Ste. Genevieve Catholic Church | |
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37°58′45″N90°02′50″W / 37.97917°N 90.04722°W Coordinates: 37°58′45″N90°02′50″W / 37.97917°N 90.04722°W | |
Location | Ste. Genevieve, Missouri |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Catholic |
History | |
Founded | 30 April 1876 |
Consecrated | September 29, 1880 |
Cult(s) present | Ste. Genevieve |
Relics held | About two dozen |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Francis Xavier Weiss |
Ste. Genevieve Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church located in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi River in the United States of America .
The cornerstone of this church was laid down on April 30, 1876. [1] The cross was placed upon the steeple on November 1, 1879, [2] with the building consecrated on September 29, 1880. Three-fourths of the cost of church was donated by Odile Pratte Valle, widow of Felix Valle, a grandson of Francois Valle I. [1]
The Catholic faith first came to the Ste. Genevieve area when Jacques Marquette traveled down the Mississippi River in 1673. The parish of Ste. Genevieve was officially started in January 1759 [3] by Jesuits who came from Quebec. [4] Christian and Catholic history in the region goes back at least until the 1750s, although missionary priests from Kaskaskia, Illinois, and across the Mississippi River may have visited the area earlier. It is believed that a church was erected in the area around 1752 or 1754. The earliest marriage record dates back to 1759. The first regular pastor, Jean Baptiste de la Morinie, served from November 10, 1761, until October 15, 1763. The year 1763 was the year of the Jesuit expulsion from French America.
The site of the present church has been used as a church since the 1790s when old log church was possibly moved here to higher ground in 1794. An early stone church was erected on this site in 1835 [1] and consecrated on November 12, 1837. [2] The current church was built around the previous stone structure. [5] The foundations of the previous log and stone churches are still visible in the basement of the present church. The present church was designed by Francis Xavier Weiss, a legendary pastor who served the parish of Ste. Genevieve from 1865 until 1900, [1] and was built in a Gothic Revival style. In 1911, the church was enlarged with the rear wall removed and a hexagonal as aspe and two small transepts erected. The church is linked to a 1925 rectory of American Foursquare and Spanish Colonial style. Commandant Francois Valle II and a few of his family members and pastors are buried below the church nave. [2]
As of 2013, the church serves about 1,100 families and has about two dozen relics. One relic belonged to Ste. Genevieve, the patron of Paris, and was placed around the neck of her statue inside the church. Between Christmas Eve 2012 and January 4, 2013, some saints' relics were stolen from the church. Afterwards, the relic of Ste. Genevieve was moved to a more secure location. [4]
Sainte Genevieve County, often abbreviated Ste. Genevieve County, is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,479. The largest city and county seat is Ste. Genevieve. The county was officially organized on October 1, 1812, and is named after the Spanish district once located in the region, after Saint Genevieve, patroness of Paris, France.
Perry County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,956. Its county seat is Perryville. The county was officially organized on November 16, 1820 from Ste. Genevieve County and was named after Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval hero of the War of 1812.
Ste. Genevieve is a city in Ste. Genevieve Township and is the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,999 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1735 by French Canadian colonists and settlers from east of the river, it was the first organized European settlement west of the Mississippi River in present-day Missouri. Today, it is home to Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park, the 422nd unit of the National Park Service.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry, Saint Charles, Saint Francois, Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, Warren, and Washington. It is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province containing three suffragan sees: Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, the Diocese of Jefferson City, and the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph.
The Illinois Country —sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana —was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is now the Midwestern United States. While these names generally referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, French colonial settlement was concentrated along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in what is now the U.S. states of Illinois and Missouri, with outposts in Indiana. Explored in 1673 from Green Bay to the Arkansas River by the Canadien expedition of Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, the area was claimed by France. It was settled primarily from the Pays d'en Haut in the context of the fur trade, and in the establishment of missions by French Catholic religious orders. Over time, the fur trade took some French to the far reaches of the Rocky Mountains, especially along the branches of the broad Missouri River valley. The French name, Pays des Ilinois, means "Land of the Illinois [plural]" and is a reference to the Illinois Confederation, a group of related Algonquian native peoples.
Genevieve is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January.
Ste. Genevieve Historic District is a historic district encompassing much of the built environment of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, United States. The city was in the late 18th century the capital of Spanish Louisiana, and, at its original location a few miles south, capital of French Louisiana as well. A large area of the city, including fields along the Mississippi River, is a National Historic Landmark District designated in 1960, for its historically French architecture and land-use patterns, while a smaller area, encompassing the parts of the city historically important between about 1790 and 1950, was named separately to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
The Guibourd House, also known as La Maison de Guibourd, is an example of poteaux-sur-solle sealed with bouzillage construction. The structure was built around 1806 and was the home of Jacques Jean Rene Guibourd and his family.
Missouri French or Illinois Country French also known as français vincennois, français Cahok, and nicknamed "Paw-Paw French" often by individuals outside the community but not exclusively, is a variety of the French language spoken in the upper Mississippi River Valley in the Midwestern United States, particularly in eastern Missouri.
Old Mines is the name of an unincorporated community and surrounding area in southeast Missouri that were settled by French colonists in the early 18th century when the area was part of the Illinois Country of New France. The early settlers came to mine for lead, and their descendants still inhabit the area where, through a combination of geographic and cultural isolation, they maintained a distinctive French culture well into the 20th century. As recently as the late 1980s there may have been a thousand native speakers of the region's Missouri French dialect. This culturally distinct population has sometimes been referred to as "paw-paw French" and lives in an amorphous area in Washington, Jefferson, and St. Francois counties roughly 15 miles (24 km) either side of a line from Potosi to De Soto. The community of Old Mines itself is in northeastern Washington County, six miles north of Potosi.
The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Vincennes, Indiana, under the Diocese of Evansville. Named for Francis Xavier, a 16th-century Jesuit apostle, it is located opposite George Rogers Clark National Historical Park at 205 Church Street, within the Vincennes Historic District.
Old St. Ferdinand Shrine and Historic Site is located at no. 1 rue St. Francois, Florissant, Missouri, and is owned, preserved, maintained, and protected by the non-profit organization, Friends of Old St. Ferdinand, Inc. The Shrine and Historic Site consists of four historic buildings on their original locations: the 1819 convent, 1821 church, 1840 rectory, and 1888 schoolhouse.
The history of St. Louis, Missouri, from prehistory to 1762 was marked by the presence of the Moundbuilder indigenous culture, the explorations of Europeans, and the establishment of French trading posts along the Mississippi River.
The Reverend Henry Platte was the first native Catholic priest of what is now the State of Missouri in the United States. He was curé of the Church of Ste. Genevieve in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri in 1815, and pastor from 1816 until his death from yellow fever in 1822.
New Bourbon is an abandoned village located in Ste. Genevieve Township in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. New Bourbon is located approximately two and one-half miles south of Ste. Genevieve.
Saline Township is a subdivision of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, in the United States of America, and is one of the five townships located in Ste. Genevieve County.
St. Joseph Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Apple Creek, Missouri, in the Deanery of Ste. Genevieve of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
St. Maurus Church is parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Biehle, Missouri, USA, within the deanery of Ste. Genevieve of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
St. Rose of Lima Mission is a Roman Catholic church in Silver Lake, Missouri, in the deanery of Ste. Genevieve of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It is administered by the Vincentians as a mission of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Perryville; as with the churches of St. James and St. Joseph, there are no weekend Masses offered.
The Colonial history of Missouri covers the French and Spanish exploration and colonization: 1673–1803, and ends with the American takeover through the Louisiana Purchase