Saint Joseph Catholic Church Hays, Kansas
We have been on vacation visiting family in Colorado for the past week. There we spent time enjoying the outdoors and all the wonders of Colorado with family. After stopping by a few more National Parks in Colorado we began our return journey back East to Virginia.
On Saturday night after a long and treacherous drive through some very terrible storms we found ourselves not far from the previous church in Colby, KS. Both in the same diocese yet vastly different in their community. We attended the 7:30am Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church, in Hays, Kansas on August 13, 2023. This parish has a fascinating history. It began in 1878 when the growing German-Russian Catholic population required its own parish. The heritage of the German Catholics in this area of Kansas consists of immigrants originating from Volga and Bukovina. Still a robust and active community this parish was full on Sunday morning. The beautiful old limestone church is situated on a corner with several other buildings of similar make on a campus setting. From the street view you can see that a friary was an anchor for this parish. I learned that this parish was under spiritual leadership of Capuchin Franciscan Friars for 135 years being turned over in 2013 to the Diocese of Salina, KS. A remarkable church its beauty is well worth mentioning. The stained glass windows are breathtaking. Such beautiful workmanship they were a pleasure to see. A spacious choir loft with a sizable organ made for an amazing listening experience. Prayers for rain and for the local farmers were part of the closing prayers. (See more on St. Isidore from our post about Sacred Heart in Colby, KS) Visiting a parish with a treasure of a church is one of the best surprises for visitors. We would have liked to spend more time exploring this church as it clearly has quite the history of faithful Catholics, however our journey East beckoned us away.
More information about some of the fascinating historic churches in the surrounding area can be found at: https://www.visithays.com/DocumentCenter/View/2347/Historic-Churches-of-Ellis-County-Brochure-2019
The Small Pencil Catechist 