About Immaculate Heart of Mary · Currie, Minnesota
Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church is a small rural parish in Currie, Minnesota, in the southwestern Minnesota prairie. It is one of three parishes that share pastoral leadership through the Tri-Parish grouping (with St. Anthony of Westbrook and St. Gabriel of Fulda) and is part of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. The parish traces its roots to the 1881 Sweetman Catholic Colony, the first Catholic congregation in Murray County, and today gathers a tight-knit farming community for Mass on Thursday mornings and Saturday evenings, with Faith Formation for youth directed by Dawn Kopperud.
- Established
- 1881 (church dedicated September 23, 1883)
- Patron
- Immaculate Heart of Mary
- Rector
- Rev. Peter Schuster
- Diocese
- Diocese of Winona-Rochester
Why belong here
Immaculate Heart of Mary offers a small, traditional Catholic home in the Currie area with weekday and weekend Mass, on-site Faith Formation for IHM youth led by Director of Religious Education Dawn Kopperud, Friday-morning youth rosary gatherings, and the broader fellowship of the Tri-Parish community linking Currie with the parishes in Fulda and Westbrook. Worship is rooted in the Roman-Latin rite under the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, and a parish bulletin ([email protected]) keeps members connected with announcements, schedules, and ministries.
Mass times at Immaculate Heart of Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish — Currie, Minnesota
Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church serves the small farming town of Currie in Murray County, in the southwestern corner of Minnesota, as one of three parishes that share clergy through the Tri-Parish of MN grouping. The parish is pastored by Rev. Peter Schuster, with Rev. Antony Arokiyam serving as parochial vicar for the cluster. Regular Mass is celebrated Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. and Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m., and the parish contact is Alyssa Overman ([email protected]). The mailing address is PO Box 147, 501 Mill Street, Currie, MN 56123, and the parish phone is (507) 763-3545.
- Parish: Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), Currie, MN
- Tri-Parish grouping: IHM (Currie), St. Anthony (Westbrook), St. Gabriel (Fulda)
- Pastor: Rev. Peter Schuster
- Parochial Vicar: Rev. Antony Arokiyam
- Diocese: Winona-Rochester
- Rite: Roman-Latin
History of IHM Parish
The parish has roots in one of the most ambitious Irish Catholic colonization efforts of the late nineteenth century. John Sweetman, a wealthy Catholic landowner from County Meath, Ireland, incorporated the Irish-American Colonization Company in March 1881, with Bishop John Ireland of St. Paul on the board of directors. The IACC purchased more than 17,000 acres near Currie and in May 1881 brought forty-three immigrant families (mostly Irish, with a few Scottish and English) onto eighty-acre farms. The colonists were loaned homes, tools, seed, livestock, and a year's provisions on generous terms, but two wet summers and harsh winters devastated the early crops; by late 1882, half the families had left, and by the end of 1883 only thirty of the original sixty-two households remained. Despite the colony's struggles, Sweetman used IACC funds to build a church in Currie, which he named Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Bishop John Ireland and Bishop John Lancaster Spalding of Peoria, Illinois, presided at its dedication on September 23, 1883. Sweetman returned to Ireland in 1892, leaving his cousin Walter Sweetman in Currie to manage the IACC's Buffalo Lake Farm and landholdings, which were gradually sold off in the early twentieth century. The parish itself continued to grow: 1910 saw construction of a convent, school, rectory, and the parish's first church building; 1925 brought a new rectory and a new church; and by the 1970s the parish supported both a high school and a grade school.
- 1881 — Irish-American Colonization Company incorporates; 43 immigrant families arrive near Currie under John Sweetman
- April 1882 — A second wave of 19 families joins the colony
- September 23, 1883 — Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church dedicated by Bishop John Ireland and Bishop John Lancaster Spalding
- 1892 — John Sweetman returns to Ireland
- 1910 — Convent, school, rectory and first church built
- 1925 — New rectory and new church
- 1956 — Diamond Jubilee (75th anniversary) celebrated
- 1957 — John Whitney Evans Master's thesis at St. Paul Seminary on parish history, 1881–1892
- 1970s — Parish runs both a high school and a grade school
Clergy and Parish Staff
Immaculate Heart of Mary shares its pastoral team with the two other parishes in the Tri-Parish grouping. Fr. Peter Schuster serves as pastor of the cluster, and Fr. Antony Arokiyam serves as parochial vicar. Alyssa Overman is the parish contact for IHM, and Dana Clarke serves as bookkeeper across the cluster. The parish phone is (507) 763-3545 and the parish bulletin inbox is [email protected].
