In the years following the fire, the community also hosted private tours of the grounds, retreats, education conferences, symposiums and other events upon request. The structure was remodeled to add 32 private rooms, a chapel, conference room, laundry and a large living room. The Society used the insurance money it received after the fire to transform the former high school classroom building into a residence for active and semiretired Divine Word Missionaries. The burned mansion was razed to the ground in 1984. Shea went with them and remained there for two years. Joseph’s Seminary High School in Princeton, New Jersey. The students who still wanted to pursue their studies in preparation for the priesthood were welcomed to enroll at St. William Shea, SVD, was rector of Divine Word Seminary at the time. It was decided that the school would close at the end of May 1983.įr. On February 2, 1983, the Hammond mansion, which served as the chapel and the religious community’s residence, suffered a major fire. It was deemed to be a good academic and formation program but if enrollment dipped below a particular threshold, the consultant advised that the minor seminary should close. This information, paired with shrinking enrollment numbers lead superiors to seek help from a consultant who evaluated the education program. Twelve men who studied at Bordentown were ordained for a diocese or another religious community. Despite fair enrollment figures, only six graduates of the Bordentown high school went on to profess perpetual vows as Divine Word Missionary priests or brothers. It wasn’t long before other religious communities started sending their high school seminarians to live and study at the Divine Word Missionary campus. The expansion included the addition of a building that included classrooms, a dormitory, dining center, administrative offices and a gymnasium. A complex of buildings was built to satisfy the needs of the new Divine Word Seminary High School. With a new and growing student body, a proper campus was needed. The Bordentown location was transformed into a four-year high school or “minor” seminary. The school for belated vocations, as it was known, moved to Miramar College in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The coursework in the 1940s was complex and the teaching style was rigid. Bordentown offered accelerated curriculum to supplement and complete any high school studies that candidates had already completed, helping prepare them in Latin and Greek before entering the novitiate program. At that time, the course for SVD candidates was four years at a preparatory seminary, two years at novitiate, two years at Juniorate, two years of philosophy studies and four years of theology. Joseph’s Mission House opened for its original purpose – to educate young men who were discerning a vocation to religious life after graduating from high school. After several years of repairs and restoration, St. From 1943 to 1947, the building was used as a residence for the Divine Word community. The clock sounded every 15 minutes as a reminder to recite the Quarter Hour prayer. In 1942, a hall clock was purchased and placed in the great rotunda at the center of the building so everyone could hear its chimes. The sale price was listed at $165,000 but the Society got a real bargain, purchasing the property for just $55,000! Some work needed to be done in order to clean the mansion and prepare it for use again. The estate was also referred to as “Bonaparte Park,” since Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother once owned it. The 242-acre estate featured a mansion, three swimming pools, a tennis court, croquet court and formal gardens. Eleven years earlier, the bank had seized the property from its then-owner, Mr. Hoping to establish a Mission House in the newly-formed Eastern Province, in 1941 the Society of the Divine Word purchased a property known as Point Breeze in Bordentown, New Jersey.
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