07/27/2026
A remarkable new discovery has shed light on one of the defining moments in St. Boniface's history--the laying of the cornerstone of our church 162 years ago.
An article published in The Catholic Telegraph (Cincinnati) on August 3, 1864, provides a detailed eyewitness account of the laying of the cornerstone of the present St. Boniface Church on July 17, 1864. It records an estimated crowd of 4,000 people, special excursion trains bringing visitors from across the region, and the extraordinary enthusiasm surrounding the construction of what was then envisioned as a $40,000 Gothic church.
Lafayette, Ind, July 23, ‘64
It is truly consoling to a Catholic heart to peruse on each re-occurring week accounts of the inception or completion of edifices dedicated to the service of the Most High God. Every announcement of this kind tells of another temple in which the sacrifices of the Lamb will be offered, in which the self-same doctrines that were promulgated by our Divine Lord eighteen hundred years ago, that were preached by Patrick in Ireland, by Irenaeus in France, by Boniface in Germany, and by Austin in England, will be inculcated. It is the notice of the er****on of a house beneath whose portals the robed Priest, with pure hands, will pour the waters of regeneration on the head of the infant, who is previously enveloped in the murky slough of Adam’s sin, but now emerges with a more than angelic lustre; at whose Altar the Lord’s Annointed will dispense the Bread of Life to the faithful, and unite the youth and maiden in the holy bonds of wedlock; under whose dome he will administer the Divine Absolution to the repentant sinner, and perform the last offices of Religion over the remains of the dead.
From the pulpit of this temple will go forth and vibrate though its lofty arches the sublime doctrines of faith, above and in contradistinction to reason. For, as Catholics, we know the deductions of human reason and the mysteries of faith are oftentimes antagonistic and conflicting. The one is involved in doubt and perplexity by the secrets of Providence, while the other is serenely hopeful. Reason is loosed from her moorings by the storms which drift athwart the sea of human destiny, while faith soars above the clouds and casts her anchor within the vail. Reason gropes and stumbles amid the gathering darkness, while faith, undismayed, ascends her watch-tower, and beholds light radiating from the throne of the Omnipotent.
But this is wandering from our subject.
On last Sunday (July 17th), the corner-stone of a new church, under the invocation of St. Boniface, was laid in this city by Rev. G. A. Hamilton, Pastor of St. Mary’s Church—in the absence of Right Rev. Bishop Rosecrans, who was expected to perform the ceremony—assisted by Rev. Jos. A. Winter, of St. Mary’s, and Rev. F. Deipenbrock, Pastor of St. Boniface’s (old) Church, all of this city. The ceremonies were those usually observed on like occasions. The sermon was preached by Rev. Father Winter. The number of persons present at the laying of the stone was at least four thousand and this number was constantly augmented by accessions from the three different Railroads that lead to this city, which ran trains on that day at reduced rates, the train from Fort Wayne, the Episcopal seat, bringing one thousand. The church is to be Gothic, 140 feet long, 64 wide, and to cost $40,000. It will be under roof this fall. This fact speaks wonders for the indomitable energy and perseverance of Rev. Father Deipenbrock, and the good-will and liberality of the St. Boniface congregation. Other congregations not a thousand miles from Lafayette, should take St. Boniface’s, which is not an iota, either intellectually or monetary, compared with them, as an example in this. After the ceremonies were concluded, those present adjourned to a proximate Grove to partake of a most excellent dinner, served by the ladies of St. Boniface’s Church. The proceeds from this amounted to nine hundred dollars, pro Ecclesia. Comment is unnecessary. To the Church itself we are warranted in applying the words of Paralipmenous, which, painted on an arch, decorated its main entrance on this festive day—“Opus grande est, neque enim homini praeparatur habitatio, sed Deo—The work is great, but it is a dwelling prepared for God, not for man.”
The rapid strides that Catholicity is making here in the West are an unequivocal evidence of the existence of a Providence, who directs not only the orbs of light, but clothes the grass of the field, paints the petals of the lovely flower, wings the flight of birds, watches over the infant in the cradle, or wrings the mother’s heart with dolorous grief when he deposits it in its early grave. Though many a Catholic in this Republic has wandered from the home of his childhood, still he is not in a fatherless world, bereaved of the care and guardianship of its great Author. And though His ways are often mysterious—in the paths of the great deep—though the lightning is winged with His wrath, and the pealing thunder is but the distant echo of His power, yet, he who abideth beneath the covert of His wings, the canopy of the One Fold, is safe.
—COLUMBANUS
