While we had the Honda unhooked in Seneca, we took a short drive north to St Benedict, where there is a beautiful Catholic Church called St Mary’s. German, Bohemian and Irish settlers hauled the limestone for the church from a quarry three miles north – construction was in 1891 to 1894
On the bulletin board inside the church was this sign designating it as one of 8 Kansas works of art.
As you enter the church, the balcony is overhead where the pipe organ and choir loft is. It is a breathtaking sight with its transept and crossing vaults. Neither Eloise nor I can remember any cathedral in Europe that had as much art work on the walls. This is what the small brochure says about it:
“In 1901 G.F. Satory of Wahasha, MN, applied to these walls many colors of painted patterns, bands and friezes. He used stencils – delineating, floriating and illuminating the cast iron columns, vault ribs and bosses and window openings. The designs incorporate many Christian symbols. The entire church is so adorned. This lavish ornamentation was the basis of the enrollment of St Mary’s Church in the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 1980.”
I’m not exactly sure what some of that means, but it sure was pretty!
The pipe organ was restored in 1984
This angel was located at the side of the organ loft
North and east of the church there was this stone grotto. 
And lastly, just for your entertainment. On the way to St Benedict we were halted by flagmen as a huge crane was loaded onto a low-boy. You should have seen that thing rock on that trailer. Notice how far the cranes track comes over the edge of the trailer. The reason for the rocking was they had stacked tires next to the low-boy as a ramp for him to get on from the side. All’s well in the end and the crane is neatly retracted and tucked into it place.
No comments:
Post a Comment