Diocese of Marquette history books available
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MARQUETTE - Did you know that St. Therese Church in AuTrain was a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp building in its former life and that the first church in Menominee was built when a group of Catholics decided they would no longer take a hand-operated ferry boat across the Menominee River to Marinette to attend Mass?
These and other interesting "tidbits" are included in the diocesan history book "Seasons of Faith: A Walk through the History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette 1900-2000," written by Angela C. Johnson of Ishpeming.
In honor of its 150th anniversary in 2007, the diocese published "Seasons of Faith," as well as reprints of the monumental two-volume work by Father Antoine Ivan Rezek, "History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette," originally published in the early 1900s.
The diocese recently notified all 94 parishes and missions and nine Catholic schools in the U.P. that they would be given a complimentary set of those three books. The Catholic school principals received their diocesan history book set at a meeting in Marquette on Nov. 14.
The history books are on sale at several local book and gift stores. They are also currently available at a special 40 percent discount rate only through the Diocese of Marquette. Those reduced prices, which include sales tax, are: "Seasons of Faith," $14.31; the two volumes of "History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette," $9.54 each; and the complete three-book set, $28.62. Shipping and handling are free.
Make checks payable to the Diocese of Marquette, and mail to: Diocesan History Books, Diocese of Marquette, P.O. Box 1000, Marquette, MI 49855, or call Sheila Wickenheiser, (906) 227-9131 or (800) 562-9745, ext. 131.
"Seasons of Faith" tells of the founding and development of the parishes and missions in the diocese, lists all of their pastors and describes some of the unique qualities of parish life. The book includes a photo of each church, brief biographies and photos of the diocese's 12 bishops, and historical sketches of the development of the diocese, as well as religious orders, Catholic high schools, hospitals, orphanages, retreat centers and ecclesial lay movements in the diocese. It also contains an index of the more than 800 priests who served the region.
Volume I of "History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette" features an in-depth biographical sketch of the first four Catholic bishops of the U. P. and the diocese's general development during their time. Volume II gives the history of individual parishes from their inception and a full account of the early Jesuit missions in the pre-diocesan days.
