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During the years following WW II, the Catholic
population in southwest Pueblo increased rapidly. In 1946, Bishop Joseph
Willging purchased a plot of land bordered by Prairie, Goodnight, McClelland and
Adams Avenues, with the vision of building and dedicating a shrine to St.
Therese of Lisieux, the principal patroness of the Pueblo Diocese.
In 1948, the Shrine of St. Therese was established for
the cost of approximately $150,000. The new parish was part of an area served by
St. Patrick’s Church. There were about 135 families living within its
boundaries The church, which was the eighth parish in Pueblo, was completed in
June 1949, but it would be several decades before a proper shrine was dedicated.
Although it appeared to be a completed church, the original structure was to be
temporary. The design was such that when future expansion was needed, the floor
level of the nave would be at ground level; the roof would be raised to provide
a high vaulted elevation; and the side walls would be expanded to provide
greater interior width at the ground floor level. If and when the expansion was
completed, the capacity would be increased to 1,000.
A rectory was built and an apartment building next to
the property was purchased and renovated to serve as a convent for the Sisters
of Charity from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Sisters had come to staff the Shrine of
St. Therese School, which opened in September 1949. At the time there were sixty
students enrolled, by 1956, the school had over 300 students enrolled. The
school operated until 1971, when most parochial schools in the Pueblo Diocese
closed, including the Shrine of St. Therese School. Emphasis was then placed on
religious education programs for all ages with more parental
responsibility. The Benedictine Sisters of Benet Hill were invited to assume the
responsibility of the religious program at the Shrine.
By 1955 the number of
parishioners had increased to the extent that an all-purpose building was needed
to meet the growing demands. Plans were announced to build a hall
with a capacity for 500 persons and four more classrooms. The 14,000 square foot
structure was built on the corner of Prairie and Goodnight. The pastor,
Monsignor Warnat, served as architect and contractor and saved the parish
thousands of dollars in construction costs.
The
sixties brought about many changes in liturgy as outlined in Vatican II.
The altar was moved so the celebrant would face the congregation. The
congregation began a more active participation in the word and song, the Latin
vernacular was replaced with English and the communion rail was removed.
In 1994, the
fifty-year-old vision of former Bishop Willging was finally realized: the
original Shrine of St. Therese was razed and the current Shrine created.
In order to achieve this, an ecclesiastical committee was formed in 1985, under
Fr. Joseph McGuinness. The committee and architects traveled to Lisieux, France,
to study the home and Carmelite convent of St. Therese in order to incorporate
those aspects of her life into the Shrine to her memory.
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