Old St. Vincent's Catholic Church

The Church Museum

The ceremonies of our church have changed as much as the appearance of our building. A visit to the church museum will make that apparent. The Old St. Vincent Church Museum is located to the right just beyond the entrance foyer of the church in an area that used to house a confessional in years past.  

There are many items of interest from the past that are contain within the glass cases of the museum; here are just a few.

Paten: a shiny, metal plate-like object with a handle that was held by the altarboy under the chin of the faithful recipient during the distribution of Holy Communion to make sure that the host would never touch the floor.

Mass clacker: as the name implies, it is not a musical item. The Mass clacker was used after the Wednesday of Holy Week through Holy Saturday when no joyous bells were allowed to be rung.

Bishop Rosati’s Coat of Arms: this items is displayed and it was made from the wood of an ammunition box, proving that nothing was wasted in that time period.

Roman Missal: This missal is written in Latin and was discovered on the nearby railroad tracks and brought to the church by a lady who knew that it was old and valuable.

Sick Call Sets: there are several on display with one of them over 100 years old. At one time most Catholic homes had these sets in case a priest had to be called due to illness or death in the family.

Variety of old photographs: wedding pictures show the different looks of the interior of the church throughout the years of the 20^th century.

Outside of the museum and around the interior of the church as several items of interest, namely;

Communion Altar Railing: A portion of the original altar railing is still in plaace as representative of how in the past the faithful knelt along the altar rail while the priest distributed Holy Communion. The three steps leading up to the altar rail/sanctuary is representative of the Holy Trinity.

Wall Crosses: there are several golden crosses placed along the walls of the church indicating that the church has been consecrated.

Valuable Art Objects: Along both side walls toward the back of the church are two lighted cabinets containing many different art objects. These were donated by Frank and Mary Ellen Trenery to honor her uncle, Father Ambrose “Amby” Durbin. Father Durbin was a priest at the church for thirteen years as well as serving on the faculty of St. Vincent’s College (seminary) just south of the church by the Mississippi River bridge. The Trenerys collected these objects as they traveled around the world over a period of time. A wooden 17^th century Peruvian blessed mother is shown along with the more recent artistic endeavors of Lladro, Hummel, Goebel and others.

The above items are just a sampling of the many unique objects the can be viewed inside our old church. We invite everyone to see and enjoy our church’s magnificent interior and exterior architecture.