The Laying of the Cornerstone, July 2, 1900 |
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The cornerstone was blessed
at 4:00 on a warm summer afternoon. Procopius Neuzil described the event:
"In the morning of July 2, two special trains left Chicago for
Lisle, carrying those who would witness the event (of the
blessing of the chapel at the Orphanage and the laying of the
cornerstone of the college and abbey building). From the Lisle depot
all the way to the Orphanage, a colorful procession was formed of
a great variety of conveyances and people walking, because they could
not all fit into the conveyances available...The Bishop walked. The
rest of the clergy in the Bishop's carriage followed his example,
going on foot, enabling several ladies to ride. This procession was
more than a mile and a half long."*
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A stone from the ruins
of Bohemian Abbey of St. Procopius at Sázava (which was suppressed
by the imperial government in 1785) was embedded above the cornerstone.
The stone was inscribed with two dates, 1785 and 1885, signifying the
end of the Sázava abbey and the beginning of the American community.
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In February, 2000 the cornerstone, time capsule, and the 1885 Sázava abbey stone were removed in preparation for the demolition of Benedictine Hall. |
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On July 2, 2000 Abbot Hugh Anderson, O.S.B. blessed the cornerstone of the new Kindlon Hall. The Sázava abbey stone is embedded in the pillar with the new cornerstone located at the north-west entrance of Kindlon Hall. |
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* From Fr. Vitus
Buresh, O.S. B. The Procopian Chronicle: St. Procopius Abbey, 1885-1985.
pages 49-50
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