Welcome Letter
St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church was founded in 1857 and is a member of the Diocese of Joliet. We are a very tight knit community which has worked very hard to maintain our church as a wonderful and beautiful cathedral in the country. When the church was started, we were being served by priests from the Clerics of St. Viator and it remained this way until 1996, and we now once again have reconnected with them.
Our church serves the areas of Beaverville, Martinton, Donovan, Iroquois, St. Anne, and other towns including Morocco, Indiana to name a few. The parish family is small, but is working hard to grow and welcome back families and welcome in new ones. St. Mary’s is an active community. Activities range from the celebration of the Liturgy, to social and educational activities. All parishioners are encouraged to be involved in the Eucharist celebrations to serve as ushers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, altar servers, and choir members. Religious education is provided for children from Pre-K – 8th grade with sacrament preparation at the appropriate grade levels. Additional ministries are starting up to provide more opportunities for our parishioners which include family events among them.
St. Mary’s was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and started a Preservation Society in 1997 in conjunction with their first annual Founders’ Day. With the help of the people of the church and the Preservation Society, the church continues to be restored.
I have found that the parishioners of the church are very proud of their accomplishments of the church and they want to continue doing so. I look forward to meeting you and invite you to come to our parish. I have been here just a short time, but already feel that the parish is starting to grow. Our weekend church time is unique as it is on Saturday afternoon at 4:00p.m. Please come and check out our beautiful church and experience God’s love through our Mass.
God Bless!
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Fr. Michael Powell
Ryan Loy, Pastoral Associate
St. Mary's Parish Council