​It has always been there. When you live in or around St. Paul, Kansas, the big stone church has been there as long as any of us can remember. But older parishioners remember a time when it was different—spiritually different. We remember the Passionist era with the priests, brothers, students, solemn processions and the monastery choir. We had our own small slice of Rome here in St. Paul, Kansas, and we took it for granted.

​  — But now it is gone and we miss it.
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​St. Francis Catholic Church Grounds - "Four Faces of History"
​St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church in St. Paul is a regional landmark.  The steeple is visible from five to ten miles away.   At night the brightly lit steeple seems like a lighthouse guiding us home.  When we lived in Wichita many neighbors had seen the big, beautiful stone church in southeast Kansas.  Some didn’t know the name of our town, but they remembered our Church.
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Over the years St. Francis has assumed a nickname--“The Beacon on the Plains.”   That brightly lit steeple might be part of the reason.   But the term “beacon” was borrowed from a humble, log and clapboard structure that once sat about 215 feet west of the existing church.  The “old” St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church, and the mission that surrounded it, was the subject of Sister Mary Paul Fitzgerald’s book “Beacon on the Plains.”  In her book she described the Catholic Osage Mission as “a beacon light to the few scouts, weary teamsters or perplexed travelers who stopped for rest, refreshment and supplies for which they customarily paid nothing.”   But borrowing the nickname is fine.  It is a reminder of the history that surrounds that tall steeple.

​One Parcel of land,—Four Historical Configurations.
The plot of land beneath St. Francis Catholic Church has seen four distinct configurations during the past 171 years. 

Yes—171 years!  That is a very long time when accounting for the settlement of Kansas.  

For discussion’s sake, we will define the plot as the two blocks currently occupied by our church, church gardens, rectory and our existing schools (Udall Road to First Street and K-47 to Carroll Street).  That is a little bigger than two square blocks but it is the area that has been occupied by our mission, our churches and our schools.  Schools have operated on this land, without a break in service, since 1847.  Our schools represent the longest-running educational tradition in Kansas.  

​The four faces or “phases” overlap but each has a well-defined configuration for a distinct time-frame.  Three of the configurations have widespread or national historic relevance (see chart below):
Phase I – The Catholic Mission.
The Catholic Osage Mission was operated by the Jesuits, with the Sisters of Loretto, from April of 1847 to about 1870. The Jesuits managed the mission under a contract with the United States Government.  The objective of that contract was to educate the Osage children.  However, an important objective of the Jesuits was to seed the Catholic faith in the area south of the Santa Fe Trail.  When you consider the educational work with the Osages, the five-state missionary effort of the Jesuit missionaries, the Civil War and the impact Father Schoenmakers had in the Osage treaty negotiations, the plot of land west of our church deserves consideration as a National Historic Site.  Also, when you consider that the missionaries and some of the Osages are buried in St. Francis Cemetery that site probably deserves state and national recognition.  

​​​During much of its operation, the Catholic Mission was a very remote site.  The first buildings were actually built in late 1846 and the mission eventually consisted of ten log or log and frame structures.  The buildings occupied the land between the existing stone church and the St. Paul schools campus.  Check "... Reference Information" below for links related to the Catholic Mission.
       
​      (hover mouse over illustrations for captions—Click to enlarge)
For more information about the Catholic Osage Mission CLICK HERE.  There are three sub-links to the page.
For more information about the Jesuit missionary activity south of the Santa Fe Trail CLICK HERE.
Phase II – Jesuit Monastery, St. Francis Institution.
With the departure of the Osages the legal floodgates that restrained settlement in southern Kansas began to open. Father John Schoenmakers began development of his new “Mission Town” and knew that he and Mother Bridget Hayden would have to re-invent the existing schools for the flood of white settlers.  They did more than that!  In addition to new public schools, the Jesuits and Loretto’s built two prestigious frontier boarding colleges that attracted students from several states and Mexico.  The Catholic Mission grounds were converted with the addition of a two new stone buildings — the St. Francis Institution school and a four-story Jesuit Monastery.  In addition to these were a three story “College Hall” and an infirmary and guesthouse building.  Across the road, to the south, St. Ann's Academy for girls attracted young women with an impressive arts and music curriculum. During this period our beautiful stone church also appeared.  The boarding schools were praised as being among the best on the new frontier.  They also helped blend students from battle-weary eastern states into a neutral and peaceful environment. 

