Brother Wendelin arrives in America
The idea to send a member of the Society of the Divine Word to America came from Brother Wendelin himself. Previously an elementary school teacher, Joseph Meyer decided to join the Society in 1887 and took the religious name of Wendelin. He was assigned to the press in Steyl, Holland as a Reisebrüder (or “traveling Brother”), a Brother who traveled throughout German-speaking Europe to sell the Society’s publications to make the congregation known and increase vocations.
In 1893, after a drought had left many German farmers without income and thus, the Society with surplus issues of their publications, Wendelin saw the need to expand their audience to America. Before he became an SVD, he had considered immigrating to America himself as many of his friends and family had, but the religious life had put this plan to the wayside. Thus, he knew that there were plenty of German-speakers abroad who would be interested in the Society. He approached the Procurator General, Reverend Nicolaus Blum SVD, with his idea and asked him to bring it to the attention of the founder, St. Arnold Janssen. The Founder, a leader known to think carefully before making decisions, considered this idea for two years before granting his approval.
In 1895, Brother Wendelin set sail for Hoboken, NJ, where he arrived on October 15. It was arranged beforehand that he would stay with the Sisters of St. Francis. Otherwise, nothing else was done to announce his arrival in America, he simply came with printed circulars introducing himself and the Society. He traded his services as a teacher in a local parochial school for English lessons with the priest.
One year later, Brother Homobonus was sent to assist him and the Brothers were granted permission to rent a house in Hoboken for their lodgings. The two men got along well. In a history written by Reverend Francis Markert SVD, the eventual head of the Society’s press in North America, he paraphrases Brother Wendelin’s memoirs: “Brother Homobonus took very good care of the various housekeeping duties. But his culinary efficiency was still in an experimental state. Only after several months he had a half a dozen or so menus that were "well done". Brother Homobonus himself confesses not without humor that the results of his kitchen work were often not very perfect, and he sympathized with Brother Wendelin who had to be the guinea pig for his culinary experiments.” But the Brothers would not be the only SVDs in North America for long.
On September 27, 1897, Reverend Johann Peil SVD, accompanied by Reverend Joseph SVD, and Brother Michael SVD, arrived in Hoboken to serve as Mission Superior. Unlike the Founder, Peil was known for his quick decisive actions. He wasted no time moving the SVDs out of Hoboken to Milton, PA. Through his work as a Reisebrüder, Wendelin visited Philadelphia and made connections with priests from Pennsylvania. It was them who suggested meeting with the Very Reverend Thomas McGovern, bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA in early 1898 to see if he would welcome the SVDs into his diocese. Father Peil sent Wendelin to negotiate with the bishop since he had the strongest grasp on English because the bishop was Irish and could not speak German. McGovern was happy to receive the SVDs due to a shortage of priests in his diocese. He directed them towards Milton where they could rent a house, the priest could work in a local parish, and Wendelin and Homobonus could continue their work traveling and selling SVD publications.
Janssen gave them permission to accept this offer but made it clear that Milton would not be where the Society settled in North America. Milton, although many Germans resided there, were all staunch Protestants. The Founder instructed them to look westward for a town to settle in. This time in Milton would only be a brief chapter before they found their permanent base of operations elsewhere.
On a trip to Chicago, Brother Wendelin was staying in a German parish and heard from the priest about a 360-acre farm for sale north of the city in the town of Shermerville owned by a German Catholic orphanage. After negotiating with the bishop, it was agreed upon the Society would run a technical school on the property while assisting in local parishes and continuing their work selling their publications. On June 26, 1899, the purchase was finalized and the Society’s work in Shermerville officially began.
To learn more about the beginnings of the SVDs in North America, read Communities of the Word, Prelude: Milton, Pennsylvania by Father Thomas Krosnicki SVD.