St. Mary's Help of Christians Shrine
Sunday, September 8, 2024
This sacred day celebrated the return to glory of St Mary Help of Christians Shrine in Loretto, Kansas, a Volga German settlement located in northeastern Rush County.
A meal and social in the Parish Hall followed the service.
Over 250 people filled St. Mary's Church for the first Mass in over 27 years as Father Reginald Urban celebrated Mass at 10:30 am. Many of the people were descendants of the original settlers of Loretto. In the Catholic Church, September 8 also celebrates the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Vehicles filled the streets as people from Rush and Ellis Counties and beyond returned to Loretto to pay tribute to celebrate the heritage of this historic community.
Ron Urban reads over the liturgy as he once again plays the original pump organ that he played for many years for St. Mary's.
A meal and social time followed a memorial service at St. Mary's Cemetery following the Mass. Family members from Loretto have been painting and repairing the Parish Hall constructed in 1955 after a fire destroyed the Parochial building in March 1948.
Brief history of St. Mary's
By 1912, seventeen families of the Ellis County settlement of Pfeifer were living just over the county line in Rush County. These families had contributed money toward the construction of a church in Pfeifer with the stipulation that if they decided to establish their own congregation, they could have that money back. Thus, with $3,000 in funds, they decided to build their own church, four and one-half miles south of Pfeifer. Adam S. Urban and Stephen S. Urban each donated five acres of land for the townsite; Martin Urban gave one acre for a cemetery; and Joseph Urban donated land for a church, parsonage, and school. From this, the town of Illinois was born.
In the fall of 1912, a combination church and school was built. It was a two-story structure 60 feet in length and 28 feet in width. Classes were held on the first level, and the second floor served as the church. In 1913, parishioners const_ructed a rectory.
In 1913, the name of the town was changed from Illinois to Marienfeld, and later, at the recommendation of Father Stutz, renamed Loretto. It was named after a city near the Adriatic Sea in Italy which is home to the Santa Casa di Loreto, a shrine believed to be the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
That year, the townsite was divided into building lots that were sold to raise money for the church. In 1916, there were sixty families living in town and a few years later, the school enrollment peaked at seventy students. At first, laymen taught in the school. In 1918, the Sisters of the Order of the Precious Blood were employed as teachers and a convent was built.
Construction of a new brick church began in the spring of 1927, and in May of 1928, the new “Mariahilf Kirche ” (St. Mary’s Help of Christians Church) was dedicated.
Pictured above is the present interior of St. Mary's Church. Family members of the original descendants have begun actively repairing the church.
Windows in the church were imported from Munich, Germany in 1927.
To Learn More
For the complete history, download the preview chapter
St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church
from the upcoming book, “Hidden Histories of Rush County”.
