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In 1888, Springfield, Illinois, was a city of some 33,000 people,
roughly 7,000 of whom were Catholic. At that time, Springfield was in the
Alton diocese and there were four existing Catholic churches in the city:
SS. Peter and Paul (1858); Immaculate Conception, also known as Saint Mary’s,
which later became the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (1859); Saint
Joseph’s (1875); and Sacred Heart (1884).
On October 1, 1888, shortly after his consecration, Bishop James Ryan
established Saint Agnes as the city’s fifth parish. The new parish
contained 180 families and included that part of Springfield south of
Carpenter Street and west of the main line of the Chicago and Alton
Railroad. The Reverend James J. Howard was appointed Saint Agnes’ first
pastor and he was to serve in that capacity for nearly 42 years.
Father James Howard was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on August 19,
1859. He studied for the priesthood at Sacred Heart College, Ruma, Illinois,
the Saint Theresa Academy, Grand Seminary, Montreal, Canada, and the North
American College in Rome.
He was ordained in Rome on June 3, 1882, by his Eminence Cardinal
Monaco Le Valletta. After his ordination he pursued additional studies
leading to the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Upon his return to the United
States, Father Howard was appointed as an assistant at the Cathedral in
Alton in 1883. Four years later he was made pastor of Saint Catherine’s
Church in Virden. During his many years of service, Father Howard was also a
member of Bishop Griffin’s board of advisors and a member of the diocesan
school board.
When not involved in his duties, Father Howard was known as a keen
student of a variety of both religious and secular topics. Among the latter,
he had a special love for astronomy.
The cornerstone of the first Saint Agnes Church was blessed by Bishop
Ryan on Sunday, August 25, 1889, almost exactly 100 years before the
blessing of the cornerstone of the new church, on August 27, 1989. According
to the Illinois State Journal of August 26, 1889, Springfield was crowded
with visitors from the surrounding area as far away as Alton and St. Louis
who came to attend the ceremony. It was estimated that 4,000 people came by
train alone, many of them in special excursion trains scheduled specifically
for the event. A solemn high mass was said at the Church of the Immaculate
Conception in the morning, followed in the afternoon by a procession to the
site of the new church. The procession included the Bishop, Father Howard,
and the representatives of numerous Catholic groups including 350 uniformed
members of the Catholic Order of Foresters.
According to the same account, a delegation met with Bishop Ryan after
the ceremonies to thank him for his participation. They also offered their
condolences on his being located in a place such as Alton, and suggested
that Springfield would provide a beautiful place for locating the Episcopal
See.
The first Saint Agnes Church was completed in early 1890 and Father
Howard celebrated the first mass there on May 4, 1890. The formal dedication
of the church took place on September 28, 1890.
Less than six years after Saint Agnes parishioners
celebrated the first mass in their new church, they asked the Springfield
Dominican Sisters to staff a grade school. The Dominicans were in the
process of establishing a girl’s academy, and they agreed to find room for
the younger children in their building. Sr. Josephine turned a small
storeroom into a classroom for the little girls and Sr. Mary Aquin cared for
the kindergarten children on the back porch of the Dubois house. Space was
found for the boys in the McConnell house on Monroe Street. They were taught
by Sr. Cecilia. The upper four grades attended Saint Mary’s. Although
overcrowded, the parishioners were grateful for the Dominicans’ efforts to
provide a Catholic education for the children of Saint Agnes.
 The
first true Saint Agnes School opened the following year in September of 1897
in a frame building at the northeast corner of Spring and Monroe Streets,
which formerly housed the Seventh Day Adventists. The first and second
floors were used for classes and the sisters lived on the third floor. The
first faculty consisted of Mother Josephine, principal, Sr. Ceslaus O’Connor
and Sr. Josepha Gleespen. Five girls and one boy made up the first
graduating class in 1902. From that first day of classes in the autumn of
1897 through the present, the Springfield Dominican Sisters have shared in
the vital ministry of providing a Catholic education to generations of Saint
Agnes’ students. It is sincerely hoped that this long, unbroken tie
between the parish and the Dominican Sisters will continue through Saint
Agnes’ second century.
 Work
was begun on a new school building at Capitol and Pasfield in 1912 and was
completed in 1913 at a cost of $54,000. This building was to serve the
parish for 68 years.
In order to celebrate the opening of the new school
and the Silver Jubilee of the parish, a program was held on October 28,
1913. Among the dignitaries on hand were the Mayor of Springfield, the
Sangamon County State’s Attorney, and Governor Edward Dunne.
The Dominican Sisters lived at Sacred Heart Convent
and commuted to Saint Agnes from 1913 until the first convent was built in
1950. Some of these commuters left behind their favorite anecdotes about
their experiences both inside the classroom and outside. They remembered,
for example, the time:
• when unexpected showers literally took the
starch out of the Sisters (or at least their veils) while waiting for the
streetcar.
• when men fell onto their laps when the streetcars lurched to an
unexpected stop, resulting in mutual confusion and apologies.
• when Father Howard told the children to stamp their feet and bark like
dogs, encouraging them to "great heights of performance," and
then silently stole away, leaving the Sisters to deal with the resulting
pandemonium.
• when Father Howard asked the class to conjugate verbs in unison, his
favorite being "I stink."
• when the school basement was overrun with rats and the Sisters hung a
picture of Saint Martin de Porres in the basement to drive them away. A
local exterminator testified to the success of the Sisters’ remedy, but
somehow never adopted the same method for his own business.
• when public, oral examinations were held in each classroom with the
parents present!
Students during Father Howard’s tenure were expected
to attend daily mass during the school week as well as Sunday School, full
Vespers with all the psalms and Benediction on Sunday afternoons. Any
student absent from the Sunday services was required to report to Father
Howard at the rectory on Monday with an excuse. Attendance at the services
is reported to have been excellent.
Saint Agnes celebrated Father Howard’s 40th
anniversary as pastor with a program in his honor held Sunday, September 30,
1928. Among those attending was Bishop James Griffin.
Father Howard died in his sleep the night of June 15,
1930. During his years at Saint Agnes, significant growth and change took
place. First, of course, he had overseen and guided his parishioners in the
founding of the parish and the construction of a church and school. During
that 42-year period the original 180 families had grown to 507. The original
student body of 100 pupils in 1897 grew to more than 3½ times that number
by 1930.
Many remarkable changes had also taken place in this
country and the world during this period as well. Ten different presidents
held office, beginning with Grover Cleveland and ending with Herbert Hoover.
When Father Howard first assumed his duties, the American Civil War was a
vivid, personal memory in the minds of many. In Europe, millions were still
ruled by near absolute monarchs in Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary.
By the time of his death, the country and the world
had endured the carnage of the First World War, and had seen the post-war
prosperity destroyed by the stock market crash of 1929. In Europe the war
marked the end of the great monarchies and saw the birth of communism.
All during this period of change, the people of Saint
Agnes were blessed with a pastor who was eulogized as "beloved of
thousands" and "a saintly priest"
The Reverend William M. Costello, a personal friend of
Father Howard, was appointed by Bishop Griffin to succeed him. Father
Costello was born in County Kerry, Ireland, on August 23, 1869. He was
educated at Saint Brendan’s College, Killarney, and the Irish College in
Paris, France. He was ordained in Killarney on September 24, 1893. Two of
Father Costello’s brothers, Michael and Jeremiah, were also ordained and
both also served in the midwest.
Prior to his appointment to Saint Agnes, Father
Costello had served in Sacred Heart of Mary parish in New Berlin, SS. Peter
and Paul’s Cathedral in Alton, Immaculate Conception parish in
Springfield, Saint Isidore’s in Bethany and Saint Charles Borromeo church
in Charleston, Illinois.
In addition to his parish assignments, Father Costello served the
diocese as vice-president of Routt College in Jacksonville and as a member
of the diocesan school board. He was also the author of a number of articles
on Catholic education.
Father Costello suffered a
fatal heart attack while celebrating early mass on a morning in 1942.
He had served Saint Agnes as its pastor for over eleven years.
Monsignor Amos E. Giusti became
the third pastor of Saint Agnes Parish on April 21, 1942. Both before
and after his assignment to Saint Agnes, his was a life full of
accomplishment, and in many ways his life reflects the hard work and
achievement typical of many immigrants to this country.
Monsignor Giusti was born
January 19, 1885, in the small Italian village of Oneta. At the time of
his birth, Monsignor Giusti's parents were actually living in France and he
was born while his mother was visiting her parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Giusti and their
three sons came to the United States in 1894 and settled in the Sangamon
County community of Barclay. Monsignor Giusti noted later in life that
he must have had some difficulty adjusting initially since, at the time, he
spoke only Italian and French.
At the age of 11 he left school
and went to work with his father in the coal mines, and he worked in the mines
for five years. When his family subsequently moved to Springfield he
worked another two years as a carpenter.
He resumed his formal education
at Quincy College where he completed high school and earned both bachelor's
and master's degrees. He began his study for the priesthood in 1910 and
was ordained on June 20, 1913, in the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Chains in
Cincinnati.
