Loving family in Fairmont shapes Bishop Izen’s childhood

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

Growing up in a town of 10,000 and a stone’s throw from one of the city’s five lakes, Bishop Michael Izen learned to water ski with his older brother, Paul, behind a neighbor’s boat. He loved to play basketball and football and was eager to burst out the door to do those things — after the nightly family rosary.

That mix of everyday activity and faith put into practice was part of growing up in Fairmont for the Izen family. The bishop and his siblings — Mary, Geri, Tom, Ann and Paul, children of the late John and Joanna Izen — attended St. John Vianney parish and elementary school, which offered strong academics and Mass attended by the students each day.

During the summer, their mother continued to encourage daily Mass, and strove never to miss one herself. Eldest sibling Mary Izen Book, 67 – now a member of St. Timothy in Blaine — said her mother’s devotion to the Mass was so strong, that when going into labor with her third child, Tom, she suggested she could still get to morning Mass.

“No, we better go to the hospital,” replied her husband.

“I can remember them backing out of the driveway, mom looking back at me and waving goodbye,” Mary said as the family discussed their brother’s April 11 episcopal ordination at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

Bishop Izen, 56, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will serve as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese, ministering alongside Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams. He will help lead the Church in a 12-county metropolitan area that encompasses the Twin Cities and is home to about 720,000 Catholics.

Ordained a priest in 2005, Bishop Izen practiced being one as a child, he and his siblings said.

His sister, Ann Wehner, 59, a member of St. John Vianney in Fairmont, remembers her brother pretending to preside at Mass. “Paul and I would play Mass with him,” Ann said. “We took great pride in preparing and participating in that. Making the hosts out of regular bread slices and sometimes even doing music.”

“We would argue over who were the servers, who got to be the priest. Mike would usually win because he was the youngest,” said Tom, 62, also of St. John Vianney. “I can picture the coffee table he used as an altar,” said Geri Martin, 64, a member of Pax Christi in Eden Prairie.

Bishop Izen recalled growing up in comments he made at a Jan. 5

Asked what they most wish for their brother as he begins his role as bishop, Bishop Michael Izen’s siblings offered:

“That he enjoys it. That he lives in the moment. He brings so much that he doesn’t realize. He cares. He’ll bring a lot more than he realizes to the role,” Paul said.

“That he continues with his new calling like his past calling. Humble and compassionate. It’s going to be bigger and better for him. It’s a promotion, if you want to think about it that way. I think he can do more and do it better,” said Tom.

“My biggest wish is that he embraces what he has and be at peace with it. And have time for himself and not get run down. That he gets chances to sneak away and relax,” Ann said. That “he’s blessed with peace and truly happy and joyful in the role,” Geri said.

“You’ve really spoken to it,” Mary said to her siblings. “It seems to me it’s a very, very high stress job. A lot is expected, lots of demand. I hope he takes care of himself.” age 61. Their mother, who had Alzheimer’s for years, died in 2000, when Bishop Izen was 33. news conference at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul, the day his appointment to the archdiocese and his April 11 ordination were announced. He remembers and still has books on the faith his father read, including “Life of Christ” by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

“I hope they leave him in Minnesota,” added Ann.

The youngest in the family, Bishop Izen was 21 when his father died — just a month after he had retired — in 1988 at

“It was a different kind of relationship with my parents in my mid-20s,” Bishop Izen said at the news conference. “But I would never, ever say that I was shortchanged when it comes to my parents. They were super examples of love. And I think, being the youngest, I got to see that in my last few years of high school, when I was the only one in the house. Just how much my dad loved my mom, and my mom loved my dad.”

In an interview before his ordination, Bishop Izen said his favorite memory of living in Fairmont is his family. “Home

FAMILY CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Congratulations and welcome auxiliary bishop, Rev. Michael J. Izen!

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Consociates, Agrégée, Friends of St. Joseph, and Partners in Mission welcome you, and invite you to join the CSJ community in “Moving always toward the profound love of God and love of neighbor without distinction.”

