Father Alphonse M. Kubat
S otcem Kubátem jsem se bohužel osobně nesetkal, ale slyšel jsem o něm jen to nejlepší. Vzpomínám si na náhodný rozhovor s nějakou paní v kostele sv. Trojice ve Veseli, MN, nedaleko Nové Prahy, která mluvila o otci Kubátovi.
The New Prague Times January 5 2006 page 5
Obituaries
Father Alphonse M. Kubat
Father Alphonse M. Kubat, 89, of St. Paul, died on Monday, Jan. 2, 2006, at Our Lady of Good Council Cancer Home.
Father Kubat was born on August 3, 1916, at Frydlant n. Ostr. Czechoslovakia (Moravia) to Frank and Anna (Kotouc) Kubat. His mother was a sister of Father Alphonse Kotouc, pastor of Heidelberg, where she was his housekeeper, but later returned back to Europe.
Father Kubat attended elementary school in Frydlant n. Ostr, graduated from Gymnasium in Kromeriz in 1935 and enrolled in Theological Seminary in Hradec Kralove (Bohemia) where he graduated in 1942 and was ordained June 28, 1942, by Bishop Moric Picha, D.D.
From 1942-1944, Father Kubat served as assistant pastor in Golcuv Jenikov and from 1944-1953, he served as church administrator in Luzany and Chotec. As a Catholic priest, he was imprisoned by the Communists for two years (1954- 1955) at Kartouzy Prison in Valdice (Bohemia). After release from prison Father Kubat was not allowed to practice his priestly duties under the Communist rule, and was forced to work as a construction and facto- ry worker in Czechoslovakia from 1956-1968.
A factory accident resulted with Father Kubat losing fingers from his left hand which caused him to be a disabled worker. After surgery and rehabilitation, and then special per- mission from the Bishop, he again returned to his priestly duties serv- ing as an assistant in Vienna (Aus- tria) from 1968-1969.
Father Kubat immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1969, landing in New York on June 2. He began his United States service to the church for six weeks in Veselyville, ND. He was then appointed Associate Pastor at St. Wenceslaus parish in New Prague from 1970-1974 under Fathers Charles C. Jirik and later Father Raymond Zweber.
On July 29, 1974, Father Alphonse M. Kubat proudly became a U.S. citizen. For the following 15 years he served as pastor at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Veseli and also part of that time at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in New Market. Following that he spent two years at Most Holy Redeemer parish in Montgomery.
Father Kubat retired in 1991 to the Leo C. Byme Residence dioce- san retirement home in St. Paul.
He was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, a mem- ber of the American Security Coun- cil, National Advisory Board, the Third Order of St. Francis, and served for 12 years as Auxiliary Chaplain at the Veterans Adminis- tration Hospital in Minneapolis.
Father Kubat was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Frank Kubat, Ostrave-8 (Czechoslovakia); sister and brother-in-law, Marie A. (Vaclav) Driikova, Frydlant n. Ostr (Czechoslovakia); and two older brothers in infancy.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Veseli.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn at 11 a.m. on Saturday at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague, with visitation at church one hour prior to the Mass.
Pallbearers will be Joe Trends, Clarence Salaba, John Hertaus, George Novak, Arnie Shimota, Gene Simon, Butch Simon and Bemie Novak.
Interment will be in St. Scholastica Catholic Cemetery in Heidelberg where he will be laid to rest next to his priest uncle. Father Alphonse Kotouc.
The Catholic Priest,
January 5, 2006
Survivor of Nazi and Communist
persecution dies in St. Paul
Father Alphonse Kubat was well-liked in Veseli, New Prague, New Market
Father Alphonse Kubat rarely talked about how he lost two fingers in a Nazi labor camp, or how he almost died in solitary confinement in a Communist prison.
What most Minnesotans knew about the Czechoslovakian native, besides his distinctive accent, was his joy in being a priest, said Father Michael Miller, a longtime friend and pastor of St. Peter and St. Joseph in Delano.
“There was no anger, no bitterness” about his persecution as a priest, said Father Miller. “He was a truly joyful person, which came through his faith.”
Father Kubat died Jan. 2 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Cancer Home in St. Paul. He was 89. He had most recently served as pastor of Most Holy Trinity in Veseli in 1989 and lived at the Leo C. Byrne Residence in St. Paul until shortly before his death.
Father Kubat was born in Frydlant, Czechoslovakian Republic, in 1916, according to the archdiocesan communications office. During the Nazi invasion of 1938, he was forced into working in a labor camp making barracks. After losing two fingers in 1940, he was released. He finished his education and was ordained in 1942, serving in a parish in Czechoslovakia.