During his early years as a
priest in this diocese he served at a number of parishes throughout the
state. In 1924 he journeyed to Rome where he enrolled in a course in
canon law.
Upon his return from Rome he served for 17 years in the Chancery
office as vice-chancellor and acting chancellor. During 14 of those 17 years
he also served as chaplain and a member of the faculty at Sacred Heart
Academy.
As reflected in his annual reports to the diocese, Monsignor Giusti
recognized from the beginning of his assignment to Saint Agnes the need to
renovate the physical facilities of the parish. Under his guidance the
church was redecorated and improvements were made in the church and school.
Among his purchases for the church were a new organ in 1945 and altars and a
communion rail of Italian marble.
One of the building projects for which he was most fondly remembered,
especially by the Dominican Sisters, was the construction of a convent,
completed in June of 1950 and dedicated by Bishop William O’Connor on
September 28 of that year. The new convent contained 21 rooms and a chapel
and provided a home for the eleven sisters then teaching at Saint Agnes.
The parish grew dramatically during Monsignor Giusti’s time as pastor.
When he began as pastor in 1942 the parish reported 450 families within its
boundaries and 332 students in the school. By 1953 Monsignor Giusti reported 800
families and 420 students, and by 1967, one year before his retirement,
Monsignor reported 1,250 registered families.
It was also during Monsignor Giusti’s many years at Saint Agnes that an
important change began to make itself seen in the area of Catholic
education. In Saint Agnes’ 1961 report to the diocese we find the first
reference to lay teachers in the school. Although relatively few in number
initially, the number of dedicated lay teachers who have served the children
of Saint Agnes over the years has grown steadily. Just as we as a parish are
indebted to the Dominican Sisters, we likewise owe much to the lay teachers
who have in the last 30 years taken on an ever increasing role in educating
the children of Saint Agnes.
In 1963 Monsignor Giusti celebrated his Golden Jubilee as a priest.
On
January 31, 1968, he retired after serving as pastor for more than 25 years.
He died December 12, 1970.
Monsignor Giusti’s pastorate was, like that of his predecessor, Father
Howard, a period marked by great change. When he assumed his duties in 1942,
World War II was raging, and the country was united behind the effort to
bring down the fascists in Germany and Italy and the militarists in Japan.
The moral questions involved in that conflict seemed pretty much black and
white.
By the time of Monsignor Giusti’s retirement and death, the country was
involved in a very divisive war in Vietnam, and questions of right and wrong
seemed, to many at least, a great deal grayer than they had only 20 years
earlier.
Following Monsignor Giusti’s retirement, Reverend Robert McCarthy was
appointed to succeed him. Father McCarthy attended grade school in Alton,
high school at Techny, and college at Routt and Quincy College. He studied
philosophy and theology at Saint Mary’s of the Lake Seminary and the
Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Father McCarthy was ordained in 1935 by Bishop Griffin, and served as
an assistant at a number of diocesan parishes, including Saint Agnes. Prior
to his appointment at Saint Agnes he had served over 15 years as pastor of
Saint Mark’s Church in Venice. Due to poor health, Father McCarthy served
as pastor less than one year.
Nurtured through the years by the love and dedication of a devoted
parish family—priests, sisters and laity—the seed planted in the
Pillsbury apple orchard generations ago had matured by the late 1960’s
into a sturdy tree.
But there were growing pains, and they were becoming more acute. The
fledgling parish of 180 families now numbered some 950 families under the
guidance of Father James Casey, a native of Ireland who became its pastor in
September, 1968, and the old site in the shadow of the Statehouse at College
and Capitol was no longer adequate.
Even as Saint Agnes grew, so, too, did state government and so, too,
did Springfield. Expansion of the state complex continued to eat away at the
residential neighborhoods that used to surround it. Increasingly, new
buildings and parking lots replaced homes that once housed Saint Agnes
parishioners. At the same time, booming development on the city’s
west side drew Saint Agnes families away from the downtown area to new
subdivisions. Squeezed by the state, seeing more and more of its
families leaving the old neighborhoods, the future seemed clear for Saint
Agnes: a move to a new location.
In September 1975, Father Casey died in his sleep at the rectory at
age 69, and in December, the parish welcomed a new pastor, Monsignor John J.
McGrath. Though he grew up in Chicago, the appointment was a
homecoming of sorts for Monsignor McGrath, whose first assignment after his
ordination in 1943 by Bishop James A. Griffin was as a 24-year-old assistant
to Monsignor Giusti at Saint Agnes.
To Monsignor McGrath fell the task of initiating the parish’s move
to a new site. After much prayer and reflection, Bishop Joseph A.
