Miesville parish honors its patron with statue, stained glass

When Harriet Wiederholt — who turned 97 Aug. 21 — was growing up, her family sat on the “St. Joseph side” during Sunday Mass at St. Joseph in Miesville.

Her parents reserved a special pew for their family of eight by paying “pew rent” on the side of the church that faces the parish patron’s statue, to the right of the main altar. “Our Lady’s side,” Wiederholt said, is to the left.

A number of rows back, Harriet’s future husband, Cy Wiederholt, sat with his family. But she wasn’t tempted to catch his eye during Mass because as a choir member, she often had a better view from the choir loft, she said.

Pew rent is no longer collected at the parish of 365 households about 12 miles south of Hastings, but St. Joseph’s statue likely has stood in the same spot for at least a century, said Patti Kocur, the parish’s business administrator.

The parish was founded long before that, in 1873. Originally named “St. Joseph of Douglas” (Township), it began as a mission parish of then-St. Boniface in Hastings, which later merged with Guardian Angels, also in Hastings, to become St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.

The parish name was changed in 1937 to “St. Joseph Catholic Church, Miesville, Minnesota.”

Along with the statue near the main altar, St. Joseph appears in two stained glass windows in the church, one depicting his betrothal to Mary and the other his workshop.

On St. Joseph’s March 19 feast day, the parish holds a food drive, said the pastor, Father Terry Beeson. The parish also honors their patron with prayers, including the Litany of St. Joseph, he said.

During this special Year of St. Joseph, parishioners are attending parish family events offered monthly, including a Mudhens game — Miesville’s champion amateur baseball team, which plays near the church and parish cemetery, Kocur said.

St. Joseph supports families, said Father Beeson, who also is pastor of St. Pius V in Cannon Falls. “He’s the cornerstone of family life in the Church, and the Church is about bringing families in.”

The parish built its first church of wood the year it was founded, parishioner Rebecca Susag noted. “There were gas lanterns (and) candles and there was a potbellied stove, and it was smoky.”

Benedictine Father George Sherer celebrated Mass at St. Joseph every second Sunday. Later, priests came from Hastings and New Trier.

It’s unclear why the parish was named for St. Joseph. One possible reason was German devotion to the saint, considering that the early parishioners were mostly German and Irish immigrants, Susag said.

The parish was incorporated in 1882, with Father Pius Schmidt as pastor. Its historical boundaries include the Mississippi river on the east. In 1907, the growing parish built a Gothic-style brick church that seats 400. Six years later, it was nearly destroyed by fire caused by a lightning strike. Rebuilt from just the outer walls, it was re-dedicated in 1914 and continues to be the parish home.

Cy and Harriet Wiederholt were married in 1946 at St. Joseph. Also that year, the parish’s newly ordained associate became ill after drinking tap water drawn from a contaminated cistern. Father James Shannon survived, and in the 1960s was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. (He famously resigned the episcopacy in 1968 and was later laicized.)

St. Joseph opened a grade school in 1954 run by Benedictine sisters, but had to close it in 1970 due to declining enrollment.

Responding to requests in 2009, the pastor, Father Jay Kythe, began allowing celebration of a Latin Mass at St. Joseph along with Mass in English. Catholics from around the archdiocese continue to attend Latin Mass on Sundays and First Fridays.

Editor’s note: This is the sixth story in a monthly series on 10 places in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with connections to St. Joseph.