Where there are monistaries...

There are 4 wineries in the Erie area, all about between 15-30 miles from my home. St. Baranabas House was established by the Brothers in the 1800's and the house sits overlooking the lake a few miles from the NY line. Grapes grow beautifully here and the Welch's Grapes company is located in the region. In fact until I was about 8 years old there was a working Welch's vineyard directly across from my house. To my chagrin it did not produce many playmates, but it did produce a lot of grapes.

The point of this is of course that it seems to follow that where there are spiritual centers and monastaries there are wine makers, and there existence here stands to reinforce what I perceive as an almost unnatural attraction and proliferation of religious education centers and institutions, and communities in this region.

The VMA Community The Villa Maria Academy community celebrates over 100 years of providing educational excellence to Erie area high school students and families. The original academy, located within the center city of Erie, was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania in 1892.

The Sisters of St. Joseph support and guide Villa Maria Academy and Villa Maria Elementary School as major components of the Villa Maria Conference & Education Center. Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania trace their history back to LePuy, France, in 1650 when six women were granted ecclesiastical approval by Bishop Henri de Maupas to organize a congregation without cloister and to dedicate themselves to laudable works of charity. Jean Pierre Medaille, SJ, a zealous missionary of LePuy, had presented the women's request for living a vowed life to Bishop DeMaupas, who, in turn, sought the approval of Rome. Reestablishment After Revolution The Congregation grew and spread throughout France until the French Revolution in 1789 when convents were closed; members were dispersed to their parents' homes; others were imprisoned and some were put to death. When order was restored, Cardinal Joseph Fesch called on Sister St. John Fontbonne to lead a newly established community at Lyons, France in 1807. Again the Congregation blossomed.

Mission to America
In 1836, it was Mother St. John who sent six sisters to America at the request of Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, Missouri. They lived in a log cabin convent in Carondelet, Missouri, where they taught the deaf and worked with Native Americans. Eventually, they expanded their work to other parts of the United States. Sister Agnes Spencer moved from Carondelet to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; then to Wheeling, West Virginia; to Canandiagua and lastly to Buffalo, both in New York, before being invited to the Erie Diocese by Bishop Josue Young.

Erie Foundation
It was May 24, 1860 when Sister Agnes, with three other Sisters, opened St. Ann Academy for Girls at Corsica, Pennsylvania. Two years later the Sisters moved to Frenchtown, then to Meadville, setting up Select Schools in both areas. In 1865 Mother Agnes used her own patrimony to purchase land with the intent of building an orphanage and convent. This plan went on hold when Bishop Young requested she open the first house of the Congregation in Erie--St. Vincent Hospital and Orphanage in 1865. Because of the need for a larger orphanage, the Sisters ultimately relinquished the hospital and changed the name to St. Joseph Orphan Asylum. In 1865 St. Joseph Hospital (renamed Spencer in 1877) opened in Meadville. The Sisters founded St. Vincent Hospital in 1875 and St. Mary's Home for the Aged in 1884. Through the years, education became an important work for the SSJs. In 1892 they established Villa Maria Academy, grades 1 to 12, and in 1925 opened Villa Maria College the first women's college in the Diocese. The Sisters staffed many other elementary and high schools in the Diocese: 14 within Erie proper; 21 within the confines of the Diocese and 2 in Ohio.

SSJ Life After Vatican II As the Congregation moves toward the 21st Century, the Constitutions delineate the Sisters' present day Mission and Ministry: We are women who affirm our mission of unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God. . . Moved by his love, we commit ourselves to constant response to the ever changing needs of the world.

Since Vatican II, Sisters have been permitted to surface these needs and to suggest to the administration of the Congregation a ministry that they feel personally called to and for which they feel they have a special gift. Hence, our Sisters are found today not only in the traditional works of education and health care on all levels but also in expanded areas such as: Diocesan Administration, Pastoral Ministry, Religious Education, Housing for the Elderly and Social Outreach Programs--a home for High Risk Babies, Homes for Women in Transition and a Shelter for Men. In the early 70's and into the 80's Sisters served in foreign missions: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Brazil, Israel and India. In the 90's a Sister spent time in El Salvador during her novitiate.

At present 182 Sisters of St. Joseph " live their ministry with a deep sense of sharing the mission of Jesus with an openness to further insights from the Holy Spirit, with an abiding trust that the Father who sent them will support them in what he has begun. " (Constitutions)

Mercyhurst
Historic Egan Hall For 33 years all of the original complex of Mercyhurst College was known as simply "Mercyhurst." In 1959, three years after Mother Borgia Egan, the founding president and dean, suffered a stroke, the west wing of the original complex was named Egan Hall in her honor. Mother Borgia Egan died Feb. 11, 1962 at the age of 85. Egan was the home of the original college chapel (where the students accounts office is today) until Christ the King Chapel opened in 1933, and the college's second library was located in the Egan corridor, now the Student Services offices.

The building is named for the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Mother Catherine McAuley. It is a tradition on the campuses of Mercy colleges to name a building after Mother McAuley and one for Frances Warde, the American Founder of the Sisters of Mercy. Mercyhurst History When the Sisters decided to build a college in Erie in the early 1920s, Mother Borgia Egan, the founder and first president of Mercyhurst, chose a plot of farmland high on a southern ridge of the city overlooking Lake Erie. She hired the foremost architect of educational buildings, Ferdinand Durang of Philadelphia, to build the "college on the hill." The construction of the majestic Tudor-style Old Main laid the foundation for Mother Borgia's new college, which has since expanded to 60 acres and 33 buildings on its Erie campus and 84-acres and six buildings at Mercyhurst-North East.

Seventy-one years later, Mercyhurst has become the most treasured piece of architecture in southeast Erie and is recognized for its magnificent gates, gables and greens. Mercyhurst Heritage The heritage of Mercyhurst is traced back to Mother Catherine McAuley who founded the House of Mercy at 64 Baggot St. in Dublin, Ireland. Mercyhurst was the seventh of 19 Mercy colleges to open in America under the direction of Mother Frances Warde, the American founder of the Sisters of Mercy.

I have to add that in this year's U.S. News and World Report on the Best Eastern colleges, my almatter was reanked 19th.

Chautauqua movement
A development in adult education similar to the LYCEUM movement, it was proposed in 1873 at the Methodist Episcopal camp meeting in Chautauqua, N.Y., by John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller. Eight-week summer programs offered members secular and religious instruction, and lectures by authors, explorers, musicians, and political leaders. Somewhere between revival meetings and country fairs in spirit, Chautauquas were attended by thousands each year. They were organized commercially in 1912 and persisted until c.1924.

The Chautauqua Idea
The whole of life is a school, with educating influences all the while at work. These agencies and influences should be wisely and continuously applied by and on behalf of each individual. Intellectual activity must be continuous in order to promote intellectual health and efficiency. Chautauqua provides a school for people out of school, who can no longer attend school, a college for one's home, and leads to the dedication of everyday life to educational purposes. The work is so carefully planned that by doing a little every day and following the provided weekly outline, the reader makes his odd moments tell to the best advantage.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION was pioneered at Chautauqua, along with model kindergartens and nursery schools. People As early as 1886, Chautauqua founder Lewis Miller wrote regretfully: "Those whose love and self-sacrificing efforts helped so much to make Chautauqua are too numerous to receive special mention." So today in 1999, it is impossible to list the meaningful participation of multitudes of Chautauquans and others who have helped. But their countless contributions must be acknowledged. PEOPLE are what we remember most vividly as we contemplate the Institution's history. Chautauquans and their joy in learning provide the most thrilling measure of Chautauqua. They are served here, and they serve! This 125th anniversary will show that. The founders, Lewis Miller and John Vincent, however, deserve special tributes for their sincere commitment to help out-of-school people gain the knowledge they needed. Because the founders planned so well, they met their first goals, and the Assembly's future was assured. While their zeal was based on their strong faith in God, they showed wide tolerance of other faith systems different from their own. Best of all, the founders remained in leadership during Chautauqua's first 25 years, thus insuring fidelity to the Assembly's basic mission and a creditable succession as the 19th century closed.

So many Chautauqua roles are of paramount importance: The terms of 15 successive presidents, each serving at exactly the right time in the life of the Institution; the policy-making work of probably more than 250 trustees from 1876 to the present; the administrative officers who have each provided individual expertise in supervising their departments to keep them able and relevant through changing times. We dare not forget the teachers, professors and personnel who have manned the summer school and university classes, the children's programs and recreation; the statesmen, the churchmen and women, the humanitarians and scientists who have given educational distinction to the Chautauqua Platform; the nine presidents of the United States who have visited Chautauqua; the musicians who have taught and/or performed here, some directing huge choral works or conducting symphony orchestras; actors, artists, dancers, opera singers and writers who have instructed us and extended our awareness of the fine and performing arts.

Full appreciation goes to thousands of Chautauquans whose continuing presence and interaction complete the dynamic relationship between stage and audience, platform and questioning listeners. This is popular education at its finest, with Chautauquans' playing a crucial role. High praise goes to hundreds upon hundreds of Chautauquans whose philanthropy has supported the Chautauqua Fund, an annual giving program; some donors have gifted, restored and/or endowed buildings, programs and scholarships. Chautauquans' giving escalated after the centennial celebration, which had brought a new realization of Chautauqua's history and national importance. Moreover, the Chautauqua Foundation, too, grew dramatically after 1975.

People and Chautauqua!
You can't have one without the other!
Alfreda L. Irwin Historian, Chautauqua Institution
Reading, reading, reading, page after page, chapter after chapter, book after book, one may gradually become absorbed in elevating themes, gain knowledge and power, brighten life, strengthen character, broaden one's world, and come into fellow kindship with noble souls. Thus the reader improves the conversation at the fireside, sets a good example to the children and neighbors, trains the will power, and keeps the soul from deteriorating under the worry and hurry of this "busy age". A typical Chautauqua tent of the late 19th century with the Massey family and Chautauqua's co-founders Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent. "Many early Chautauquans lived in tents or tent houses. Tents were often brought to Chautauqua by visitors; some were made on the grounds; others were rented. Ads for renting tents appeared in the Chautauqua Assembly Herald. Many large tents were purchased from the World's fair in Philadelphia in 1876. They were used not only for sleeping quarters but also for meeting places."

Chautauqua: Its Architecture and Its People Pauline Fancher, p.7 lyceum 19th-cent. American association for popular instruction of adults by lectures, concerts, and other methods. The National American Lyceum (1831) developed from lectures given by Josiah Holbrook, and soon leaders of the time lectured to lyceum audiences on the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs, stimulating interest in general education. The movement became a powerful force in social and educational reform. After the Civil War, the CHAUTAUQUA MOVEMENT took its place.