St. Susanne Parish, Mount Vernon, MO

History

St. Susanne Parish owes its origin to a large tuberculosis sanatorium in the town. Many Catholic patients treated for a longer time at the vast hospital needed the services of a priest.

Bishop Edwin O’Hara, bishop of the Kansas City diocese, appointed Fr. James Devine to serve as chaplain of the hospital. The bishop also instructed Fr. Devine to start a parish in Mt. Vernon. On Dec. 17, 1939, Mass was celebrated for his original congregation of ten and two visitors.

Fr. James Ahern succeeded Fr. Devine as pastor in November 1940. A two-story house on the corner of Center and McCanse Streets provided the little parish with an enlarged “chapel in a house.”

Soon the parish grew to more than 50 parishioners and, with the assistance of the Extension Society, a new church was constructed and dedicated by Bishop O’Hara in July 1945. The church, originally named St. Cecilia, was now named St. Susanne, the patron saint of the Extension Society that had helped to make the church a reality.

In 1967 under the leadership of Fr. Ralph J. Duffner and another Extension Society grant, a new church was erected on land just west of Mt. Vernon on V Highway. Bishop Ignatius Strecker dedicated the new facility on March 17, 1968. Today St. Susanne serves 110 households.

Parish related

Confession

Every Friday during Adoration
6:30-7:30 p.m.
Saturday—after Mass
Wednesday & Friday—after Mass

Adoration

Every Friday
6:30-7:30 p.m.

Office Hours
Wednesday
9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

GPS coordinates: N37° 05.876’, W093° 49.727’ (click here for map)
Physical address: St. Susanne Church, 700 W Sloan St., Highway V West, Mount Vernon, MO, 65712-0126