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE was simply a great place to be. I loved my mom and dad so much,” he said in an email. “I’m embarrassed to admit how hard it was for me to leave home for college. I loved all my brothers and sisters, too. As the youngest, I looked up to them as they grew up, went off to school and got married. I couldn’t wait to be an uncle.”

Bishop Izen said his first job and one he held through high school was mowing and raking lawns, shoveling and blowing snow, first with his brothers Tom and Paul, and later just with Paul. “I think we peaked at 22 yards,” he said.

His mother whipped up a great homemade pizza and spareribs in her own barbeque sauce. “I can still picture the slices of onions that would bake right on top of each rib,” Bishop Izen said. “Her pork chops and chicken were also two of my favorites. I could go on and on. People say I have quite an appetite. They should have seen me when I was young.”

Bishop Izen loved and ministered to his parents, and they were proud of him, his siblings said.

“They were definitely proud of Paul and Mike, the two youngest who probably saw more of what mom was going through,” recalled Geri. “When our dad passed away unexpectedly, it was June, and Paul and Mike were both home from college. Mike was working at the Green Giant factory in Blue Earth but quit his job to care for mom. I remember thinking Mike was a pretty mature young man to care for his mom at age 21 and help her with all the activities of daily living she needed assistance with.”

Their mother was a teacher, then a homemaker as her children grew up and a substitute teacher at St. John Vianney Catholic School in Fairmont, Bishop Izen said. “I still remember my embarrassment when I had her as a sub and I had to leave for the public school for my band lesson. Any other substitute, I would have asked for permission to leave, but I thought, ‘Not necessary, this is my mom.’ So, I just got up, went to the back of the room to put on my coat (it was winter) and grab my drum case. As I was walking out, she had the ‘nerve’ to ask me where I was going. I said, ‘To my band lesson.’ She replied, ‘Not without your boots, you’re not.’ Seven years later, my buddies in high school were still reminding me of that day.”

The Izens were known in the community for running Izen Food Market, a grocery store founded by their dad’s father, John P. Izen, in the 1930s as Mocol’s Grocery store, to capitalize on a successful grocery store in Mankato run by his brotherin-law, Joe Mocol, Sr., Mary said.

“Our grandfather was the owner, and our dad was the manager and one of the butchers,” Mary said of the Fairmont store. “It would most likely bring to mind a grocery store in a 1940s movie.”

But by 1969, when Bishop Izen was 2 years old, two large grocery store chains had moved into Fairmont and Izen Food Market couldn’t compete. The family sold it, the Izens said.

“I felt sad for my dad when the store closed,” Ann said. “I was also proud of him and touched when he took a job at Wolf’s (Wolf-Habein) department store and was primarily downstairs in the fabric department.”

In 1974, their father began managing a furniture store in Fairmont, where he remained until retiring, said Tom, who lives with his wife, Lisa, in the home the Izens grew up in, just off Budd Lake. The Izens have made some changes, such as converting the living room to a dining room. Tom said he sometimes opens the silverware drawer of his youth only to remember it no longer holds knives, forks and spoons.

“The beauty for us,” said Paul, 58, of St. Ambrose in Woodbury, “is when we visit Tom, it’s like going home. It evokes fond memories for our family.”

Jan. 12, 1967

Born to the late John and Joanna Izen of Fairmont in the Diocese of Winona (now, Winona-Rochester), the youngest of their six children.

1973 to 1981

Attended St. John Vianney Catholic School in Fairmont.

1981 to 1985

Attended Fairmont High School.

1985 to 1989

Attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, earning an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science.

1989 to 1998

Worked as a computer systems analyst for 3M in Maplewood.

1998

Entered The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, earning a Master’s of Divinity degree.

May 28, 2005

Ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, with 14 other men, the largest class since 1963, when 19 men were ordained.

2005 to 2007

Assigned associate pastor of Divine Mercy in Faribault.

2007 to 2012

Assigned pastor of St. Timothy in Maple Lake.

