Mary Michel was eager to work on creating a history booklet for the 100th anniversary celebration of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul. Her family has 90-plus years of connection to the parish.
Her mother, Carol (Reilly) Stupka, grew up in the parish, receiving her first Communion in 1931. A photo of her and another first communicant first appeared in a booklet for the 75th anniversary and will again be in the 100th anniversary booklet soon to be published. A photo of two of Michel’s granddaughters in their first Communion dresses will be right next to the 1931 photo.
“It’s been a lot of fun doing the research,” said Michel, 69, who also received her first Communion at Nativity in 1959, and later married her husband, Kelly, at Nativity in 1974. All six of their children grew up in the parish, and two of them still belong, with their wives and children.
The parish opened in 1922, with its founding pastor, Father Terrence Moore, celebrating the first Mass on Sept. 17. He served all the way to 1948, and died at the age of 78 after having overseen the building of both the school (1923) and church (1939). The K-8 school has flourished throughout the ensuing years, reaching a peak enrollment of 1,040 in the 1958-59 school year and having a current enrollment of 729. A new addition to the school was added in 2008, using $11 million in donations to the Our Legacy Capital Campaign.
Nativity has its iconic Nativity County Fair, every September, the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help people in need, and activities for engaged and married couples.
The current pastor of Nativity, Father Patrick Hipwell, is only the sixth pastor in parish history. He came after the previous pastor, Father Peter Christensen, was named bishop of Superior Wisconsin, in 2007. Bishop Christensen now serves as the bishop of Boise, Idaho. Another bishop has ties to Nativity. Bishop Richard Pates grew up in the parish, and was the celebrant for Michel’s wedding.
Michel worked on the history of Nativity with another long-time parishioner, Cathy Brennan. She and her husband, Jerry, joined right after they got married 51 years ago. She said one of the highlights for her was when the parish built and opened a perpetual eucharistic adoration chapel in 1994. She had a weekly holy hour all the way up to several months ago when the couple moved to Mendota Heights.
“I think perpetual adoration is probably the best thing we ever did,” said Brennan, 73, who for 20 years went from 10-11 p.m. on Thursdays. “It was fabulous. I loved it. Many a time I left an event — we go to a lot of events — to get home in time (for adoration).”
