St. Elizabeth’s
Buys Property For Convent
McKean County Democrat: Thursday,
March 27, 1952
The Former Ness House to be Remodeled for Teaching Sisters |
The Rev. Joseph J. Grode, pastor of St.
Elizabeth’s Catholic Church announced this week that the
parish has purchased the residential property at the southwest
corner of the intersection of West King and Union Sts. and will
convert it into a convent.
Formerly owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Ness, the property consists of
a two-story frame house and one-eighth of a block of land. It
adjoins the rear of the half-block owned by St. Elizabeth’s
parish.
The deal was consummated by Father Grode after consultations with
the Most Rev. John Mark Gannon, Bishop of the Diocese of Erie,
and members of the church committee. The purchase price of the
Ness property was $5,000.
Father Grode said yesterday that the former Ness residence will
be renovated this spring and a modern, well-equipped convent for
teaching sisters will be provided. A fully furnished convent is
a preliminary but the essential requirement in the process of
acquiring a group of resident nuns.
No commitments have been obtained from any religious superior.
Father Grode said it might be many months or a year before the
services of a group of sisters is available here. There are dozens
of similar applications on file, but St. Elizabeth’s will
have a high priority after the convent is completed.
“We do not have- nor ever had- any intention of erecting
and maintaining a school.” Father Grode stated. “We
are interested only in obtaining the services of resident missionary
nuns, who are especially trained for carhertical work among the
children: for home visiting; for convent-instruction; for establishing
of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in the parish.”
No contacts have yet been awarded. Active cooperation of the men
of the parish will be solicited in an effort to provide as much
volunteer labor as possible for improvement of the convent property.
The dreams of many Catholic parents, who have hoped someday their
children might be trained and educated by Catholic nuns, are now
close to realization.
The Rec. Urban S. Barrett, who served as a pastor of St. Elizabeth’s
Church for 20 years before being transferred to St. Patrick’s
parish in Franklin in 1950, took the initiative to provide a modern
hall in the basement of St. Elizabeth’s Church in 1949.
The new church hall provided the vitally needed classroom facilities
required by the sisters.
At present, six lay teachers instruct about 80 boys and girls
in the first-to-eight-grade-range every Sunday morning after the
10 o’clock mass.
In addition to the regular Sunday catechetical classes, meetings
of the Junior Newman Club are held twice a month. Father Grode
is monitor of the club, which had a present membership of 45 boys
and girls of high school age.
The annual Summer Religious School at St. Elizabeth’s last
year had an enrollment of 96 children, ranging in ages form first
to eighth grade in school.
There are about 250 Catholic families in the far-flung parish
of St. Elizabeth’s. The parish is bounded by Gifford, Clermont,
Betula, Bush Hill, Farmers Valley, and Coleville.
Acquisition of the convent is a landmark in the history of St.
Elizabeth’s. It is the first property expansion of the parish
since it was organized in 1868.
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