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A Most Holy Place: Old St. Vincent Church

Ron Kirby knows this church inside and out.  A longtime member of Old St. Vincent Church as well as a tour guide and museum committee member, he generously shared some of his stories about this magnificent church with me.  


Tell me  a little bit about Old St. Vincent Church.

It’s the second Catholic Church at the same location lot.  The church replaced a smaller church that was completed in 1838 and destroyed by a tornado in 1850.  The tornado also destroyed Lorimier’s Red House and Lorimier’s Warehouse, both of which sat next to the first church.  Old St. Vincent Church was was designed by a 24-year-old Irishman, Thomas Walsh.  The church was built in the shape of a cross, and according to our former religious architect, Mr. Theodore Wofford of St. Louis, Old St. Vincent is one of only five or six English Gothic churches still standing in the United States.  Thanks to Mr. Wofford who oversaw the complete restoration of Old St. Vincent from approximately the late 1970s to the late 1990s and the craftsmen he hired, the interior probably looks better now than it ever has.  For example, the columns have been made to look like marble columns when in fact they are simply plaster encasements which surround trees that were probably cut from the virgin forests of Southeast Missouri.  The walls are painted to look like rocks stacked upon rocks when in fact they are plaster walls covered with a canvas like material on which exact lines were painted.  


What is your favorite feature of the church?

My favorite feature of Old St. Vincent Church relates to the Catholic teaching dealing with the communion of the saints and honoring the relics of our saints.  Every time I talk about the relics of the saints located in our back altar, it makes me wonder how we were so fortunate to obtain from Rome the relics of the apostles Peter and Andrew, St. Paul and St. Vincent de Paul.  The relics of these four great saints are enclosed in the large limestone altar stone that is supported horizontally by three foundation columns of bricks which pass through the floor to the earth below the church.  The relics have been sealed in the altar stone directly in front of the tabernacle since 1853.


Is there anything you think not too many folks know about Old St. Vincent you’d like to share?

The 12 small crosses on the walls of the church represent the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles and the fact that Old St. Vincent is a consecrated church — “a Most Holy Place.”  In 1853 when the church was consecrated, Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis performed the extensive two-day ceremony which required, among other things, making three trips around the outside of the church and three trips around the inside walls of the church.  Most newly constructed Catholic church are simply blessed and not consecrated; the custom of consecration dates back to Moses, who consecrated his Jewish flock as the people of God.  

Old St. Vincent Church, a Chapel of Ease and a Religious and Cultural Center has recently been given permission by the Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau to host weddings.  During the past year there have been two weddings held here, marking the first weddings since the 1970s.


How did you end up at Old St. Vincent’s, Ron?  

I joined Old St. Vincent Church, then known as St. Vincent de Paul Parish, when I moved from teaching at DePaul University in Chicago to teaching at Southeast Missouri State University in 1967.  Along with Tony Dohogne and Theresa Reynolds, fellow tour guides and museum committee members, we are constantly trying to improve our museum and our archives by displaying new items on loan from individuals and by obtaining new items.  Our museum is located in the northeast corner of the church and is open to visitors when the church is open.

I can’t thank Ron Kirby enough for sharing so much excellent information with me – I didn’t know that the church was consecrated!  Old St. Vincent’s is stunning, and I hope you get a chance to experience it in person on your next visit to Cape Girardeau; they’re open most Saturdays May-September for tours from 1-4 p.m. and Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 10 a.m.  


Step Back in Time in Cape Girardeau with a variety of historic attractions that highlight Cape Girardeau’s storied past on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi River.  
VisitCape.com/BackInTime has details on your Back in Time visit to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

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