By A.M. Kelley
Superior Catholic Herald
After more than 10 years, Office of Worship director leaving to become pastor
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SUPERIOR -- Fr. Gabriel B. Baltes has been the director of the Office of Worship in the Superior Diocese for more than 10 years. In describing this position, he says simply: "God is in the details."
In June, Baltes, who is a member of the Order of St. Benedict from St. Procopious Abbey in Lisle, Ill., will return to Illinois to join St. Joan of Arc Parish as its pastor.
He leaves behind large footprints: a legacy of rich liturgical practices, a new musical tradition, significant influence on architectural changes in the Cathedral of Christ the King, and the respect and friendship of countless members of the diocese.
He is known to work with painstaking precision and a lot of heart. In March, Bishop Peter F. Christensen referred to Baltes as "an amazing man of detail," during his first chrism Mass as bishop of Superior. Baltes had coached him through the elaborate sacred ritual.
Baltes explains his passion for his work this way: "The liturgy is not our property. It's the prayer of Christ and whatever we do, we have to do very carefully."
His job description is that simple--and that complex.
Grand diocesan events have born his touch: the 2000 jubilee year, the dedication of the cathedral in 2005, the centennial liturgy, the installation of Christensen in 2007 and many chrism Masses and Masses of ordination.
In choreographing these high Mass services, no liturgical components are overlooked.
"There are a lot of small things that makes something very big and very beautiful," he said. "In the area of liturgy there is no such thing as an insignificant or small detail. Everything is important to somebody."
These include words spoken, the gestures used, the movement of the celebrants, the music--all are scripted, planned and rehearsed ahead of time.
Bishop Raphael M. Fliss who hired Baltes in 1997 said: "He has always been very special. Anything we asked him to research, he did it thoroughly."
Fliss pointed out how Baltes, along with co-chairman Kent Phillips of the Cathedral Preservation and Enhancement Core Committee, was an important player in the restoration of the cathedral.
"Fr. Gabe was a dominant force," Fliss said. "That was right down his alley."
Extensive cathedral repairs began in 2001 (roof, walls, windows, lighting, heating and ventilation, sound system), then liturgical components came under Baltes' counsel, including the location of bishop's chair, altar, albo, baptismal font and the new icon-like image of Christ the Pantocrator. On Feb 4, 2005, the first service was held and Superior, aware of it or not, felt his influence.
He also anticipated the need for a diocesan-wide music ministry and started the Diocesan Chorale. Its current director, Kathy Turba, said participation for members, who hale from all corners of the diocese, requires a huge investment of time.
"There were naysayers who thought a chorale wouldn't be possible, that the diocese is too spread out," she said. "(Baltes) forged ahead anyway. Without Fr. Gabriel I'm sure there would be no chorale."
He has followed through on his responsibility to chorale members.
"He's been a strong influence," Turba said. "We consider him a member. He comes to our annual retreats and sends letters of appreciation and affirmation to the chorale."
She said this kind of support "builds community," a ripple effect that she believes is felt throughout the diocese.
Men and women studying liturgical, sacramental and ecclesial theology have also benefited from Baltes' work. He taught these classes and according to Tim Kuehn, the director of the Permanent Diaconate and Lay Ministry Formation programs, he will be sincerely missed.
"Fr. Gabe is an excellent instructor and has a wonderful gift for making the subject matter come alive and relevant to his listeners," Kuehn said.
Baltes' influence also extended outside of the diocese to the Dt. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Minn., where he presided at Sunday Masses and served as a campus minister at The College of St. Scholastica.
A native of Sandusky, Ohio, Baltes has warmed to Superior and his residence at the St. Williams rectory in Pattison Park.
"I've loved it at St. William," he said. "The parish, the people, the house--it was my little hermitage in the woods."
In June he'll leave this refuge behind and take up residence at St. Joan in Lisle. The village, about 30 miles southwest of Chicago is a homecoming of sorts. Just before moving to Superior in 1997, Baltes was the associate pastor there and also an instructor in the religious studies department of the nearby Benedictine University, founded by his order.
