St. Mary's Anniversary Homily

The first known Catholic settlers in Gallatin County were John and Elizabeth Lawler around 1815. They were followed by the Maloneys, Welches, and Duffys. John and Elizabeth’s son, the famed General Michael Lawler, wrote that the first Mass he knew of to ever be celebrated in Gallatin County was in May of 1824 by Fr. Elisha Durbin. Fr. Durbin was the sole priest from his base in Kentucky all the way up to Vandalia... that’s on I-70! He averaged 200 miles a week on horseback. In 62 years of priesthood, his one-time assistant was confident his total journeys certainly exceeded 500,000 miles. On a horse! Makes me feel better about the mileage I’m racking up on my Honda.

St. Mary’s Parish in Shawneetown was founded in 1842... making this the 170th anniversary of the parish.

Shawneetown got its first resident priest in 1859, Fr. John Brennan.

The first Catholic church in Shawneetown was built in 1860 on a lot donated by Marion Stout. The contractors were Kacher & Scandland, and the church was dedicated to St. Mary of the Holy Name. Sometime in the next fifteen years, the parish came to be dedicated still to our Our Lady but under the title Immaculate Conception.

St. Mary’s Academy opened in 1874 on land donated by the heirs of the Pool family. Fr. [Demering?] began the project and purchased brick beforehand, but was transferred to Carlyle and Fr. Rensmann took over the construction. The school opened in January of 1878. There’s an intriguing gap in the chronicle here, which says it was under the tutelage of ________ who came from East Saint Louis. Certainly these were religious sisters. St. Mary’s Academy opened with 80 pupils. Now, are you ready for some drama? The recorded history is that “the conduct of the sisters... failed to give adequate satisfaction.” Of course, the history was written by Fr. Rensmann. Maybe they were asking too much salary: total payroll for all teachers that year was $412.80. In any case, it seems St. Mary’s Academy ceased operations in April of 1879.

Well, they worked something out and the school reopened in 1882, with different sisters.

The water in 1883 was eight feet over the floor of Immaculate Conception Church, and within two feet of the second story of the school. Refugees made use of the upper part of the school. Two people lost their lives in that building. 

Another disaster struck that year, this one not natural but plain old human sinfulness. It’s painful to remember, but we would be wrong to gloss over it. Three black children were enrolled in the school. Most white families immediately withdrew their children. The school did not reopen for six years. When it did, in 1889, for the third try, the chronicle has an unusual and poignant editorial comment: “May God bless it and permit it not to break up.”

The levee broke on Palm Sunday in ’98. 25 people drowned and property damage was reported at an astronomical half-million dollars. A new school was built in 1902, but closed in 1905 for apparently the last time because the parishioners insisted teaching be done by sisters, and none could be had.

1930 saw the dedication of a new church, designed by Edwin C. Berendes and Associates of Evansville, built by the J.J. Miller company from Missouri. The bell raised into the tower hearkened from the days of heavy river traffic, already long past by 1930, for it had originally sounded down the river from a mighty steamboat.

The high altar came from the monks at Wetaug, very near my hometown of Anna. It was restored by Mr. Carl Eswine, then a young man, whose original work on the side altars and altar rail are easily seen here today as, simply, stunning. The visit of Bishop Henry Althoff, second Bishop of Belleville, was an occasion for the decoration and beautification of the whole town, and the closing of businesses and schools. With Bishop Althoff was Bishop Joseph Schlarmann of Peoria, the great uncle of our own beloved Bishop Stanley Schlarmann. Fifty priests and eight hundred faithful and visitors attended at least.

Picturing that scene brings a smile to my heart, but alongside that smile I can’t help but wonder how that crowd might react to know that the church they were so proudly celebrating would be used for barely three decades. That news would surely have hit that celebration like an 80-ton cold wet blanket. And yet... with the distance and perspective of hindsight, I think you’ll agree that we can’t call it a mistake. We can’t regret it. It was worth doing. It was something beautiful for God... how could that be a mistake?

They kept going to the old church for awhile after the town moved. Building a new church must have been a hard decision. This isn’t the kind of thing you can document, but the story I’ve heard is that the town planners initially had a spot for a Catholic church in the circle with all the other churches by the courthouse, and that they were told in no uncertain terms that that just wasn’t going to work. No, sir, we’re the Catholic Church, thank you very much, One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and not fitting nicely between the others! Well, like I said, that’s the story I heard.

The new church was built under construction superintendent Edwin Schmitt. The cornerstone was laid Sept. 2nd, 1962, at 3 O’Clock, by Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste, assisted by Shawneetown native Fr. Lawrence Drone and the recently ordained Fr. Joseph Lawler, home from his assignment in Belleville for the occasion. The antiphons were chanted by seminarians, directed by Mr. Don Abell: Raymond and Bill Lawler, Tom Kirby, Carl Scherrer, and Tom Harmon. Honor Guard was provided by the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus, and the rectory was blessed the same day. The Gallatin Democrat reported 400 people on hand. Bishop Zuroweste first blessed a cross at the future location of the altar, then blessed the foundation around the church. I note in that week’s bulletin that the Ladies of St. Mary’s completed a very extensive cleaning of the rectory prior to the Bishop’s visit.

In late September there was a solemn novena related to momentous happenings in the global church: the novena was offered for the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon the recently convened Second Vatican Council.

A few months after the cornerstone blessing, the altar was there, and the church was dedicated December 16th at 4pm. 

There are always growing pains. The bulletin for Christmas week a few months later said: “The spacing of the pews is ample enough to permit one to walk between the pews without walking on the kneelers.”

Mr. Schmitt and many others did their work well, and the church is in good condition fifty years later, recent maintenance being significant but certainly reasonable for a 50-yr old building with a roof that the Bishop and Mr. Stauder just insisted had to be flat, no matter how little Mr. Schmitt like it. We have some other details to attend to, but all in all the good ship is in fighting trim.

Fr. Elijah Durbin. Mrs. Marion Stout. Mr. Carl Eswine. Fr. Jack Stallings. Mr. Edwin Schmitt. And now, you. And me. In a new chapter, with some new developments, but the same mission. Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

From time to time you hear that there’s a curse in Chinese, “may you live in interesting times.” I don’t know if that’s culturally accurate or not. But I know we live in interesting times, and I don’t think it’s a curse. It’s a great honor to be with you, here, now, with the weight of a grand history behind us and the promise of the Holy Spirit’s continuing blaze before us. May that same Holy Spirit, proceeding eternally from the Father and the Son, guide and inspire us for the next fifty years. And may our Blessed Mother, conceived without sin, grant us her constant care and intercession at the right hand of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.