- Rev. Peter Schuster — Pastor (cell 507-304-2541; office 507-836-8030 Ext. 3)
- Rev. Antony Arokiyam — Parochial Vicar ([email protected]; cell 608-547-2259)
- Alyssa Overman — Parish Contact ([email protected]; cell 507-360-5992)
- Dana Clarke — Bookkeeper ([email protected]; cell 507-360-3536)
- Dawn Kopperud — Director of Religious Education ([email protected]; cell 612-554-5663)
Mass and Worship Schedule
The parish offers Mass twice a week in the Roman-Latin rite. The parish website lists Thursday morning Mass at 8:30 a.m. and Saturday evening Mass at 6:00 p.m. The parish bulletin carries weekly announcements and any changes to the regular schedule, and additional Mass intentions (such as memorial Masses for parishioners like †Duane Schreier and †Ken/Gene Dold) appear in the bulletin calendar.
- Thursday — 8:30 a.m. Mass
- Saturday — 6:00 p.m. Mass (Saturday vigil)
- Liturgical rite: Roman-Latin
- Bulletin announcements and any schedule changes are posted to [email protected]
Faith Formation and Youth Ministry
Faith Formation at Immaculate Heart of Mary is directed by Dawn Kopperud, who serves as Director of Religious Education and coordinates programs for IHM youth under the umbrella of the Tri-Parish. Faith Formation classes follow the school-year calendar with summer break, and Confirmation preparation for 9th-grade students is a core part of the program. The parish also hosts a Friday-morning youth rosary at 7:15 a.m., followed by donuts and juice, and welcomes adult parishioners to join.
- Director of Religious Education: Dawn Kopperud
- Faith Formation email: [email protected]
- Faith Formation office: 507-763-3545
- Confirmation preparation (9th grade)
- Friday Morning Youth Rosary — 7:15 a.m.
- Facebook: IHM Youth Ministry
Parish Communications and Bulletins
The parish publishes a regular bulletin that is hosted on the Tri-Parish website. The bulletin carries Mass schedules, Mass intentions, Faith Formation updates, Diocesan Annual Appeal figures, ministry news, and a QR code for online giving. Bulletins and parish announcements can be sent to [email protected], and current and past bulletins (in PDF form) are available at triparishcfw.org under the bulletins/posts section.
- Bulletin inbox: [email protected]
- Bulletins posted online at triparishcfw.org
- Diocesan Annual Appeal — IHM-Currie parish goal published in bulletin
- Online giving available via QR code in bulletin
Tri-Parish Community
Immaculate Heart of Mary is part of a three-parish cluster that shares clergy, bulletin, and many ministries. The grouping pairs IHM (Currie) with St. Anthony in Westbrook and St. Gabriel in Fulda; the wider cluster also coordinates with St. Ann in Slayton, which uses the related acmcatholic.org website. Together these small rural parishes share resources such as the Tri-Parish bulletin, the diocesan appeal, and combined faith-formation efforts. The Tri-Parish website (triparishcfw.org) is the hub for Mass times, parish contacts, bulletins, and links to Faith Formation pages for each parish.
- St. Anthony — Westbrook
- St. Gabriel — Fulda
- Immaculate Heart of Mary — Currie
- Related cluster site: St. Ann — Slayton (acmcatholic.org)
- Shared clergy: Fr. Peter Schuster (Pastor) and Fr. Antony Arokiyam (Parochial Vicar)
Diocese and Wider Catholic Community
Immaculate Heart of Mary belongs to the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (often shortened DOWR), which covers the southern tier of Minnesota. The parish is listed in the official diocesan directory at dowr.org with its current clergy assignments and contact information, and the diocesan Annual Appeal is a regular feature of parish life.
- Diocese: Winona-Rochester (DOWR)
- Diocesan directory entry: dowr.org/directories/parish.html?id=24
- Diocesan Annual Appeal — annual parish goal and pledge totals published in the bulletin