Places in Our Moments in Time

Normandy, Missouri: The preparatory seminary in a suburb of St. Louis—also known as Mother of Good Counsel—was first established as a monastery in 1891. After Holy Cross split from St. Paul of the Cross Province in 1906, Holy Cross Province elected to send its young men here. Many of the men we knew as teachers and advisors were the students and novices in Mother of Good Counsel Seminary in Normandy, Missouri.

Warrenton, Missouri: Mother of Good Counsel Preparatory seminary was dedicated to an exceptional education and an experiential training ground for young men who wished to join the Passionist Fathers during high school. Many of the men who matriculated from MGC went on to the novitiate and a year of spiritual training in the rules of the order. It has since been sold to the Child Evangelism Fellowship.

St. Paul, Kansas: St Paul (formerly, Osage Mission) was the location of the novitiate for Holy Cross Province from 1936 until 1966. An excellent history of the Passionist in Kansas can be found in the Passionist Historical Archives. The monastery was built as an addition to St. Francis de Hieronymo Church and has since been razed and the Passionist departed in 1987. Check out this page, A Catholic Mission, written by Ron and Rosie Brogan.

Louisville, Kentucky: In the era, 1965-1970, Sacred Heart Monastery in Louisville, Kentucky became home after the profession of vows for novices coming from St. Paul and later from Detroit. The Passionists had decided to provide accredited degrees for the newly-professed and this required affiliation with a university, in our case, Bellarmine College, later to become Bellarmine University, just across Newburg Road from the monastery. Sacred Heart Monastery is attached to St. Agnes Church and today [2021] serves as a retirement home for Holy Cross Province.

Chicago, Illinois: Holy Cross Province was officially established in 1906 with its provincial retreat, Immaculate Conception, in Chicago on North Haarlem Avenue in Norwood Park. It was designed and constructed in 1910 by Joseph Mollitor and today [2021] is on the National Register of Historic Places (March 6, 2013) after it was sold. In the 1960s, it was flourishing as a teaching institution for upper-class professed students.

Sierra Madre, California: Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center always seemed to be a Shangri-La to many of us. Located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, it was a place we often talked about but never visited. It was founded in 1926 and remains today [2021] an active retreat center.

Detroit, Michigan: Established in 1930, St. Paul of the Cross Retreat became the site of a split novitiate with St. Paul, Kansas. The many postulants of 1965 were divided between the two locations. Images of the novices can be found under our Photos section. This location remains today as an active retreat center.

Cincinnati, Ohio: Established in 1871, re-dedicated in 1901, Holy Cross Monastery, overlooking the city of Cincinnati from Mt. Adams, is one of the oldest residences of the Passionists in Holy Cross Province. It was sold in 1979. It became a home away from home for many in the Louisville student body during the mid-1960s.

Des Moines, Iowa: Opened in 1923, on 50 acres donated to the Passionists, this retreat was often the residence for the newly-ordained. These priests resided here and, for one year, studied Sacred Eloquence. This year of study provided these men with the tools of the trade: preaching Christ Crucified on missions throughout Holy Cross Province. It was sold in the late 1950s and is now the home of the Merle Hay Plaza.