Posted on 11/06/2009 3:39:37 PM PST by NYer
St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church of Louisville, Ky., offers so much in terms of historical significance, an orthodox faith community, and sheer physical beauty. My friend Sue said it best, shortly after my husband, Ken, and I moved to the parish: “This is the center of all things Catholic.”
The parish is one of the oldest in the Louisville Archdiocese. Located east of downtown in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood, it was founded in 1853 by Bishop Martin John Spalding to help nearby St. Boniface parish serve its overflowing German-immigrant population.
The bishop named the church in honor of his baptismal patron saint, who began his career as a Roman soldier shortly after Emperor Constantine ended the persecution of Christians in A.D. 313. St. Martin’s life was one of unceasing prayer and courage as he served as bishop, sowing Christianity throughout Touraine. His feast day is Nov. 11.
Perhaps his intercession saved the church in 1855, when the Bloody Monday riots threatened to burn it down. The Know-Nothing movement had fueled suspicions that German immigrants and Catholics were interfering in the voting process. Mayor John Barbee finally brought an end to the violence that killed over 100 people and destroyed many homes and businesses.
St. Martin’s was spared.
Overcoming adversity early in its history may have galvanized the parish’s character as a survivor — that and the staunch faith of its members.
Consider these demographics: While inner-city parishes across the country are closing their doors due to loss of membership and financial support, St. Martin is growing, drawing its 650 families from 70 zip codes in Kentucky and Indiana. The average age of parishioners is 35. Although it no longer has a school, the parish’s expanding religious education program boasts 120 students from kindergarten through grade 12 from public and Catholic schools.
Why? According to the parish’s administrative assistant, Jane Peak, the beauty of the church, faithful liturgies and devotions, the perpetual Eucharistic adoration program instituted by former pastor Father Dennis Cousens, and exceptional music are what draw people in.
When Ken and I attend either the ordinary or extraordinary (traditional Latin) forms of the Mass regularly offered at St. Martin, we sense that we are crossing the threshold of heaven. The solemn liturgies and other devotions conducted so beautifully by the pastor, Father Frederick Klotter, and Deacon Jarvis Jackson are made sublime with splendid choral music, bells, incense and the surrounding majesty of the church.
Unique Relics
Gothic Revival in style, St. Martin is filled with light due to its high-vaulted ceilings and Royal Bavarian stained-glass windows. The crowning glory is the triptych of the Crucifixion soaring above the high altar, flanked by murals of the Ascension and the Assumption. Visitors may take a self-guided tour of these “homilies in glass.”
Lining the clerestory, life-sized statues of the Twelve Apostles pose gracefully above the Bavarian-crafted Stations of the Cross. Opposite the Crucifixion triptych, the pipes of the 114-year-old Farrand & Votey organ rise in colorful grandeur above the choir loft. Saint and angel statues, paintings and candles fill the nave.
But perhaps the most unique features of St. Martin are the relics. In 1901, Pope Leo XIII gave the full skeletal remains of two third-century Roman martyrs to the parish at the request of the pastor, Msgr. Zabler. St. Bonosa, a virgin persecuted for her beliefs, and St. Magnus, the Roman centurion who tried to save her life, both died in the Colosseum at the hands of Emperor Septimius Severus in A.D. 207. Originally buried in the catacombs of Rome, the remains were later moved to a monastery in Agnani, Italy. Then, when the Italian government confiscated the monastery and forced the nuns to leave, Msgr. Zabler petitioned the Holy Father for the relics. Harking back to the years of religious persecution shortly before the birth of St. Martin, these relics are a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by so many early Christians for the faith.
Today, they repose adorned with crowns and robed in velvet in glass reliquaries below the side altars. Visitors, inspired by their story, kneel before the glass to pray.
Rich Tapestry of Worship
The rich tapestry of worship at St. Martin represents a continuum of fidelity to Church teaching that weaves together the best of old and new ritual, music and art.
Father Vernon Robertson understood the need to maintain this after so much confusion post-Vatican II. But by the time he became pastor at St. Martin in the late 1970s, the parish school had already closed, parish membership had dwindled to 125, and the roof was leaking. Aided by personal charisma, good taste and wealth, he began to renovate the church, introducing beautiful traditional liturgies and music. He even persuaded the Louisville Symphony Orchestra to perform there to attract publicity. Eventually, new parishioners filled the church.
