“Protect from the contagion of the world, train in piety, imbue with the rudiments of literary studies, and foster the seed of a divine vocation.” -1917 Code of Canon Law
Four hundred and forty-six years ago Catholic bishops met in what we now call Italy to refine Church doctrine and practices. This Council of Trent established a rule, or canon, entitled Cum Adolescentium Aetas that required every diocese to create a seminarium. Latin for “seed bed”, the seminary was created to educate clergy in an alternative location to traditional monasteries and the increasingly popular colleges of the time.
Ninety-two years ago the 1917 Code of Canon Law was promulgated, or publicly announced, to simplify and condense the many Catholic canons. A “minor seminary” was to be a secondary boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who had expressed an interest in becoming priests.
Sixty-four years ago the Franciscan Order of Lake Forrest purchased the abandoned Dole Mansion and Country Club to establish St. Mary’s Minor Seminary of the Rockford Diocese. The renovated mansion and club house was dedicated on Labor Day afternoon, 1945. Materials and labor had both been in short supply due to the war effort. However, on opening day, St. Mary’s boasted a new heating system, locker room, chapel, four car garage, and fifty boarding rooms. Leo Streeka of Oak Park was the contractor.
A faculty of six priest and four laymen instructed approximately fifty students from around the Midwest. They were taught a standard high school curriculum plus theology, ethics, Latin, and Greek. Laundry and kitchen services were performed by nuns from New York (1946-1951) and then Zagreb, Yugoslavia (1955-1964).
The boys used a portion of the extensive former golf course for athletic pursuits, including varsity football. They called themselves the Eagles and the football season consisted of just four to six games. The Franciscan Order takes a vow of poverty that seems to have translated to a poverty of victories for the Eagles. In all the years they played, there is only record of a single win. It was against Elgin Academy in 1957 with a score of 13-0.
When school was out for the summer and the boys went home to their families, the seminary was used in two ways. Firstly, it was a retreat center for laymen to persue “Fifty Golden Hours.” This was a chance for Catholics to leave their everyday lives behind for a weekend (50 hours) and live at the facility in quiet, directed contemplation. The other use was for an annual conference of the Franciscan Order.
Thirty-nine years ago St. Mary’s Minor Seminary was dissolved. The statue of St. Mary that stood at the entrance is long gone, however the seminarians left behind several gifts for the community. The southern portion of Main Beach was given to the park distict. The city was given land directly south for a city well. Lastly, there is Seminary Park to enjoy the open sky and the cool water of Cress Creek. If you visit in the fall, and happen upon the Crystal Lake Raiders junior football league, wish them better luck than the Eagles.
Today the former seminary is again being used for education, this time in the form of an arts park.
