A Constructive Summer - the Saint Paul Statue: the Second Part

We continue with the fifth installment of the "A CONSTRUCTIVE SUMMER" series. Here we are continuing on the Saint Paul Statue - we could call this "the second part of the fifth installment." Now though that may sound odd, Saint Thomas Aquinas separated his Summa Theologica into four main parts; the second main piece of this document by Saint Thomas was called "prima secundae pars," literally: "the first part of the second part." So, this author believes we can be comfortable with this precedent.

IN THE BEGINNING: Our courtyard was both square and empty before the vision of an eight-foot tall statue of Saint Paul on a nine-foot tall pillar was dreamed for that space. It was decided that the statue would be in the back-left corner of the courtyard and facing the entrance of the seminary.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: If one must build a pillar, then one must first build a foundation. As our courtyard is paved with concrete, the crews first cut and busted the concrete. This author found this first step more entertaining than one might think. Did you ever wonder (even as a child) what the ground underneath your basement looked like? After cutting the borders, heavy equipment was brought in to break and remove the concrete.

After getting to the surface of the earth, the crews then began to dig so that they would have room in which the foundation could be laid. This, naturally, created a large pile of dirt in the middle of our courtyard - the main entrance to the seminary. Though during the "lesser trafficked" months of summer this was a manageable obstacle, this author is thankful that most of the seminarians were away from Saint Paul on summer assignments - should all sixty-plus seminarians have been present while this large dirt-mound was in our courtyard, we may have had the largest sandbox in the Twin Cities!

Completion of this project is set for 15 August and we will be giving you the play-by-play this whole week! Follow the progress daily with us and come to see for yourself.

Take care, -Jeremy