Asked about his success, he replied modestly, “Since there weren’t any people, I decided to fill [the church] with music. ... Pretty soon, people who were tired of bad music and ugly buildings started coming.”
Through the years, such exemplary stewardship has led to an impressive number of religious vocations, outreach programs and ministries. Today, with Father Klotter’s support, The Schuhmann Social Service Center and the Golden Arrow Center for Children and Families continue distributing clothing, food and supplies to individuals and families in need as they have for many years. The parish also supports an active ministry for the homebound, Knights of Columbus, Respect Life Committee, Couple to Couple League, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, Bible study, and much more.
After a year’s membership, Ken and I agree with Sue: St. Martin is truly “the center of all things Catholic.” And we feel, in a very real sense, that we have come home.
The choir of St. Martin of Tours Church in Louisville, Kentucky has achieved an international reputation for excellence in church music. Under the direction of Mark Walker, the choir has flourished musically in the area of Renaissance music and continues to present major choral works at St. Martin. Selected by audition, drawn from the greater Louisville metropolitan area, the choir consists mainly of volunteer singers.At the risk of sounding snooty, it sounds exactly like OUR choir -- including the choice of music. As our music director says, choral music reached complete perfection in the Renaissance, and it's been mostly downhill since then!
He's not very well known in this country but he is VERY big in Germany and northern Italy.
We were at a local Italian eatery when my daughter noticed the portrait of St. Martin over the front door. She mentioned it to the manager, who much to our surprise got up on a ladder, took it off the wall, and presented it to her with a flourish! He has a place of honor in her dorm room at college.
Wow!
Time to get your choir recognized in the national Catholic media.
Chant, Sacred Classics Reverberate Again in Parishes
Funny thing is, the article generated a firestorm of letters from the usual gaggle of 'modernist' liturgists and music directors, who were just furious that anybody was paying attention to the classical Catholic musical tradition. The final letter in the bunch was from a professional musician who skewered the whole modernist crowd with a few well chosen words. I wish I could remember what he said . . . . but it stopped the debate cold!
Thanks for posting. We are in the process of looking for a new parish. We used to belong to Mother of Good Council, but they have closed it. Not sure we want to move to the new church when it was built as they have changed the name. We will add it to our list.
Here is the St. Martin choir singing Hans Leo Hassler's "Cantate Domino".
They have a good clean Renaissance sound, not too much vibrato, excellent attack and good dynamics.
Here's their recording of Hubert H.H. Parry's "I was glad when they said unto me." They get the 19th-20th c. English sound quite well, especially the sopranos. You also get to hear the organ - magnificent instrument even with the limited recording device in use.
I bet their choirmaster knows our choirmaster, they're singing the same stuff.
“We were at a local Italian eatery when my daughter noticed the portrait of St. Martin over the front door. She mentioned it to the manager, who much to our surprise got up on a ladder, took it off the wall, and presented it to her with a flourish! He has a place of honor in her dorm room at college.”
Very nice story. My son’s Confirmation saint too. My mother was from France and there are many towns named after Saint Martin there.
My daughter was fascinated by his life, since he ran the gamut from soldier to hermit to bishop!
They had a Latin Mass prior to Papa Benedict giving it the green light.
Their choir is profoundly good.. Holy Family radio here in town offers their albums.
That was very kind of him.
Where are you located currently?
They have guards at night, no one need fear stopping in at night for perpetual devotion.
We have most of the Irishmen on the county police force doing guard duty at our parish. It's really kind of funny how the Irish stick together . . . .
That made VERY regular customers out of us. We always go in when my parents are in town, or when my kids are home from college or the military.
Lyndon.
I only recently found out that they had perpetual adoration.
Many nights as I left work I passed St. Martin’s and wondered who those guys were up on the side porch.
I can see how that would develop a great deal of good will.
Are you in the parish that is being blended with the parish in Goshen to make the new St. Bridget?
http://www.archlou.org/archlou/parishes
Here is the Archdioscese map..
You can check out what is near you.
We are in the parish that will be St. Bernadette. They are now having mass in the gym of St. Mary’s Academy. We just moved back after 4 years in Dearborn to find that MGC was closing. The kids went to school there and I just can’t get over them closing and forgetting the history of MGC. We are just going to different churches to find that “home” feel. Truthfully, distance is not an object.
My little sister is in the same boat.
She and her family belonged to the church in Goshen for 18 years.
She says church in the gym isn’t doing it for her.
If distance is no object why don’t you give St. Martin a try.
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