McNicholas in consultation with Monsignor and other parish leaders decided
to offer the old Saint Agnes site to the state, which already owned much of
the neighboring area.
"He’s just being realistic," said Monsignor McGrath of the
bishop’s decision at the time of its announcement early in 1978. The
church has become "hemmed in" in recent years, Monsignor McGrath
told a reporter then. Parking near the church "is just
outrageous," he said, "and no meetings can be held before 5PM
because no parking is available."
"We need to do something for the school," the Monsignor
added, "but construction of a new school at the present location would
be impossible."
Thus, Monsignor McGrath and parish leaders began to lay the groundwork
for the move to a new home on land owned by the diocese near Amos Avenue and
Washington Street, northeast of Griffin High School.
Sadly, the Monsignor was called
home to his heavenly reward in January, 1979, before his vision of a new
Saint Agnes could become a reality. Instead, the task of completing the
journey Monsignor McGrath initiated fell to Saint Agnes’ seventh pastor,
Father Patrick J. Wright, who received the appointment in March, 1979, just
a few months before the 25th anniversary of his ordination.
A product of Blessed Sacrament
parish and a graduate of the old Cathedral Boys High School, Father Wright
is the first Springfield native to lead Saint Agnes. Before coming to Saint
Agnes, Father Wright was for almost ten years pastor of Saint Bernard parish
in Wood River. He also served at parishes in Alton and Granite City, and for
a decade was school superintendent for the diocese and chaplain at Ursuline
Academy.
Assuming his new role, Father
Wright stepped into the ongoing negotiations with the state, guided
relocation plans, and oversaw construction of the new parish complex,
accomplishing what Bishop McNicholas termed "a simply marvelous job in
this demanding project."
In November, 1979, after more than
a year of negotiations, the state and the diocese agreed on a $1.4 million
sale price for the Saint Agnes church, school, rectory and convent. The
parish was allowed to continue to use the facilities for two years, paying
$100,000 annual rent, while a new parish complex was being constructed. The
agreement also gave the parish the right to remove the altar, stained glass,
pews and other religious furnishings from the church, in the hope that some
of the historic materials could be incorporated into a new church. The
state, meanwhile, would remodel the old convent into an office building, but
raze the other structures on Capitol and convert the land into temporary
parking lots while future expansion plans were laid.
Ground was broken for the new Saint
Agnes complex in September, 1980, at a moving ceremony presided over by
Father Wright and participated in by representatives of the parish family,
including school children who presented symbolic gifts. The first
construction on the site would be the new school and a rectory. Initially,
the school was to have 16 classrooms, designed to serve about 550 students,
with an attached cafeteria and gymnasium. In a concession to financial
concerns, however, the final plans were scaled back to 12 classrooms.
Parishioners, though, would have to
wait in faith and patience until additional resources were available to
construct a new church. In the meantime, mass would be offered in the school
gymnasium.
Celebrating the occasion in his
column in the diocesan newspaper, Bishop McNicholas congratulated the
"priests, religious and laity of this great old Springfield
parish," which the bishop said was being relocated to serve more
conveniently families with children in the city’s west end.
"My prayers and best wishes
are with dear Father Wright and the whole parish community as they undertake
a tremendously challenging but extremely necessary project" the bishop
wrote.
"With building costs as they
are, it tests the faith of all of us to begin a project that will involve
several million dollars more than the $1.2 million the parish will clear
from the sale of the old property and buildings to the state," he
added. "May God bless all of us who are involved in this effort."
For many in the Saint
Agnes family, the next months were bittersweet as they worshipped in the
beloved and familiar setting of the venerable old church. Memories of
baptisms, weddings, funerals, and of the joy and grief shared within its walls
over the years, mingled with visions of a beautiful new home for future
generations of the parish family.
Meanwhile, work
continued apace on the new parish complex, until at last mass was offered for
the final time in the old church and the parish officially moved to its new
home.
Along with new
surroundings, the Saint Agnes family was enriched as well with many new
members, as a result of redrawn parish boundaries following the move.
On November 15, 1981,
mass was celebrated for the first time in the gymnasium, starting what was to
become an eight-year tradition of worship amid folding chairs, basketball
hoops and accordion doors.
The following spring,
Bishop McNicholas dedicated the new complex, which he praised as "a truly
splendid physical plant" with a school that "is modern in every
sense, with a strikingly designed library dedicated to the memory of Msgr.
McGrath."
"Nonetheless, its
future is bright," he wrote. "How indebted we are to Father Wright
and to his associate pastor, Father Denny Kollross, for the pastoral care and
solicitude with which they lead the parish community."