The original mission buildings began to disappear as the new schools were built.  Finally, in July of 1888 the old log church was razed and the Catholic Mission became a memory that was later recalled in Charles Beechwood’s 1930 painting of the mission.   The Jesuit and Loretto boarding schools remained active into the early to middle 1890’s when transitions began to affect the schools and our community.  During this time two historic religious orders faded away and a new one entered. 
For more information about the Jesuit Monastery and St. Francis Institution CLICK HERE.
Phase III – The Passionist Influence.
The first five years of the 1890’s were difficult. The Jesuits were dealing with resource issues. There were two Jesuit boy’s schools in Kansas, one at Osage Mission and the other at St. Mary’s, up north.   The Jesuits decided to consolidate at St. Mary's and the St. Francis Institution graduating class of 1891 was the last —the school closed [1]. The following year the Jesuits transferred their Osage Mission interests to the Bishop of Leavenworth.  Across the street, St. Ann’s Academy was thriving with large enrollments and increasing national prestige.  Then, in September of 1895, a devastating fire destroyed most of the school complex.  Two months earlier, with great controversy, Osage Mission had changed its name to St. Paul.   The Jesuit schools west of the church began a transition to public use. Then, amidst the turmoil and uncertainty, a new religious order appeared and assumed a leadership role that served us for ninety years.   

​The Passionist influence started in 1893, perhaps by accident.   A Passionist priest, Rev. Raymond O’Keefe C.P., traveled from St. Louis to St. Paul to give a retreat.  At the time the Passionist order was seeking a location farther west, and Father O’Keefe was impressed with the devotion of the Osage Mission congregation.  When the Passionist Order decided to move into St. Paul, their commitment was substantial.   By 1913 our church underwent extensive upgrades leading up to construction of their western monastery and retreat house.  In time the monastery also took on the role of a Passionist novitiate.  During the 1940’s the monastery gardens and tower were built.  As noted above, during the Passionist era St. Paul enjoyed a higher-level religious experience more in line with a cathedral than a small, rural parish.  But the Passionist Retreat closed in 1975 and the building was razed in 1985.  The monastery garden built by priests, students and brothers continues to be used today; but memories of what we lost are still painful for some of us.
For more information about the entry of the Passionist Order and their time here CLICK HERE & HERE.
Phase IV – Our Current Schools/Church and Rectory.
​From a configuration standpoint, Phase IV solidified when the present St. Francis Rectory replaced the Passionist Monastery in about 1986.  But in a practical sense, the Phase IV configuration occurred over the span of about eighty six years.  During this period: the “new” St. Francis school (current Middle School) was built in 1923; the existing grade school was completed in 1953; and our new high school was completed in 2009. Completion of the high school marked 162 years of educational evolution on that two block piece of land.  Again, this is pretty impressive when counting down the history of Kansas.
​Something to Think About:
From time-to-time we hear people say "They can't take our church because of its history."  Some people even think this applies to our schools.  It is true that we hold one of the richest religious and education heritages in southern Kansas and the four-state region.  But very few among us understand the stories and characters that put us, that big beautiful stone church and our schools here.  We need to take care of our heritage before we wake up some day and realize we have lost even more.  Think about that every time you walk or drive past the grounds of St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church!​
Some Reference Information:
1.  Local historian and author William Whites Graves graduated, with honors, with the last St. Francis Institution class.  Over the next sixty years Graves entered the newspaper and publishing business and published a body of historical works that earned him the respect of Journalists, the Osage Nation, the Kansas State Historical Society and the Vatican. Follow this LINK for more information about W.W. Graves.

2.  Most of the information above was distilled from this website.  The individual links, listed below, provide reference information for the individual topics.  Most illustrations shown above are also from those linked articles. The time-line chart and the modern photos of the church and school were done by acatholicmission.org.

3. In addition to the quick links provided above, here are links to more information about the first three phases.  Or, simply go to the Our Story Link above and browse the fifteen chapters of this site.
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Phase I—Information about the Catholic Osage Mission and the work done from there is linked here: Phase II—Information about the St. Francis complex and the St. Ann’s campus across the street is linked here: Phase III—Information about the Passionist era and the Passionist Monastery: