Marysburg Assumption Parish

The first services in that district were held on Sunday, July 19, 1903. Prior Alfred Mayer, superior of the Benedictine monks, had the first mass in the dining room of Lawrence Lindberg's home, a mile west of the present Marysburg site.

Two weeks later, on Aug. 12, mass was again celebrated at Lindberg's home, this time by Fr. Chrysostom Hoffmann, who arrived from the United States a few days earlier. Fr. Chrysostom, attracted by the prospect of pioneering in a new land, had transferred to the new St. Peter's monastery in Saskatchewan from St. Mary's Abbey, Newark, N.J.

Mass was celebrated quite regularly every second Sunday, and a little church 16 ft x 32 ft was completed by Christmas of 1903. The church bore such a resemblance to the traditional birthplace of Christ that it was not necessary to set up a Christmas crib. Fr. Chrysostom was appointed the first pastor of the community. The expenses for the erection of the church were $287.70. The following year the church was lengthened by 8 feet. (The chair in the confessional was a nail keg until 1905.) The first high mass with organ accompaniment was celebrated Nov. 2, 1904, with F.X. Strueby as organist.

At a parish meeting on March 19, 1906, it was decided to build a church 40 ft. x 60 ft. with an 80 foot steeple at the estimated cost of $2,580. Work began in early April. John Kraus did the masonry work for the foundation free of charge. The contract was let to Messrs. Arnoldy and Walerius of Leofeld.

On Oct. 22, 1906, the new 400 lb. bell arrived, a donation from a generous member of the parish. The new church was blessed by Bishop Pascal. The bell was also blessed and given the name "Maria Immaculata." The next day the bell was hoisted into the tower. This bell was rung faithfully morning, noon and night by F.X. Strueby until it was torn from its lofty height in the terrific storm of June 27, 1919, when the church was demolished. The bell itself was not damaged, and is still functioning in the present church.

Meanwhile, the settlers at Dead Moose Lake had been making plans for the education of their children. A parochial school was opened in the log church on May 8, 1905, with F.X. Strueby as teacher.

In 1906 a public school was built a mile west of the hamlet of Dead Moose Lake, and the St. Henry School District established. This public school was changed to a parochial school in January 1908—a case unique in the province of Saskatchewan.

In the first decade of its history Assumption Parish was served by priests who travelled there from the monastery at Muenster. They included Frs. Chrysostom Hoffmann, the first pastor, Peter Windschiegl, Boniface Puth, Bernard Schaeffler and Casimir Cismowski who took over in 1913.

In preparation for their arrival at Dead Moose Lake—as the hamlet in Assumption Parish was still called—a combination sisters' residence and parish school was built on the church grounds under the direction of Fr. Casimir. The new complex was named St.Angela's School and Convent. Later, in the early 1930s, that private school again became a public school under the name of St. Henry. It was closed in 1985.

The Ursulines opened St. Angela's School on Jan. 7, 1915. That same year a rectory was built. Having a sisters' chapel on the church grounds was a great convenience for with its large doors opening into classrooms that chapel was an ideal setting for weekday masses.

St. Angela's Convent served as the motherhouse of the Ursulines in the colony until the fall of 1919 when the sisters accepted the invitation to locate their motherhouse in Bruno, because that town was located on a major railway line. However, the Ursuline Sisters continued to staff St. Angela's School. They continued to accept boarders whose number reached 32 in 1920.

By 1919, realizing that their church was too small, the parishioners decided to add a sacristy and sanctuary. Construction had proceeded rapidly, but a violent storm on June 27 destroyed the whole church.

Immediately the pioneers decided to build a new church, and one which would be more solid. A substantial brick edifice was planned. Work on the new church began in early 1920, and by the middle of February 1921, the beautiful new church, which had more the appearance of a cathedral than a country church, was practically finished except for the two towers which were completed during the summer of that year.

The first services in the new church were held on May 29, 1921. Fr. Casimir invited Fr. Peter Windschiegl, prior of St. Peter's Abbey, to have the honor of celebrating that first mass.

The blessing of the present Assumption Church took place on Aug. 15, 1921, feast of the Assumption. Celebrant at the blessing was Michael Ott, abbot ordinary of the newly founded abbacy of Muenster.

The parish council almost immediately tackled the increasing difficulty of heating a church which had been designed for a much larger congregation than that of the 1970's. The parish decided to use the parish hall for Sunday worship during the cold season, and in winter to use the church only for Christmas, Holy Week and other occasions when the church would be full of people and could be heated to some degree of comfort.