By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
A hermitage, a retreat for contemplation and prayer, is being planned in the town of Sharon.
The Rev. James J. Genovesi, a Catholic priest and a member of the Franciscan Hermits of Perpetual Adoration, wants to build a chapel as well as a residential area for others wanting to devote their lives to prayer.
Genovesi has obtained a special exception from the Portage County Board of Adjustment for the development in a wellhead protection area and a change in the zoning on the property. The County Board granted the rezoning, from exclusive agriculture district to A-2 agricultural transition district, in July.
The property in question is a 10-acre parcel on the west side of County Trunk J, just south of Twin Lakes, donated to Genovesi by Alphonse Gierszewski. He had been looking to purchase property, but found land was too expensive for his budget.
He wanted something out of the way of the hustle and bustle of modern life, he said, yet something that was easy to get to.
Now Genovesi is attempting to raise between $4.5 and $5 million he estimates he will need to construct the Blessed Sacrament Hermitage, which will include a chapel, a courtyard and cloistered living quarters for the Franciscan Hermits of Perpetual Adoration. He wants to offer perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, a Catholic devotion in which the Eucharist is displayed to the public for prayer and contemplation.
He's seeking donation for the development and raising funds by giving retreats and missions at various parishes. He's already scheduled to speak at retreats and missions in Ohio, Kentucky and Minnesota in the next several months, he said, but tries not to be too busy to destroy the solitude he seeks.
Genovesi has been in the Portage County area for more than a year, helping out at various parishes.
A native of upper Michigan, he was a parish priest in the Marquette, Mich., diocese for 25 years when he decided four years ago he wanted to spend more of his time in prayer than administering the duties of a parish priest.
He contacted Bishop Raymond Burke of the La Crosse Diocese about moving to the diocese because the bishop had been receptive to hermitages in the diocese.
He then added the vow of poverty to the vows of chastity and obedience he took when he was ordained a priest and founded the Franciscan Hermits of Perpetual Adoration.
Presently, he lives in the rectory at St. Michael Parish in Junction City, and usually celebrates daily Mass at St. Michael Church. He also opens a chapel in the rectory for Eucharistic Adoration every Friday after the morning Mass until 4 p.m., attracting people from several neighboring counties.
While the La Crosse Diocese, as well as other dioceses throughout the U.S., has been closing or combining parishes because of a shortage of priests, Genovesi said he is unable to utilize one of those churches for the hermitage because they are owned by the diocese for diocesan purposes.
So he's been seeking donations and collecting religious artifacts for the hermitage. Those artifacts include a small altar, statues, stations of the cross and an organ.
He's also hoping other men will join him as hermits, developing the hermitage to include additional rooms, with the possibility for expansion.
"Eucharistic Adoration is really growing," Genovesi said. "In the Philippines most parishes have it going. We need a lot of prayer on our knees to turn things around."