Archives - Collections

SOCIETY OF SAINT EDMUND ARCHIVES
Local Administration
Houses of Formation
1895-Present

Description
4.5 ft (6 boxes)

Arrangement
Arranged into series.

History
The Constitutions of the Society of Saint Edmund define Formation as “the process of becoming more and more a disciple of Christ, growing in union with and in configuration to him...” (SSE Constitutions, p. 11) For Edmundites, this formation is lifelong, but it usually begins in a formal formation program. For many years, these formal stages of formation were contained within a formal house. This record group includes records from formal houses and from the informal programs or places where Edmundites or potential members participated in formation programs. The formal programs of Formation for the Society of Saint Edmund have included Juniorate (or minor seminary), Novitiate, Scholasticate and Theologate (sometimes referred to as seminary). The only one required of all members of the Society is the Novitiate, which is a one-year program that keeps with the prescriptions of church law. The Juniorate was a Junior Seminary, where high school age boys could receive both academic and religious training, in hope that they would seriously consider entrance into the Society in the future. The Scholasticate and Theologate are post-novitiate training programs for those with temporary vows. In addition to training in the mission of the Society, the Scholasticate includes undergraduate education and the Theologate included graduate training, especially for those preparing for ordination.

Formal Programs and Houses
Minor Seminary
Swanton (1898-1950) St. Edmund’s Juniorate
Cheshire (1970-1974) LaSallette Seminary
Winooski Park/Colchester (unknown dates) St. Edmund’s Hall
Novitiate
Swanton (1897-1902, 1904-1939)
Winooski Park/Colchester (1902-1904)
Putney (1939-1954) St. Josephs Novitiate
Mystic Novitiate (1954-) St. Edmunds Novitiate
Scholasticate/Seminary/Theologate
Swanton (1897-1914)
Winooski Park, Colchester (1914-1982) Scholasticate
Putney (1931-1939)
Randolph (1939-1954) St. Mary’s Seminary
Fairholt Seminary (1954-1966) St. Edmunds Seminary, Scholastics in Residence (1966-1970, 1975-1978)
Toronto(1966-1984) St. Basil’s Seminary/University of St. Michael’s College
New Orleans (1984-1993) Notre Dame Seminary
Boston (1993-1998) Weston School of Theology

Scope
Series are organized alphabetically. Please note that ledgers are filed separately, with the exception of the Swanton Juniorate files.
Processing Note: A previous processor set up the Local Administration Houses of Formation subgroup. In reprocessing, Elizabeth Scott chose to maintain this, despite the potential confusion between the Houses of Formation records and formal House records. Formal records and correspondence are easily distinguishable between the Formation program and the formal house.
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Cheshire (Minor Seminary, 1969-1972)
From 1969-1972, the Society paid tuition for a small number of boys to attend a minor seminary in Cheshire CT, run by the LaSallette fathers. This minor seminary program was not new; the Society had been sponsoring likely candidates in high school seminary programs since the St. Edmund's Juniorate closed in 1950. However, the Cheshire program included a larger concentration of boys, and included boys from Selma, Alabama who were part of a program designed to foster vocations from the South. The 1968-1969 Renewal Chapter adopted a resolution that they would no longer support new students, but would continue to support those students already in the minor seminary. The Chapter digest for 29 July 1968 includes a detailed discussion of the issue.
This series includes correspondence and other material related to the program. Reports on student progress and discipline were removed and destroyed.

