Holy Family Log Church & Museum

Last went: 2022
Will go again: 2033
COST: $5 Donation for church/docent appreciated

MASS: 9:00am
CHURCH TOUR: 10:30am
MUSEUM: 11:30am

MASS: Before the church tour, there is a 9:00am Latin (Low) Mass at the Log Church. If you don't want to attend Mass, no problem - join for the church tour. For Mass, meet me at back of church at 8:45am.

All the women will be in dresses and veils. No veil - no problem. Everyone is very welcoming at this church and a veil is not required (but do wear a dress/skirt). Men in slacks and collared shirts.

CHURCH TOUR:
The tour is delayed. The docent we had in the past (starting in 2016), has retired, moved into St. Louis, and is no longer doing the tour. We have a new docent who attends Mass elsewhere, so can't get to the church until 10:30. I'm working on something we can do between the end of Mass and before the tour time.

MUSEUM: "Some noteworthy historic items are two candlesticks on the lower front shelf of the Main Altar, which were a gift from King Louis XIV of France, and the original bell in the tower, which was a gift from King Louis XV (that bell is cracked and is no longer used). The original chalice that was used at the first Mass in 1698 and by Pope John Paul II during his Pastoral Visit to St. Louis in 1999 is in Holy Family's museum. "
https://www.holyfamily1699.org/log-church.html
You'll also see Bibles from the 1600s, church logs from the 1700s, and more.

Directions: The Holy Family Parish Log Church is located near the intersection of IL-3 and IL-157 approximately 3 1/2 miles south of I-55 and I-64 across the river from downtown St. Louis.

CHURCH HISTORY:
"Holy Family is rich in history being the oldest CONTINUOUS Catholic Parish in the United States. Holy Family was founded in 1699 by Canadian missionaries. The Log Church, built in 1799, is a National Historic Landmark and is the oldest church west of the Alleghany Mountains. Constructed of black walnut timbers in the traditional French Colonial style, the Log Church is only one of five built in this style that still exists in North America." from http://holyfamily1699.org/

"The Holy Family Parish is the second oldest Catholic Parish in the state being established in May of 1699 when the French priest Father Jean St. Cosme and two workmen erected a missionary cross, a chapel and a log rectory.
"The church's construction is typical of the French Creole architecture of the era. Built in the poteaux-sur-solle (post-on-sill) manner, a vertical log style that uses hewn walnut logs placed upright on a horizontal base. The roof timbers are oak, and the roof itself is made of cypress clapboards covered by sycamore and the church is held together entirely with wooden pegs instead of nails. In 1949, Father Joseph Mueller "rediscovered" the old log church that had been covered over with white clapboarding and the Log Church was restored in time for the parish’s 250th anniversary. An old cemetery that contains the graves of many of the parish’s priests and the locally prominent Jarrot family is located behind the church." from http://www.greatriverroad.com/stegen/clair/logchurch.htm