Catholicism in Cape Girardeau – Old St. Vincent's Church

The people of Old St. Vincent’s have published a coffee-table style book titled Old St. Vincent Church: A Pictorial and Historical Sketch of Catholicism in Cape Girardeau.

The 8.5″ x 11″ hard bound book of 256 pages is dedicated to Monsignor Joseph Gosche and Monsignor Richard Rolwing (who directed the restoration of Old St. Vincent Church), The Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) and The Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross. The book contains 289 photos, many of which date to the early 1900s. More than half of the photos are in color and are spread throughout the book.

We, as Catholics in the southeast area of the state of Missouri, have an illustrious past with glorious growth, and it began at Old St. Vincent Church. This book tells about the history of the Sisters of Loretto and the Vincentians—their parish, the Young Ladies Academy, St. Vincent’s College (Seminary), their parochial school and their kindergarten. In addition, the writers present detailed historical timelines and photos for St. Vincent de Paul Parish, the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish, Knights of Columbus, Saint Francis Medical Center, Catholic Campus Ministry, and Notre Dame Regional High School. The writers also present the family tree of parishes of St. Vincent de Paul Parish highlighting the creation of St. Mary Parish (1868) and Holy Family Church (1940). The writers tell about the formation of Old St. Vincent’s (1977)—the fight to save the church, and its being designated a Chapel of Ease and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It chronicles the restoration process, some of the people involved in the restoration and Old St. Vincent’s today.

The book lists all the pastors of the Cathedral of St. Mary, Catholic Campus Ministry, Holy Family Church, St. Vincent de Paul and Old St. Vincent’s. The book also includes a comprehensive bibliography and a detailed index emphasizing primarily the names of the people presented in the book.

The book may be obtained by making a $15 donation to Old St. Vincent’s Church and mailing it to one of the following writers: Ron Kirby, 2184 Sussex Drive; Mick Stiver, 2560 Meadow Lane; or Grace Sullivan, 759 West Rodney Drive. All three live in Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Please add $8 for packaging and shipping if the book needs to be mailed.

Special Information and Announcements

Click on the following link to view the 2024 DDF video. https://vimeo.com/923854533

The 2024 Old St. Vincent Goals are $9,438 and 35 donors.

2024 and the Holy Family

The Knights of Columbus have announced the release of a new video series called, “Into the Breach: The Mission of the Family”. The Knights want to proclaim the truth and beauty of the Catholic vision of family life. They want to help viewers live the vision in the modern world.

There are five videos in the series which last about twelve minutes each. The theme of each video is illustrated with the powerful personal story of a Catholic couple who has lived that theme in their own married life. Click on the following link to access the videos. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dhS0o-trLjif_DIzMn1zbN5iaannC14

Help Needed!

The Archive Center of Old St. Vincent Church is striving to obtain a complete set of St. Vincent College & Seminary’s annual yearbook, known as “The Cape.” The yearbook was published annually from 1926 through 1979. The yearbook contains many neat photos and a great deal of history about the College and Catholicism in Cape Girardeau. OSV Archival Center is initiating this effort—recognizing that as more and more time passes, it will become more difficult to obtain missing years. If you would like to donate any issue of The Cape, please contact Ron Kirby at either 573-450-7587 or ronkirbysemo@att.net. Duplicate copies will be shared with St. Vincent de Paul’s Resource Center and Kent Library’s Rare Book Center.

In mid-July, 2022 a boat tour passenger named Jerry Cosgrove took a tour of OSV Church. He later sent the following letter to Tour Leader Ron Kirby. Please take the time to view the link concerning Rose Hawthorne:

Mr. Kirby,

About 10 days ago I was a visitor in St. Vincents from the cruise ship visiting Cape Giradeau. I mentioned that there was a relatively recent person like St. Vincent who also was responsible for changing medical care for the poor.

That was Rose Hawthorne. Here is a link to a presentation I made two years ago to some people in New York.

I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/in4oced5df961cl/Rose%20Hawthorne%20-%20Jerry%20Cosgrove.pdf?dl=0

Best,

Jerry Cosgrove

Brentwood, New Hampshire

PS – I love your website for St. Vincents.

