This is God’s building

Parishioners and those with ties to St. Leo the Great in Minot celebrated like never before on Dec. 20, 2019, dedicating anew the 111-year old structure that has virtually been rebuilt after decades of decline. Brilliant in its new glory, St. Leo’s has long been known as the mother church of northwest North Dakota. Two of its famed, deceased pastors were permanently enshrined there as part of the dedication.
 
Bishop Kagan presided over the event that had some sentimental touches mixed with the reverent. That included the presence of former St. Leo’s pastor Austin Vetter, now bishop of the Diocese of Helena, Mont. With them, Fr. Justin Waltz, current pastor of St. Leo’s. He and Bishop Vetter originally arrived together at the Minot parish in 2008, the newly ordained Fr. Waltz coming then as Fr. Vetter’s parochial vicar.
 
When he was pastor, Father Vetter oversaw the restoration of the outer church in 2011. Father Waltz followed with the just-completed new church interior.
 
Father Waltz also made the arrangements for disinterring the bodies of Msgr. Joseph Raith, who built the existing church in 1908 and was St. Leo’s pastor from 1901 to 1941, and of Msgr. John Hogan, pastor from 1941 until his death in 1959. Father Raith died in 1960. Both had been buried in Rosehill Memorial Park in Minot.
 
Thirty-eight diocesan priests, two deacons, and a number of seminarians participated in the Dec. 20 ceremonies.   
 
William C. Schilling, director of music for St. Leo’s, led a 23-voice choir and an 18-piece orchestra for the event. Sean Connolly of Sleepy Eye, Minn., was featured organist and composed a Mass for the dedication. Also performing on the organ were Peggy Dahl-Bartunek and Anthony Mahler. Vocal soloists included Kim Arneson, Nan Jacobson and Casy Charley.
 
Daniel Young, a bagpiper from New Salem, played for the re-interment rites for Monsignors Raith and Hogan.
             
Their ashes now lie in permanent crypts created in two side altars of the church which have been transformed into shrines. Invited to Minot for the ceremonies were Peter H. Wells and his wife of Wiscasset, Maine. Wells is a grand nephew of Msgr. Hogan and the only relative located of either priest.
             
In his homily for the Mass, Bishop Kagan observed that “…this is God’s building…and His church is presented to the world in every age…The church is where we are given every spiritual and corporal blessing.”
           
He continued, “This church has been beautifully restored…Today is a great day for this parish and this building. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.”
 
He concluded with a prayer of dedication. Part of the prayer: “O God, sanctifier and ruler of your Church, it is right for us to celebrate your name in joyful proclamation; for today your faithful people desire to dedicate to you, solemnly and for all time, this house of prayer, where they worship you devoutly, are instructed by the word, and are nourished by the sacraments.”
 
He then proceeded with the anointing and incensing of the altar and walls of the church.
 
Toward the end of Mass, Fr. Waltz said of his parishioners: “Today’s Catholic faithful set a new course like the faithful of those early families of Father Raith’s day. We have done something great for God and His Son on this day.”
           
As much as possible, Fr. Waltz sought to match the rededication of St. Leo’s to its initial opening on Nov. 26, 1908. He expressed regret that the new tabernacle, the communion rail, and pipes for the organ had not arrived in time for the day’s activities.
           
Seats on the main level of the church were reserved for clergy and for 376 invited guests who were donors to the project. Others filled the church basement. Some 450 people were guests at the dinner that followed at the Clarion Hotel in Minot.
           
The cost of the interior church makeover—the church basement (which included all the plumbing, heating, electrical work, and air conditioning), the main floor, the choir loft—currently is set at $2.6 million. Reconstruction of the outer church in 2011 cost just under $3.4 million.
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The program for the Dec. 20 dedication included a kind of back story to the reconstruction of St. Leo the Great Church.

First arriving in Minot in 2008, Fathers Vetter and Waltz had done their research of the parish and were well acquainted with the records compiled by Fathers Raith and Hogan. Both had spent their entire priesthood at St. Leo’s. As Fathers Vetter and Waltz undertook the renewal projects, each suggested the work would reflect the theology and foundation upon which the older pair had led the church.
           
According to Book II of the history of the church, Fr. Vetter called the efforts of the parish governing bodies, “Restoration & Renovation.” As plans for rebuilding the church exterior went forward, he made frequent references to Fr. Raith and how the parish might newly adapt the Raith church to contemporary needs, both physically and theologically.
         
Similarly, in leading the update of the interior, Fr. Waltz sought to replicate some of the décor and the fixtures of the Raith and Hogan years. He wanted it also to be a visible expression of the charism that St. Leo’s was founded on.