Ever since my daughters were little girls we visited the Sanders family in Blue River, Kentucky, for Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. For years we would stay at the Dwelling Place Monastery in Floyd County, atop a mountain about ten miles from Prestonsburg. On Easter Sunday morning we would usually go to mass (followed by an Easter egg hunt and potluck brunch) at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Salyersville, Kentucky.
I got word today that this beautiful simple church was destroyed in an instant by a tornado that whipped though the Mountain Parkway area of Magoffin County this past Friday, March 2nd, destroying or seriously damaging almost every structure in its path.
Here is a photo of the church (from a blog by Adam Z. Winer: http://azwiner.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/churches-play-key-role-in-magoffin-county-kentucky-clean-up/).
2 comments:
Hi. I live in Louisville, KY, but lived for a while in Prestonsburg when I was starting my career as an attorney working at Appalred, the local legal aid agency. I, too, attended St. Luke's while there--there aren't too many Catholics in the mountains, so 3 of the attorneys in our office attended together. It was a beautiful church in a beautiful place. I am heartsick over it, as I know you are. Praying for Sr. Jan and Fr. John (not sure if both are still there, I was last there in 1998).
You must know my brother-in-law, Steve Sanders, then. Steve's wife Sue went to an outside mass at St. Luke's yesterday,March 11th (outside because the church is in ruins). Sue said it was a poignant moment, to be sure. Fr. John Moriarty is now pastor at the Church of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, in Lexington. Steve, Sue, and their 6 kids live in that parish now.
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