Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
Tim Valenta, to help him take care of Bryan's St. Joseph Parish and 600 Catholic Aggies. In 1948 it became necessary to start a movement to raise funds to build a new and larger chapel. The original building, now more than a quarter of a century old, was in sad need of general repairs and enlargement "Numerous braces are required to hold the sides in and the floor up." The plaster from the ceiling had fallen, and the foundation itself showed signs of decay and was cracked in places. State Deputy Gus Straus appointed a committee at the Amarillo Convention that year to look into the matter and determine how and to what extent the Knights of Colum- bus could help. The committee recommended, after careful consideration, that $12,000 be raised by popular subscription toward a drive to raise $180,000, rather than by an appropriation from the State Council Treas- ury. Before much more could be done, the new Diocese of Austin was created, which changed the situation considerably. The Most Reverend Bishop Louis J. Reicher, aware of the large enroll- ment of Catholic students at A. and M. College, shortly afterward author- ized the expenditure of $200,000 for the building of a Catholic Student Center, designed to include a home for the resident priest, a chapel, and a student recreation center. The State Council of the Knights of Columbus at the El Paso Convention in 1950 applauded the generous plans of Bishop Reicher and passed a resolution pledging the State Council and the local Councils to aid and assist him in every way possible in raising the neces- sary funds for the new student center. At the same time, it was decided to pay a well merited tribute to the rapidly aging Monsignor Gleissner. It was resolved to create the office of Honorary Chaplain of the Texas State Council of the Knights of Columbus and to confer it upon the Monsignor for the duration of his life. On that occasion, in recounting the far-reaching fruits of St. Mary's Chapel at A. & M. College, Monsignor Gleissner said among other things: "Who can number the confessions and communions of the Aggies? ... the visits to the Blessed Sacrament? ".. . Eleven Aggies exchanged the khaki for the seminarian's cas- sock. Rev. Father Michalka was the first and ten more followed him. When I celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of my ordination, all of the officers of the Mass were former Aggies. "Every year we have a number of converts. Last year, for instance, we had nine. "Again, I say, the most outstanding work of the State Council of the Knights of Columbus of Texas is St. Mary's Chapel."
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