Week of February 18:
St. Boniface Catholic Church, Sublimity, & St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Shaw
Today we are heading to the communities of St. Boniface and St. Mary’s! Hear more about these wonderful churches.
St. Boniface Catholic Church in Sublimity
Parish Ministries and Events
- Liturgical Ministries such as Altar Servers
- Children’s Faith Formation
- Welcome Committee
- Knights of Columbus – who are very supportive of Mater Dei Radio!
- St. Mary’s Shaw Oktoberfest booth
- Altar Society
- Sublimity Quilters who meet 9 am to 3 pm on Thursdays, and recently held a quilt show!
- Homebound Ministry
- Coffee / Social Sundays after 10 am Mass
- Just began Testimony Sundays this past weekend after the 10 am Mass
- Walking Rosary last week for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
- St. Boniface Community Archives & Museum are housed in the old convent building across the street from the church
- Held a Ministry Appreciation Party at Epiphany
- Great collaboration among the parishes in the Vicariate
- Upcoming Vicariate Women’s Lenten Retreat
- April 5 at Immaculate Conception in Stayton
- Wonderful event attended by women from all across the local area
St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Shaw
Namesakes of the Parish
- St. Mary
- Feast Day of September 12, The Feast of The Most Holy Name of Mary
- St. Boniface
- St. Boniface, born about 679 in England, brought the Christian faith to the Germanic peoples.
- He cut down an oak that the people had been worshipping, which is why he is shown with an ax at his feet. He may have also presented the evergreen as a sign of Christ and Christmas.
- In 1879, the Catholics of Sublimity chose him as patron saint of their church.
Interior of St. Boniface
The History of St. Boniface – and the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon!
- The first Catholic settlers, who were German immigrant farmers, came to Sublimity in 1870s.
- From 1877-1879, the first Catholic services were held in private homes and later in a leased building.
- There were only about five Catholic families in Sublimity at the time, but they asked Archbishop Blanchet for a missionary priest, and in 1879 Father Peter Juvenal Stampfl arrived. He was a German, via Minnesota, and encouraged Midwesterners to immigrate. He wrote the first entry in the parish record on December 3, 1879, which marks the official beginning of Saint Boniface Church in Sublimity, Oregon.
- Father Stampfl purchased empty and run-down college buildings (just northeast of the present church) and 20 acres for the parish. One acre was designated the Cemetery of the Angels. The ground floor became the second St. Boniface church.
- In 1881 the Benedictines arrived in Gervais and took over the care of Sublimity, often arriving on horseback once or twice a month.
- Father Werner Ruettimann OSB, was the first resident pastor, and was also responsible for the communities of Jordan and Scio. Several young women were living a semi-religious life in the Jordan colony, southeast of Sublimity, when Archbishop William Gross visited and invited them to become a formal religious community.
- These women began their new life as the Sisters of the Precious Blood, later to be known as the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. Father Ruettimann arranged for the upper floor of the college building to be prepared for the Sister’s use.
1886 – The old college building became the first convent of the new religious order.
- Later, after the erection of a new convent for the sisters, the old college building was used as a parish hall. Many German Catholics arrived from the Midwest, so more adequate space was needed.
- In 1888, the Sisters of St. Mary opened the first parochial school in Marion County in a new-one room schoolhouse. Half the day classes were taught in German and half in English, as many of the settlers spoke German.
- In 1889, Father Joseph Fessler arrived from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, took over the parish duties, and built the third (the present) St. Boniface church. It is the second oldest original church building in continuous use in Oregon, and very much in its original condition. The heavy hand-hewn timbers came from the farm of William Schmidt. I.J. Boedigheimer provided the sawn lumber. The contractor was from Gervais.
- The church was dedicated by Archbishop H. Gross of Oregon City in honor of St. Boniface on October 26, 1889. On this same day, the bell that had been meant for the convent was blessed for the new church. Ten persons were confirmed, and four women were welcomed into the Sisters of the Precious Blood.
- In 1891 the Sisters were asked to move their convent to Beaverton to provide teachers for an orphanage. There too they had better buildings and 600 acres of land. Father Fessler left with them to help manage. They soon had a barn built, and two Sublimity men volunteered to drive their cows to Beaverton. In 1894, the Sisters began the construction of a new Motherhouse in Beaverton, and in 1905 changed their name to the Sisters of St. Mary, known today as the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. (The St. Boniface convent continued to house the local teaching sisters.)
- The current pastor is Fr. Paul Materu, who is assisted by Fr. Dick Rossma and Deacon Steve Tabor.
1888 – The Sisters of St. Mary opened the first parochial school in Marion County. The school is pictured here with the first resident pastor, Fr. Ruettimann.
Liturgy Schedule
- Confession
- Every Saturday (check Calendar)
- Mass Schedule
- Saturday (7pm) & Sunday (8am, 10am)
Mission Statements of St. Boniface and St. Marys
- We, the Catholic community of St. Boniface, inspired by the Holy Spirit, seek to proclaim and live the Gospel, celebrate the Sacraments, foster our Catholic traditions and serve the needs of others.
- We, the members of St. Mary’s Church at Shaw, are committed to the spiritual enrichment of the Catholic faith in the community through service, education, and development in the spirit of Jesus’ teachings.
Find out more on their website!
Interior of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Shaw.