1969-1972
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Fairholt (1954-1966, 1966-1970, 1975-1978)
In 1954, the Society purchased Fairholt, a private estate in Burlington, VT. The site was originally used as the Society’s Theologate, which was transferred from Randolph. In 1966, the Society began sending seminarians to St. Basil’s Seminary in Toronto, Canada. The site continued to be used as a residence for the Society’s scholastics who were attending St. Michael’s College. While most of the material deals with regular administrative affairs, items related to the Crisis are quite interesting. Beginning in 1969, the resident scholastics objected to their new Superior. Their objections grew in magnitude and resulted in a request for his removal. When that request was denied, the seminarians removed themselves from Fairholt and asked for formal arbitration on the matter. The seminarians eventually returned to Fairholt, but not before calling into question the Edmundite formation program and Edmundite policies and procedures in place since Vatican II. The file includes not only correspondence from those directly involved, but also includes correspondence from concerned members of the Society

Authorization as major seminary
Correspondence
Crisis —Superior General correspondence
Crisis Nov 1969-April 1970
Financial Reports 1950s
Financial Reports 1960s
Financial Reports 1970’s
New Psalter Vocabulary 1962
Profile of seminary
Ratio studiorum/course of studies 
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Ledgers 1921-1988
This series contains bound ledger books from all areas of Formation, except the Swanton Juniorate. In some instances when a program moved to a different location, ledgers include information from both sites. This is inconsistent, however. Ledgers are arranged in boxes by size.

Box 1
Record of Religious Professions    1964-1970
Record of Vows and Retreats         1898-1950
Record of Vows        1950-1955
Swanton Novitiate     1931-1938
St. Joseph’s Novitiate          Monthly Account Book          1953-1954
St. Joseph’s Novitiate          Chronicle        1938-1942
St. Joseph’s Novitiate          Chronicle        1944-1945
Saint Edmund’s Seminary Chronicle          1939-1966
Saint Edmund’s Seminary Chronicle          1966-1969
Saint Mary’s Seminary         Account Book            1950-1966
Saint Mary’s Seminary         Monthly Account Book          1952-1967
Saint Mary’s and Saint Edmund’s Seminary Council Minutes, 1939-1972
Scholasticate Records of Marks, tests and examinations            1921-19[42]
Scholasticate Records of Marks, tests and examinations            1942-1966
 Box 2
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1954-1955
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1964-1968
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1971-1 973
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1973-1974
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1974-1976
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1976-1977
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1980-1981
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1982-1985
Saint Edmunds Novitiate     Chronicle        1985-1988
Saint Edmunds Hall
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Mystic (St. Edmunds Novitiate, 1954- )
In 1954, the Society moved its Novitiate from Putney VT to Enders Island in Mystic, Ct. The Island and its buildings had been given to the Society for the express purpose of priestly formation. As soon as accommodations were ready, the Society moved instructors and postulants to Mystic. While the novitiate was the sole activity on the island at first, it was soon joined by other activities, including the Train-a-Priest Club and the Seminary Guild, fund raising activities expressly for training priests. By the late 1960’s, the Edmundites had established a House on the Island apart from the Novitiate. Material related to that House, the Seminary Guild and Train-A-Priest Club, and all other activities on the Island can be found in the Local Administration/Mystic record group. This series contains only information related to the Novitiate program

Dedication
Financial reports and budgets 1954-1970
Financial reports and budgets 1970-79
Financial reports and budgets 1980-85
Financial reports and budgets 1986-90
Novitiate program 1966
Profession documents
Status Domus
Syllabus, Schedule
Superior General correspondence Purtill 1952-1958
Superior General correspondence Purtill 1958-64
Superior General correspondence Galligan 1964-70
Superior General correspondence Galligan 1970-74
Superior General correspondence Gokey 1974-78
Superior General correspondence Leary 1978-82
Superior General correspondence Leary 1982-86
Superior General correspondence Myhalyk 1984-85
Superior General correspondence McLaughlin l986-90
Summer Associate program
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New Orleans (Notre Dame Seminary, 1984-1993)
In the mid 1980’s, the Society transferred its Scholasticate from St. Basil’s Seminary in Toronto to Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. This program was run in much the same way as the Toronto program. In 1991, with declining numbers, the Society ceased the formal relationship with Notre Dame, although candidates for priesthood could choose to attend.