2010 to 2012

Became assistant in archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life in ministry of postabortion outreach.

2012 to 2015

Assigned pastor of St Raphael in Crystal.

2015 to 2023

Assigned pastor of St. Michael and St. Mary, canonical administrator of St. Croix Catholic School, Stillwater; parochial administrator of St. Charles, Bayport (2020-2023).

April 11, 2023

Ordained a bishop at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, assigned as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

By Joe Ruff

The Catholic Spirit

When Bishop Michael Izen’s appointment as auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis was announced Jan. 5, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said it was providential that the soon-to-bebishop’s titular see would be Neoportus, or Newport, in South Wales.

It was the titular see held by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, widely known for his books and radio and television programs including “Life Is Worth Living” and “The Fulton Sheen Program.”

Bishop Izen still has a book by Archbishop Sheen that was treasured by his father, the late John Izen, titled “Life of Christ.” The bishop’s sister, Mary Izen Book of St. Timothy in Blaine, said she remembers her parents watching Archbishop Sheen’s TV program every Sunday night.

“Well, who doesn’t look up to Archbishop Fulton Sheen?” Bishop Izen said in an email in the weeks leading up to his April 11 ordination at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get to visit South Wales, but that would be quite a gift. My dad never went to college, but he was bright and liked to read. He had secular and Catholic books on his bookshelf. ‘Life of Christ’ is one of the few books that I inherited from my father that I have actually read. As is the case with everything Sheen wrote, it is a great read, and I will sometimes turn to it for homily material.”

Titular sees are former dioceses that have been suppressed or substantially reconfigured and the location of the cathedral transferred to another location, often because they fell into the hands of non-Christian conquerors, were part of a schism, or the number of Catholics sharply declined or moved to another part of the diocese.

Auxiliary bishops, as well as bishops holding titles and responsibilities that do not entail overseeing a specific diocese, such as papal nuncios, vicars apostolic and superiors of departments in the Roman Curia, are given a titular see in recognition of their episcopal status.

By Dave Hrbacek

The Catholic Spirit

With the ceremonial opening of doors at the new chapel at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul April 20, hundreds got their first look at the place where 92 men from 16 dioceses across eight states will pray daily both to encounter Christ and discern their vocational calling.

Three bishops, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, assembled in the sanctuary for the dedication of the new chapel, which included anointing of the chapel’s altar and walls. They were joined by more than a dozen priests and deacons, including the current rector of SJV, Father Jonathan Kelly, and his predecessor, Father Michael Becker, both of whom played key roles in the design and construction of the chapel.

The chapel is part of a larger construction project at the seminary scheduled to be completed later this spring. SJV has partnered with Zeman Construction, Finn Daniels Architects, and Studio io Liturgical Design and Consulting.

During his homily at the dedication Mass, Archbishop Hebda, filled with emotion, gave his impression of the chapel and of its importance in the formation of SJV men who will spend time there trying to hear God’s call in their lives.

“This is a chapel that speaks about a generous response,” he said, acknowledging the many benefactors who contributed to the $10 million overall SJV renovation project. “It’s not just adequate, it’s spectacular. It’s a way in which we are able to demonstrate to the seminarians that we think that what they’re doing is incredibly important. But it’s also a way in which we’re able to communicate that God has to be at the heart of everything we do in this seminary.”

In remarks at the end of Mass, Father Kelly said he hopes the chapel will help in the overall mission of SJV, which is to form “men who are authentic and transparent … The one place that we want to be truly authentic is before God in this chapel.” To that end, the chapel is filled with natural materials like wood and stone, augmented by large windows that let in lots of daylight. That, combined with artwork created by local iconographer Nicholas Markell, help give all who enter the chapel “a sense of the divine,” Father Kelly said.

The central part of the chapel — and SJV — is the tabernacle containing Jesus himself, in the Eucharist.

“Jesus is here,” Father Kelly noted, making a connection to the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival, “and he is the center of our life, and the center of our home.”