Father Volk’s personal items on display in Motherhouse Chapel

The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph may have never come to Maple Mount in 1874 if not for Father Paul Joseph Volk. While serving as pastor of St. Alphonsus Church, Father Volk oversaw the building of Mount Saint Joseph Academy, and requested Ursuline Sisters of Louisville to come operate the school. Ursuline Sisters have been at Maple Mount ever since.

As we celebrate 150 years of service in western Daviess County, throughout the month of May 2024, some of Father Volk’s personal items will be on display in the gathering space of the Motherhouse Chapel – plus a life-sized cardboard photo of the beloved priest. The display honors his service to the Ursuline Sisters during his birth month. The public is welcome to visit the display. Here are some photos.

The full display, set up beneath the stained glass window that honors Father Volk.
Father Volk’s chair. The desk this chair accompanies is currently in storage.
The photo this cutout uses is one of the few of Father Volk when he was a young priest.
These photos are from Father Volk’s golden jubilee as a priest in 1915. They feature the clergy who attended the jubilee and also one of Father Volk visiting his mother’s grave in the St. Alphonsus cemetery. The rosary in the foreground was the one Father Volk was wearing when he died.
Pictured here are Father Volk’s hat, the cincture he wore around his neck, and a piece of his cassock made from black common cloth and silk fringe.
Father Volk used this crucifix while he was dying on Nov. 2, 1919, in the Guest House at Maple Mount. Sister Mary Michael Barrow was a witness to his death and confirmed this was the crucifix he kissed before dying.

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