center building was permanently closed in 2021.