April Sledding in the Fog

On April 17, 2020, Lincoln had just received about 6 inches of snow the afternoon and night prior, the largest snow of a pretty disappointing cold season for snow (thankfully, we had a much more fun snow season this year; more on that in another post, probably!). On a morning walk around Pioneers Park before working from home during the pandemic, fog had settled in and had not yet fully mixed out. This made for some great scenery of the snow-covered landscape, including this family sledding for the last time before spring and summer set in. By late in the afternoon, the only remaining hint of this snow was a damp ground, as sun-angle season was in full effect.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church -- Rural Colfax County, NE

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (labeled on Google Maps as "Wilson Church") stood on top of Wilson Hill in rural Colfax County, Nebraska, from August 1918 until January 2021. This church served the Czech and German immigrants who moved to the area around 1875. The original church on the site was St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which was eventually replaced by Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which became a mission church to a parish in Schuyler. If you’re curious to learn more about the Catholic/cultural history, please read this article written by Glenn Cada. Much of the information on the history of the church in this post draws from Glenn Cada’s blog or news articles linked therein.

The church had regular Masses until the mid-1970s, after which Masses were prayed on Memorial Day until 1999. On April 8, 1999, a tornado (rated F1 at some point along its damage path) struck the church, apparently doing damage to both woodwork and stained glass windows. The parent storm system caused multiple violent tornadoes in Iowa and Ohio as part of a large tornado outbreak (April 8-9, 1999 Tornado Outbreak), while weaker tornadoes (F0 and F1) associated with low-topped supercells struck eastern Nebraska during the early afternoon of April 8 near the upper-low, a typical “cold-core” setup. Sadly, after the tornado, vandalism became rampant, and to protect the adjacent cemetery, the cemetery board decided to tear down the church, as it was beyond repair.

Road leading up to the church and cemetery from Colfax County Road N. Off to the right was the location of a former Catholic Workman Hall, where dances and other festivities traditionally were held.

I came across Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church while scrolling Twitter during a failed aurora borealis chase in December 2020. The local photography blog Storm and Sky had a beautiful picture of the abandoned church with aurora borealis in the background, taken several years ago. My girlfriend and I have made a habit of exploring rural Catholic churches in Nebraska and Kansas, and this one immediately piqued our interest. I had hoped to be able to use the church as a foreground for storm photography until I discovered that it was being torn down. It was a blessing to be able to make three visits to the church, and to see the inside during one of them, before its demolition. 

As a big fan of JRR Tolkien's works, I often feel like I am wandering around Middle Earth when I get to visit places like this, sensing the depth of history hidden in the nooks and crannies of the Great Plains landscape. As the Fellowship travels through different ruins (such as the Amon Sul watchtower (Weathertop) or Khazad-dum), the characters are exposed to the vital history at these places, often through poetry and song. In a similar fashion, it has been enriching to read stories about the joys and hardships of the immigrants who built these churches to glorify God. Despite the sadness of the passing on of the structure, we are reminded of the larger story in which each of us participates, and can have hope in Christ's resurrection in which all things can be renewed. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us!

 

The Celtic cross on the steeple was gone; I had no idea the church was being torn down until I got there on this January afternoon.

Church, with cross removed, from the north after a series of late December snowstorms.

 

With others around, and with a hole cut in the door, I got to go inside for a while! All of the pews and high altars and statuary had been removed, though stenciled plaster walls and the beautiful tin ceiling remained. 

View from the old choir loft looking towards the sanctuary.

 

South-facing wall, including remaining stencil painting (see "PAX", Latin for "peace", between the windows on the left).

The stained glass windows that survived the tornado, as well as the high altars (which thankfully were retained after post-Vatican 2 changes to liturgical norms) were sent to St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Fremont, NE and a convent in South Dakota, respectively. The stained glass windows are now part of the adoration chapel at St. Patrick's; pictures of these are below. 

Stained glass windows, now at St. Patrick's in Fremont, NE (St. Agnes on the left, St. Wenceslaus on the right).

St. Catherine of Alexandria on the left, but not sure who that is on the right (perhaps St. Martin of Tours).