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Jerome Mersberger was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on October 8, 1917 to parents Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Mersberger. He completed his elementary education at St. Peter Claver and Holy Name Schools. Mersberger graduated from St. Lawrence High School and Preparatory Seminary in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin. He studied theology at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and received a Bachelor of Arts from the Seminary of St. Francis de Sales in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1940.
After being ordained in 1942, he served as associate pastor of St. Edward parish in Racine, and St. Bernard in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1950, he was appointed as the first pastor of the newly established Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) parish in Monona, Wisconsin. Father Mersberger served at IHM for 18 years, resigning in 1968. Upon his resignation, he was reassigned to St. Mary's Church in Palmyra, Wisconsin.
He served as pastor at St. Mary's until 1976 when he began to devote all his efforts to directing the Green Scapular Crusade, which encompassed a shrine-museum and the Green Scapular Travel Club. He directed the shrine and travel club until 1996, leading many pilgrimages and travel expeditions around the world. He passed away in Stoughton, Wisconsin, on December 2, 1998.
In early 1950, Bishop William P. O'Connor established the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) parish in Monona, Wisconsin to serve a growing number of Catholics in the area. In December of 1950 a statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was donated by a Madison family to the new parish. The statue was already famous by its blessing at Fatima and its personal benediction by Pope Pius XII.
In 1955 the Bishop gave the first pastor, Father Mersberger, a quantity of Green Scapulars, saying that they might be helpful in strengthening the people's love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and encouraged Father Mersberger to promote devotion to the Green Scapular. Interest developed rapidly, and the church began to attract pilgrims. In 1961, construction was completed on the World Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular. When Father Mersberger resigned from IHM in 1968, he was reassigned to St. Mary's in Palmyra, Wisconsin, and gained approval to move the statue and shrine to Palmyra.
From the Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular, the Green Scapular Crusade was established and encompassed the shrine, a small museum, and the Green Scapular Travel Club. Father Mersberger ran the shrine and travel club until 1996, 2 years before his death in 1998. His long-time housekeeper Marianne Zeier oversaw the shrine until her death, circa 2000.
This collection contains the personal papers and ephemera of Father Jerome Mersberger (pastor at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular, and organizer of the Green Scapular travel club.
Materials include school autograph books, creative nonfiction writing, playbills, and photographs documenting his early life and studies, and entrance into religious life. The collection also contains documents and ephemera produced by the Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular and the Green Scapular Travel Club based in Palmyra, Wisconsin. Materials include newsletters, pilgrimage announcements and arrangements, Christmas cards, correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, slides, and memorabilia.
The collection also contains a 50th anniversary publication and brochures on Fr. Mersberger's previous parish, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Monona, Wisconsin.
This collection is arranged by subject.
This collection was processed by Jillian Slater in 2011.
This collection is open and available to the public for research in the Marian Library reading room. The materials are non-circulating.
The materials in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The materials are available for personal, educational, and scholarly use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to locate and obtain permission form the copyright owner or his or her heirs for any other use, such as reproduction and publication.
Father Mersberger and the Shrine of the Green Scapular collection, circa 1931-2010. Marian Library, University of Dayton Libraries, Dayton, Ohio.
Donated to the Marian Library by the Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular in Palmyra, Wisconsin in 2010.