Budget info 1985/86-1989-90
Catalog and General Information
Correspondence Superiors General
Financial Reports 1988-1991
Formation Program/Schedule
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Putney (Theologate 1931-1939, St. Joseph’s Novitiate, 1939-1954)

When the Society acquired land in Putney, Vermont in 1931 it was initially for formation. The Society’s first Theologate was in Putney. In 1939, the Theologate transferred to Randolph, and the Novitiate program moved to Putney from Swanton. Most of the records from both the novitiate and the theologate are in the Ledgers series.

Correspondence insurance inventory
Financial reports 1931/32, 1936,-I951/52
Syllabi
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Randolph (St. Mary’s Seminary, 1939-1954)
In 1939, the Society purchased land in Randolph, Vermont. The Randolph property served as the Theologate of the Society until the purchase of Fairholt in 1954. At that time, the Randolph property was sold.

Financial reports 1939-1954
Property
Status Domus 
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Swanton (St. Edmund’s Juniorate, 1896-1950)
From 1898-1950, the Society maintained a Juniora Seminary in Swanton, VT. St. Edmund’s Juniorate was an extremely important educational apostolate for the society. It built upon upon the success of the educational works the Society had maintained in France, particularly the École Apostolique at Mont St. Michel, the Collège de L’Immaculée Conception in Laval, and the Collège St-Michel in Chateau Gontier. St Edmund’s Juniorate is where a number of Edmundites first encountered the Society. When it closed in 1950, students transferred to St. Anne’s Academy in Swanton, which was run by the Daughters of the Holy Spirit.

Brochures applications
Catalog
Correspondence financial 1931-1952, 1956-58
Ledgers-Account book 1917-1933
Account book 1926-27
Account book 1922-27
Account book 1927-34
Account book 1932-1939
Addresses of benefactors mite box fund
Book of demerits 1931-1939/40
Book of ministries 1948-50
Chronicle 1927-35
Chronicle, n.d. (1930s?-1945)
Chronicle 1945-46
Craft shop receipts and exp. 1945-49
Honor book 1932-43
Directions from the General Curia 1946
Guidelines for discipline?
List of juvenists 1927-1942
PTA meetings 1943-45
Registration 1932-35
Register of class marks 1928-45
Scholastic records 1945-1950
Printed materials
Registration lists
Rules 
Sodality
Status domus 
Superior General Correspondence, Purtill 1946-1952
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Toronto (St. Basil’s Seminary, 1966-1984)
In 1966, the Society transferred its major seminarians to Toronto from Fairholt. They lived at St. Basil’s Seminary with the Basilian Fathers. A fully professed member of the Society lived with them and served as the Director of Scholastics. This material is arranged alphabetically.

Background info
Budgets 1979-1985/86
Core project
Correspondence J Meagher
Correspondence J McLaughlin
Correspondence Superior General
Seminarians
Financial reports 1967/8-1983/4
House Chronicle 1974-75
House Chronicle 75-76
House Chronicle 76-77
House Chronicle 77-78
Meeting minutes
St. Basil’s Seminary information
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Winooski Park/Colchester (St. Edmunds Hall, Juniorate/Juvenists, 1919-1941 Scholasticate)
For many years, the Society educated students in formation at Saint Michael’s College.  The best known of these efforts was the education of scholastics at the school.  These older students would finish out their bachelor’s degree at Saint Michael’s after attending a year of novitiate training and taking their first vows.  Scholastics would often serve at the college in some capacity, often as dorm prefects.  A smaller program of formation also took place at Saint Michael’s however.  This program was a less formal formation program that required no profession of vows.  The Saint Michael’s Juniorate included students who attended at Saint Michael’s who expressed a vocation for the ministry.  These students, who were often called Juvenists, lived together in a dorm (Saint Edmunds Hall), where they took part in some separate spiritual exercises and lived under a different set of rules.  Courses were taken with other Saint Michael’s students, and students’ ages ranged from high school to college.  A large percentage of these Juvenists became professed members of the Society.   
St Edmunds Hall (Juniorate) Filed with ledgers

Created by: Elizabeth B. Scott   March 16, 2006
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Maintained by Elizabeth Scott