DOMINICAN ORDER

DOMINICAN ORDER. Also known as the "Order of Preachers" because the organization was founded as a preaching order, the Dominican Order's history in Dubuque began with Father Samuel MAZZUCHELLI. When Bishop Mathias LORAS wanted to establish a seminary, Father Mazzuchelli wanted to teach in it. Working together led to the founding of St. Raphael's Seminary in a small building behind the cathedral. Years were spent attempting to fulfill the dream of Loras. It fell to Archbishop Henry P. ROHLMAN, however, to establish MOUNT ST. BERNARD SEMINARY to which the Dominicans were asked to serve as faculty. The Dominicans also returned to provide a home and school for the student theologians who belonged to the Midwest Province of St. Albert. This included the ecclesiastical provinces of Chicago, Illinois; Dubuque, Iowa; Denver, Colorado; St. Louis, Missouri; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. (1) MT. ST. ROSE SCHOOL for girls was purchased by the Dominicans and became ST. ROSE OF LIMA HOUSE OF STUDIES and finally St. Rose Priory. (2)

One of the best known Dominicans in the United States was Father McKenna. Born in Ireland on May 8, 1835, he sailed for the United States in 1848 and learned the trade of a stonecutter. He arrived in Dubuque in 1857 and became an active member of the Cathedral parish becoming a friend of Bishop Mathias LORAS. In 1859 McKenna enrolled with other students at the Dominican mission at Sinsinawa Mound, Wisconsin. On Sunday, October 20, 1867 he was ordained in Saint Rose's Church. (3)

Proving himself able to carry out parochial missions, Father McKenna in 1860 was made head of all the Dominican missions east of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. He had hardly begun his assignment when he was informed that he had been appointed the provincial director of the Rosary Confraternity and Holy Name Society. Considered responsible for the rapid growth of the Holy Name Society in the United States, Father McKenna became known as the "Apostle of the Holy Name" and was in constant demand to open societies in new areas or speak at retreats. He passed away on February 21, 1917 in Jacksonville, Florida where he had been trying to regain his health. (4)

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Source:

1. "Dominicans To Establish School Here," Telegraph-Herald, August 10, 1950, p. 1

2. "What They Wanted," Telegraph Herald, June 1, 1956, p. 12

3. "Catholic Men Parade Today at 2 O'Clock," Telegraph-Herald, November 2, 1919, p. 12

4. Ibid.