Missouri, US
St. Ludger Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic parish church in Germantown, Henry County, Missouri. The earliest parish record is from December 1832, when Dekon Tiof baptized John Freyrik, but the community was not assigned a permanent parish priest until 1840, when Joseph Rosati, the Bisho
p of St. Louis, named Henry Meinkmann as pastor. In the early days, the parish built a log church. This was replaced with another in 1842, and then by a permanent church in 1858. The church was named for Saint Ludger, first Bishop of Münster, as many families who settled in the area originated in Westphalia. In August 1874, a Rocky Mountain locust plague struck large swathes of the Midwest, destroying the wheat, oats, and corn sown in May. According to Germantown and St. Ludger’s, 1833-2002, a history by Donna (Koch) Talbott, nearby farmers rushed to the church and “made a solemn promise before the Blessed Sacrament to keep May 1 holy if they would be averted from this plague.” The grasshoppers departed after the prayer service, and for the next 115 years, the parish held a public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on May 1. The current variegated red brick Romanesque Revival-style church...
Listen to the audio guide for St. Ludger Catholic Church Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off