Baltes entered the monastery in 1982, professed his vows on Sept. 14, 1983, and was ordained a priest on July 27, 1991.
St. Joan is a parish of 2,700 families, larger than any in the Superior Diocese. He looks forward to the assignment and looks forward to living in Illinois.
"I'll be closer to my community," he said, a situation important for a couple of reasons. He has many close friends in the small, 41-member order, and all are "getting older and some have already died."
The move will also place him nearer his family in Ohio. His older brother, Mike, and his younger sister, Lisa, a veterinarian, and her husband and three children, all live there.
Baltes is taking on the duties of a pastor with another project already in tow. He's working on his doctor of ministry in preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Mo. He's about half way there and has one more year of course work and a thesis to write. (He already has a master of divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkley, Calif., and a master of theology degree in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana).
As Baltes readies himself for his new challenges, he pondered a statement he made to the Catholic Herald in December 1997, shortly after arriving in Superior. At the time his goal was to "get people to love liturgy."
Was Baltes successful?
"What I discovered is that people do love the liturgy," he said. "I didn't have to instill that, but cultivate it."
Richard Lyons, the director of Pastoral Services and Christian Formation, said Baltes "has been an exceptional" director of worship, and his contributions "will long be remembered."
Turba said that Baltes will be a tough act to follow.
"It's been a job well done," she said, "(done with) love and care É his presence has meant a lot to us."
"He has a pastor's heart. He's a man of the spirit," Fliss said. "We all hate to see him go but (the move to Illinois) is a wonderful opportunity for Fr. Gabe."
As for parting words from Baltes, who celebrated his 50th birthday on April 19 at a surprise party at St. William Church, he leaves the diocese with this reminder: "The liturgy is something that God gives us," he said, "not what we give God."
Benedictine monks have 94-year history in diocese
SUPERIOR--Fr. Gabriel B. Baltes' departure on May 30 from the Diocese of Superior marks the end of an era.
He is the last monk from the Order of St. Benedict to serve the diocese--a legacy that goes back 94 years.
Headquartered at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill., 30 miles southwest of Chicago, the first Benedictine monks came to the diocese in 1914, according to the abbey's historian, Fr. James Flint.
They came at the behest of Bishop Joseph M. Koudelka, Superior's second bishop and a native of Bohemia.
It had been the mission of the OSBs to minister to Czech and Slovak immigrants in the Chicago area since 1885. Koudelka's assignments in Milwaukee and Cleveland had put him in close proximity to new Slavic immigrant communities in the Midwest. In this capacity he had become a friend of the leaders of St. Procopius.
When he was appointed bishop of Superior on Aug. 6, 1913, "Koudelka wanted to bring (the Benedictine monks) along," Flint said.
The monks were first put into service in Price County in a settlement northwest of Phillips, a place that Koudelka had earmarked as a destination for Bohemian immigrants.
Railroad companies were laying lines throughout Wisconsin and as incentives to immigrants looking for lands to settle, they gave the budding communities five acres for a church and enough money to build a rectory.
"Koudelka wanted to encourage Czech and Slovak colonization along the Soo Line," Flint said.
This settlement was named Sassen and Koudelka's Benedictine friends moved there in June, 1914 and christened it Holy Name, according to Flint.
"But it never took off," Flint said. "The war (World War I) in Europe wiped out colonization." Later, the OSBs "founded St. Mary and St. Patrick in Phillips."
Since those early years, as many as six monks have served the diocese at one time, Flint said. Previous to Baltes' arrival in 1997, Fr. Clement Sobr, Fr. Terence Fitzmaurice and Fr. Dismas Kalcic were assigned diocesan parishes. The latter served parishes in Phillips, Catawba and Prentice before returning to St. Procopius in 2001 and becoming its abbot the following year.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2008