2015-07-12 St. Peter's DayCCitp of Aenbota joetgbt.5
WHEREAS, Saint Peter's Church, Mendota has provided spiritual guidance for 175 years to the
people of the areas now known as Dakota County, Mendota, Lilydale, Mendota Heights; and
WHEREAS, life for priests and pioneers included struggles, challenges, hardships and
tremendous difficulties: foreigners in a foreign land, they were not deterred; and
WHEREAS, Fr. Lucien Galtier, the first pastor worked tirelessly to establish Christianity; and
WHEREAS, Fr. Ravoux spearheaded the construction of the stone church [35 by 75 feet] in
1853, almost doubling the size of the original wooden structure; and
WHEREAS, these first priests worked with native Indians, soldiers at Fort Snelling, fur traders
and farmers providing catechetical instruction; and
WHEREAS, the sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the Sisters of Mercy, Father Muellerlie and
the Precious Blood Sisters, the School Sisters of Notre Dame and dedicated lay people have
provided a catholic education since 1866; and
WMREAS, cultural, social, and economic conditions caused the closing of the school in the
early 1970's; and
WHEREAS, since education is highly prized, a new tri -parish catholic school, Faithful
Shepherd was opened in the early 2000's continuing the tradition; and
WHEREAS, the oldest church in the State of Minnesota in continuous use, built from the
simple beauty of local limestone, was declared an historic site by the United States Department of
the Interior in 1935; and
WHEREAS, many pioneers buried in the historic St. Peter's Cemetery, Tousignant, Letendre,
LeMay, Beaudette and others, helped build the State of Minnesota; soldiers of the Civil War,
Spanish American War, World Wars I and H, and the Korean and Vietnam wars are buried in St
Peter's Cemetery; and we honor and salute these fallen heroes every Memorial Day with a prayer
service; and
WHEREAS, St. Peter's has been blessed with families associated with Mendota and the
surrounding areas: Chapdelaine (I 840's), St Martin (1840's), LeMay (1850's), Perron (I 840's),
Shields (1840's), O'Neill (1850's), Oster (1860's), Bernier (1840's), DesLauriers (1860's),
LaCroix (1866's), LeClair (1880's), Beaudette (1840's), Wohlers (1850's), Furlong (1890's),
Connolly (1940's), Culligan (1940's), Fee (1870's), Egan (1870's), Giguerre (1890's), Lilly
(1900's), Welsh (1900's), Wachtler (1910's), Kennedy (1930's), Burns (1890's), Callahan
(1890's), Smith (1920's), Tracy (1910's) , Mulvihill (I 890's), Maczko (1930's), Hoene (1930's),
Marren (1930's), Kelly (1930's), Kane (1930's), Ryan (1910's), Coonan (1930's), Curley
(1910's), Boland (1930's), Norman (1940's), Wild (1940's), Edwards (1930's), and Pilney
(1940's) to name just a few*; families whose descendants still live here and attend St Peter's; and