St Mary's Catholic Church, Hallettsville Texas

[pcdeatherage]

Painted Church lovers take note...St Mary's outside of Hallettsville is a worthy addition to your list of things to do and places to see...Head toward Yoakum on 70A and in a few miles take a right on FM340 and go another 3 or so...she'll be on your left...
.
.

.
.
The first thing you will notice is the unusaly "bay window" back of the church...which of course I don't have a picture of, duh - you'll see how this makes for two small "rooms" on each side of the altar...

Once again, my pictures do no justice but I did want to give you an idea of what to expect inside and hope that this beauty gets seen and photographed properly (Mr Jim, are you there yet?)
.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.
After we got home while playing with the pics...something caught our eye...we're sure that what we saw on the ceiling was something to this effect...a soft muted somewhat washed out scene...
.

.
.
After applying a touch of fix color, bingo, this appeared...
.

.
.
So...was the original much brighter? - Would make sense if it's faded for a hundred years or so...

Anywho, hope this helps...

[Big Dog]

Originally Posted by pcdeatherage

Painted Church lovers take note...St Mary's outside of Hallettsville is a worthy addition to your list of things to do and places to see...

The first thing you will notice is the unusaly "bay window" back of the church...which of course I don't have a picture of, duh - you'll see how this makes for two small "rooms" on each side of the altar...

Yes, it is worth a visit.

I think you meant "unusual bay window".

Not to be picky, but what you refer to as the "back" (the altar area) is considered the front of a church. This shape - a rounded wall behind the altar - is not unusual at all and is very common in Gothic architecture. It is called an apse. (It actually goes back to Roman basilicas.) The two rooms on either side are sacristies. It is the Gothic that the builders of these painted churches were trying to copy.

By the way, you get points for spelling altar correctly. Most of the times I see it on this forum it is spelled "alter" - another word altogether.

[iCe]

A friend of mine was married in that Church. That was my first Catholic wedding. My second was my daughters earlier this year. I remember paying more attention to the Church than I did the ceremony

[Corrie]

I was in Halletsville for Thanksgiving! Very cool. Lots of colors.

[venchka]

Is anyone keeping count on the number of St Mary's churches?

[pcdeatherage]

Originally Posted by Big Dog

Yes, it is worth a visit.

I think you meant "unusual bay window".

Not to be picky, but what you refer to as the "back" (the altar area) is considered the front of a church. This shape - a rounded wall behind the altar - is not unusual at all and is very common in Gothic architecture. It is called an apse. (It actually goes back to Roman basilicas.) The two rooms on either side are sacristies. It is the Gothic that the builders of these painted churches were trying to copy.

By the way, you get points for spelling altar correctly. Most of the times I see it on this forum it is spelled "alter" - another word altogether.

definitely appreciate the info...was hoping someone would fill in the blanks!

[Big Dog]

Originally Posted by venchka

Is anyone keeping count on the number of St Mary's churches?

That's sort of a running joke with the Texas Church Project. On our list of churches to photograph (of all denominations and sorts) fully 10% are some version of St. Mary.

Actually, many of them are not literally "Saint Mary". It's often short for:

Our Lady, Queen of Peace
Our Lady, Queen of Heaven
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace

You get the idea ...