Holy Rosary Parish in Seelyville marks 100 years of faith

Members of Holy Rosary Parish in Seelyville kneel in prayer while Father Dominic Chukwudi, administrator, prays the eucharistic prayer during a Nov. 9 Mass at the parish’s church. Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein was the primary celebrant of an Oct. 11 Mass at the parish that celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Seelyville—On Oct. 7, 1908, the feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, Father John Walsh celebrated Mass for the first time in the partly completed church of the then-Diocese of Indianapolis’ newest parish, located just east of Terre Haute in the town of Seelyville.

Because of the feast day, the parish came to be known as Holy Rosary Parish.

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein was the primary celebrant on Oct. 11 at a Mass in the same church that celebrated the Terre Haute Deanery faith community’s 100th anniversary of its founding.

The archbishop was joined on the occasion by many of the parish’s members and its administrator, Father Dominic Chukwudi.

“It was a time of joy for me to be present when the parish celebrated its 100th anniversary,” said Father Chukwudi. “The people were enthusiastic about the celebration. It was a very colorful celebration.”

It was also a special day for parishioner Donna Novotney, 79, whose father-in-law helped build the church.

“I thought about that [during the centennial Mass],” said Novotney. “I just wondered what the differences were. Maybe it was completely done and probably had wood walls on the inside. I know that at the first Mass, they sat on logs.”

Many of the first members of the parish were Eastern European immigrants, primarily Czechs and Lithuanians. They came to the town to work in nearby coal mines.

Within a decade of the parish’s founding, the mines were in decline and many Catholic families moved to find work elsewhere.

But enough Catholic families remained in Seelyville that, following the challenges of the Great Depression and World War II, they were ready to respond to the active leadership of Father Leo Schellenberger, who was appointed pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in 1947.

“He was a stern and a loving pastor,” said Novotney, who married her husband, Paul, at the parish church shortly after Father Schellenberger’s arrival. “He guided the children and made better people out of them. He was stern with the children, and they listened to what he said.”

Although he had a reputation for being severe at times, Novotney said Father Schellenberger helped the parishioners grow closer together like a family.

“After he got here, we had bake sales and dinners and all of that,” she said. “It really brought out a sense of family. People would look forward to our dinners and our barbeques.”

After the centennial Mass, parishioners enjoyed another dinner, this time to honor their community’s first 100 years.

Displayed at the celebration were several historic photos of the parish and old news articles about it.

“[The display] made me realize that, from the beginning, they were a group of people who brought their hearts and their minds together to work for the parish and to be a family,” said Father Chukwudi. “There is a continuity from the earliest members of the parish to this year.”

It was that sense of family in the parish that greeted Pat Armstrong and her family when they moved to the area in the mid-1970s.

“It was a very friendly, warm, welcoming parish,” said Armstrong, 66. “The people spoke to you. They shook hands. They said, ‘How are you? Are you new here? Have you just moved in or are you visiting?’

“It’s like home. It’s as much like home as my house or going back to my parents’ home.”

From its beginning, Holy Rosary Parish has always remained a relatively small parish. Today, it numbers some 84 households.

Its church, totaling only 18 pews, can comfortably seat 125 people.

But, according to Armstrong, that allows parishioners to know firsthand how their efforts contribute to the life of the community.

“I did things that I had never done before,” she said. “I got to wash the linens. I helped set up the altar. I helped clean up the church. I’ve done all the things that, in a big parish, someone is hired to do, for the most part.”

Armstrong, who describes herself as Holy Rosary’s “general flunky,” has done volunteer bookkeeping for the parish for 25 years. She also serves on Holy Rosary’s parish council and finance committee.

With the parish centennial now behind her, she is looking forward to its future.

“We’re looking forward to the next 100 years. We’re looking forward to celebrating our 125th anniversary and our 150th,” Armstrong said. “I don’t plan to be here for the 150th, but there will be others who will be.” †