CORPUS CHRISTI CHURCH: 1856-2016: 160 YEARS OF FAITH, FAMILY, & FRIENDSHIPS

My family moved to a farm in Deerfield Township in 1948. One of the very first actions that my parents took was to become members of Corpus Christ Catholic Church in Deerfield. A list of Corpus Christi parishioners for 1947 lists my father Donald F. Eiustice as a parishioner but we did not actually move to the farm in Deerfield until 1948. My father had a green Chevrolet 3/4 ton pickup truck; our only vehicle. Attending Mass at Corpus Christi was always a family affair. Mom, Dad, and three little boys crowded into that truck until my sister was born in 1950. We never missed Mass but sometimes we were late and then we sat in the “crying room,” an annex attached to the church on the west side. Father Raymond Snyder was serving as Assistant Pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Waseca when he was assigned to serve as the pastor at Deerfield. He brought enthusiasm and excitement a parish that had been closed for from 1935 until 1938. It was a sad day in 1942 when parishioners learned that Father Snyder had been re-assigned to parishes in Fountain and Wykoff, but there was rejoicing when he returned a year later.. Father Harold Mountain replaced Father Snyder at Corpus Christi in 1952. He remained at Deerfield until 1968, the year I graduated from the University. Fr. Harold Mountain was a man of great integrity and an important influence on my life. Those were formative years in my life. Every Saturday morning during the school year catechism classes were taught by the Dominican Sisters from Bethlehem Academy in Faribault. We learned about our Catholic faith from the Baltimore Catechism. In early June, the School Sisters of Notre Dame came to Deerfield for two weeks to teach religion, and prepare us for the sacraments. Soon after I made my first communion, on June 14, 1953, the sisters prepared me to serve Mass. In those days, before Vatican II, the entire Mass, except for the readings and the homily was in Latin. I can still recite most of the Latin responses to the prayers. Ad Deum qui laetificat etcetera...I was an altar boy for the next ten years. In those days, most of the parishioners lived on farms; small family farms usually with a small dairy herd, a few pigs and a small flock of chickens. The main crops were corn and soybeans. No one got rich financially but there was a great spiritual wealth. Everyone seemed to live comfortably and religion was an important part of our lives. Families were large; some very large with ten or more children. Growing up on a farm was a unique experience. In those days, Deerfield seemed remote; a long way from everywhere. I often felt that I missed out on some of the experiences city kids had, but through the years I have begun to appreciate the useful things I learned on the farm which prepared me for later life. Corpus Christi parish, our one-room country school, 4-H club and FFA work helped to make me the person I am today. I feel fortunate and very blessed.
ASIN: B0BCS7NGY6
VSKU: GBV.B0BCS7NGY6.A
Condition: Acceptable
Author/Artist:Eustice, Ronald Francis
Binding: Paperback
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