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St. Columban Catholic Church, 1111 Trenton Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601 Phone: 660 646 0190

Church History (773 bytes)
The original St. Columban's Church, a small, frame structure located in the southern part of Chillicothe, Missouri, was built in 1858 and served the Catholics of Chillicothe for many years. When Fr. Francis Moenning, the first Franciscan Father to serve Chillicothe, arrived in 1878 to assume his parish duties, he quickly decided that the location of the little church was undesirable and that the building itself was too small to accommodate the growing number of Catholics. So, on December 23, 1878, he purchased all of Block 2 of Hammond's Addition from S. Fisher Johnson and his wife, Sara, for the sum of $550. This block lay just across Trenton Street from the Convent-Academy of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The architecture of St. Columban's was to be a combination of both old and new Gothic forms. Pointed arches, which lead the eyes upward to heaven, and high, vaulted ceilings were two characteristics of Gothic form used throughout the church. When the church was originally built in 1879, it was intended only to serve the needs of the 150 families in the congregation at the time and was built for only $12,000. The reddish-colored bricks were purchased from a local brick plant, and native stone for the foundation was hauled by horses and wagons from Utica, Missouri, by the Bonderer family. The cornerstone was laid May 25, 1879, by the Most Rev. John Joseph Hogan, the Bishop of St. Joseph's Diocese. The new church was dedicated on November 23, 1879.

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 Church Interior 1893...click to enlarge (11914 bytes)
Interior of St. Columban's in 1893
before the sanctuary and transept were added.

More History and Photos

 
Saint Columban, Patron Saint
St. Columban, Abbot (c.530-615)
In Ireland, following the evangelization of Saint Patrick, there was much enthusiasm for the monastic life. Monasteries proliferated, and the overflow of monks and saints poured through the British Isles and across the Channel to the Continent. Irish monks offered a haven of learning and culture wherever they settled in Europe. Columban, one of the greatest of Irish missionaries, began his monastic life in Bangor, but soon embarked for France with 12 companions. His first foundation in Burgundy attracted so many young men that he was forced to open several more monasteries in the area. Because his severe Celtic spirituality aroused considerable opposition among bishops, he next made his way through Austria and Switzer4land, founding new monasteries as he went, and came to a halt in Milan, where he became involved in bitter controversy against the Arian heresy. He died in Italy in 615. Columban made a significant contribution to the popularization of monastic life in Europe and wrote an influential monastic rule, later overshadowed by that of Benedict in the West.
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The
Statues Key
In 1913, Thomas Bush painted the two murals above each outer side altar in the transept. In the north part of the transept is the mural of Christ Healing the Afflicted... to be continued
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St. Columban Catholic Church, 1111 Trenton Street, Chillicothe, MO 64601 660-646-0190