By Kelley Kepler
Catholic Herald

Fr. Irving Meyett to mark 50 years in priesthood

SUPERIOR -- Fr. Irving Clement Meyett cannot stress enough the importance of prayer, which he says "keeps you from despair and keeps joy in your heart."

According to the 83-year-old priest, "The most important prayer starts with a single word: "Jesus," said as though "you're speaking to him directly and in person."

"Heart-to-heart contact with the Lord means everything to me," said Meyett, who will celebrate his 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood on May 26.

Now retired from active ministry, Meyett lives in Superior's East End neighborhood, in a small house next door to the house in which he spent most of his childhood.

An only child, Meyett was born March 16, 1920, and lived in Superior until his junior year of high school when he and his mother moved to St. Paul, Minn.

As a young man Meyett belonged to St. Francis Xavier Parish and attended the former St. Francis School. Though he loved being around the altar and helping out with Mass, he had not given any thought to the priesthood. "It never occurred to me," Meyett said. "I could never think of myself in that capacity."

Meyett attended the College of St. Thomas (now the University of St. Thomas) in St. Paul, Minn., and later transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry and game management in 1942. He was unable to use this degree, however, because he was drafted into the Army right after graduation.

He worked for the Military Railway Service and was part of the North African, Italian and Southern France campaigns during World War II. During his four years in the military, he served in Algiers, Naples, Rome, Lyon and Strasbourg.

Though Meyett was never in combat, his railway company was bombed several times. He found his experience in the military was not quite what he had expected.

"Just about everyone wanted to get out of the Army. I wasn't naturally inclined to the life of a soldier. I did what they told me to do and left the rest up to God."

Meyett continued to help out with Mass while he was overseas. While in Lyon, he met a French priest, Fr. Pierre Blanchard, who was a professor of philosophy at the Catholic college affiliated with the University of Lyon. Blanchard was the first person to tell him directly: "You should be a priest."

Blanchard got Meyett thinking about the priesthood, but Meyett admitted that "life gets confusing in the Army," and he still didn't know what he wanted to do with his life after returning home at the end of 1945.

As a war veteran, he received from the government $20 each week for 52 weeks. This gave him time to think about the future, and as he did so, Meyett's interest in studying for the priesthood began to grow.

He enrolled at St. John's University, in Collegeville, Minn., where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1948. He continued his studies at St. John's Seminary and was finally ordained a priest on May 26, 1953, by Bishop Albert G. Meyer at Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior.

Meyett then worked for two years as assistant pastor at the cathedral and was later assigned to the parish communities in Merrill, Bruce, Three Lakes, Rice Lake and Washburn. Following those shorter assignments, he spent nearly 20 years serving as pastor at St. Anne Parish in Boulder Junction, with missions in Sayner and Presque Isle, before retiring from active ministry in 1989.

"Parish work is a wide field of activity that centers in the Eucharist," Meyett said, while reflecting on his 50-year commitment to the priesthood.

In addition to celebrating Mass, counseling became an important part of his ministry. "I think God gave me the grace to do some good in that area," he said, adding that hearing confessions proved to be one of the best opportunities for him to counsel others.

"It's the personal contact and work you do in helping people with their spiritual lives" that Meyett he has most enjoyed. "People come to you for help and put their trust in you, and that's rewarding."

He has also enjoyed his experience as a teacher. During his early years in the priesthood, he taught a college logic class to the Servite Sisters at Our Lady of Sorrows Convent in Ladysmith. In addition, he organized CCD classes and taught the classes to grade school and high school students. He also taught three sections of religion to sophomores at the former Cathedral High School during his two year assignment in Superior.

Teaching at the high school was challenging but, Meyett said, "I also found a real deep satisfaction when some of the students responded to my efforts. When you see a few reach out and grasp what you can give them, that's terrifically rewarding."

He explained that two of his brightest students later discovered callings to the religious life. One was eventually ordained a priest and the other became a sister.

Meyett encountered another challenge when he was assigned to build a church in Bruce. Raising money in the small community proved difficult, but St. Mary Church stands today and Meyett is happy to have played a role in its construction.

Although retired, Meyett helps out when he is able, and conducts a holy hour with a Benediction service each week at Holy Assumption Parish. However, his deteriorating health and decreased mobility restricts him from much of the work he once did.

As someone who struggled to discover his vocation, Meyett offers a simple, yet important, piece of advice to others who are unsure of what the future holds. "There are lots of things I could say," he said, "but number one is prayer."

Meyett said prayer is vital and takes "a deep, personal understanding that God lives within you," something that can be very difficult in today's material world. "Develop a real, true prayer life," he said. "Without that you'll go no place. Life may be hard, but God will help you."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2003