Bishop McNicholas also
confirmed the soundness of the decision to give high priority to construction
of the new school. "Above all, Saint Agnes stands as a tribute to the
church’s educational commitment," he wrote. "Sister Ida Marie,
O.P., heads the faculty of Dominican Sisters and lay teachers. She and the
Sisters have done yeoman work in making the transition, and in operating a
school which will be a tribute to the diocese. How fortunate the parish is to
have retained the commitment of the Dominicans in staffing the school.
"There is obvious
inconvenience in not having a church, but we all know how important is the
parish school," the bishop continued. "Surrounded by Griffin and
Sacred Heart Academy, it is living monument to the church’s concern for the
young and for their education. It represents the fact that we, as a diocese,
refuse to buckle under the high cost of private education," Bishop
McNicholas said. "When we speak of our children as the hope of the
future, we mean it. Buildings like the new Saint Agnes prove it!"
Indeed, as the bishop
noted, the move posed a formidable financial challenge to the parish family,
and so in the summer of 1982, the New Beginnings Campaign was launched in an
effort to secure pledges that would cover the more than $1 million in
construction loans the parish owed the diocese.
"The decision to
undertake this campaign has been the result of considerable discussion,
research and planning over an extended period of time," Father Wright
said in designating September 12 as Commitment Sunday. "Everyone in the
parish will be given an opportunity to respond to this urgent parish
need."
Under the management of
a professional fund-raising firm from Milwaukee, the campaign brought in
pledges of $850,000. In fact, through the sacrifices and generosity of Saint
Agnes parishioners, the entire debt was canceled by fall of 1985, clearing the
way for planning to begin toward completion of the parish center.
Again, high priority was given to
educational needs. Rising enrollment made imperative the addition of four
new classrooms to avoid overcrowding and split classes. At the same time,
the parish recognized the need to provide a suitable home for the Dominican
Sisters who served the school, both to overcome logistical problems at the
Motherhouse and to express more clearly the Sisters’ valued place in the
parish family.
To those ends, another fund-raising
campaign was inaugurated in 1986 to raise funds that also would serve as a
down payment on a new church. Pledges to the Building Fund from this drive
totaled some $1.3 million, and as donations began to mount, planning became
more earnest. A third pledge drive netted pledges of an additional $1.7
million.
Four new classrooms were added to
the school and opened for student use in September 1988. With the addition,
Saint Agnes now can provide quality education for some 540 children from
kindergarten through 8th grade.
At last, the final hurdles had been
cleared and the long-held dream of a new church was but a few months away
from realization.
Ground was broken for the new
church on June 26, 1988, at a ceremony attended by several hundred joyous
parishioners.
"This is a historic first for
our parish," observed Father Wright. "This church will be a
reminder of the treasure of our spiritual inheritance. This house of God is
also his children’s house where we gather not to hear the news of the day
but the life-giving Gospel teachings of Jesus Christ"
"At last we’ll have a
fitting space to pray," added Sister Marilyn Jean, O.P., the school
principal, expressing a sentiment shared by many of those on hand.
As the building’s framework
soared higher, so, too, did the sense of expectation and excitement among
parishioners.
By midsummer, 1989, much of the
exterior was completed, and on August 8, the cornerstone was blessed, a
copper box containing contemporary items and messages was placed into a
hollow in its interior, and it was sealed into place to await discovery by
the Saint Agnes family of some unknown future.
Finally, in the culmination of so
many hopes and dreams, the new church was dedicated on November 26, 1989,
the Sunday following Thanksgiving, by Bishop Daniel L. Ryan.
And so Saint Agnes Parish has
completed its first 100 years, a century of growth and service to its parish
family and to the surrounding community.
To the casual observer, its history
may be marked in brick and mortar - the path from the old church that
nourished the souls of those who have gone before us to the new church from
which we and our children and their children, too, will draw our spiritual
sustenance.
In a more profound sense, however,
the history of Saint Agnes is the story of the men and women whom god's love
has bound together into our parish family. May his grace ever accompany
us as we journey into our second century.
Upon reaching his 75th
birthday, Monsignor Wright was appointed Parish Administrator of Saint Agnes
until his semi-retirement on June 30, 2004. He was then appointed Parish
Administrator of Saint Augustine in Ashland, Illinois.
Reverend Robert Jallas was
appointed our eighth pastor of Saint Agnes Church on July 1, 2004.
 Back to TOP of the Parish History Page
This page was last revised on
December 04, 2007.
Source: Saint Agnes Parish Memorial Book 1880-1990
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