For this Sunday blogpost, a brief return to "The World's Smallest Church", near Festina, Iowa, which was featured in a post back in June.
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This limestone and wood church, of relatively small size and stature, named for St. Anthony of Padua, was built in honor of the safe return of this soldier from the Napoleonic Wars:
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Behind the church, pine and cedar trees, woodsy undergrowth, and a boulder guard the tombstone of a woman named Ursula Bouillon.........I'd love to know her story. Click the photo to read the name and dates easier.
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Our Lady of Seven Dolors lingers, ever sorrowful, in the quiet churchyard:
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This is a precious, peaceful place, and well-cared for. I live about an hour from The Smallest Church; if I lived in the church's neighborhood, I might be apt to spend time there often, praying and meditating. The atmosphere there lends itself to those pursuits.
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Greetings
and
God's blessings
To each of you
Who
Kindly visit this blog!
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Thank you!!
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HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!
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12 comments:
Okay!!! This is the second time I have enjoyed your images from this church and this is the second time I am promising myself to go see it!! Heh!! Every time I look at the map I see Festina JUMPS OUT at me and says "come see me!!"
You know what my biggest problem is? I have to figure out what to do with Bailey! He can ride up and back just fine but I will need to do something with him if I want to go inside the church or take some pictures. I guess if it is not too hot he could stay in the car... OR maybe I could find someone to watch him for a day...
But regardless, I am going to get to this church this summer one way or the other!! Heh!!
Thanks for this great post - I really, really enjoyed it!!
PS IF I get there, I will do a post about it and make sure I let people know you inspired me to get there!! Take care!
Your photographs bring to life the sacred beauty that the place posesses. thanks for sharing them.
I looks like an enchanting little church.
Hi, Russell!
Thanks for visiting! Yes, I hope you can make it to the little church sometime. Actually, Bailey could stay here, but at a hefty price: you would have to take a kitty along home with you!
There are fences here and there around the small church......could Bailey stand to be leashed to a fence for awhile as you walk around and look at things? Maybe that would be too much of an insult for him!!
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Hi, odd chick and Ruth!
Thank you both for your kind words!
I did have a wonderful day, thank you Jeannelle. The weather here in PA was just perfect. Looks like your day was swell, too!
I had to catch up today. That turtle picture is amazing. We have droves of turtles here. I lived in NE for a while (Omaha) and wondered how they would take the climate there. And...that's the first time since my Great Aunt Effie passed away that I've heard/read the word "crick". My Grandmother's family was from Kansas/Iowa and she was the oldest. She picked up that term I suppose before they came to the south.
Finally, I got to read about the old church. We used to love to drive the "backroads" when we lived in NE and hit Iowa roads a lot. There is so much to explore there and the antique stores have the most unique "covered wagon relics" I have ever seen. I could just imagine the people heading west and dropping a box or something or setting up there and never making it any further.
Thanks for the adventure.
Hi, country girl!
Thanks for dropping by! These photos are from the day in May when we visited the church.....the weather was SO pleasant, then!
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Hi, Saddlegait!
So "crick" is not a term used in the South?? That is a surprise to me!
Your comment opens up a whole new adventure to think about......the covered wagons that once crossed the prairies.....what stories abounding there! A post I'm working on for later this week conjures up images
of covered wagons for me.
Thanks for stopping by!
OH - My great grandfather loaded his wagon with one donkey and one ox and brought his family east after the Civil War or as we like to call it "THE WAR". I have a copy of his diary of the trip to Athens, AL.
But, when you live out there for a while, you really sense the excitement and adventure that people in this part of the country only read about. It's still a not so distant part of our history.
Saddlegait,
Wow....you have a treasure there in your great-grandfather's diary! You mean he moved EAST after the war? And, that's interesting the Civil War is referred to as "the war" where you are. Its never called that here; it was a faraway thing to people in Iowa, I suppose.
Thanks for your very interesting comments.......you've got stories in you!!
Cemetaries certainly make one curious to know the history of the residences.
Hi, Maybelline!
Thanks for dropping by and commenting!
Yes, these old cemeteries prompt many questions about life stories.
That church is beautiful and I have enjoyed learning about it.
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