When the Soviet-supported Communists occupied the nation in 1948, a persecution of the Catholic Church began. From 1953 to 1955, Father Kubat was incarcerated with 200 other priests in a former Carthusian Monastery that was transformed into a prison, Father Miller said. He was forced into labor stripping feathers from quills to be used for pillows. If he did not meet a certain daily quota, his food ration was cut.
Although he was not allowed to celebrate Mass in prison, he managed to do so in secret about five times. He celebrated Mass using a spoon as his chalice and whispering the words by memory. He distributed Holy Communion to the other prisoners by wrapping a small particle of the host in cigarette paper to elude the guards.
Father Kubat almost died when he spent six weeks in solitary confinement. “They gave him some kind of a shot, and it paralyzed him a little bit. But he made it out,” the priest said.
Eventually, he crossed the border to Austria and, in 1969, was accepted to come to the United States.
He served at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague, St. Nicholas in New Market and Most Holy Trinity in Veseli.
Father Kubat was well-known around that rural area. Father Miller met him as a youth, living on his family’s farm near New Prague. It was Father Kubat who gave him advice and nurturance when the younger man considered becoming a priest, he said.
And when Father Miller attended college and seminary in St. Paul, from 1989 to 1996, he often visited his friend at the Byrne residence nearby.
Even then, Father Kubat did not talk much about his previous ordeals.
“You had to know him pretty well before he would start talking about it. And you had to ask him,” he said.
How Father Kubat survived with his faith intact is a testament to the strength of that faith, Father Miller said.
“His faith was the strongest part about him,” he said. “He knew that this was evil that was [in] his country, and he knew that good is infinitely more powerful than evil.”
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, at Most Holy Trinity, 4939 Washington N., Veseli. The funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at St. Wenceslaus, 215 Main St. E., New Prague. Father Kubat will be buried at St. Scholastica Cemetery in Heidelberg.
The New Prague Times, Monday, January 09, 2006
Monday, January 09, 2006
Father Kubat remembered
Archbishop Harry Flynn, along with bishops Richard Pates and Paul Dudley were among, the many priests from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis saying goodbye to Father Alphonse Kubat during funeral services Saturday, Jan. 7, at St. Wenceslaus Church in New Prague.
Father Kubat, a native of Czechoslovakia, was ordained in the 1940s. He served time in slave labor camps during the Nazi occupation of his homeland and later was imprisoned by the Communists when they ruled that country. He escaped to the United States and served as an associate pastor at St. Wenceslaus for several years before being named pastor at Most Holy Trinity in Veseli, where he served for 15 years and also part of that time at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in New Market.
Father Mark Miller of Delano, a New Prague native, gave the eulogy.
The New Prague Times, Thursday, January 12, 2006
?Joyful? priest appreciated what we take for granted
By Chuck Kajer
Recently I watched a mini-series based on the life of Pope John Paul II. It was intriguing to see how he struggled to practice his faith and his profession under a Communist government in Poland and brought a new level of respect for the priests who lived and worked in such an atmosphere.
Last week, I was reminded of someone I met in my childhood. Someone who had lived through the same harsh conditions.
Father Alphonse Kubat came to New Prague in 1969 and served for seven years as an associate pastor at St. Wenceslaus Church. He was recently arrived from Czechoslovakia. I was a third-grader at St. Wenceslaus School and we were told some basic history about Father Kubat.
It wasn?t until last week, when I read his obituary in our newspaper, in the daily papers and in the Catholic Spirit newspaper, that I learned the whole story.
Father Kubat, who later served as pastor at St. Nicholas in New Market and at Most Holy Trinity in Veseli, was in a Nazi labor camp, where he lost two fingers in a work accident. After the accident, he was allowed to finish his seminary studies and was ordained in 1942. However, the Communists invaded and he was later imprisoned for several years with 200 other priests.
Stories about Father Kubat told of how he defied the Communists by secretly celebrating Mass, using a spoon as a chalice and whispering the words by memory.
I didn?t know that about him. I didn?t know that he almost died while in solitary confinement, or that he gave communion to prisoners by hiding small pieces of the host inside cigarette papers.
What I do remember is a genuinely warm man, an enthusiastic man, one who seemed to find joy in everything he did.
As a third grader, and even sometimes today, I don?t always appreciate the freedoms I have as an American. Certainly my friends and I didn?t appreciate 30-some years ago that our priest was a man whose enthusiasm for life was a testament to those freedoms, who was enjoying those freedoms having lived the previous 30 years under two repressive regimes.
Those freedoms are something we take for granted. Father Kubat, during his years in the United States, never took them for granted. He lived without those freedoms too long.
It is likely that his appreciation for those freedoms is why he was so ?joyful.?
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