Church Information

MASS

Public Mass is celebrated at Old St. Vincent Church every Sunday at 10:00 AM.

MUSEUM AND TOURS

The Church is open for tours Saturdays from Noon until 4:00 P.M. April through October, except for days when weddings are scheduled. The scheduled weddings are listed in the Calendar. Tours are also available by appointment. Click on the following link for a virtual video tour of the church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAo-afuOKig

PRAYER CHAIN

To place someone on the Old St. Vincent Church Prayer Chain or to volunteer to pray on the chain, please contact Carole. Her contract information can be found in the Sunday Bulletin. Please note that the Prayer Chain is open to everyone, not just members of Old St. Vincent Church.

WEDDINGS

Weddings are now being held at Old St. Vincent Church. Contact Donna at 573-335-9347 for more information. Listed below are the currently scheduled weddings.

Zachary Zeiter and Caitlin Petty – 4/20/2024

John Essner and Lauren Vowels – 5/4/2024

Jake Edwards and Claire Landawee – 6/1/2024

Michael Porter and Emily Palmer – 6/8/2024

Grant Ward and Ashley Younghouse – 10/5/2024

Austin Hay and Lauren Eby – 11/9/2024

Isaac Caraway and Addison Vaugier – 6/7/2025

WEBSITE CALENDAR

Any questions concerning items listed in the CALENDAR should be directed to Larry Simon at (573) 450-2774

The Promotion of Fr. Normand G. Varone to Monsignor on November 14, 2021 at OSV Church

Chaplain to His Holiness with the title of Monsignor – Father Normand Varone

Sunday, November 14, 2021 at Old St. Vincent’s Church

Normand G. Varone was born June 29, 1939, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island to the late Joseph J. and Blaise F. (Gaulin) Varone. His education and seminary training was at St. Philip Neri Latin School in Boston, St. Mary’s College in Hardin’s Creek, Kentucky, and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. He was ordained to the priesthood June 7, 1975, by Bernard Cardinal Law in Saint Patrick Church in Cumberland, Rode Island. Throughout his years of active ministry in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Father Varone served the Diocese primarily in small, rural parishes in the southeast corner of the state. Father Varone retired from active ministry on July 1, 2009 and has continued to serve as a faithful substitute for his brother priests in Cape Girardeau and surrounding area. After 46 years of priestly service, Father Normand Varone becomes Monsignor Normand Varone. Congratulations! (see Image Gallery for more pictures and details)

Lady of Knock

On the evening of August 21, 1879 a Heavenly Apparition occurred at the gable wall of the Parish Church in Knock, Ireland when Our Lady appeared, in the Company of St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist. Unique to the Knock Apparition was the presence of the Eucharistic Lamb in front of a cross, standing upon an Altar and surrounded by angels. The Apparition lasted for about two hours and 15 official witnesses gave their testimonies to a Commission of Enquiry in October of that year.

The youngest witness of the Apparition was 5 year old John Curry (1874-1943). He eventually emigrated to the United States and had an obscure existence there. He died on Long Island and was buried in an unmarked grave there. In 2015 it became known by Cardinal Dolan of New York that John Curry died on Long Island unknown, and was buried in an unmarked grave. Through the efforts of Cardinal Dolan, John’s remains were removed from the unmarked grave on Long Island and reinterred in Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Lower Manhattan. In 2017, some 150 Irish (including John’s relatives) came from Ireland to attend the Requiem Mass for John at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, presided over by Cardinal Dolan. The beautiful song ” Lady of Knock” which had become the theme song for Knock Shrine in Ireland, was sung by Knock Shrine’s music director, Una Nolan, at Holy Communion time.

The song “Lady of Knock” was written by singer/songwriter Dana Rosemary Scallon (professionally known as Dana) and released by her as a single in 1981. Dana was born in London, England, is a former member of European Parliament, and has citizenship both in Ireland and the United States.

There are two videos in the Video Library regarding the Apparition. They are the third and fourth videos in the Library. One is “The Story of Knock”, the other is “Lady of Knock”, sung by Una Nolan at the Requiem Mass. Below are pictures of a mosaic of the Knock Apparition, John Curry, and Dana Rosemary Scallon.